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Minimalism

How to Declutter Your Digital Space and Limit Distractions

Posted on October 20, 2020

how can you limit distractions? Check out these suggestions on how you can minimise distraction and declutter your digital space. — Photo by William Hook on Unsplash.com

I have been on a bit of a mission as of late to limit some of the noise and distraction social media apps and other digital platforms have on my attention.

After watching the Social Dilemma on Netflix I felt even more motivated to take back a little bit of control when it came to my digital devices. I felt the need to implement some strategies to limit distractions brought on by these platforms.

After joining social media platforms as early as 13 years ago it was time to declutter my digital space and stop these apps from having so much of a hold on my life. They have taken our time, attention and more, for too long.

I unfriended people, unliked and unfollowed groups, unsubscribed and deleted things that were taking up digital space in my life. If you too are keen to limit distraction in your life I hope this post helps get you started in decluttering your digital space and taking back some of your time and attention so you can focus on better things and live a more intentional life!

Check out the 17 Ways You Can Declutter you Digital Space and Limit Distractions

17 Ways You Can Declutter you Digital Space and Limit Distractions

Unsubscribe from emails as they appear in your inbox.

If you see an email from a store or person you don’t want to receive emails from, open the email as soon as you see it and find the Unsubscribe option, usually found at the top or bottom of the email. Do this each time you get an unwanted email so you can curate your inbox as you go. Don’t forget to move non-important emails to your Social or Promotions folder or equivalent to only keep what is necessary in your inbox.

You can take this further by logging into your accounts like reward cards and changing your email preferences. I recently did this for 3 email lists I was on that were slowly sending me insane. I realised I had received emails every second day – or more, from these lists and it needed to stop! I went into manage my email settings and unticked the email marketing options and only allowed what I actually wanted to be emailed about. Alternatively, just unsubscribe from the list and limit distractions from these emails altogether!

2. Follow only your favourite blogs

I love keeping up with my favourite blogs, and other helpful tips that came into my inbox. But I realised that being subscribed to so many blogs and not having the time to read everything was causing me more stress and doing the opposite of adding value to me. Particularly when some emailed me every day and I was never, ever going to be able to read everything.

Instead, I selected a few of my favourite blogs to stay subscribed to and unsubscribed from the rest so now my email subscriptions are less overwhelming and the things I really find value in and enjoy reading. And ever since making these changes I have been reading a lot more blog posts that are more relevant to what I want to read which has been a welcome change.

3. Delete apps you haven’t used in the last 3 months.

If you have any apps taking up space on your home screen, it’s time to delete them. You can always reinstall it if you really need it back. Simply click on Settings and Apps on your phone menu and search the list for the apps you want to remove and select Uninstall on each of the Apps. This will declutter your phone screen from unused and unwanted apps and make it easier to locate the ones you do want to find.

4. Delete emails as you go

Emails can quickly get out of control and take over your inbox. A great way to stay on top of these is to delete emails as you go. Once you’ve picked up your lunch order, delete the notification email. Same goes for delivery email notifications, once the item has been delivered, delete any excess emails about the delivery you no longer need.

Don’t let your inbox get out of control by staying on top of your inbox day to day. It could just take one minute a day to delete unwanted emails and keep on top of that inbox number.

5. Put a time limit on your app use

The next time you are checking your emails or using your social media apps, set a timer on how long you can use them for. I just use my Fitbit Timer. Once the timer goes off, close the app and get back to more productive things!

Related Post: 6 Ways to Reduce Social Media Use in 2020

6. Delete your Friends list/Unfollow accounts

When was the last time you reviewed your Insta, Facebook or other friends/followers lists? If you have 1000 friends, followers or more, chances are you have too many and can’t possibly keep up with them.

I recently checked my Instagram account follows and realised I had over 1200. Many of them hadn’t made a post in two years. I have slowly been unfollowing accounts I no longer want to see posts from or inactive accounts to limit distractions, and look forward to my feed being more relevant to the accounts I still want to keep up with. This has been a fairly slow and painful process so I will certainly be more selective with who I follow in future.

If you feel that you have some excess follows and friends in your social media accounts, go through your list and delete or unfollow anyone that you no longer know or keep in touch with. That’s the old school “friends” you never spoke to and people from your past you have lost touch with and don’t see the need to rekindle those friendships.

Ideally, this will help to free up your news feed so you can see the posts from the people you actually care about.

Related Post : 25 Things You Can Do to Simplify Your Life

7. Unfollow Facebook Groups you no longer enjoy

It can be easy to join different groups on a whim without ever really participating or finding any value in those groups. Review your Facebook Groups and delete any that you are no longer interested in, particularly if those groups are no longer that active. When you have fewer groups you can free your digital space to participate in the ones that truly add value to your life.

I recently reviewed all the Facebook groups I was a member of to help limit distractions and unjoined any that I no longer found value in. Groups who go off-topic aren’t worth your time and attention so if you have any in your list, or find any you have joined where Admins are not monitoring the posts are appropriate to the group goal, just leave the group.

You can also unfollow groups as well to keep the posts from taking over my feed like groups tend to do. You can just view group’s post simply from the Facebook menu list and select Groups to see all the recent posts from each group in one place and keep them from saturating your home feed.

8. Delete photos when you have a spare moment

Digital photo albums can easily get out of hand when we are carrying around cameras in our pockets 24/7. To try and stay on top of these photos, get into the habit of deleting photos on a regular basis. Take advantage of any time you are waiting for your Doctor appointment or on a tea break to get on top of your photos.

Delete any that are duplicates, blurry or accidental shots with fingers covering the lens. Keep only your faves, it’ll be much easier to find the ones you want later with a more curated album. This is another thing that will take time so if you can just dedicate a few minutes each day when you have a spare moment to this you will eventually make a lot of progress.

9. Change your habits around taking photos

Once you start deleting photographs on your phone, you will wish you took at least half the ones you did. Deleteing these is a tedious process.

Take your digital minimalism a step further and implement steps to limit how many photos you take in the first place. Avoid taking 30 selfies to get the right one. Take one or two of the area and then put your phone away and enjoy the moment. This means you can limit distractions, be more present, as well as have more opportunity to remember your day or event rather than being on your phone the whole time and you’ll save yourself having 1000 of photos to sift through when you want to look at them. I currently have my down to 3555 photos that need to be reviewed and organised – wish me luck!

10. Delete your downloads folder regularly

Download folders can often go unchecked, but not anymore. Delete your download folder on a regular basis to know the amazing feeling that comes with an empty download folder! File what you need where appropriate and get rid of the rest!

11. Back up your phone photos frequently

Declutter your phone storage by backing up your phone photo albums regularly and then delete your phone storage once it has been backed up. This will keep your phone working fast and mean you have all your photos backed up in case it is lost or stolen. You can set up your photos to automatically sink when WIFI is on to do this without you having to remember.

12. Put your phone down

This is one many of us no longer seem to do. My husband and I have a phone policy if we are together having a meal our phones are put away. And I can’t tell you the number of people we have seen whilst we are out having dinner looking at their phone constantly whilst the other partner either sits there bored silly or are on their phone as well. Be present in the moment with who you are with and save your browsing for other occasions. It’s rude and disrespectful to the person who is across from you. Limit distractions and put the phone away.

But don’t stop there, put your phone away as much as you can and instead do something that adds to your day; take a walk, read a book, meditate, do that thing you have been procrastinating. I’ve recently adopted going for walks on my tea break and leaving my phone at my office. I can instead focus on me and my walk and what I can hear and see around me.

No one wants to look back on their life and realise they spent most of it browsing social media. It has a hold of most of us on some level so the little things we can do to limit that pull to use our phones, such as putting it away will go a long way to helping curb that addiction to our phones.

13. Turn off App notifications

When I first got my new phone, I was constantly bombarded with notifications from social media apps about every little thing they could possibly bother me with. After a few days of this, I’d had enough Instagram and facebook notifications and went into my app settings and realised my apps were all set to notifications ‘On’, which of course is the default setting. I turned everything off, and now only have text messages, Messenger and email notifications turned on.

You might even take it a step further and turn off your email or all message notifications and instead check those as set times in the day like Lauren, from the Millenial Minimalists suggests. This is a great way to limit distractions and remain productive for longer.

14. Turn off In-App notifications

If you have done the above, don’t stop there, there is more to be done! How many times have you logged into facebook to see 20 odd notifications about absolutely nothing in particular? Comments on a post you commented on, an event your friend is interested in, blah blah has an account you might like to follow.

The noise never seems to stop but there is something you can do to turn off as much of it as you can, without having to delete the app altogether.

When you are on Facebook, if you receive a notification, click the three buttons at the side to turn those notifications off each time they appear. Over time you should receive less and less of them. There are still limitations here but it will go some of the way to eliminating pointless notifications.

And if you are receiving notifications on a post you commented on and no longer want to be notified, simply go to that post and click the three dots to the top right and select ‘turn off notifications for this post’.

15. Unfollow Facebook pages you no longer find value in

I joined Facebook back in 2007 which means to this day I like some random pages I am not even aware of and I am sure there are some lame 2007 pages like ‘I like walking in the rain’ or some crap ‘;) .

Unfortunately, Facebook is not about to make unfollowing these Pages too easy for us so this one takes a bit of work. I have decided to unfollow pages as I see posts on my feed that I don’t care for, to curate my feed over time. Over the past few weeks I have noticed since doing this and unfollowing groups and friends my newsfeed has more interesting content so I can keep up with the posts I actually care to see.

16. Take opportunities to put your phone away

Leave your phone at home when you take a walk, put your phone away in a drawer when you are at home so you won’t feel the urge to keep it in your hand. Keep it in your handbag when you are dining out with someone and give them your undivided attention. And that doesn’t mean on the table where you can still see it blinking! No one can resist the allure of that blinking light.

The less that phone is in your hand, the less chance that incessant flashing blue light will have of distracting you from the important things you want and need to do.

You can take it a step further and do The Minimalist’s Screenless Saturday where you avoid using your phone for an entire day.

17. Avoid taking on too many social media platforms

There will always be the new ‘it’ social media platform, and using all of them is only going to eat up more and more of your time. I personally have Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Youtube for personal use and my blog accounts, and I promise you that takes up more than enough of my time. I am not about to add more to that distraction-zone!

I never got around to getting a Twitter account, Snapchat or the latest TikTok and I am completely okay with that. I don’t need to be on every single platform and either do you. Use the platforms that you enjoy and that add value to your life and delete the others. Or just avoid adopting them all together and take some of your life back!

**This week’s comment question: I would love to know what strategies you have implemented to declutter your digital space and limit distractions! Let me know in the comments.**

7 Day Simplify Challenge to Simplify Your Life

Posted on June 2, 2020

Are you keen to #simplify your life and clear some of the excess, but you struggle for time? Here are 7 Day Simplify Challenges for you minimisers, to help you get started on your minimising journey.

Each day of the week there will be a little challenge for you to do to simplify your life. These are designed to be quick, minimal challenges that can be done in as quick as fifteen minutes or less.

If you are keen to minimise the excess you should give the 7 Day Simplify Challenge a go 🙂

7 Day Simplify Challenge

Day One : Declutter Clothes

Day One’s challenge is to declutter some of your clothes

Go through your wardrobe and drawers and pick out 3 items to get rid of that either:

Don’t fit you
Are no longer in ‘your style’
That don’t bring you joy
Are Torn or beyond repair

Of course, if you feel motivated to get rid of anything more than that, go for it!

Day Two: Unsubscribe

Day Two’s Challenge is:

To Unsubscribe from three unwanted email mailing lists.

Of course, if you feel motivated to get rid of anything more than that – go for it!

Day Three: Delete Apps

Day Three’s Challenge is: To Delete any apps on your phone that you no longer need or use.

It’s time to clear up that phone background and get rid of those apps that are adding no value to your life!

Day Four : Declutter Beauty Supplies

Day Four’s Challenge is:

To get rid of any beauty products you don’t need.

Let go of anything:

you bought but didn’t like
that has expired
that is empty
that you no longer need

If you have anything new that you don’t want, see if you can donate it to a friend or local charity!

Day Five : Clean Out Your Fridge

Day Five Challenge is: To clean out your fridge!

Let go of anything:

that has expired including leftovers that weren’t eaten

anything that is empty
Whilst you are there give any spills a quick wipe and put like items with like items so you can easily find them to use em up next time.

Don’t forget to make a mental note, of what needs to be used up over the next few days so it doesn’t end up in the bin!

Day Six : Clean Out Your Pantry

Day Six Challenge is: To Clean out your pantry.

Throw out anything that has expired
Top up any near-empty containers or spice jars
Throw out anything that is empty
Do a quick tidy of things and put them back where they belong
and if you have the time, give your pantry a quick vacuum and wipe down!

Day Seven : Tidy Up Outside

Day Seven’s final challenge is: To tidy up your outdoor space.

Throw out anything that needs to be in the bin
Move anything back to where it belongs.
Do the things you need to do: weed, trim dead leaves off plants, & give your plants a much-needed water
Wipe down the table, chairs, and any cobwebs so you can come out and enjoy your space!

Good luck with the challenge, Minimisers!

And let me know how you went with Simplify Challenge when you are done! I would love to know:

How much did you end up minimising?
Did you find value in this challenge?
Would you like more of them like this one?

Do you feel that you have done a little bit to simplify and love your home more? Let me know in the comments

If you found value in this post I would be super appreciative if you could share it with others who might also find value in it 🙂

Freebies

Free Decluttering Treasure Hunt Printable

Posted on May 26, 2020

This is the printable you will receive in the Decluttering treasure hunt Printable showing all 50 items to declutter

If you’re not someone who finds decluttering as fun as I do, hopefully this Decluttering Treasure Hunt Printable will help take the tediousness out of decluttering!

To grab your free Decluttering Treasure Hunt Printable simply fill in the form below and download and print off your printable. Cross off each item as you declutter it.

And let me know in the comments how many of the 50 items you found, declutter and crossed off your list! 🙂

And if you love Decluttering Check Lists don’t forget to grab this one next 101 Things To Declutter in Your Home Right Now so you can keep going on your journey to declutter and minimise the excess!

Hope you have fun with this one, minimisers!

Minimalism

15 Intentional Ways to Simplify in 2020

Posted on January 26, 2020

A coffee cup on a bed with sheets. A cosy space.

We are often running on autopilot. With work, social commitments, hobbies, exercise, cleaning and kids in the mix there is little time left over to take a step back and access what we can do to reduce anxiety and stress and what changes we can make to simplify our lives. Sometimes it is not until a really overwhelming and stressful period that we even realise we are taking on too much, developing habits that are bad for us and we might need to reassess our current habits and lifestyle and the people and things around us.

We can all use more tips to simplify our lives and live a more intentional life so here is 15 to simplify in 2020 for you to try out.

**This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase of a product from the links in this post I will receive a small commission, at no cost to you. This allows me to keep my blog advertisement free and support the running costs of my blog. I only recommend products I believe will add value to others and that I love myself.**

15 Ways to Simplify in 2020

Get more sleep

Some people say they can live with a handful of hours of sleep a night. I am not one of them. If I don’t get at least 6.5 hours a night of sleep, than I am useless. When you don’t get enough sleep, it creates chaos in your day. You end up sleeping in late and being rushed. You’re irritable and unmotivated. You might even end up needing a nap at some point later in the day so less gets done. Simplify in 2020 by making it a goal to get more sleep! Even if it is just an extra half an hour a day, it can make all the difference. I recently invested in a Manta Eye Mask and it’s now my must have every night to get a good night’s sleep.

Ditch toxic friends/family

Do you have a friend, family member or other relationship who adds unnecessary stress and drama to your life? It might be time to say goodbye to those relationships. Whether it is leaving a toxic work environment, breaking up with a partner who doesn’t have the same values as you or letting go of the friendship you seem to always be holding together. Set yourself free from those who are weighing you down and bring toxicity and drama to your life. Even if it is just you finally setting appropriate boundaries for relationships.

If you have people in your life who choose not to respect your boundaries, people who continually make bad decisions and expect you to pick up the pieces, people who cause you constant anxiety and headaches, or even just someone that doesn’t seem all that interested in having you in their life anymore, it might be time to say goodbye to those relationships for good. Life is too short to spend with people who don’t appreciate you and take advantage of you.

Start looking after yourself

Do you need to do more to look after yourself? I know I can often find myself choosing between practicing for the next gig, writing a new blog post or having an hour to myself and it has taken me a long while to realise that sometimes productivity and other goals need to take a back seat to my own self care.

Simplify in 2020 by starting to look after yourself. Use that gym membership you are paying for, go for a small walk everyday, read a book you’ve had on your read list for too long, drink more water, book in that dental check up even though you prefer to put off those visits. A little effort goes a long way. And trust me, when you hit the big 3-0, your body is going to insist you make better choices :p

Declutter the clutter you’ve accumulated in 2019

It’s time to say goodbye to the clutter that’s been impeding the enjoyment of your space and making clutter eyesore hotspots in your home. Simplify your life in 2020 by letting go of the excess in your home! Let go of the clothes you no longer love, donate the excess Tupperware you don’t have space for and say goodbye to the books you know you are never going to read.

A good rule of thumb is, if you haven’t used it in 12 months out it goes. If you need the extra cash you can sell your clutter otherwise bag it up, get it in your boot and drop it off to your nearest donation bin or charity as soon as you can.

Watch less TV

I absolutely love my TV time, I am a #NetflixandChill girl at heart, like any other millenial but I decided to simplify in 2020 by reducing the amount of TV I am allowing myself. Instead, I am going to the gym three times a week. I’m minus 1.5 hours a week of Netflix but feeling great knowing that I am better utilising that time!

Have a think about how much time you spend in front of the black box a week and how much time you would need to dedicate to a new goal of yours – whether it be to hit the gym, read more books, work on some craft or DIY projects or learn a new language. Even if you can cut out just 30-60 minutes a week of TV there is a lot of value adding activities you can squeeze into that new found time! Give it a go! And let me know in the comments how much screen time you gave up and what you replaced it with!

Set small goals

Simplify in 2020 by setting yourself some super achievable small goals. As the saying goes, the best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time.

If you have a goal in 2020, such as reading more, set yourself a super easy to achieve target such as sitting down every day at 3pm to read for fifteen minutes. Set your timer and go! If 7pm works better for you – go for it! Maybe you can squeeze it in while you’re in the car at your kids dance practice or get up a little bit early in the morning. The key is to find a time where most days you are able to do that activity.

Maybe you want to learn a new language for your upcoming holiday, how about you do just two Duolingo lessons a day which take at most 10 minutes!

If you want to learn new recipes, set a goal to try one or two new recipes a month! Throw that ambitious once a week goal in the bin and make the goal so easy to achieve that you can’t possibly fail!

Buy less

The more we buy and bring into our homes the more effort we need to put in to maintain these items.

Simplify in 2020 by aiming to buy less. Spend less time shopping, less time researching, less time rearranging things to fit in the cupboard, less time cleaning said items whether it be dusting, washing etc. And save future your from the chore of decluttering any excess later on! And a great bonus – you’ll save lots too!

You might consider doing a No Spend Month as an extra challenge to take in 2020 to help you curb your consumer spending. Even if just for a few weeks of the year.

Create space in your schedule

A few years ago I was completely overwhelmed by my schedule. I worked full time as well as a second job on Sunday nights. I was studying for my CPA, playing in a band and had moved out of home so had all the cleaning, cooking, washing, socializing and so on to squeeze in as well.

Since then I’ve learnt the importance of creating space in my schedule. I looked at what was and wasn’t a priority and reworked my schedule to reflect that. I quit my second job and realised that more time was more important to me than more money. I became more selective of what I said yes to and acknowledged that I couldn’t possibly keep squeezing 3 or 4 social gatherings into 2.5 days on top of house work and some much needed downtime.

My new routing involved planning ahead in my schedule and blocking out dates or times to create space in my schedule. This means that our weekends are no longer consumed by multiple social gatherings where we have no time to rest after a big work week. Time to rest is factored in every single weekend.

You can simplify in 2020 by doing the same, creating times booked into your calendar to recharge. I use Google Calendar for this. As events get locked into your calendar, be sure to add in some block out zones for your sanity. If Friday night is a friends party, it might be work keeping Saturday night free. If you have a few mid week catch ups scheduled and know it will be a stressful period at work, maybe that week you keep the weekend relatively free.

Declutter your digital space

A cluttered digital space can cause you unnecessary frustration and stress. Take the time every so often to review your digital space and remove anything that is not adding value. Delete apps that you no longer, or never use. Delete blurry or bad photos and keep only the quality shots. Delete memo notes you no longer need and review any to do list items that you can clear off. Do the same for your laptop or PC. Don’t forget to unsubscribe from social media accounts or emails that no longer add value.

Tidy your pantry

Your pantry is something your family will access multiple times every day. A disorganised pantry can make meal planning, grocery shopping and cooking harder than it needs to be. Not to mention, not being able to see what you need can make you waste more money and food!

Whether you have large or short window of time, set your timer and get started tidying your pantry. Even if you only have fifteen minutes you can make a lot of progress in a short space of time.

Throw out anything that has expired. Usually you know at a glance what has been sitting in your pantry for too long
Put any open packets into storage containers to keep the food fresh
Group like items so they are easy to find
Give the shelves a quick vacuum and wipe down. If you are short for time just do a spot clean

Declutter Makeup

Less is more when it comes to make up. Simplify in 2020 but going through your make up stash and tossing anything that is empty or that you no longer use. Keeping only the makeup you use and love will make getting ready a lot easier and keep your makeup storage area much easier to keep tidier.

In 2020, consider a more minimalist approach to buying makeup, by only purchasing makeup to replace items as they are used up. Most make up items have an expiry of 18-24 months so the less you buy, the more chance you have of using up what you do have within the expiration period.

Set up a donation box in your wardrobe

A great way to donate items, especially for those too busy to dedicate a lot of time to decluttering is to set up a donation box in your wardrobe so you can declutter as you go. Each time you pull something off the coat hanger or put something back from the wash you can make a decision about whether it is something you want to keep, or something you want to let go of.

The easiest way to simplify and declutter for those short on time is to do it as you are assessing the piece. When you are trying on a piece of clothing that no longer fits, that is uncomfortable, or is simply no longer your style you can easily toss it into your clothing bin and donate it when it gets full. You can of course chuck anything else in to donate from around the house that you come across that needs donating as well.

Declutter your jewellery collection

Too much jewellery can add too many decisions to getting ready every day. Review your jewellery collection and donate anything that you no longer wear or love. Let go of mismatched earrings, discoloured jewellery or anything that is no longer in your style. Group like items together so you can select what you want to wear as you get ready at a glance.

And as with your makeup collection, consider limiting how much jewellery you buy going forward. Consider a jewellery ban for a period of time where you don’t add anything to your collection or set a one in one out rule, where you can only bring a new piece in if you have let something else go.

Don’t forget to be honest with yourself and only keep the jewellery you will wear that you still love. If you have a collection of rings but only enjoy wearing your wedding set, let the others go to someone who will love them

Organise your paperwork

Papers can easily multiple once they come through your front door, before you know it you have too many papers piled up and don’t know where to start. Simplify in 2020 by limiting what comes into your home in the first place:

Putting a no junk mail sign on your letter box can go a long way to stemming unwanted mail.
Sign up for email statement listings for your accounts to reduce paper mail being delivered to your home that requires filing.
Set up a paper station for items you need to Action, File, Scan and Shred. Try and get to this pile once a week for action items and once a month for the Scanning, Shredding and filing so you piles don’t become Mount Everest!

Once you have limited what paper is coming through the door it will be a lot easier to manage and you will have less physical paper to action and sort.

Lastly, scan your receipts when you get home from shopping. I simply take a photo and upload it to a Receipts folder in Google Drive and recycle the original. Or grab a box for receipts and go through and scan them once every now and then to keep on top of them. You will never misplace a receipt again and will tackle your paper clutter before it gets too out of hand and feels too overwhelming!

Create a chill zone

Simplify in 2020 by creating a ‘chill zone’ space to unwind. It can be as fancy or simple as you like, for me it is just my lounge recliner where I keep a throw blanket and candle nearby, and some comfy cushions. It’s a place I can go to, to unwind, read a book or some articles.

Keep everything you need nearby so you aren’t running around grabbing things and getting distracted on your way to the chill zone (Oh look – mess! Let me just clean that up…).

Depending on your home, you may have a room for this or just a small nook in your lounge room, or just a chair somewhere in your home. It’s a space where you can get away from the dishes, laundry pile and anything else that is distracting you so you can unwind.

Want more tips on how to Simplify?

For more tips on how you can simplify your life check out these 9 tips and these 15 in this post.

Photo by Carolyn V on Unsplash

Comment Question: I would love to know how have you simplified your life? Let me know in the comments!

If you found value in this post I would be super appreciative if you could share it with others who might also find value in it 🙂

Minimalism

8 Ways Decluttering Helped Me to Live a More Intentional Life

Posted on September 24, 2019

Declutter your home and live a more intentional life today

Before I started my decluttering journey I had no idea how much my stuff was holding me back. I wasn’t aware of the daily struggle clutter bought with it or how it added to my stress and anxiety.

When I decluttered my first set of drawers that contained my shirts and shorts, I was amazed at the difference this one small change made to me. It seems silly that such a small change – decluttering two drawers, had any impact on my life but it did and that positive change grew exponentially from there with each decluttering project I tackled.

Decluttering benefited me in many areas of my life that I couldn’t have ever expected. Here are 8 Ways Decluttering Helped Me to Live a More Intentional Life.

8 Ways Decluttering Helped Me to Live a More Intentional Life.

1. Decluttering highlighted my impulsive consumer habits

Very early on in my decluttering journey, I became aware of numerous impulsive consumer habits I had picked up over the years. My wardrobe and bathroom were hard evidence of these less than desirable shopping habits. As I decluttered my bathroom, I saw lip balm collections, a foundation for every day of the week, and hand lotion bottles galore.

I didn’t have what I needed – the essentials, or even just a little more in case I ran out before I could get to the shops. I was apparently preparing stockpiles for the shops to close for a good year based on my collections

As I decluttered each item: shampoos, conditioners, hair products, makeup, and the like, I realised that I really didn’t need all those excess items and over time implemented new consumer habits to limit what I was bringing into my home.

2. Decluttering helped me appreciate experiences over things

Before I decluttered my home and cleared the excess, I was your average shopper. Most likely addicted and spending mindlessly on things I didn’t need.

I’d wander on my lunch breaks shopping for nothing in particular, spending my hard-earned paycheck.

Buy things just because they were on sale, even if I had no idea what I would do with them when I got home.

Waste my weekends in the mall buying things I didn’t need instead of doing things that added value to me.

Decluttering helped me lead a more intentional life as I slowly saw the value in experiences over things. After clearing over half my wardrobe, a buy one get one free sale sign lost its pull over me. I slowly started replacing my habits of buying things on impulse and instead learned to appreciate experiences. Experiences I could remember, and think back on with fondness, that didn’t require me to take some item into my home where I would have to find a place to store it, dust, and maintain it.

Over time I saw myself spending less money at the mall. Instead, I spent my money on experiences that I could enjoy and share with others, like going to the movies, a concert, or travelling. I noticed later in the year I’d long forgotten the new jewellery and perfume I got for Christmas, but years later remembered my first trip to New Zealand for my 30th with fondness and my honeymoon to Europe. I realised that when I invested my time and money into experiences and things I truly enjoyed, I didn’t need to go and shop to fill some void.

Declutter With Me Decluttering Course

Are you finding yourself overwhelmed and stressed out by clutter in your home?

If you’re looking to minimise the excess in your life, Declutter With Me: A 12 Week Guide to Declutter Your Home is a go-at-your-own-pace course that will give you the step-by-step, room-by-room instructions to help you clear the clutter in your home in as soon as just 12 weeks!

But clearing the clutter isn’t just about getting rid of your excess stuff. It’s important to change your behaviour and consumer habits so you can avoid re-cluttering your space once you have decluttered. Included in Declutter With Me, are “Keep It Minimal” tips for each area in your home + 7 Tips To Help You Keep Your Home Minimal, to give you strategies you can implement to help you spend with intention so you can avoid bringing clutter back into your home.

If you are keen to minimise your unwanted clutter check out Declutter With Me so you can create a home you love!

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3. Decluttering helped me be more mindful of gifts I gave to others

As I decluttered my home, I noticed a lot of gifts, that were bought with generosity and good intentions from family and friends had gone unused or weren’t adding value to us anymore. This made me reconsider my own gift-giving habits and be more intentional with what I gifted others. I stopped my usual gift buying habit of heading to the shop and browsing for the perfect gift, realising that the perfect gift isn’t always going to be found on a shelf at the mall.

I started to get more creative with my gifts. Some new habits I’ve implemented:

Buying experience gifts such a a massage, tickets to a concert, musical or kids attraction
Asking people directly what they would like for a gift
Taking a loved one out for a meal or experience
Making a contribution to a loved one’s travel savings fund
Performing or recording a song for a loved one
Gifting gift cards to their favourite store

If I know someone needs something for their home or wants something specifically I am more than happy to go out and get that item for them, but the shops are now something I only step into with intention when it comes to buying gifts

4. Decluttering made me more intentional with my time

After decluttering my home, I knew that I would never, ever, let my home get into the cluttered state that it was ever again. I wasn’t prepared to make all that decluttering progress just to go back into old clutter-accumulation habits. I was done.

Decluttering also made me see how unintentional I had been with my time.

Whether that be the time I spent looking for things around the house that had been misplaced, the time I spent trying to keep up with an overflowing wardrobe and the laundry that ensued, and the time I had spent shopping for things only to cluttering up my home that took up my very limited and valuable time.

I realised how I had used shopping as a hobby rather than a tool to buy things I needed as I needed them. As I decluttered the excess in my home I chose to utilise my time going forward more intentionally. Instead of shopping every week or on my break by default, I built up a list over time and only went to the shops once a month and made one trip. This saved me battling traffic and car spaces on multiple trips and meant I could free up some time to do things that actually added value to me.

5. Decluttering made me more intentional with my money

After decluttering over 70% of our belongings, I was faced with the realisation of how much money I had thrown away over the years on stuff I didn’t need. I added up in my head the dollars each time I donated an item of clothing that still had the tags on or the art project or book I had never gotten around to. It was certainly an eye-opening experience and made me think long and hard each day that I tackled my clutter about how I could start being more intentional with my money.

Decluttering my home helped me to see the wasted money. I refused to continue to waste my money on impulse purchases that I didn’t need any longer, I had wasted enough. I wasted money on clothes that didn’t fit or suit me because I was too lazy to try them on. There was wasted money on shoes I bought that were not something I would ever wear, I just liked the idea of them. There was waste when I bought more makeup than I could possibly use up before it expired.

When I decided to spend more intentionally, it had a huge positive impact on our finances. We were less stressed about money, we had more money to pay down debt and work towards our financial goals, and could justify spending money guilt-free on things like an overseas trip.

It wasn’t my expectation when I started my decluttering journey to save money but was a hugely welcome side effect!

6. Decluttering made me more mindful in other areas of my life

When you eliminate the excess in your home, it’s bound to make you more mindful of other aspects of your life. It is not uncommon to declutter your home and decide to move houses, get a new job, or end a toxic friendship. Decluttering makes you assess everything you bring into your home and soon you will apply those same tools and skills to other aspects of your life.

The Minimalists talk about how they decluttered their homes and soon after, changed their spending habits, left their corporate jobs to start their own blog and both moved homes. Like The Minimalists experiences, decluttering helped me realise what did and didn’t add value to my life.

As I previously mentioned, I realised that shopping regularly did not add value to my life, so I reduced how often I spent shopping and built a list to get in one go. It helped me to reassess relationships and made me more appreciative of the friends and family that made an effort to be in our lives. It helped me realise what was and wasn’t important to me and gave me permission to let go of things like the hoard of books I’d hoped to get to and instead put my time and energy into things I was truly passionate about, such as this very blog

7. Decluttering made us more content with what we had

Decluttering helped us see that we didn’t need much to be happy. We have now been in our fairly modest-sized home for 8 years and a bigger home hasn’t been on our agenda for some time now, and we don’t see the need to upsize our home when now that we just keep the things we truly enjoy and use.

We still have the same TV we bought 8 years ago when we moved in, the same Fridge and Dishwasher and most of the same instruments

We try to make do with what we have and use up what we have before we buy more. I keep limited stocks of makeup and hair products, I’ve just bought my first new sneakers in 5 years and shock horror I buy one book at a time to read.

I don’t miss the days of duplicated nail polish, too many books to read, and the guilt that comes with that and having enough eyeshadow to commission an artwork. We try to be content with what we have rather than constantly chasing what others tell us we need.

8. Decluttering helped me to realise that it is okay to let things go

As a former hoarder, and a girl who was surrounded by many other hoarders growing up and probably picked up a few bad habits along the way, I completely get that it is hard to let go of things. I was so worried when I let things go that I would regret them and curse the day I started decluttering my home.

But to be completely honest with you. That hasn’t happened once.

I found ways to ease my inner hoarder such as taking photos of sentimental items before disposing of them and asking myself questions like ‘would I buy this again today?’ which helped me part with the excess in my home again and again. And most things that I thought I might need Just in Case, I knew I could apply The Minimalists 20/20 Rule and get them at the shop if there ever really came a time when I needed that item again.

And letting go of the excess came with so many benefits that outweigh any need to hold onto things. You’ll have more space to enjoy your home, homes are meant for living not storage. You have the ability to find and display the things that do add value to you, such as your favourite books not being covered by ones you’ll probably never read and the freedom of knowing that if you ever wanted to move, change careers, cities, or anything else, you won’t be burdened by all your clutter holding you back.

[Photo by: Samantha Gades on Unsplash.com]

What’s your biggest decluttering struggle? Let me know in the comments!

Minimalism

Simplify Your Life in 2019 With These 9 Easy Tips

Posted on June 11, 2019

A couple relaxing by a lake in a hammock in the afternoon sun after simplifying their life

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Forget perfection.

As a clean freak I often get caught up in needing everything to be done find it hard to focus on things when I am surrounded by clutter and mess. It can be hard for a lot of us, to ignore the desperate need to vacuum or clean up the kitchen and so on. Sometimes you just need to say it can wait. Sometimes 30 minutes to yourself needs to come first, so give yourself a break and occasionally let the mess wait. You’ll get to it later on or tomorrow.

Meal Plan

Meal Planning can help take a lot of the mental hassle out of planning meals for your family. There is enough stress in life without having to add what you are going to cook into the pile. Take the stress and chaos out of your life by shopping more intentionally and planning ahead. You can check out meal planning tips here to help you get started.

Make less extravagant meals

Simplify your life and put less pressure on yourself to make fancy meals. Don’t worry so much about finding and trying out new recipes. Limit that to once a month or every now and then and stick with 10-15 or so favourites, which should give you enough variety for the whole family. By sticking with what recipes you know you’ll get better at making your favourite meals and can experiment with changing those up, rather than trying to make newer dishes all the time and adding more stress and complication into the kitchen. And if it means once a week your family eats bacon and eggs or ham and cheese jaffles for dinner, so be it. They’ll live! And it’s a great way to free up some time for other important goals. We realised if we made a super easy meal on Monday nights we could get to the gym after work and still have dinner by 7.30. A small sacrifice for a good pay off.

Just donate it

I made over $5000 from selling my clutter and though that was amazing and it was great to have some extra cash, it was time consuming and tedious! The amount of messages I received with questions that were answered in the ad as well as time wasters does really did add a huge annoyance and hassle to the sale process, and I would say that some sales were less worth it than others. If you don’t need the cash, consider just donating your excess and do away with hassle of selling the item, or keep it your sales effort reserved for the higher value items. Holding onto clutter longer than necessary causes us unnecessary stress which isn’t really worth it for a few bucks so if you are having a hard time selling something, it might be better to just donate it and put your energy into more important things.

Consider downsizing

If you’re in a home that is more than big enough for your family, you might be able to simplify your life simply by considering a downsize into a smaller place. With downsizing comes less maintenance, less cleaning and more time for you. Not to mention the savings you will make on rent or mortgage repayments. For more pros on downsizing check out the post Benefits of Living In a Smaller Home.

Get out into nature

If your regular form of entertainment is hitting the mall, consider a change of scenery. Simplify your life by swapping the aisles and clothing racks for a day in nature. Go for a hike, bike ride or walk to clear your mind and let go of any stress. Not only are you having much needed fresh air and time for yourself, but you won’t be buying things you might not need into your home or spending money that you might not have.

Simplify your digital space

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Forget perfection.

Meal Plan

Make less extravagant meals

Just donate it

Consider downsizing

Get out into nature

Simplify your digital space

In order to simplify your life you can take stock of your digital space in addition to your physical one. This can cover a whole range of areas in your digital world. It might be deleting excess or blurry photos on your phone as you go and only keeping the best shots, unfollowing people whose posts don’t add value on social media, unsubscribing from unwanted emails cluttering up your inbox or blocking people online who are toxic and add stress to your life. Whilst you are aiming to simplify your life and digital space, you might reconsider spending so much time on social media all together. You might have one day a week where you log off from social media all together like The Minimalist do on Screenless Saturdays. Or even a certain time of day where you put your phone away and read a book or watch a movie. If you are looking for more ways to simplify your life in 2019, check out 15 Ways to Simplify Your Life for even more tips on how you can simplify and live a more intentional lifestyle! This Weeks comment question: How have your simplified your life so far this year? Please let us know your tips in the comments! If you found value in this post I would be super appreciative if you could share it with others who might also find value in it 🙂Want to Simplify your life this year and reduce stress and live a more intentional life? Sometimes we get so used the chaos that is life that we forget to check in with ourselves and ask important questions like; am I happy? Am I prioritising what matters to me? Am I doing too much? How can I do less of what isn’t feeding my soul and more of what does? If you are looking for some new ways to minimise stress in your life and get back to living with intention, finding news ways to simplify can help you achieve your goals. When we pull ourselves away from the hustle and bustle and daily grind and rethink our priorities and consider if they are aligning with life choices and actions, we can reroute to a more intentional path. Whether that might involve spending less time scrolling through spam on Facebook and more time exercising, finding more time to be creative or giving yourself permission to spend in an area that will add value to your life. Here are 9 Easy Ways to Simplify Your Life in 2019 to get your started with a more intentional life.

Make a cleaning schedule or hire a cleaner.

If you are struggling to keep up with your housework consider simplify your life by making a cleaning schedule. This will allow you to break up cleaning tasks into easy, bite-sized chunks. This is also a great opportunity to get family involved and helping out and give you an opportunity to delegate some of the workload. Another option to help you simplify your life is to consider making the investment in hiring a cleaner to help take the load off. Even if it is just once a quarter for the bigger stuff you never have the time or energy for.

Worry Less

There are plenty of things to worry about in life and they will always find us. Simplify your life this year by being more attentive of your feelings and recognise who, or what is causing your unnecessary stress. If you have a friend, family member or work colleague that are constantly going through some drama and pulling you into their web of endless issues, accept that you can’t change what they do but you can change how you react. Accept that you have no control over other people’s choices or actions and if they bring stress on themselves, that is not something that you need to take on. Some people are genuinely going through a tough time, like an illness or job loss, but there are those more toxic people who seem to find drama everywhere they go and make sure you are close by to hear all about it. You can support them and listen to them, but you don’t need to wear their stress, particularly when it’s circumstances they bring on themselves. Make this year a simpler one by saying no to taking on more stress and worry and being a little more selective with who you share your valuable time with.

Declutter With Me Decluttering Course

Are you finding yourself overwhelmed and stressed out by clutter in your home? If you’re looking to minimise the excess in your life, Declutter With Me: A 12 Week Guide to Declutter Your Home is a go-at-your-own-pace course that will give you the step-by-step, room-by-room instructions to help you clear the clutter in your home in as soon as just 12 weeks!

If you are keen to minimise your unwanted clutter check out Declutter With Me so you can create a home you love!