How To Declutter Your Home To Reduce Stress In Your Everyday Life

Posted September 21, 2021 by Guest Poster -

As a busy mom with 5 kids I have no problem admitting I can’t do it all…and I don’t know how to do it all. Thankfully, I connected with Casey Nester of TheNesterHouse.org. She’s here to show us how to declutter our homes to reduce stress in our everyday life. -PW

Laundry to wash, kids to get to school or practice, meetings to plan.

Is there anyone who doesn’t feel overwhelmed when faced with the endless to-do lists of life?

Along with a busy schedule, you can look at your home or workspace with piles of papers and an assortment of “who knows what” covering the countertops, and without even realizing it, we feel tired and anxious before we even start our day.

In the Nester house, there is an unwritten rule. Put your stuff away, or it’s going to get tossed by mom. My kids joke that whenever they can’t find something, mom has sold it on the Facebook marketplace or has donated it to the local thrift store.

They are not wrong; It’s a real possibility!

Home organization experts have always recommended decluttering to make the home a safer, more pleasant place to live. But beyond that, research also shows that clutter can be bad for your physical and mental health. In this light, picking up around the house can mean more than cleaning out cabinets and donating old toys. It could also be refreshing one’s overall well-being.

Sign me up for that!

Here are five ways to declutter your life, reduce stress, and clear your mind.

1. Don’t overwhelm yourself; start small.
Let’s be real here. How likely will you clean and organize your entire home, office, or life in one day? If you can do that, I have a job for you! That would be so ambitious, and it would overwhelm you and probably prevent you from ever getting started. Instead, start small. Maybe set aside five minutes each day to straighten up a small area like the junk drawer or your car. After building up some momentum, set aside more time. Before long, you’ll be listening to your favorite radio station or watching Christmas movies, and you will be decluttering everything in sight!

2. Does it bring you joy?
If you’re familiar with Marie Kondo (check her out on Netflix), then you already know this tip. But, for those who aren’t familiar with her, it’s pretty simple. Whenever you’re cleaning your home or workplace, physically hold or touch the item that you’re deciding on. Next, ask yourself, “Does it spark joy?” Okay. You may not have to ask that literally. But, the idea here is to consider how you feel as you hold the object. For example, maybe when you hold that coffee cup from your last vacation, it brings back sweet memories of the beach with your family. Keep it! What if the object doesn’t invoke such feelings? Toss it — part ways with it.

3. Adopt a no-freebies policy.
Pens, koozies, and keychains. Oh my! We’ve all been here before. You attend a conference or festival and come with a ton of free swag. I mean, who couldn’t use a new and free t-shirt, pen, water bottle, or beer koozie? It may seem like a good idea at first. But, in reality, it’s just more stuff adding to your clutter — and it’s stuff you don’t need. While this takes some willpower — stop stockpiling on all these freebies. Unless it is cold hard cash, then we can make the exception.

4. Shred, recycle, or trash anything outdated.
Do you have receipts from a decade ago? Is there a jacket in your closet that no longer fits you? Are there outdated medications eating up space in your bathroom cabinet? If so, don’t hesitate to shred, recycle, take to goodwill, or trash these outdated items. When we moved from Oklahoma to Wyoming, I filled an entire black garbage bag with old receipts, bank, junk mail papers, user manuals, kid’s school papers, etc. This is a task I should have stayed on top of, but instead, I had piles of papers all through my office. Now, I use the four-box method.
Grab four boxes and labeled them with the following categories:
▪ Trash: These are items that you no longer need or want. But, they’re also not worthy of donating or selling. Toss it as soon as you fill it up!
▪ Give away/sell: For the things that may have value to others, donate or sell them. Think local charities, families in need, or kids heading to college and need stuff for their first place.
▪ Store: Seasonal clothing is a perfect example of this. There’s no need to keep your Tommy Bahama shirt hanging in your closet when it’s 17 degrees outside, and even Santa saves his Hawaiian shirts for the summer!
▪ Keep and put away: For the things you regularly use, designate a home for them and put them away when not in use. Everything should have its place.

Take some time to clear the clutter in your life; you’ll feel happier and more relaxed at the end of the day and gradually (I repeat, gradually) create more order as you go along. When it’s impossible to find items when you need them, it occupies your mind from getting stuff done.

Take the time!

You are worth it, and no one needs the added stress of clutter surrounding them.

Your home should be a place that you love to be, a place for you to relax and recharge.

Organizer, wife, and mama to 3 boys, Casey Nester, is the carpooling, busy mommin’ gal that lives down the street.

An Oklahoma Girl turned Wyoming Gal that when she gets excited, is known to say “Y’all” and “Fixin’ to go to the store!” Casey loves to help others and wants to help you make your home a place you love to be, whether that is organizing, decorating, or helping with your dream project.

Let’s do it together!

Casey Nester
Owner of The Nester House LLC
casey@thenesterhouse.org
thenesterhouse.org

Categories: For the Home, Health and Wellness, Prairie Wife Style, This and That

Tags: , casey nester, declutter, happy home, home organization, home organizing, mental health, Purge, the nester house, tips to declutter