Declutter means to remove things you do not need from a place, in order to make it more pleasant and useful.

In order to efficiently declutter we need to take a holistic approach. Decluttering just your surroundings, your work station, your room or your house is not sufficient. In order to utterly and effectively declutter; declutter mentally and physically and digitally.

We tend to clutter our minds and our surroundings with unnecessary thoughts, worries and things. We hoard unnecessary things and thoughts like storing things and data we barely use, buying things we don’t need, stressing out over matters that are of no significance, getting anxious over meeting a deadline, overthinking, second guessing and the list goes on and on. 

Mental Decluttering

Overthinking be it positive or negative is exhausting. Practice mindfulness on a daily basis. When you focus on the present moment; you are able to block out all unnecessary thoughts. Daily reflection can help a lot to declutter our jumbled up thoughts. 

At least once a day take some time to reflect on your work and whatever is going on in your life. Talk to someone or write it down. Prioritize what and who is important and focus on that.

Simplify your daily routine. Implement systems to relieve your mind of the stress of constant decision making.

Physical Decluttering

Start by planning ahead. Start small and simple. Devote little time each day to declutter. Begin with cleaning up your work area. Be it your house or your workplace. The area that you use most often is the place where you start from. Pile up things. Sort while piling or review the pile afterwards. 

Analyze and sort the items into categories; determine the usefulness of an item, whether to discard/give it away, keep it in store or actually use it. 

Once you’ve reviewed the things; it gets easier to organize them.

Digital Decluttering

In this day and age we tend to get more cluttered digitally and it can be overwhelming. Unorganized inboxes, unnecessary files and documents, duplicate or blurry pictures, outdated or useless applications etc. are a few examples of the digital clutter we hoard. 

Below are a few ways to reduce your digital clutter.

– Clear out your inbox. Unsubscribe irrelevant newsletters. Create filters and automate replies to repetitive emails.

– Reorganize bookmarks and tabs.

– Remove social media apps that you barely use.

– Rethink and reduce who you follow or are friends with on social media accounts.

– Mute notifications.

– Systemically remove/delete files and documents that are useless or outdated. Reorganize and backup what is useful.

– Automate what can be automated.

Reclaiming the uncluttered space mentally, physically and digitally gives you a fresh perspective on how you can focus on the things that matter. It gives you a sense of control, restores energy and increases productivity.