Heyyy! How are you doing? Hope you are well? I am doing great too. Although, I have a lot of tasks piled up, I will be fine. I have been postponing starting this newsletter for weeks, I honestly can’t figure out why. I was going to postpone it, again, but my friend Mariam will come for my head, literally. So, here I am now. Thanks for the push Mariam, I actually needed it.
Let’s get to the newsletter..
Some months ago (I think July), I had an opportunity to join a life coaching session by DDK. DDK is a life transformational coach that helps understand and achieve their purpose, maximize their potential and navigate through life. She held a free coaching session called Activation Intensive, and trust me when I say, it was PACKED! She was so full of energy, you could literally feel her positive and strong vibe emanating from her voice (podcasts). It was a 30-day coaching session where each day, she would review a particular topic. On the third day, she spoke about The Declutter Miracle.
Before then, decluttering didn’t make so much sense to me. I mean, why would tidying my stuff affect my performance, productivity or whatever? But then, she broke it down, with her voice so powerful from her podcasts, I literally found myself decluttering all the declutterables (if there’s even a word like that lol) on reflex.
Image from CREM Nigeria
To declutter basically means, to remove things you do not need from a place, in order to make it more pleasant and useful. Apart from the obvious reason that decluttering helps you stay organized, it helps you stay focused, less overwhelmed and brings about peace of mind (yes, it’s that deep). For someone that gets overwhelmed easily, this hack was just what I needed.
So, I will be highlighting a list of things you can declutter and how to declutter them effectively.
Your space
This could be your entire house, your room, your office, your work corner at home, or everything. We both know you do not need that old TV remote any longer, throw it away my dear. Bad batteries, outdated invitation cards, old calendars, old toothbrushes, exhausted pen, damaged phone charger and earpiece, empty body lotion containers, expired food, cans, I could go on and on. You know them, they all belong to the trash. Your house is not a museum.
Your mind
Journaling is one effective way to declutter your mind, another being yoga or mediating. I get it that not everyone likes the concept of journaling, it can be quite difficult putting your thoughts into words. But journaling is one act that, if mastered can change your life, literally. Journaling is basically pouring out your mind, thoughts and feelings, in a book, supposedly your journal. Your journal is meant for only you to read. If you are worried someone else would read it, you could decode it or something. Journaling makes your mind less clogged and helps you focus on other trivial matters at hand. Yoga requires a lot of concentration that is quite difficult for me to give, but yoga works perfectly fine too, I totally recommend.
Your closet
Divide your closet into three keep, donate and thrash. Clothes and shoes that no longer fit, clothes and shoes that you no longer wear should go to the donate section. There are a couple of orphanage homes you could donate them too. You can also give them to your younger relatives. Torn clothes that are beyond repair should be thrashed.
Image from Appleshine
Social media
Social media, really? Yes! You can declutter that too. I am pretty sure you follow a couple of accounts that, when they pop up on your timeline, you wonder how am I even following this person? Those are exactly the type of accounts you should unfollow. If for some reason, you feel uneasy (guilt, intimidation, whatever it is really) when you come across a person’s post, save yourself the mental stress and unfollow that person. Your timeline should stir up positive emotions and not the opposite, and if you are getting negative vibes, it is totally okay to unfollow that person. Positive vibes all the way! Follow accounts that resonates with your being. If you love cooking or eating, follow food pages. If you are a creative, follow pages that inspires you and triggers your creativity. I resonate with art, food, a bit of poetry and fashion, and those are the pages you will come across on my timeline.
Diet
I would have said ‘cut out all the unhealthy food from your diet’ but we both know how difficult that can be. Plus, changes like that (in fact, all changes) do not happen at once. It’s a long process. So, I would say, reduce your junks, take a lot of fruits, water and vegetables and you are good to go!
Emails and Messages
Delete unnecessary mails and unsubscribe from offers that no longer serve you. Also, having 849 unread WhatsApp messages is not cute. Apart from the fact that important info can be buried in the midst of irrelevant ones, they increase stress levels and affect a person psychologically. The effect is so subtle you wouldn’t even notice.
Phone and Laptop
Delete apps that no longer serve you. Organize files on your laptop, create folders and group your files properly. You do not have to spend so much time searching for files if they are properly organized.
Other things you can declutter is your cabinet, money, car, calendar, etc.
So that’s all for this episode! * insert a celebration GIF *
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P.S. I will most likely publish twice a month on Sundays. So, expect me in your mail bi-weekly.
Love and light.
Yosola.
I came back to comment on this lol.
I just want you to know that after reading this episode I have cleared out all the wanted things I was holding on it. Thank you
I love this! I just started journalling during the lockdown and it helps with organizing my thoughts. Thanks Yossy ❤