Minimizing Clutter to Improve Mental Health

Guest Post: Written By Kristen Puzzo

Minimalism is not a trend; it is a tool. If used properly, it can save time and money, reduce stress and anxiety, and help you prioritize your priorities.

Understand how more stuff leads to more stress.

 Owning more stuff means taking care of more stuff. Watering the houseplants, dusting and arranging coffee table books and fluffing throw pillows take time and mental energy. Think about the time it takes to fix, maintain, clean, organize stuff, and then donate items responsibly when you’re done with it.  Owning more stuff means you have more to do. Is this how you want to spend your time?

Explore your relationship with buying and owning things.  

Some people spend money and shop to for fun or fill a void. Some people are afraid to part with physical items.  What deep rooted beliefs do you have about “stuff” that should be re-evaluated? What emotional attachments have you formed with your “things”? 

What is your stuff saying to you? 

The unused treadmill in the corner loves to tell you, “You’re not using me because you are lazy.”  The black dress hanging in your closet that is two sizes too small reminds you, “You’re not as thin as you used to be.”  The supplements you spent so much money on that are sitting in your medicine cabinet scream, “You wasted so much money on me.” If you have something in your home speaking negatively to you, get rid of it! You have no room for it in your life – literally and figuratively.  Spend some time walking through your home looking at your things. Consider each item you see and decide what no longer has a place in your life. 

Make peace with bad decisions, learn from mistakes, and move on.

The anxiety created by money wasted on items purchased and unused can be crippling. But, keeping it in your closet longer won’t help you recoup the money you spent. Let it go, and move on.   Expecting to sell or responsibly donate each item you wish to remove from you home may take more time than you have.  Throw it away, get it out of the house, and learn to be more discerning with purchases in the future. 

Other ways to streamline your decisions to live more simply. Make decisions ONCE, freeing up some of your mental load and reducing decision fatigue.

For Example: Consider salt. We all enjoy salt to flavor our savory dishes, but how much salt do we need? Celtic salt, iodized salt, kosher salt, fine salt, coarse salt – imagine owning all these different types of salt and a recipe calls for salt! Which one do you choose? Maybe it only takes 10 seconds to process and decide, but those are 10 precious seconds you won’t get back.   Buy one kind of salt.  Use it. Repeat.   

Helpful Activities:

1. Write down your “Why” and look at it often.  (For Example: I want to own LESS physical things so I can spend MORE time with family and friends, enjoying my favorite hobbies, reading, growing, exercising – doing the things that make me feel good and whole.)

2. Google “Decluttering Checklists” – find the one you like and get started!

3. Spending Freeze – while evaluating what you are ready to part with, don’t bring anything else into the house

4. Start With Your Stuff First. If you have family not on board with decluttering, start with the items that belong to YOU alone.  Once your partner/roommate/family see how decluttering improves your quality of life, getting their buy-in will be easier

Challenge:

1. Spend some time living with the bare minimum. See what you missed that should be added back, and notice what you can live without. Look into Project 333: The Minimalist Fashion Challenge

2. Try the 20/20 rule – if you’re not using an item and it can be replaced within 20 minutes and/or it costs less than $20, let it go!

 Contact Bee Blissful if you would benefit from learning more about how decluttering can improve your mental health.