Watch: Could your kitchen do with a tidy-up? Check out the video below.
Clearer physical space helps to improve the flow of ideas and mental organisation. It can also ease anxiety which again, enables better cognitive functions and improves decision-making skills.
However, a solid decluttering plan need to fit into a busy lifestyle. The reality is that few people have a spare bedroom or a full-time schedule to dedicate to cleaning and tidying their space at home.
If you have, the Marie Kondo method may work well. When you have children who each have their own busy schedules, alongside a job, it’s near impossible. If time is tight, try this easy three-step plan by Empowerment Coach Katrina Wurm.
Step One: Do a brain dump
First, get messy. Have a brain dump, meaning, every time you think about something that needs to be done when you walk into a room, write it down. It doesn’t have to make sense, it shouldn’t require any careful analysing or planning. It doesn’t have to be urgent or important, it just has to be on paper if it’s crossed your mind.
Step Two: Categorise your creativity
Next, choose a day to sit down and categorise the ideas you’ve jotted down. Now, you can neaten your list. Give each item a priority ranking. You can categorise them by numbers, with one being top-priority and 10 being lower-priority. You can colour code them – red being urgent and green being not urgent.
Also, categorise into two additional groups: ‘What can I delegate to others?’ This first category is for ideas that another member of the family might have come up with. The second group is ‘What is not urgent or important?’ Perhaps the husband wants a shelf to be moved. Perhaps children need their shelves repacked. Delegate that work to others. If you had an idea and eventually outgrew it, cross it off the list. It is then also in a way, categorised, minimising the mind clutter.
Step Three: Break it into chunks
Declutter 15 minutes at a time. That’s all. Choose an area – a drawer, a cupboard, a pantry shelf – and set a timer. Give yourself 15 minutes to get started. Make sure you’re busy for the entire 15 minutes without fail and when the timer is finished, so are you. 15 minutes fits into your busy lifestyle, anyone can manage 15 minutes here and there. It prevents overwhelm and keeps the effort consistent.
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