Day 19

Clear Out the Clutter

Words by

Photography by

Junk and clutter come in all shapes and forms. Sometimes the mess is physical, clogging up your closet or covering your desk. Other times, it’s a digital or mental mess that’s junking up your life. Maybe you’ve got too many unread messages waiting for you, perhaps it’s negative people or social accounts infiltrating your mental space. In any case, this figurative crap is crowding out the good stuff in your life, making you feel tired, stressed, confused and leaving little space for enjoyment or personal development. Use the ritual of spring cleaning to sort things out. Consider this your checklist.

Edit Your Closet

We wouldn’t be Valet. if we didn’t start with your wardrobe. And your closet is the classic place to begin spring cleaning. Because you can’t reorganize something until you edit out the stuff you don’t need. Pull everything out of your closet and drawers and place it onto your bed. Keep the favorites, try on any items you haven’t worn in a while and evaluate if you want or need to keep it. Be honest and just know that anything you no longer wear can be donated or sold to make room for the items we know you’re thinking about buying.

Send Winter Clothes to the Cleaners

Your overcoats, heavy jackets, sweaters and wool trousers should be dry cleaned or laundered before being packed away for the season. This will not only protect against moth damage, but ensures that when you pull them out next winter, they’re fresh and ready to go. Your future self will be grateful.

Refresh Your Medicine Cabinet

Maybe you keep it nice and tidy, but if you don’t, now is the time to take everything out, evaluate if you need or want an item any more. Is that bottle really empty? Has that medicine expired? Last summer’s sunscreen? You can definitely chuck that. Once you’ve edited all the contents, you can make a list of any replacements you need to pick up. Then wipe down the inside of your cabinet and place everything back neatly.

Declutter Your Workspace

How’s your desk—at work or at home? Maybe both could use a little tidying up. Set a 10 minute timer and go through the stack of papers. File away anything important and recycle the rest (here’s how long you need to keep important documents). You could manage the wires running to your devices and clean up your computer’s desktop, too. Perhaps you need a small storage box or tray to help organize loose items. Maybe a plant would boost your mood. You’ll be surprised how good it feels to sit down at an inviting and clean workspace.

Rethink Your Feed

While it would be great to do a full digital detox, that’s not always realistic. But one thing you can and should do is detoxify your social feeds. Dr. Charlotte Russell, a clinical psychologist, says that just because you’ve been a long-time follower of a social media account, it doesn’t mean it’s serving your wellbeing. Edit out and unfollow those accounts that make you feel jealous, resentful or unhappy—you know which ones they are—and focus on the accounts you do feel a genuine connection with. Sure, hate-scrolling can offer a satisfying distraction, but she warns that it’s often a barrier to engagement, meaning and building genuine connections on and offline.

Switch Up Your Workouts

Maybe you’re a little bored at the gym or have stopped seeing results. A change is as good as a rest, especially if your training sessions aren’t bringing you as much joy and fulfillment as they used to. Reinvigorate your workouts by shaking things up. If you only ever lift weights, try taking a group class or challenge your buddy to meet for a morning jog.

Freshen Up Your Diet

This is the perfect season to rethink your meals. There’s so many fresh, colorful fruits and vegetables that you can incorporate into your diet. You’ll supercharge your vitamin and nutrient intake, while giving your gut a nice cleanse, as well. You can also challenge yourself to try one new restaurant a week—this boost in variety will help keep things interesting and make your weekend feel a little longer.

Learn Something New

If you’ve been feeling like you’re in a bit of a rut lately, break out of it by starting a new hobby, or a podcast dedicated to teaching you something new. Life coaches often recommend this as a great way to develop a renewed sense of purpose, creating more space for growth in our lives. Whether it’s learning a language or trying a new sport, it really helps refocus the mind and drain all the clutter fogging your head.

Utilize the Four Ds
of Time Management

The four Ds of time management are Do, Delegate, Defer and Delete—helping you prioritize tasks and focus on what matters most. David Allen, the author of Getting Things Done, is a productivity expert and is known for his “two-minute rule”. It’s amazing what you can accomplish in just 120 seconds: write an email, make a quick phone call, pull a report and so on. When it feels like life (or work) is running away from you, use the Four Ds to regain some control. Get your small needs done quickly, then delay anything that doesn’t need to be done right away, delegate tasks to others where possible and drop anything that doesn’t really need to be done at all.

The Deep Clean

Take a look around your place. What do you think? If someone were to knock on your door right now, would you be embarrassed to let them in? But here’s the good news: Deep cleaning your home isn’t near as intense as it sounds—especially once you break it down into manageable steps.