There has been a lot of talk about how minimising or decluttering your home can help with your mental and physical health. But equally important is to declutter you emotions and your mind. These are often overlooked. But can and do help improve your mental and physical health much quicker than just a physical declutter alone.

If you want to set this as a challenge then set your intentions and allow yourself time to complete each one before moving on to the next item in this list. It’s also good to ask for support from a friend you know will support you unconditionally. You’ll need a journal and a paper or online planner system to begin.

Set your personal policies.

These allow you to say no and protect your mental health. Ask yourself what these policies would look like for your life? To figure this out ask yourself:

1. What do you love, like, resent, feel bitter about?
2. What could live with or without today?
3. When have I allowed something I shouldn’t have?
4. Is anyone pulling you off your path in life, etc.?

Review your answers. Not just about your current situation but also past events and people. This will allow you to see if you have patterns that repeat themselves. Remember you don’t have to justify yourself to anyone. Having your personal policies allows you to be prepared in advance and you can have a response ready in case:

1. Someone over steps boundaries with you.
2. You find yourself feeling bitter or resentful.

Write down what you want to say in response to different scenarios and practise these. Think through how you might response in these situations. How you’ll feel and work your response out in return. The standard “ let me think about that and get back to you” works. So don’t be afraid to use it.

Decide what you do or don’t care about.

Make a list, a big list, of everything and I mean everything you think about. Even things you haven’t made your mind up about yet. Keep this list either on your computer/tablet or in a planner, so you can add to it as you think of more things.

Then highlight what you care about. What you really care about. Now discard the rest.  As these are mental and energy drainers. Let them go. Even on the understanding you’ll come back to some of them next year or sometime in the future to review them again.

Free up this mental and emotional space for what you really care about. It lets your brain know it doesn’t have to think about them even on a subconscious level.

Evaluate your commitments.

Where are you spending your time and with whom? Write these down now in your journal.

Are you taking on other people’s responsibilities? Write these down. If you’re unsure if it’s your responsibility, ask a friend for help with this exercise.

List out all your responsibilities on a daily/weekly basis and the review each one. If you are doing someone else’s job etc., it’s time to hand them back. Stop immediately if you can or give yourself a deadline of when you’ll stop. If you can’t stop something then ask for help. If you are doing an unfair share of a job then ask your colleagues or family for more support.

What is happening in you routine that brings you no joy, value or you don’t care about? Write these down in your journal now. Can you cut any of these out, so you can spend more time on things that bring your happiness?

Add items/things to your planner that do bring you more happiness. If you don’t put them in you won’t actually do them. But never over-commit yourself. You need down-time plus if your timetable is unrealistic you won’t stick to it. Remember you are trying to declutter. (Check out my Review Your Priorities free course and worksheets here)

Identify your negative beliefs.

These negative beliefs might be unconscious at first. But even allowing yourself to bring these to the forefront will help you examine and confront them. If you’re feeling stuck examine one area of your life at a time.

1. What are your beliefs about this area of your life?
2. Is there a particular event or thing that happened to make you feel this way or have this belief?
3. Are there emotional experiences that contribute to this belief?
4. Are you making assumptions about this area of your life?
5. Determine what you are gaining from this belief?
6. Ask yourself: Have you ever gone against this belief? Really pull this belief apart, look for evidence for and against this belief and decide whether you will keep or discard it now. Now think about what your future would be like without this belief.

You can also do this exercise with positive beliefs, so you can build the positivity around this belief further.

Bring in some gratitude.

Write down 10 things your grateful in your life today. Be as specific as you can be. Write down one way how you practice gratitude. If you don’t practise gratitude already begin today. Gratitude is the fastest way to boost your mental health. (You can read more here)

Cut your goals or have at least one goal for this year.

Find out your why for goals you want in life first. This will keep you going long after motivation has left. If you have a lot of goals you will get distracted and are unable to focus on getting them all done. If you simplify to just one goal at a time you can give it your full focus.

You can still write out all your goals, just prioritise them and decide which one you’d like to tackle first. Then move on to the next goal. Make large goals into smaller ones to boost your confidence as you’ll get quicker wins from finishing them.

Brain dump at least once a week.

Get everything out of your head on a regular basis. If you can do this at least once a week it will help you to become more focused. Again this allows your doing mind some time off, especially at night so your sleep should improve as a result. You can tie this in with reducing your commitments, goals setting and writing your weekly to do list (see below).

Simplify your to do list.

By now you should have eliminated a lot from your list of priorities. Now it’s time to use a planner/online app to help you plan out your weekly to do list. Prioritize one larger item only on a daily basis plus 2-4 smaller things only. Make sure your to do list doesn’t contain project steps that last several days.

Remember it’s all about having manageable to do items on your list each morning. You don’t need a large list to feel like you have achieved stuff once you tick them off. If you still find you can’t manage to get things done each day then your list is either unrealistic or not doable. So ask for help or break each item down further into doable steps.

Plan a continual stop list.

Set up a list for this on your computer/tablet or at the back of your planner. These items are most likely one of two things

1. Other people’s responsibilities you need to stop doing.
2. Or Bad habits you want to change.

Remember you need to add in a good habit for every one you are trying to delete. (I suggest ways to do this here)

Review this list each week and add to it. You’re not allowed to add anything on this list back into your life or schedule.

Plan a self-care day each week.

Book time in for yourself in your planner. If you can’t get a day for yourself then 1 hour or half a day will do. But you do need some self-care space just for you. If you don’t you’ll find that time being taken by other people or their things.

Choose activities that help you unwind and feel restful. Make a list of things you’d like to do or try then schedule them into your self-care day. The whole idea behind this is to make you feel less stressed, lighter and motivated for the coming week. Again don’t over schedule this time either as it’s meant to be relaxing.

Practice being present.

Block out time for meditation. Even 3 to 5 minutes to start will help. Set a timer/alarm on your phone to remind you to take this time in your day to recharge your batteries.

You can also wear a bracelet/ring to remind you to stay present during the day every time you look at it. Some people also set their background screen on your computer/table/phone. This picture reminds you to be present each time you see it. You could make a simple design with the words “stay present” written on it. Each time you see this image just taking a couple of deep breaths before continuing on with your day will make a big difference to your mental health.

You could also get out in nature for at least 15 minutes each day. Preferable at lunchtime especially in the winter.

Pick a positive media resource to follow.

Instead of the daily news feed or social media get some positive sources you can read or listen to. Read positive or motivating books and blogs. Or read self-help or positive informational or uplifting books/podcasts you find relaxing also. Don’t forget some funny videos/films too.

Minimise anything negative that you listen or watch. This is feeding your mind with negative events or things and these only reinforce negative messages in your brain. At times we are unaware of their daily impact on our stress as it may be on a subconscious level.

Build a team of supporters.

Build up a group of friends. Having at least one friend who supports you unconditionally is so beneficial to your mental health. Add people as you go. Professionals can also be added if you need support such as GP, Consultants, Therapist etc.

Delete negative people from your life. Start by creating a list of everyone in your life at the moment and look to see who supports you or not. Now eliminate those that don’t. Or at the very least minimise contact with them. Try to move further away from these negative people over time and increase time spent with positive supporters instead.

Review your physical space.

Create an environment that will support you. Where ever you are at in life. At home, in work, college or school. Decluttering everything in your home and having a space for everything cuts down on mental clutter also. There’s nothing worse than facing a home with loads of clutter, that needs cleaning on a daily basis after a full days work too.

Start with one room. I’d recommend your bedroom, as you need at least one restful room just for you. Then move onto the next room. Again start small. Plan out doing decluttering for half hour or one hour slots per week and review every item. Donate, recycle or get rid of things that no longer bring you happiness. Yes you can get rid of all those unwanted presents. Someone might be happy to receive them.

Look at where your money is going.

Finances are a huge stressor for people. In fact it’s one of the biggest stressors. When we declutter our physical space we can start to take note of where we are spending our money. We can think about where we’d prefer to spend or save our money.

Sometimes we don’t want to look at our finances. Especially if we are having financial difficulties. But it is better to reach out for help here. (I talk more about this in my blog on finances)

There can be a lot of emotions involved in decluttering so please remember:

1. Progress not perfection is a good motto to live by here. You can only do your best and that is perfectly fine. Only do what you can don’t feel you need to push yourself further.
2. A lot of emotions can come up when we declutter not just our physical space but our minds as well. You may find yourself feeling physically exhausted by any of these exercises so be prepared for that. Give yourself time and patience. There’s no rush. It’s certainly not a race and you are in no competition with anyone.
3. If you find yourself struggling at any stage stop and ask for professional help.

Work With Me.

Remember you are allowed to ask for support. No one is an island. If you need extra support then you can also work with me. We all struggle with stress and overwhelm from time to time. If you find this has become a problem for you and you’d like some support then schedule an appointment with me.