Have you ever found yourself feeling scattered, anxious, jittery, wired, tired, overwhelmed, burnt out or just plain “off”? You are not alone. It is no secret that conditions like anxiety and depression are on the rise. It is estimated that 15-25% of people are taking psychiatric (most often anti-anxiety and anti-depression) medications.
This doesn’t even take into account those people who are feeling and experiencing anxiety and depression regularly but aren’t on a medication. Rates of anxiety and depression are reported to be much higher in women in comparison to men where some estimates reach 50% of the female population in the United States.
It begs the question, “Why do so many people struggle with this?” There are of course a number of possibilities and each situation is a little different. I am not claiming to have the fix for every person and every situation. What I am proposing is a way to lessen the load. The load I am talking about is the result of the modern life and culture we find ourselves in. We are simply trying to manage too much at one time leading to overwhelm and burnout.
3 Things To Declutter Today
When I was working full-time outside of the home just a couple years ago, I found myself falling into bouts of anxiety. I had not previously been someone prone to anxiety, yet all of the sudden I found myself anxious about everything from daily chores to packing for a weekend away.
Previously, I was someone who was always up for trying a new activity, traveling to a new place, or just enjoying down time to myself; but all of these things started to become difficult in that season. This put me on a path to figure out the source of the anxiety since it was something so new and foreign to me.
What I discovered that it wasn’t any one single thing about me but rather the accumulation of clutter in my life. That clutter had me in a constant state of “go” which prevented me from resting and led to burnout in a hurry.
Types of Clutter
I used to think of clutter as the mass accumulation of just physical things, but what I’ve learned is that it is so much more than the stuff we own. It includes all that we have to manage. Clutter can be broken down into three primary categories.
Environmental Clutter: This is the traditional type of clutter we think of, physical things. Every single item we own.
Noise Clutter: We live in a world where noise is constant. Whether it’s from our music, videos, or people; it is all around us.
Schedule Clutter: Busyness is the new normal. We pack our schedules with work and activities until the to-do list is overflowing.
Environmental Clutter
Environmental clutter is the most well-known type. Even though it is the most well known, it is often one that is most easily neglected. It is so easy to bring yet another thing into our homes or hop on Amazon and have something at your front door in a day or two.
Minimizing environmental clutter can be hard, although I often think it is the easiest of the three listed above. Most of us know we have things in our home that we simply do not use or need. One of the biggest hurdles is simply getting started on a decluttering project. If you’re looking for help getting started, check out this post.
What kind of toll is all that physical clutter really taking. I used to think that clutter stuffed away in closets wasn’t really impacting my day-to-day life. Yet, as I continue to minimize my home; with each declutter life feels lighter and simpler, freeing me to focus on the things that matter.
Let me give you an example of this that I experienced earlier today. In the closet of our spare bedroom there is bin filled with wrapping paper. Some of the paper had pieces hanging off of it or were almost gone. Every time I opened that closet, I felt like it was a complete mess. Today, I got rid of 4 rolls of wrapping paper (that’s right just 4). Two of them I was given and have never been opened. The other two, were thin paper that never held its structure with pieces falling off of it. I donated the two that had never been opened and let go of the other two.
After removing this four rolls of wrapping paper from that closet, it feels like an entirely different space. Even though I thought I was being practical to try and use up that wrapping paper, the reality is it has been sitting in that closet for 3 years now because I usually find other ways to wrap gifts.
Instead, what it was doing was creating a low level of stress that that entire closet needed an overhaul clean. It was always in the back of my mind that the closet was messy and too cluttered. It seems so silly in hindsight to allow four rolls of wrapping paper that I thought would be wasteful to part with to run a narrative of stress in my mind.
As someone who is seeking a slower, softer, more minimal life; I want my home to be a sanctuary of simplicity and peace. I want it to be a place of relaxation and connection, not a place where a to-do list a mile long is constantly bombarding my eyes as I move from room to room. Minimalism has given me that. I get to spend my evenings connecting with my husband, relaxing, or spending time outside rather than catching up on yet another thing to manage.
Whether it’s my 10 item wardrobe, my simplified hygiene rhythm, or creating calm and simple living spaces; a minimalist environment has created space to help me pursue my goals and live the life I want to live.
Schedule Clutter
“Good but busy.” That is the response that so often comes when asking someone how they are doing. In fact, busyness is a badge of honor and responsibility that is worn with pride these days. If someone isn’t busy, we often see them as lazy or unmotivated. This is a narrative I would love to challenge.
I have tried the full schedule, busyness thing. Honestly, it did lead to professional success (although I think I could have had a lot more working like this). Unfortunately, the cost of that success was luke-warm relationships, getting frustrated easily and snapping at the people I love, poor sleep, and a constant feeling that I was late or forgetting something. In other words, I was on edge.
While environmental clutter has been the easiest for me to let go of, schedule clutter has been one of the hardest. I was addicted to being busy. Really the only thing that helped me escape was reaching a point of total and complete burnout. My body physically couldn’t do it anymore. My cortisol levels were so high for such an extended period of time, that they eventually dropped too low. This is the body’s natural response to prolonged elevated stress. It stops signaling to fight because it simply can’t anymore. Instead, it gives up and drops to a level that is too low as a protective mechanism.
Learning to say “no” has been hard. It has been hard on my ego more than anything. Saying no to a job that was burning me out. Saying no to activities and weekends away that only left me feeling more tired. It is hard to say no to people and things that we care about.
When I finally built up the courage to start saying no, I found a freedom I never expected. I thought I would miss the activities or feel bad that I wasn’t working a traditional job. And at first, I did feel this way. It took time to wean myself off of the busyness addiction. But the more I said no, the more I realized what I was being given in saying no. That is the freedom to say yes to the things that I truly feel called to do.
I had been wanting to spend more time blogging, taking care of and renovating our home, making and enjoying delicious meals, and being outside in nature. I have been able to do all these things because I finally started saying no to the things that I only kind of wanted to do or felt obligated to do. Those were not the activities that filled my cup and energized my soul. But the things I am doing now do.
I have actually found that by doing less, I am more productive. I fit more into my days because the things I do energize me for the next thing.
Noise Clutter
Noise clutter is the sneakiest of clutters for me because often times the noise seems like a good thing. Like listening to a podcast or a Youtube video to learn something new. It can also be as simple as filling what feels like an “awkward” silence with a friend with words. Something seemingly good but is it?
Sometimes it might be, but I have also found in many situations that silence is so very powerful.
Sure, I can learn something new by listening to a podcast, but I also often reach a point of information overload. Listening becomes dull and boring because I am now desiring to DO something. This is where silence is so important. It is during those silent moments that we can take what we have learned and develop ideas and a plan for ourselves.
I have found this to be so practical in blogging. I notice that my least creative times are when I am filling my days with too much noise. I truly believe that creativity is born in silence. Those times when our mind has the time to wander. To come up with ideas and plans for how to execute them.
We live in a world that is deficient in silence. Even if we aren’t listening to the radio, a podcast, or a video; we fill silence with constant talking. Sometimes that talking is really about nothing at all. Now, there is definitely a time and place for connecting and talking with others. It is also probably something that we don’t do enough of.
However, I think we are even more afraid of silence. It is boring and uncomfortable. Yet, when we free our brains of endless stimulation, they have the ability to work and solve problems without us even realizing it.
Have you ever been stumped on how to fix a problem or forget something that you wanted to do? Then when you take a shower or go for a walk; bam, the solution hits you. That is the power of the subconscious mind. Our minds have the ability to solve complex problems without us even being consciously aware of it. We simply need to remove the noise clutter, so our minds can create and solve.
Start Decluttering Today
I am always working on all three of these types of clutter. It’s not a one and done process but rather something to be regularly aware of. If we’re not careful, we can easily fall back into their elusive traps. I like the one in – one out rule. Whenever I bring something new into my life (whether physical or on my schedule, I try to remove or let go of something else.
What can you declutter today to protect your environment, schedule, and silence?
More Minimalist Posts You Might Enjoy…
Minimalism in Difficult Seasons
Live More Fully With Minimalism
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