It’s the beginning of the year, a time when resolutions are still rife and intentions are still fresh and pure. It’s a time of out with the old and in with the new.

A TIME OF DECLUTTERING

I have the blessing of being able to work from home so I tend to be extra mindful of clutter and am sensitive to holding on to things I don’t need. As a yoga teacher, I get paid to teach while barefoot and in tracksuit pants so how many clothes do I REALLY need?

The changing of the seasons inspires me to purge, in fact, I find I do this at least 3 times a year. Every time I let go of or give away a stack of things I no longer have any use for, it’s like I have ignited an energetic shift in the Universe.

I make room for something like a work opportunity, a new friend or a situation that changes my life considerably for the better. A little extra time on my hands over summer re ignited the passion to do this again, and yet again, I was surprised by how much I no longer need or use. These were my findings:

BATHROOM

Beauty and health products have a shelf life, but when your bathroom cabinet is the size of school lunchbox, there tends to be very little room to store things in. I guess the Universe took care of my vanity issues upon moving to my recent home office 10 months ago, so I can’t really take the credit for this one.

PANTRY

If you’re like me and love to watch cooking shows or read recipe books, you’re possibly prone to splurging on a key ingredient that promises to make enriching recipes even more delicious. Except you forgot you bought it and haven’t used it in over a year. How’s that use by date working for you? Me? Not so much. I have vowed that this will be the last time I waste precious food and have been inspired by the NSW Government’s scheme to eliminate waste. You should check out http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.nsw.gov.au/ . It’s changed my life and awareness for the better.

HANDBAG

The days of extra weight on my back are well and truly over thanks to my beloved and possibly over used satchel. Recently, I’ve noticed I have a silly habit of carrying all of my groceries into my house in a way that could potentially slip a disc or develop a serious curve in my already slightly scoliosic spine, instead of making 2 mindful trips to the car.  These days,  when I teach a workshop or need to go be away for the day, I have mastered the art of packing an extra few bags and my left shoulder has thanked me profusely for this. I’ve now let go of carrying the kitchen sink just-in-case-I-need-something. It’s nice to travel light. If my life were a big trip, the rule of thumb would be to carry only mostly hand luggage all the way.

GARAGE

Technically I don’t have one.. but mum and dad have a HUGE one and the amount of stuff my brother and I have stored there over the years is incredible. These days, the sheer terror of my dad’s reaction is enough to prevent me from stockpiling anything else.. however the Sociology, Anthropology and Psychology notes from my University days haven’t actually been read in almost 15 years. My good friend Google assures me that should I need to revise anything, he’ll probably have an updated version on the net.

DESK

I can count the number of times on one hand that I have had a clear desk over the last 8 years I’ve worked for myself. It is now safe for me to concur that paperwork will never stop piling up and I need to learn to be more organised. I’m almost cheating as ‘FILES’ could really be a separate headline in this post, but I’ve decided to squeeze it in here so that I can share that I am now mastering the administrative art of filing. If you think that purchasing filing cabinets and draws will help, labeling each individual sector will change your life. True story.

COMPUTER

It appears that my newfound time management may have bitten me on the backside here. I pride myself on not checking emails on my smart phone. I schedule my social media updates so that I’m not always checking the internet. I check emails only 3 times a day. I switch my laptop off by 7.30pm the latest so that I don’t over stimulate myself and can still get up early to meditate. I sound like such a true yogi right? Except that to my horror, my computer files are completely jumbled and all over the place. Operation ‘Fix that Mac’ has been put into place. As of now, I’m allocating ten minutes a day to my computer housekeeping.

DRAWERS

Aha! So this is where I keep that sentimental gift that was never quite right, or the awkwardly sized shawl mum-knit-for-me-that-I-can’t-bear-to-throw-out-in-case-she-asks-to-see-it-one-day, or the coin purse I used when I travelled the world 10 years ago that’s full of paper scraps that may once have been a bus ticket I used to see my beloved in Sorrento. Admittedly, it’s only one draw and I’m proud to declare I’m minimalist enough not to have any bedside tables, but alas, in this round of de cluttering, I was not able to find a solution for the contents of this draw.  Your advice is appreciated here my friends.

CAR

It appears that technology has advanced considerably.  Not only do I use the setting of my vehicle to snack or eat solid meals whilst I travel to and from yoga classes (it helps that I drive an automatic), my car is also where I charge my phone, store my navigator, shopping bags and upon recent inspection of the boot, my roller skates. It’s one of those ‘shoulda’, ‘woulda’, ‘coulda’ things. My best intentions to stop at Sydney’s Centennial Park and channel Drew Barrymore’s character from Roller Derby simply outweigh the reality that it may in fact never happen. I have decided to compromise and give myself til March before the roller skates go back in the cupboard. Watch this space.

Image Source And you? What are you decluttering in your life? Any tips you’d like to share?