One Thing to Do Before 2020: Declutter
It is December 30th, 2020, and your life might look like a scene from the “Gone in 60 Seconds” movie. So much to do in so little time. Yet we all want to end a year “properly,” giving ourselves some attention and setting ourselves up for a better 2021.
In 2020 I went through multiple educational tracks, courses, and self-exploration paths. What surprised me that if I name you those that gave my growth the biggest boost, they had one thing in common… they asked me to declutter.
I know what you think now. I thought the same. The whole decluttering concept sounded like a chapter from Marie Kondo’s book, and I, as one can imagine, have no desire to become a perfect housewife.
When it comes to 2020, I even shared with my Instagram followers that one word that would describe my 2020 is — Declutter.
Declutter is a Mindset
I strongly believe that our mindset is a choice. In every single moment, we can decide how we think and how we act. Yes, we have pre-conditions, preferences, and known paths, yet it is not an excuse neither a barrier to change.
To choose your mindset, you need to be aware of:
- your current modus operandi
- alternatives
- what actions/thoughts attribute to one or another mindset
- how you can switch
When my teachers asked me to declutter in the first place, it wasn’t about the stuff itself; it was about building awareness and introducing me to a new mindset.
The “declutter mindset” is quite simple: all that doesn’t serve me anymore, what doesn’t bring me joy, or I got our limiting believes — needs to go. When you truly connect to this mindset, you become pickier, more self-loving, and focused.
My experience
So I took a trash bag, set a number (it was 120 pieces that I needed to get rid of) and a deadline (within 24h), and went through my apartment and my gadgets.
At first, it felt like I am doing something utterly stupid. All new things feel like this to our ego at first. I told myself, there is no value in doing it; why the heck I am even bothering. Then I got the real taste of this exercise. The more stuff I put into my trash bag, the more I wanted to put away. It felt like fresh air, clarity, and a true “self-care.”
So my 2020 continued. I took my mental trash bag and looked at my business efforts, projects, and partnerships, I looked at my ToDo lists and ideas, I decluttered my relationships, the way to communicate with others, the way I treat myself and care for those close to me. And when I feel defocused and lost, I take my physical and mental trash bags out, and I declutter.
And so can you.
What to Do?
If you would like to experience how a “clean slate” feels like before 2021 enters the scene, I can recommend you to do the following:
Take a physical trash bag, big enough for all the stuff, and for 24h through away, 100+ items that do not serve you anymore. Physical items. They can be as big as old TV that you don’t want anymore and as small as a receipt for your last takeaway. Doesn’t matter. Everything works.
Make sure that you don’t stop. Make sure that your inner voice of doubt doesn’t overtake the scene and convince you, “it is all right as it is.” Make sure you have at least 100 items in your trash bag.
If you feel like your house undergone a proper decluttering previously and you have nothing to throw away, firstly I don’t believe you, but secondly, you can try some ideas listed below. I also do it regularly.
- Clean up your „watch later” “read later“ lists. Trust me, if you would want to watch, read, and listen to all that content in 2020 — you would.
- Clean up your ToDo list backlog: it is daunting to see tasks creeping from 2020 to 2021 — delete those that are not your priority and have little impact on your business and life.
- Delete apps on your phone that does not serve your purpose and distract you. Having fun is allowed, though;)
- Say No to future projects that you have 0 desire to start, those that make your body feels shrinking and unease. Even if your brain says it is the way to go
- Say No to investments that do not feel purposeful.
Try it and let me know how it felt.
