When you walk in the door to your home or office, how do you feel? Do you look around and feel stressed out by all of the things that need your attention? Or do you step inside and feel calm, supported, and inspired?

What’s in your space reflects what’s in your head, which is why clearing it out has such a positive impact on your energy, outlook, and stress levels. And creating a space that makes you feel good doesn’t require an interior decorator, a professional organizer, or special storage bins—all it takes is mindfulness.

Mindful organization means purposefully creating spaces that make it easier to pay attention to what you want to pay attention to—so that you can better enjoy having dinner with your family, for example, instead of fretting about the piles of mail on the kitchen table.

As an added bonus, mindfulness offers a more permanent approach to clutter control. “At its root, clutter represents decisions that haven’t been made,” Katie McCann, a professional organization consultant explains. Raising your awareness of the things in your space and how they make you feel makes it easier to decide what stays and what goes.

Here are five mindful ways to cut clutter and create calm in your home and workspace:

  1. 1. Select a Mindful “Anchor”

Choose an object or action to serve as a mindful anchor: a physical reminder to practice mindfulness throughout the day. It can be anything—a quote, a plant, a snowglobe—that reminds you to slow down, take a deep breath, and return your attention to the present moment.

  1. Give Everything a Home

Designate spaces for the smaller things that tend to pile up around the house: a hook for your keys, a receptacle for your mail, a basket for papers that need filing. When you take something from its designated spot, put it back when you’ve finished with it. “The importance of this can’t be overstated,” Laura Benko, author of The Holistic Home, says. “When you assign an object or activity a home, you spend less time looking for items and more time doing the activities you desire.”

  1. Make Mindful Purchases

When you’re in the store thinking about buying something, McCann suggests asking yourself two questions: “What purpose will this serve?” and “Where is it going to live?” If you can’t answer both questions, try walking away. After some time has passed, check in with yourself: Do you still want to buy the item in question, or did your attention shift? Either way, you’ve created a pause between sensing a want and taking action, which makes you a more mindful consumer and prevents clutter from accumulating in the first place.

  1. Embrace Routine

“Doing a simple clean-up routine is like pressing the reset button on your space,” says McCann.

  • Morning: Start your day the right way by making your bed. Your room will feel cleaner, you’ll set the tone for a productive day—and you might even become a more positive person. According to Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project, making the bed is one of the most simple yet impactful ways to live a happier life, because “outer order contributes to inner calm.”

  1. Clear Your Clutter (and Your Mind)

Simple visualization exercises can help you avoid the frustration and high emotions that often accompany organizing. For example, when you take out the garbage, imagine that you’re also casting out your self-doubt. As you do the dishes, imagine your stressors being washed clean and swirling down the drain. You’ll feel lighter and brighter—both mentally and physically.

Kate Hanley is the author of How to Be a Better Person and Stress Less and a personal development coach. She writes regularly on how to manage stress and take care of the many important parts of life. Visit her at katehanley.com.

About the Author
Kate Hanley

Kate Hanley is the author of How to Be a Better Person and Stress Less and a personal development coach. She writes regularly on how to manage stress and take care of the many important parts of life.

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