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Did you know that spring cleaning and decluttering your home has mental and emotional benefits? Donating items around the home can actually bring a new sense of peace and calmness to your life! Our homes can be a mirror of our current emotional state; if our homes are chaotic we tend to feel the same way.

Spring cleaning is an opportunity to rewrite your life, create a fresh start, and reinvent yourself. We’re in the middle of a 30 Day Minimalism Challenge that started on March 1^st. This month, we’re giving meaning to our spring cleaning by donating gently used items to The Purple Cow, which funds the operations of The Christian Outreach Center. Not only do your donations benefit the homeless community, but donating benefits YOU and your health.

Are you having trouble deciding what to keep or donate? We recently provided 20 questions to guide you in this decision making process on our blog- find it here! To put it simply, when in doubt- donate. And once you start getting rid of clutter, you will probably get addicted.  Many people say they experience a euphoric high almost like a “runner’s high” when decluttering. It can be very energizing and liberating! Read about the following 8 ways that removing (and donating) clutter can be a benefit to you.

Removing and Donating Clutter:

1. Improves your concentration, focus, and productivity: Some studies suggest a theory that clutter is actually symptomatic of a deeper issue- indecisiveness. Clutter makes it harder for you to focus, and requires more mental energy to do simple tasks. Maybe you grew up in a home where nothing was thrown away. It could make it very hard for you to make decisions. By taking control of your surroundings, you’re freeing yourself and choosing the life you want to live.

2. Boosts creativity : Creativity is energy that freely flows through us. When we have a creative “block”, the creative juices cease to flow. Clearing out physical clutter is a way to clear our mental clutter in our headspace and remove the block!

3. Improves sleep: If you’ve having problems sleeping at night, take into consideration of the cleanliness of your bedroom. Do you have laundry all over the floor, and a closet that is bursting at the seams? Studies have found a connection between lack of sleep and messy bedrooms (which is a wonder that any of us can get any sleep, right?) People that live in a cluttered home are generally more exhausted not only because of sleep lack, but because of the mental energy and stress that results from living in a messy environment.

4. Boosts mood: If your home is a wreck, it can make you feel like a wreck. All of the visual noise in the home sends a signal that says you don’t have your life together. And there’s nothing more stressful than not being able to find something in your home because it is so disorganized! The amount of clutter in our home can have a huge effect on your mood. The more stuff, the more stress. Less stuff, less stress.

5. Boosts your self-esteem: It’s fascinating how clutter can have a profound effect on our self-esteem. Clutter can become a daily reminder of things we don’t need, want to see, or be reminded of: the broken, worn-out, the past, and the things we haven’t accomplished. These things that we have negative associations with can actually drag us down in subtle ways. The things around our house should inspire us, motivate us, and “spark joy” within us rather than make us feel shame or guilt.

6. Helps you to let go of the past: We often hold on to items that are tied to the past- to old relationships, outdates interests and inherited belongings. Do yourself a favor and get rid of anything that drags you down, especially if it affects your emotions.

7. Provides more open-ness to opportunity: We’ve already talked about how clutter can wear us down mentally and make us more frustrated or cranky about our life, but not only can it affect our present, it can affect our future. If we’re always hanging onto items that belonged to a past version of us, it can be hard to grow and move on in life. Clear those things away and create new space and energy to invite the new you!

8. Cleaner environment & allergy relief: Our stuff collects dust, mites, and even mold. Think about it: if you can’t see the surfaces of your home (like your kitchen counter) how can you wipe it clean? If you have allergies, you are probably highly sensitive to these kinds of environments. Deep clean your home for not only better mental and emotional health, but physical health as well!

If you haven’t already, we hope you will join the 30 Day Minimalism Challenge on Facebook and Instagram with us and use the daily prompts to sort through areas of your home that can be cluttered. Make sure that when you donate, take a picture of the items and use the hashtag #MeaningtoMyCleaning to enter into a contest to win a gift card to Outback Steakhouse!