Declutter These 5 Areas Of Your Life To Become A Minimalist With Less Stress In 2024
From emotional clutter to that overflowing closet, clearing out these five areas will start your year off right.
GaudiLab / Shutterstock.com New Year, new you, right?
Okay, that might be a bit much — and a lot of pressure besides — but if you're looking to start the New Year off right, business and entrepreneurship gurus Live Your Impossible have some helpful tips on how to streamline your life and start 2024 on the right foot.
To become a minimalist with less stress in 2024, declutter these 5 areas of life.
When we hear the word "declutter," we think of things like messy closets and that accursed kitchen drawer full of so much random junk it barely closes. Tidying that up is important, of course, but clutter can also be mental and emotional.
In fact, therapists say that all types of clutter are so tied to our psyches that it often goes well beyond just mere messiness. It's an actual trauma response.
Herewith, are five areas of life where you can tidy up, clear out room for more growth, and become a minimalist with less stress in 2024.
1. Declutter your relationships.
We've all had people in our lives, at one time or another, who were taking more from us than they were giving. Perhaps we let them stick around out of a sense of duty or guilt. But whatever the reason, there eventually comes a time when our relationships need to be edited in order for us to move forward.
Live Your Impossible suggested focusing on three key goals:
- Spend more time with people who give you energy;
- Spend less time with those who use it up; and, in a crucial self-care move,
- Take time to be alone, especially if you're the more introverted type and need quiet time to recharge.
2. Declutter your physical stuff.
You didn't think you were going to get out of this without having to part with some stuff, did you? This step is the decluttering we all know and love, and for many of us, it can be the hardest one of all.
But minimalism doesn't just lighten the load of things you live with and carry with you from place to place, it also lightens your mental load. Professional organizer Diane Quintana said that clutter actually creates stress in our brains. Getting rid of it really does free up space in our minds as well as our homes.
Live Your Impossible recommended first paring down to your essential items. Then, whenever you buy more things, buy for quality rather than quantity, and make sure you truly love the things you're bringing in. And try to use the "one in, one out" rule for everything you buy. Get rid of something to keep things streamlined.
3. Declutter your digital life.
Talking to you, person whose entire computer desktop is covered in memes. (Me, I'm talking to me.) Live Your Impossible said, "Your digital environment is either producing clarity or complexity." Who needs more complexity in today's world?
So what steps should you take? Turning off notifications, using organization apps for projects and password managers for all your accounts, clearing out or backing up old photos to the cloud, and — this is the hard part —getting that email inbox down to zero.
To hack your email inbox back, many business gurus recommend the 3-21-0 method. Also sometimes known as 3-2-1 Zero, which means, three daily email sessions, each 21 minutes long, with the goal of eventually reaching, and then maintaining zero unread emails. A tall order, but a doable one and totally worth it.
4. Declutter your finances.
If you're like a lot of people, money stresses you out more than anything. But many financial and business gurus — as well as many therapists — say avoiding money matters usually only makes them worse, including from a mental health perspective.
So, get proactive. Go through all your subscriptions and cancel those you don't use. Put all your bills, savings, and investments on autopay so you don't have to think about them.
It's time to make a budget, too, if you haven't already, with the 50/30/20 rule, which means allocating 50% of your income to needs, 30% to wants, and 20% to savings. It's a tall order for many of us, but it's a great guideline, even if you don't hit it every month.
And if you have debts, it's time to tackle those too. Many experts, Live Your Impossible among them, recommend the "avalanche method," which involves prioritizing your debts not by the amount owed but by interest rate, since the higher the interest, the more you'll end up paying.
5. Declutter your schedule.
This one might be the most important step of all in transforming into a minimalist with less stress in 2024. Take your time back. This can be everything from taking breaks from social media and the news — which take up inordinate psychological space these days — to simply saying "no" to those demanding more of your time.
Live Your Impossible even recommended making no your "default" response to requests and only saying yes when it's a "heck yes." Time is, after all, our most precious commodity. Make sure you're prioritizing your time for the most important person in your life — yourself.
So, instead of stressing out about a resolution, commit instead to a more minimalist approach to the New Year. And most importantly, take it slow. Decluttering your life should decrease your stress, not the other way around!
John Sundholm is a news and entertainment writer who covers pop culture, social justice and human interest topics.