Moving into 2012, you are probably thinking about goals, New Years Resolutions, or ways to improve your life.  Although we often focus on the nutritional and physical side of optimal health, we wanted to look at psychological, emotional and spiritual aspects of optimal health as well. One of the most common areas our clients need assistance with is removing excess clutter from their lives and surroundings. Here are 10 tips to help you reduce the clutter in your life, which will allow you more time and energy to devote to living.

The Tips

1. Declutter for 15 minutes every day. It’s amazing how much you can get through if you just do it in small increments like this.
2. Don’t allow things into the house in the first place. Stop bringing in new stuff NOW. If you can only establish one habit at a time, establish the no-more-stuff habit first. Think of bailing out a boat with a hole in it – you can bail and bail, but it won’t do anything for the leak.
3. Donate or gift stuff you’re decluttering, so you don’t feel bad about wasting it or throwing it away.
4. Start at the corner by the door and move your way around the room. This helps break through the ‘I don’t know where to start’ excuse. Start with the superficial stuff first – surfaces, empty the trash bin, etc. Repeat, but do more the 2^nd time around (i.e., open the cupboards, etc.).
5. Use the ‘one in, two out’ rule: whenever you bring in an item, you have to throw or give away two other items. At first, you may cheat by throwing out two pieces of paper, but soon you will have to move to bigger stuff.
6. Make your storage space smaller. If you have lots of storage, you’ll fill it with stuff.
7. Clothing rule: If you haven’t worn an item in 12 months, sell or donate it.
8. Declutter one room (including any closets, desks, cabinets, etc.) before starting on the next one. Spending time in that room will feel so good, and it will be so easy to keep clean, that it will motivate you to do more!
9. Internalized that your value is not in your ‘stuff’. It is just ‘stuff’ – hoarding is an act based in scarcity. Many clients find that if they write down their values and what is important to them, the ‘stuff’ in our lives is usually pretty far down the list.
10. Have someone else (who you trust!) help you go through things. They don’t have the (sometimes irrational) emotional attachment that you might have, and still recognize if something can be kept.

If you want to be healthy – body, mind and spirit – you have to make room for it! Begin today to declutter you life and enjoy the natural path to optimal health in 2012.

P.S. If the clutter in your life is getting the better of you, supporting your body’s ability to handle stress is a GREAT idea (if not downright necessary!). If you are feeling tired and worn out, use Adreset – 1-2 capsules twice daily; on the other hand, if you are more anxious or nervous, use Serenagen – 2 capsules 2-3 times daily.