Since I read “The Happiness Project” by Gretchin Rubin, I became a lot more aware of clutter in my house.

I’ve never been a “neat” person, and I’m still not, to be honest. Not how people would define it.

But I have started to eliminate stuff I don’t need, and to clean up after myself much more often.

I also implemented a lot of organization methods for areas of clutter for our whole family.

Like I purchased new laundry hampers so my sisters and I could divide ours up, since we share a room, and it used to all get mashed together.

I put organizing drawers in so I could collect old cards and books that I didn’t want to throw away, but don’t really need at all times.

And recently, I bought hanging shelves that you can put on doors, or nail to the wall. We have a small bathroom that 4 people have to share, and a small bedroom, and the shelves help free up our space a lot. I already can’t believe we ever didn’t have them. It’s so nice never to lose my hairbrush or face cream under the sink now.

Everyone agreed it was an improvement. The crazy thing is, we had the clutter for years, I’m not kidding, years, and did nothing about it.

I’ve come to realize how easy it is to improve your life , even with limited space, if you just get creative.

I’m sure this skill will come in handy if I ever have my own place.

My grandmother, my father, and my mother, all tend to hoard stuff and not throw it away. I inherited a tenancy to hang onto things long after they’re not useful anymore from them…I’m trying to change my habits.

But I think another way we could de-clutter is in our digital world.

I delete apps I don’t use anymore. (Which is better for your phone anyway).

I also have deleted YouTube channels that I never check, and ones that seem to stress me out too much to watch.

Keep my recommended feed full of what’s interesting or wholesome, right?

And I don’t use most social media, and what I do use, I tend to not have notifications on for unless it’s important, just so my phone isn’t clogged up with endless updates on stuff I’m not going to check anyway.

Face it, if we live in a first world country, we can’t get away from needing cell phones unless maybe you’re Amish (and you wouldn’t be reading this if you were). But we can control the phones more by making conscious choices about what we allow on them. I have limited games and other apps on mine.

I think clutter is more about what takes up mental energy than always about what you possess.

Some of us should cut back on reading trashy novels or comics. It’s okay to have some trashy stuff, but it shouldn’t be the only thing you read. It clutters up your mind with a lot of useless information that has no real world application.

It’s good to balance out any cheap or poor quality content you consume with content that helps you learn, or feel more encouraged to do what you need to do. Staying grounded isn’t just an exercise you can do with your 5 senses, it’s also something you can put into your mind.

We all have mindless stuff we like, but the more intentional we are about being aware of what goes into our minds and hearts, the less it will control us.

I find that I’m most often the most bogged down with random crap when I’m paying the least attention to what I consume.

(This works for food too.)

So yeah, that’s how I de-clutter–and I probably could stand to de-clutter some more right now. That’s the fun part, there’s always something else you could do.

People say they want to avoid work and chores, but I was so much more depressed when I didn’t work or do chores that I now think having at least a few tasks ever day or week that you need to get done is good for your mental health. Now if I don’t have one already, I’ll find one on purpose. It helps me not waste time being bored so much. Only so much media you can watch before you feel listless.

-Natasha