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Last updated on September 6th, 2022 at 11:05 pm
When the world feels heavy, where do you turn? For me, I retreat back into my home as a hideaway from everything I can’t control. But for so many people, home isn’t a place where they can relax and destress —it’s another stressor on their life.
I feel it right now too. I feel like all the things in my home are closing in around me. But I don’t think the cause is from having more stuff.
It’s from the stress of the world we’re living in during 2020.
This feeling can come from any stressful situation in our lives, like moving, a divorce, a death. But 2020 is the year it’s so prominent because the situation is so fluid.
Right now, the physical clutter in our homes has come to represent the chaos happening outside our front doors.
I’ve been working on letting go of anxiety about this season we’re living in. From my husband not working for several months to figuring out what independent homeschooling will look like this year, I’ve had a lot of stress.
Clearing the clutter, not just the physical clutter in my home, but the clutter in my brain and my heart have helped a lot during this stressful season.
Here are three ways to stress less during the hard seasons of life, particularly during 2020.
Declutter
To me, decluttering is therapy. There’s something very peaceful about the process of sorting and seeing your space free up.
If I’m decluttering my home, it probably means I’m stressed out. My 5-year-old and I decluttered and organized the pantry a few weeks ago (yes, my kid helped), and we both felt a lot better.
If decluttering your house sounds like an overwhelming nightmare to you, use this step-by-step framework to get started.
Get off social media
After a couple of weeks in quarantine, my anxiety was at its peak. I quickly realized the problem was all the social media I was consuming. My brain in a mental fog, I unfollowed accounts that were making me anxious, deleted some apps from my phone, and turned on app time limits. (Here’s a detailed post about how I digitally decluttered my life.)
I still try to stay informed about what’s going on, but I limit the amount of time looking at the news. I admit there are some weeks I completely avoid any news. But that only happens when I feel especially burdened.
Clear the heart clutter
Over these past few months, I’ve actually grown in my faith. When I’m anxious and feeling like it’s all too much, I’ve been trying to bring it to God instead of worrying about things.
One thing that has stuck out to me for weeks now was some words during Fr Mike Schmitz homily. During a conversation with a friend, he asked, “What am I supposed to be doing right now?”
His friend answered him, “You don’t have to do anything.”
None of this is in my control, so I need to surrender it all and let Him take care of it. (My word of the year is surrender, which turns out to be a really good word for 2020.)
The more I bring to Him, the more I feel set free from anxiety. I can lay it all down and not worry anymore.
Some things that have helped me to do this –to clear the heart clutter –has been to listen to praise and worship (right now, I’m loving Hillsong Worship), reading scriptures daily on Blessed Is She, and using the Hallow app to pray and meditate daily.
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During this difficult season, are you working on clearing more than just the physical clutter? I challenge you to clear your mental clutter and heart clutter.
If you feel like the physical clutter is getting in the way of your ability to stress less, use this 10-Minute Tidy Checklist to get your home tidied up quickly.
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