Did you know that January was dubbed “Get Organized Month” in 2005? According to Days of the Year, “the Association of Professional Coordinators decided that they wanted to increase awareness of the significance of organization and the value of employing a professional organizer.” They went onto say that “everyone can stand to benefit from getting and staying organized.”
The truth is, getting organized can be good for your mental health. With that in mind, I’m sharing a few ways you can participate in this movement this month and beyond. Let’s dive in!
Physical decluttering – Your home and workspace should be free from clutter. When you have a place for everything and everything in its place, you waste less time looking for things and have less stress about where things belong. As Shape Magazine reported, “Women who described their homes as ‘cluttered’ or full of ‘unfinished projects’ were more depressed, fatigued, and had higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol than women who felt their homes were ‘restful’ and ‘restorative.’”
Digital detox – With Facebook, Instagram, and even email notifications, there is an immense amount of pressure to constantly be at the ready for responding and acknowledging messages from others. An article in Forbes stated that the average person touches their phones at least 80 times a day. They likened it to passive slavery because of the constant need we feel to stay tuned in. We need to detox to have time to pause our thinking and fully observe the things around us. Detoxing improves our thinking, and helps us become more present in the moment.
How does detoxing relate to organization? You can get organized by removing the apps that no longer serve you. Not only are they taking up space on your devices, but they are also pinging with notifications that are keeping you attached to them instead of taking downtime. Digital detoxing and organization are both about clearing mental space for improved mental and emotional health.
Declutter toxic people from your life – Unfriend or unfollow the colleague that posts nothing but hate and unfriendly political messages in your social media newsfeed. Stop going out for drinks with your coworkers that do nothing but gossip about the people in the office. In the most extreme cases, this can even mean skipping the family dinners with the people that hound you for your life choices rather than supporting you. Make space for the people that bring joy and happiness to your life instead.
Become best friends with your calendar – We have to remember so much in a day. Passwords, tasks at work, even to feed ourselves. The more we can schedule in our calendars, the less we have to remember. Schedule everything – from the soccer game your daughter has on Friday to the 20 minutes you plan to meditate every day after work. And, you won’t have to worry whether or not something is expected of you because it’s all already written down. Link your grocery list to your calendar too! If you shop every Saturday, add that to the calendar, and when you run out of something, just open your calendar and add it to your list. Off your mind, and less stress.
Using tools that alleviate mental strain can free up space in your mind, and ultimately will help you feel better. You need and deserve that free space. If that’s not motivation to Marie Kondo your area at work and your entire home, I don’t know what is.