DE-CLUTTER YOUR HOME, BODY AND MIND
BY DR. LISA GOODMAN, DC, CCSP, CACCP
Spring is upon us on March 20th! That most likely means we’ll be seeing tulips sprouting on our way to Wash Park, followed by a giant, wet, snowstorm. But nevertheless, spring in Denver is a great time to de-clutter, purge, organize and otherwise clean. Obviously I am referring to spring cleaning your home, garage, office and car. But it is also a great time of year to clear your mind.
Spring cleaning your home can be done in small doses or in one fell swoop. Here are a few tips:
Purge
Small Doses – you don’t have a lot of time, but you need to make some headway. Set a goal to purge 15 items per day from your home. Each day choose a room, closet or drawer to remove 15 unwanted items from. A bathroom drawer can be a gold mine for unused items.
All at once – Take two large garbage bags. Move room to room and fill one with trash and one for donations. Once they are full, your job is done for this year! If you’re feeling ambitious, feel free to grab another bag once the first is full.
De-Clutter
Small Doses – Rotate decor. Rather than have a ton of items on display, set up a system to rotate seasonally appropriate decor. Keep bins labeled for each season. Rotate pillows, framed photos, and accessories four times per year. Hint: schedule those four days in your calendar.
All at once, pretend that you are staging your home for sale. Do you have too much ‘clutter’? Get rid of the rest. Get rid of old things, things that don’t work with current or intended decor. Take emotion out of this process. If it helps, bring in an interior decorator such as local friend, Megan Kane Interiors (megankaneinteriors.com) to help in the process!
Organize
Small Doses – Choose one room at a time. Look at closets, cabinets and drawers. Is there potential to create a more efficient use of space. Drawer dividers in the kitchen, bathroom and bedroom drawers can help make things easier to find. Are there opportunities to hang items on the wall or back of a door? We recently hung all of our kids’ lightsabers on the wall using 3M Command Strips. There is no good way to store those in a box, bin or drawer.
All at once – I recommend organizing rooms in small doses. But if you are very motivated, take it floor by floor or work a few rooms in a weekend.
The Car
Cluttered, messy cars are a pet peeve of mine. Mostly because I somehow manage to keep our cars free from cheerios, drink boxes and applesauce pouch wrappers. But it’s not just children that precipitate a messy vehicle. I know many adults who leave water bottles, coffee mugs, wrappers, tissues, etc. in their car. Don’t you hate apologizing to friends or co-workers who hop in your messy car for a ride to a meeting or lunch? Wouldn’t it be much more fun to see how impressed they are that your car looks like new? Here are few tips to keep the interior of your car looking like new:
Small Doses – every single time you exit your vehicle, look around and see if there is a trash item or a container that doesn’t need to live in the car. Take it with you and find a new home for it. Get the kids involved! Before they leave the backseat do they have everything? Backpacks, mittens, wrappers, water bottles? Make sure they don’t leave anything behind.
All at once – Join a carwash club such as the one at Waterworks on Broadway and 3rd. Every two weeks or month take your car for a full interior and exterior wash. Bring a tote bag and put any items that don’t belong in your tote to bring into the house later.
Your Body
One of the most rewarding and necessary spring cleaning endeavors is that of your body. Over the course of 6-12 months, your liver became congested with toxins and it is worth cleaning out! In addition we can develop really bad habits over a year where a handful of potato chips turns into the whole bag, or a glass of wine per night turns into three…spring is a great time to reset your liver and eliminate bad food habits.
Small doses – Reevaluate your portion sizes, avoid processed foods, but when eating things such as bread, read labels and avoid foods with more than 3-6g of sugar, incorporate protein and vegetables into your meals. Limit liquid calories.
All at once – a spring cleaning of your diet is best done all at once, with an organized spring cleanse. Eliminate the junk and common food allergies and support good meal decisions. March 10th is the kickoff meeting for the annual 10-day Cleanse at Washington Park Chiropractic (303-744-7100 to sign up). This food-based cleanse is supported by a nutritionist and you’ll feel like new when it’s over!
Your Mind
We have arrived at potentially the most difficult area of your life to spring clean, your brain. Much like your email in-box it is necessary to clear clutter out of your mind regularly. We are inundated with a 24-hour news cycle, instant communication through texts, TV, music, children, parents, friends and coworkers working our brains! Take a minute, or an hour and declutter your mind.
Small Doses – Revisit your journal or planner and write things down for 5-10 minutes/day, whether it is a to-do list or a list of thoughts and feelings that are taking up valuable space in your brain. Taking it from mind to paper does wonders to declutter your mind.
All at once – Take yourself away from all distractions and undertake guided meditation journey at Mayu Sanctuary (mayusanctuary.com) on South Pearl Street.