Well Being Wednesday - Detox Your House

Welcome to the fourth instalment in the Well Being Wednesday ‘Detox’ series.

So far, we have covered: ‘Detox Your Friends’, ‘Detox Your Mind’ and ‘Detox Your Anger’…all designed to help reduce stress levels and clear your mind of negativity, freeing the path to positivity.

Today’s subject is one I hold close, as some of my friends call me ‘OCD Lee’.  It is of course ‘Detox Your House’.

There are many, many parts of the house that I’ll be covering that can make a tremendous impact on the way you feel and the ‘feel’ of your house.  Considering aside from our place of work, we spend most of our time behind the sanctuary of our front door, so why wouldn’t you want to have a space that not only looked nice, but was also relaxing too.

Having clutter everywhere not only looks bad, but also causes clutter in our minds…how can this be I hear you ask?  Well, I shall explain…

Here are two different scenarios that have different outcomes… 1) Lee, do you know where the car keys are?...eerrrrmmm I don’t know, I’m sure I put them down somewhere but can’t remember….(spends the next 30 minutes trying to find the car keys)…..which leads to…’omg I’m going to be late, I’ll miss my appointment, it took me 5 months to get it, I won’t get another one for ages….etc, etc, etc. OR… 2) Lee, do you know where the car keys are?...Yes, they are on the key rack!...Thank you, have a great day, see you later, ok…hope it all goes well for you…

Now, this may sound trivial, and you might mock me for it, but ‘everything in its place’ makes for a much easier, stress free life.  When I’m in my house, if anyone ever asks me for something, I don’t just reply ‘it’s in the kitchen somewhere’…. I’m able to reply with ‘It’s in the kitchen, the cupboard next to the fridge, top shelf, near the back’.  Not only have I saved time, but I’ve not created any kind of stress for me or the person wanting the item.

This kind of behaviour doesn’t have to come immediately…it’s something that comes over time with practice…as you start to think this way, you will notice a lower stress level when at home.

To begin with, you need to ensure your space is tidy, this means getting rid of things you no longer use or need and putting things back where they belong or creating a new place for them.  Do a room at a time, this way you will find yourself focusing better.  If there is something that needs to go back into another room, if it already has a ‘place’ there, then put it back there…but if you have decided that it now belongs in a different room…go and put it in the room but in a corner until you have completed the room you’ve started…this may be contradicting some of what I’m saying so let me clarify.  Until you know exactly what is going in a room, how can you plan the space and where to put things?  This is why it’s important to do a room at a time…complete a room…look at the space once you’re done, take a moment to appreciate the newly found, clean and tidy space…now if ever it starts to ‘gather clutter’ in the future, you will notice it quicker and be able to put the items back where you know they belong.

Here are some things that can have a very positive impact not only on your space, but your mind too…

OLD CLOTHES - Clearing out clothes that you no longer wear or fit in is a great way of not only creating space, but also helping others by donating them to charity and freeing your mind from situations associated to those clothes… what do I mean by that?  Well…someone may have bought it for you that you no longer want to think about, or you may have been wearing it when something bad happened.  Our brains have a habit of association… and as such, when we wear the item, it can bring negativity into our lives.  Get rid of it/them… don’t remind and torment yourself.

FOOD – Clearing out the kitchen cupboards of old food that you are never going to eat or…more importantly, is out of date, is a must.  Every 3 months you should go through each cupboard and throw out these items.  By keeping fresh food in the house and you are more likely to make good food choices and want to cook more… if you know what’s in the cupboards, it also helps with planning meals…why sit at work wondering if you have anything in for tea??? Rather know what’s in the kitchen and dream up a recipe!!!

PLANTS – Having old scraggly plants in the house makes your space look tired and unloved.  Either re-pot them and feed it so it grows and stays healthy, or chuck it out...either way…if you’re not bothered about them, why are they there?

SHOES – hhhhmmm not sure how much love I’m going to get for this one…but here goes.  Having 150 pairs of shoes that you never wear is not good.  Having shoes that you bought 10 years ago and have worn once is pretty darn wasteful.  Why not give them to charity or sell them on Ebay and let someone else enjoy them?

BEDDING – The place in which we sleep is vital to our happiness.    That feeling when you climb into bed and you have clean fresh sheets…the smell of your softener…make sure you pick a nice one and don’t be shy in putting double the amount in the washing machine…who cares about the cost…the rewards are extremely fresh smelling bed linen and clothes.  It's important that in this one place that we do everything we can to ensure relaxation and calm to help induce a good nights sleep.  If your bedrrom is full of clutter and clothes everywhere and you have old tired bed sheets that don't smell fresh, it can have a negative effect on your sleep patterns.  Your brain tends to be full of activity or 'clutter'.  So if you only do one room in your house, make it the bedroom.

ORNAMENTS/TRINKETS – These items can, if not carefully selected, simply clutter up your space and make the place look untidy.  A room should have ‘some’ items in it that make it feel like home, but that doesn’t mean to say you should have on display the contents of a flea market or car boot sale.  Pick items carefully, if they don’t make you smile and feel good, why have them?

So, bring some order to your house…not everyone needs to be OCD like me, but I guarantee you that if you at least make the effort to de-clutter and have a place for your things…and more importantly, put things back in that place, not only will you be distressing the home for yourself, but for all those that live in it!