By: Nicole Vasco
Did you know that decluttering your home can lead to a massive glow up both physically and mentally? In this post, I’m highlighting my top 10 reasons to declutter your home for a massive glow up.
When the weather starts to thaw out from the winter months, everyone focuses on spring cleaning. Moms all across the land, roll up their shirt sleeves, slip on their latex gloves, grab all their cleaning supplies and begin to deep clean the *bleep* out of their homes, also known as deep cleaning.
Anyone else dislikes spring cleaning as much as I do? Cleaning in general? Don’t get me wrong. I love a clean tidy home like the next mom. Mess and disorganization stress me out. But actually doing the cleaning myself is my least favorite thing to do. I am in the camp of washing the laundry and folding the laundry a day or two later. How about you?
Instead of spring cleaning, how about we focus on decluttering?
The definition of decluttering is to remove unnecessary items from an untidy or overcrowded place.
Assuming that you live in excesses like myself and most Americans, I bet you have quite a few unused things in your home that you can get rid of.
I am pro decluttering! Maybe because I grew up with a West Indian mom who was quick to throw anything away that was out of place. Looking back, that was clearly a sign that we had too much stuff and as children, we didn’t care very well for our things as they were always out of place.
Deep cleaning is synonymous with Spring.
Thanks to Marie Kondo’s popular Netflix show, Tidying Up, you probably have nightmares of piles of clothes and junk everywhere when you hear the word declutter. Decluttering can be an overwhelming task, but the outcome is so worth it.
The benefits of decluttering your home far outweigh the initial feeling of overwhelm.
So what’s are those real benefits of decluttering other than just creating more physical space?
Massive Personal Growth!
Here are 10 reasons decluttering your home will help you massively glow on a personal level.
1. Decluttering your home will make it faster and easier to clean.
The fewer possessions you have, the neater your house will be and the easier it will be to keep clean. As moms, especially a stay at home or work from home mom, you may find yourself constantly tidying up instead of working. With fewer items in your home, you will gift yourself more time to do other things for yourself and your business or side hustle instead of cleaning.
2. You are able to help others in need.
By decluttering your home, you will be able to help another person in need by donating your unwanted items to a local shelter or donation center. Rule of thumb: if you haven’t used items in over a year or worn a piece of clothing for over a year, get rid of it. You are just hoarding it at this point. The more you give. The more you receive. But you can’t receive with closed fists, so release those items. You will feel so happy you did.
3. Decluttering reduces anxiety and stress.
Decluttering your home reduces anxiety and stress.
Research has linked less clutter to less cortisol, which is the stress-causing hormone, in our system. Just looking at my overstuffed closet filled with clothes I haven’t worn since college stresses me out. And picking up my children’s toys gives me a headache.
Does clutter stress you out?
Clutter can cause stress from the “weight” of simply not knowing where to start. Clutter needs to be organized, stored, given to people, sold, etc. Notice things in your home that is out of place? This all adds up to stress, without us even realizing it.
By removing this extra stuff around our home we are essentially removing some of the stress, anxiety, and overwhelm in our life as well.
4. Decluttering your home will increase in concentration.
Clutter makes it difficult to focus on one task or object. A disorganized home and work environment pulls your attention in different directions making it hard to focus. So, the less clutter you have in your home, the more you’re able to focus on the task at hand.
5. Ability to spend more time with your loved ones.
I notice when I don’t have to spend hours cleaning on the weekends or picking up the toys every few hours (for safety reasons!), I am able to spend more quality time with my family.
This is probably my top reason out of the 10 reason to declutter your home for a massive glow up. By decluttering your home, you will be able to balance work-home life better. I find that I am able to work when it’s time to work and play when it’s time to play. If I am constantly picking up toys or books, it interferes with playtime with my girls.
Declutering leads to more intentional family time.
6. Increases mindfulness.
As an overwhelmed parent of two little ones, mindfulness is something that I try to focus on for my mental health. As I declutter and let go of the stuff that no longer serves me or gives me joy, I am much more mindful about what I bring into my home.
Decluttering is a lot of work and I don’t want to just fill the space back up with more stuff!
I also think that less clutter around me allows me to be more mindful and present with my daughters and husband.
7. Decluttering your home reduces decision fatigue.
Do you know all the things bouncing around in your brain?
You know all the little decisions you make during the day? What to wear? Nap schedules? What to make for dinner? Lunch? What book to read?
That is the mental load I am talking about. I didn’t understand this term until I became a parent. The mom’s mental load can get really heavy.
By physically reducing the options, you are essentially reducing the number of decisions you make during the day. Fewer clothes? You might actually wear everything in your closet! This, in turn, reduces the mental load you are carrying around with you and the decision fatigue that results.
8. Potential to earn cash.
This is the fun part! You can earn cash from decluttering. You might find collectible items or larger ticket items that you could sell for cash that can in turn help pay off debt, bump up your savings or do something nice for yourself. Recently had a baby? Yes! Sell all those baby things.
I like to use sites such as Offer Up, Mercari, and Facebook marketplace for items such as baby items and appliances. For clothing, I like to use Poshmark or ThredUp. Poshmark is best if you want to be more hands on and control the prices and how much you earn. ThredUp is best if you just want to get rid of your clothing and are willing to accept whatever ThredUp decides the value of your clothes are worth. This is a great way to earn some extra money from home.
While you can make some money decluttering, I don’t recommend selling all of the items you are letting go of. Trying to sell everything is overwhelming. This would take way too much time and slow down your decluttering efforts. I’ve been there. But if you can sell something for $100 or more it may be worth your while.
Selling your clothes is a great way to get rid of unworn clothes while potentially earning at the same time.
9. Decluttering your home will give you a boost in productivity.
The more clutter you see, the more distracted you will be.
By removing clutter from your desk at home you’ll be less distracted and more able to focus on the task at hand and get more productive work done. I can’t even tell you how many times I was on a deadline but got distracted by piles of clothes or out of place dishes. Intentional work and productivity is the name of the game when your work time is limited or broken up in chunks throughout the day.
10. You will be able to achieve your goals.
This benefit has to do with the aspirational clutter (i.e. the stuff you hold onto for the person you think you should be). Examples of aspirational clutter are the yoga mat you keep in your closet because one day you’re going to be awesome at yoga or the arts and craft drawer because you think you should be a Pinterest mom.
Having all these things around distracts you from what you actually want to achieve in life. Worse than that, it can cause guilt for NOT doing yoga or NOT being crafty.
It is ok to declutter these items because it means you will actually be able to focus on the activities and goals that really do excite you.
For me that means working out, reading, working on this blog, playing with my kids and spending evenings with my husband.
Decluttering is all about finding peace in less and enjoying the things and people you do have in your life.
I am sooo ready to declutter, get rid of unwanted excess, and reclaim my peace and my space! How are about? Are you ready to declutter with me this spring? Comment below with what area of your home you will tackle first!
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