It’s easy to focus on the negative in life. To maintain your hope and feed your soul you need to remember the good things five times more often than the negative.
Keep things in your heart and mind like…
Things for which you are thankful.
Music that lifts your spirit.
Activities that energize you.
People you love and who love you.
Experiences that teach you something new.
Prayer
Rest
One Item at a Time
Focus on Your Health by Reducing Visual Noise
It is impossible to focus on your health with the visual noise that clutter causes.
According to a study by the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, clutter actually overloads the visual cortex of our brains and interferes with its ability to process information. Clearing the clutter allows you to think and work more clearly and efficiently.
This allows you to spend less time on tasks and frees up more times for activities like exercising, preparing healthy meals or spending time with loved ones.
Bring Warmth to Your Space
Recent trends have been all about neutral themes with light colors, gray floors, and white cabinets.
Wood is the perfect partner for a neutral scheme. It brings warmth and character. And it ensures your space doesn’t end up feeling cold or clinical.
Choose a natural wood finish for big furniture pieces. Various tones of brown and tan baskets and natural material bins are easily found to add those little touches.
Add in yet more warm tones with wooden accessories, like wood shelving or wood picture frames.
Meditation
I know! I know! You have heard this umpteen times. Also, you feel like you don’t have time to set aside for meditation. Meditative moments don’t have to take tons of extra time. If you can have a few minutes for the coffee you can have for meditation too.
When you feel overwhelmed stop what you are doing and set a timer for two minutes.
Listen to nature sounds you can find on YouTube or an app like Insight Timer.
You can opt for mantras or visualizations, which can be found in the same places.
Or you can simply sit there in silence and notice your breath go in and out.Just two minutes. We all have two minutes.
Have a Donate Bin
Have a large bag, bin, or basket somewhere readily accessible in your home at all times. Maintaining a beautifully ordered and decluttered home is a long-term project, so make sure that you have a dedicated container in which to put items you no longer want.
By throwing as you go, you can keep on top of unwanted (but still usable) items filling up your house. Whenever the container becomes full, simply drop the items off at your local thrift store.
Personally, I use an extra-large cotton woven basket with handles that I keep in the closet of my home office. Other great places to keep your donate bin so that it’s easily accessible for the whole family are tucked in the corner of a kitchen, living, or bedrooms.
Go Outside to Clear Your Mind
There is something magical about being out in nature. We all know that spending some time outside and getting fresh air can do wonders for us. On your journey to declutter your life, be sure to make time to go for a walk (or a run) outside. You will find that you end up with a lot more mental clarity that will help you realize your dreams.
Design Focal Points
A large part of decluttering is “active curation”. When deciding what to keep and what to get rid of, ask yourself if your possessions serve a useful purpose. If not, are they beautiful or do they bring you happiness?
Especially if your items fall into the latter category, why not make a feature out of them?
Pedestal bowls are wonderful ways to create displays out of your most treasured possessions (with the added benefit of keeping trinkets and treats safe and dust-free!). By treating your house as a curated space, you can declutter and organize through carefully considered focal points.