Welcome to Day 21 of my Healthy Living 30 Day Challenge, created to support my Yoganudge Facebook group

If you’re a member of my Facebook group, I hope you downloaded my self-study tutorial 21 Days of Yoga (which is free for my FB group members) and have started a regular yoga practice in the comfort of your own home.

If you started your yoga practice a week or so ago, and you’ve been practicing every day since then, how are you feeling?

Are you starting to become more limber and the poses are actually a bit easier?

I think it’s amazing how the body responds to yoga in such a short time.

Keep practicing and the benefits of your daily practice will become even more evident.

Now, on to my healthy living tip for today:

Get organized and declutter your life. Organization and lack of clutter go a long way in helping you lead a more relaxed, less stressful life.

Here are some tips for decluttering your home:

1. Go through new mail daily.

Get rid of junk mail immediately.

File any mail you need to keep.

If you do this every day, junk mail won’t stack up and  become overwhelming.

2. Set aside just an hour or two a day—each day this week—to declutter a specific section of your home.

Maybe a closet, a desk, that kitchen drawer that tends to collect all sorts of stuff you just can’t seem to throw away.

Don’t set aside an entire day for decluttering. You’ll wear yourself out. Plus, you won’t be as effective at clearing the clutter.

3. Get rid of stuff first, then buy attractive storage containers for your remaining items.

It’s really fun to go to the store and buy all sorts of pretty storage containers.

But if you do this first (before you clean out stuff), you won’t really know what sizes and shapes of containers you’ll need.

Which means you might end up with containers you can’t use, or—you’ll save more than you need to—simply to fill all your lovely containers.

4. Start with something easy.

Many professional organizers suggest you start by decluttering the space in your home that bothers you the most.

I’ve found that when I do that, I get the space decluttered, but I have such a feeling of accomplishment with that space that I stop decluttering and continue living with the other cluttered sections in my home.

But when I start with something easy that I can declutter quickly and easily, I’m more apt to move on and declutter another closet, drawer, etc.—which is why I suggest you start with something easy.

If you have stacks of magazines and newspapers, start with those.

Flip through each magazine and clip out pages you want to keep, instead of keeping the entire magazine.

Go through your spice rack and get rid of those little bottles and jars of spices that you’ve had for years!

5. Take photos of items you don’t want to forget but don’t want to keep anymore.

Several years ago my husband and I downsized from a 2 story, 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath home to a 1 bedroom, 1 bath condo (less than 1,000 square feet and only ONE closet).

It was difficult letting go of some things because of the fond memories attached to them.

But when a friend suggested I take photos of these items, so the memories attached to them wouldn’t fade, it made it much easier to let go of household items and personal possessions that just weren’t serving me any longer.

Still need help letting go of stuff?

Try these additional resources:

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

It’s All Too Much Workbook: The Tools You Need to Conquer clutter and Create the Life You Want

Let It Go: Downsizing Your Way to a Richer, Happier Life

Have a happy, healthy week,

Suzanne
Yoganudge.com

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