CREDIT: JESSICA THOMPSON
De-cluttering your life will make this year much less stressful, start by clearing out your office space and home; dividing everything into three boxes can make the process a little simpler.

I don’t know about you, but over the Christmas holidays I always find that I have too much stuff. Studies have shown that people who use everything they own and have no clutter are much less stressed than people who have too much. Tackling this clutter can seem like an impossible task; however, it is a task that is worthwhile. You will end up with more time and less stress.

Here are some tips for decluttering your life. The first step is to declutter your computer and USB. A new semester is starting and chances are you won’t need all those files anymore. Remove anything that isn’t going to be productive or helpful in the future.

Next, declutter your Internet usage and social media. Reading tons of articles about celebrities and weird phenomena may seem fun, however, too much information can clutter your brain and cause stress. Set out boundaries for what you read each day.

Moving into your physical life, it is most important to start with your workspace. It is difficult to work in cluttered areas. It also makes it difficult to find what you need and concentrate.

Everything on your desk should have a designated spot and it should return there after you are finished using it. Using this method will speed up your work process.

The next big item is clothing. A general rule is to throw out any item that you haven’t worn in six months. To help yourself figure this out, you can turn all your hangers to face outward. When you’ve worn an item it can than face inward. After six months any hangers that are still facing outward get tossed. This of course doesn’t include special occasion items and things such as Halloween costumes.

The six-month rule is great for your drawers and cupboards as well. If an item hasn’t been used in six months, it probably isn’t going to ever be used.

A big thing that helps to declutter is donating the items instead of throwing them out. It generally makes one feel better to know that someone will get use out of it.

Lastly, decluttering your life is a big step. A lot of people don’t think of activities, hobbies and commitments as clutter, but if you have too many, they can become a stressor and therefore can be labelled as clutter. Look at your commitments and habits and write them down. When you write them down you see how many you have, you can decipher which ones bring you joy or value. You will probably find a few that don’t, and those habits need to be dropped.

Another great way to declutter your life is to set routines. Most people try to take things that come at them as they come; however, this usually gets difficult to keep up with. If you have daily or weekly commitments, set a time to do them. When they become a routine or habit, they become much easier to tackle.

Make de-cluttering a resolution for this year and see if it improves your stress and productivity.