How to Declutter Your Environments

This is our 3rd week of stepping towards the simple life Jesus promised. If you missed the first two weeks, you can check them out here and here.

Today, we’re going to talk about our environment. Once we are in the right frame of mind, we can go to work at simplifying our environments, meaning the spaces we have and the things in them. Decluttering and getting rid of all the “I might need that someday” things are all forms of trusting that if you need something, God will take care of you when that time comes. You don’t need to hoard stuff so you can take care of yourself when the time comes. What’s more, the excess leads to chaos that leads to being overwhelmed and reminded of the stress of the life you think you want. So, let’s fix our environment with a couple of steps:

Organize Possessions:

Get rid of trash, and yes I’m talking about all the cell phone and gadget boxes we’re keeping “just in case I need to return it.” You don’t need it after the return window.
Make a donate box: Get a plastic box or medium-sized trash can and line it with a heavy-duty trash bag. When you find something you don’t need anymore, and it can be donated, toss it in. When it’s full, remove the bag and reline it so it’s ready for the next batch of donations.
Create a system for organizing your belongings so that you can easily find what you need. That means a system for mail, for kids’ papers, for books, the kitchen, everything. If possible, label everything.
If you don’t need it in 10 days and it’s less than $10 dollars, get rid of it 20 days, $20 dollars, 30 days, and $30, etc. Obviously, there are exceptions, but don’t let the exceptions become rules.

Reduce Excess:

Identify areas where you have excess, whether it’s clothing, gadgets, or furniture, and pare down to the essentials. Try to use up what you have instead of throwing things away, but if you really won’t use it and you can’t give it away, throw it out.
Donate items to charity or sell them to make some extra money.
Stop buying things: the hardest part of reducing excess is not replacing it when it’s gone. When you’re trying to declutter, don’t buy more stuff, especially organizational things. Because making your unneeded junk look pretty just keeps you from getting rid of it.

Create a Peaceful Environment:

Design your living space to be easy to keep up with. Remember, less time on stuff means more time for people. This doesn’t just mean reducing what’s in a room, but making sure how the room is set up is easy to keep clean, if only visually.
Choose decor and furnishings that bring you joy and peace. If you like your space dark and moody (like me), don’t feel like it needs to be sunshine and rainbows. If you want everything to be a varying shade of blue, do that. Don’t feel like you have to be boxed in by the expectations of interest. That’s why we’re weird souls anyway.
Add plants and flowers to your home or don’t. Plants are shown to help reduce stress, but if keeping it alive stresses you out, then don’t do it.

Hopefully, that gives you some practical, easy ways to start the process of decluttering. It can be a constant battle, especially if you have other people living in your home. But the more you keep focusing on Jesus and expecting him to provide for your needs, the less you will feel like you need to hold on to things that just junk up our lives anyway.

Stay Weird,