Decrease your clutter and increase your energy
Your health
We'll start with health as if you’re not setting yourself up for success here, it's difficult to be at your best in other areas.
Think about your food intake, how much and what kinds of food you are eating.
Are you in the rut of grabbing junk food at the end of a busy day or are you taking the time to ensure you’re getting balanced meals?
Are you physically healthy and maintaining an acceptable weight?
Reflect on your sleep patterns and whether you’re able to recharge each night with uninterrupted sleep or whether you are waking in the night.
Once you have taken an audit of your health, think about small improvements you can make.
It can be as simple as a 20-minute walk around the block at lunchtime or preparing healthy meals in the weekend that you can heat up during the busy work week.
Your finances
Concern over finances is one of the many reasons we stay awake at night.
Just like your health, to address any issues in this area, you need to know your current position.
While some of us are meticulous about sticking to a budget and recording our spending, many of us aren’t.
Tracking your expenses and spending can be a real eye-opener, as small outgoings add up.
If you have unnecessary debt, think about ways you can start to pay it off.
Spending less or earning more is what is going to get you on the path to financial health,
whether it’s forgoing the morning Latte or finding a side hustle to bring in additional cashflow.
Your physical space
Often overlooked is the effect that our physical surroundings have on our emotional wellbeing.
If you are surrounded with clutter and possessions you no longer use, it can be difficult to have emotional clarity.
If having ‘stuff’ around you drains your energy, a good clean out is not only therapeutic, but it creates the mental space to focus on improvements in other areas of your life.
Your relationships
How we act towards others, whether its loved ones or work colleagues, and the enjoyment we get from this can shape our whole outlook.
Do you spend enough time with the people who are most important to you?
Are you holding onto grudges with your close network or colleagues?
The way we act towards others reflects who we want to be, and if you feel you’re not being the best you can be in this area,
take stock and see how you can improve things, one person at a time.
Your time
This is one of the areas we feel we have the least control over, yet in many ways we have supreme ownership of how we spend our time.
If you feel a lack of time is one of the things holding you back from enjoying life, spend one or two weeks recording a diary of your activities,
including travel to work, chores, exercise, working hours, family time etc.
Take a look at this at the end and note which activities are meaningful to you and give you enjoyment.
Are there ways you can save time on any of the less enjoyable aspects, e.g. if you have a long commute,
can you change working hours to travel outside peak traffic or work from home a few days a week.
Life is complex.
Sometimes it can feel as if all areas are overwhelming, and we don’t know where to start to improve things.
Begin with one of the sectors above and concentrate on what you can declutter in that area.
Small steps lead to great strides and once you start shedding baggage in one area, the path becomes clearer towards improving other aspects of your life.
Author: Peter Robinson
Team Leadership Services