We live in a society that always tells us to get more.
You may be doing this unconsciously, because you’ve always been living this way and that’s your environment.
You’re buying more stuff, which you then need to take care of and fix. You make more friends, but that doesn’t mean you spend time with quality people who lift you up. You consume a lot of information daily, but most of it has nothing to do with your life and goals, and only brings you stress and worries. You add more tasks to your to-do list all the time, but most often you’re just keeping yourself busy, and still not getting the important things done.
Such life is complex. And this complexity makes us overthink, doesn’t let us fall asleep fast, makes us anxious because we are in a rush all the time and try to stay up-to-date.
It’s time to stop doing that.
Simpler is better. Less is what you need more of and it’s the power of eliminating the unnecessary that will let you find more meaning in your days and more happiness in your soul.
Here are some little changes you can make to your lifestyle today that will help you declutter:
1. Analyze how you spend your time and remove unproductive activities.
Keep track of how you spend your time over the course of a few days. Write down everything you do. Then, review these and see what doesn’t give you any results, doesn’t make you happy or help you improve in any way. It’s just pointless to keep doing it.
You may be amazed at how many unproductive things you’re doing daily, without even realizing. That’s why you’ll need to track and review this weekly, to make sure you don’t fall into that trap again.
Soon, you’ll see less events in your calendar, less tasks on your to-do list and more time for the important things.
2. Get rid of belongings you don’t use.
Now let’s move onto the belongings you have.
Be honest with yourself and say what you haven’t used in the last 6 months or so. It doesn’t really matter how precious you think it is, it only takes up space.
If you don’t take control of such possessions, you’ll end up living in the prison of your past, feeling nostalgic every time you look at these objects, and not having the chance to let go. So be ruthless. Give away stuff, sell it, and throw away the rest.
You’re better off without all that burden. Your future self will thank you for doing that, plus it’s a big step of your spiritual journey. You’ll now have more peace of mind, will feel freer than ever and ready to actually go after your goals in life.
3. Keep negativity away.
It’s time to clear your mind now. Negative thoughts don’t have any place there, especially if you want to change yourself and turn your whole life around.
Start small. Notice the negativity in your mind and soul, recognize it, observe it and try to see what causes it. You may journal your thoughts to see some occurring themes. Maybe you’re negative after communicating with someone from your surroundings, or every day after doing a certain thing, or else.
Then, you’ll simply need to remove that or stop doing it to overcome that mental habit.
After that you can start taking charge of what goes in your mind. When you see a negative thought popping up, stop, say no and replace it with a positive one instead.
4. Keep things organized.
Find a place for everything in your home and office and keep it there. When you take it, put it back there.
A simple habit like that is the foundation of your personal organization skills. It will save you a lot of time and worries, you won’t forget where things are and will see a decluttered room and desk every time you enter.
5. Stop saying yes to everything.
Our time is limited. We only have 24 hours in a day. And if we want to work on the things we believe in, but to also have time to rest, have fun and be with our loved ones, we’ll need to prioritize. Stop accepting every proposal you get, don’t start new projects every week, don’t set many goals at once and avoid working on more than one thing at a time.
All this will improve your performance and help you exceed in life, as you’ll only be working on the things that actually matter. You’ll also be happier and will prevent burnout. Adding stuff is never the answer. To get back to your path in life, to see clearly where you’re going and to start having fun and be calm again, you’ll need to remove anything that’s not essential.
Keep only what’s important to you. There’s no time for the rest.
What else can you eliminate today to declutter your soul?
