The best time of day
Most people find they have a best time of day for clutter clearing. Some people prefer the morning. Others like to clutter clear through the night. The trick is to discover when you are at your most decisive and do your clearing then.
With practice, as your “clutter clearing muscle” develops, you are likely to find that the time of day doesn’t matter so much, but when you first begin, it is very useful to discover your most productive time of day and use that to make progress in the easiest way possible.
If you are prone to staying up too late at night, however, and often regret doing so, then even though you may consider yourself to be a night-owl, you are likely to find that you will make more progress doing clutter clearing earlier in the day. And just about everyone agrees that doing just 10 or 20 minutes of early morning clutter clearing gives you the benefit of a satisfying small success to get you off to a good start for the rest of the day.
The best time of week
Some people are weekend clutter clearers. They like to know they have a good stretch of time ahead of them and can do it at their own pace. Others like to keep their weekends for relaxation or family time, so prefer to schedule clutter clearing during the week, when they are already in work mode. They may only have time to do a few minutes here and there, but gradually it all adds up and the job gets done.
The best time of year
There are certain times of year when clutter clearing is easier to do, although these do depend on where in the world you live and the cultural beliefs you subscribe to. For example, the Japanese traditionally clutter clear in December, in order to start the New Year afresh, whereas people living in most western cultures are more inclined to have a purge in early January. Both are responding to the “out-with-the-old-and-in-with-the-new” wave that ripples around the world as one year ends and another begins.
Springtime is another time when people intuitively feel the urge to clutter clear, as they emerge from their winter cocoon. In parts of the world where there are only two seasons (wet and dry), then the start of either of these periods works well – the wet season because you are likely to have more time at home to do it, and the dry season because as the rains abate and the sunny days return, there is a fresh, new feeling in the air that makes you feel like releasing the old and embracing the new.
The best time of life
Any time you have a major change of life is a good time to clutter clear, such as a new job, a new relationship or a new home. It can also be very supportive if you start a new fitness regime, want to lose weight, stop smoking, or change any behaviour for the better.
The golden principle here is that clearing out the old makes room for the new. When you clear out your clutter, you also clear out the stagnant energy that accumulates around it. Your home then becomes a place that nurtures you rather than holding you back. It changes from being a museum of your past to a representation of who you are today and what you want in your future.
Anytime
Of course anytime is a good time to clutter clear. You don’t need to wait for any of the times I’ve mentioned to get started. But if you’ve been putting off doing clutter clearing for some time, a good way to get started is to choose a date and time according to my suggestions and put it on your calendar now. Then simply show up at that time on that date and begin!
Copyright © Karen Kingston, 2013