For Immediate Release:
Dateline: Atlanta,
GA
Tuesday, March 21, 2017
March 21, 2017by Dr. Kathleen HallLiving in clutter is a great source of stress. When you can’t find your car keys, your favorite blouse is missing and the report you spent so much time on has disappeared your stress can be on overdrive. When you are surrounded by clutter you can feel out of control, frustrated and angry. You can get overbooked, overworked and overwhelmed these days. The piling clutter seems beyond your control and then your mind just gets flooded. As the growing stress from the clutter continues you can begin to feel guilty, frustrated and shamed by your chronic procrastination. A team of UCLA researchers recently observed 32 Los Angeles families and found that all of the mothers’ stress hormones spiked during the time they spent dealing with their belongings. Physical clutter overloads your senses just like multitasking does. This creates stress, impairs your memory and stops you from thinking creatively. In the study published last year titled “Life at Home in the Twenty-First Century,” researchers at U.C.L.A. observed 32 middle-class Los Angeles families and found that all of the mothers’ stress hormones spiked during the time they spent dealing with their belongings. Seventy-five percent of the families involved in the study couldn’t park their cars in their garages because they were too jammed with things. Spring is a Great Time to Clear Your Clutter From Your Mind - You are on an adventure. Be optimistic, open-minded. Experience this as a de-cluttering journey to a new life!
- Meditation/Guided Imagery. Begin to learn to clear your mind by taking a meditation or guided imagery class. This will reduce your stress and begin to give you courage and confidence.
- Clearing rituals. Create or learn clearing rituals. You may want to take a shower or bath with your favorite fragrance and imagine your worries and stresses washing down the drain. Light a candle in your home and imagine the flame is clearing the sacred space in your home.
- Clearing space. Every two hours stop, take deep breathes; inhale clear, clean air, the exhale worries and racing thoughts. Get an app you love to help remind you to keep up this clearing practice.
From Your Home - Resources are everywhere. Clutter is a great human problem in our world. There are tremendous resources available to you. You are not alone! There are great books, videos on YouTube, and consultants you can hire to guide you through this exciting de-cluttering process.
- Box it up. Buy some small sized, easy to handle boxes. Choose one room to begin in. Put the clutter into the boxes and stack them in the corner of the room. See how neat and clean your room looks now. Open a couple boxes a night or on a weekend and throw out or organize on shelves the things you love. If you don’t love it and it doesn’t bring you joy get rid of it.
- Designer organizers. There are beautiful shelves, cabinets, and boxes to organize everything you have. Have fun going online or to your favorite store and explore new ways to manage your stuff with beauty and great design.
- Baby steps. You did not get here overnight and it will take a while to work through your clutter. Imagine it as a spiritual journey that is blessing you with freedom every step of the way. One room at a time, one closet at a time, one day at a time.
- Be graceFULL. Be kind and gentle to yourself during this process. Stop along the way, prop your feet up and celebrate this de-cluttering, freeing, liberating process.
From Your Work - De-clutter your workspace. Clear off your desk and put the contents in a small box in the corner of your office or cubicle.
- Beauty. Use your favorite color, the photos you love and the plants you enjoy to decorate your beautiful workspace. Once you claim your workspace as a place of beauty, organization, and efficiency, everything in your life will change.
- Tasks. Don’t forget to get rid of the clutter on your computer, emails, and correspondence.
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