Decluttering For Better Health: Guest Blog by Alison Kero

A recent article I read talked about the link clutter has with depression and it was no surprise to me. In fact, I’m more surprised it’s taken this long for scientists to find that there is a direct link. For me, I’ve seen firsthand for many years the effects clutter has on individuals and their families. Overwhelm, frustration, stress, exhaustion and a loss of productivity are just a few of the negative effects clutter has on our lives. But why?

 

Clutter isn’t just stuff sitting in a pile in your home or office. It’s actually a pile of indecisiveness, chaos, frustration, fear, shame, guilt and a few other negative emotions you may not even be aware of, but why – because the clutter is a distraction. It’s distracting you from being happy, focused and even physically and/or emotionally healthy. Physical health-wise, you’re already fighting an uphill battle because underneath the clutter lies dirt, dust and even mildew or mold and when left unattended for long enough, an unseemly bug infestation may crop up. All of these conditions can cause physical symptoms and health issues to arise and wreak havoc on your life.

While we can all agree that dirt, mold and bugs are a problem, we also all know how to address those issues, usually without being triggered. However, what isn’t so clear to see are the emotional stresses that clutter has on us, which often cause us to self sabotage our efforts to be healthy and happy. Clutter prevents us from being in touch with our emotions and so often the trigger of clutter just sends us in a the direction of avoidance and distraction rather than on focusing and taking positive action. So how do we recognize these emotions when we encounter them? We do so by first understanding what they are, so let’s take a look at the 3 most basic clutter causing emotions;

1. Fear: Fear freezes people up and causes the inability to make smart decisions. Examples:A.I don’t know what to do with this.
   B. If I let this go, I’ll need it soon after
   C. Someone will become angry if I let this go/I will be judged D. Letting go means being in lack
2. Guilt: The energy of guilt is like a chain of weights around your neck – becoming heavier and more unbearable as you hold on to more of it.
   Examples:
   A. I spent a lot of money on thisB. A person I care about gave this to me
   C. I am a bad person for not feeling sentimental about this
3. Shame: Shame is the heaviness that a lack of self esteem brings to your life. You simply feel you are not worth the effort it takes to live a happy, healthy, productive life.
   Examples:
   A. What if I gain/lose the weight again?B. I don’t deserve to wear nice, new things
   C. I’m bad with money and I always buy the wrong things D. I make bad decisions so I shouldn’t make any

So now that you’re aware of these 3 basic emotions that tend to cause and keep clutter in your life, how

do you combat it? Well, the first step is realizing there is a problem to address and then to take action towards finding a positive solution. The best way to find a solution that allows for positive, lasting change is to utilize these 5 steps:

1. Priorities & Goals: How do you want your space to feel? What do you want surrounding you in your space? Once you know what your goals and priorities are, it’s much easier to figure out what will help you reach your goals and what will only distract you.
2. Set Boundaries: How much space do you actually have? Will you allow yourself to keep items out of fear, guilt, or shame? What feelings will you allow in your space?
3. Make Small, Self Love Based Decisions:There is no quick fix to enjoying a happy, healthy, productive life. It’s about making one small, self love based decision at a time and choosing to put yourself first with the knowledge and trust that doing so will actually allow you to give more to everyone, with energy and happiness to spare.
4. Identify & Create Systems: Make things easy for yourself! Is keeping fear, guilt and shame easy? Do they help you feel light, empowered or loved? Keep identifying what makes you feel good and then keep choosing to bring that into your life and keep it as simple as possible!
5. Emotional Awareness: The more you are aware of how you truly feel about something and the more you choose to surround yourself with positive, happy, contentful, joyful, fun, loving people, places and things, the more of that will show up in your life. Check in with yourself to see how you feel because this is your intuition guiding you. It will always be your best guide in life and the more you choose to put yourself first, the more you’ll have to give to everyone.

Surround yourself with a support system – whether those are friends, colleagues, a therapist or a decluttering expert, the more people offering a helping hand or who have your back, the more quickly you’ll see dramatic, positive changes in your life. However, even if you don’t have that support system in place yet, start with yourself first and tell yourself you’re worth taking a few, small self love based steps toward a happier, healthier life, because you are.

Long before decluttering expert, writer & speaker Alison Kero started her first organizing business in 2004, she searched for ways to make life easier. After much research she realized it came down to 2 simple organizing techniques: first to use self-love as her decision making tool so she can easily determine what she likes, uses and needs in her life and second to set boundaries so she doesn’t sabotage her efforts. Alison also recognized the importance of figuring out her priorities so that she could determine what she considered valuable to her and what wasn’t. Alison first started with physical clutter but soon realized she could transfer those same simple techniques to every aspect of her life; whether it’s who to spend time with, which activities to do or what objects to bring home, Since implementing her new decluttering system, Alison has found she now enjoys; increased energy, improved productivity and overall greater contentment thanks to her organizational system and she loves teaching this easy system to her clients. You can find more about Alison and her decluttering system at: http://www.ackorganizing.com.

If you want to know more, listen to Alison’s podcast about how to declutter your life on BTBHA.com. Click below to listen.