Why and How Should You Declutter Your life? Clutter is not physical stuff but old ideas, toxic relationships and bad habits; you must de-clutter right now to lead a peaceful and happy life

Did you just waste the past ten minutes looking for an important document?

Did you buy a new outfit when you know there isn't any space to keep it?

Have you sometimes been too consumed with trivial matters?

Have you been feeling too worn out of late?

A mere "yes' to any of the aforementioned questions is a symptom of muddle and derangement of unwanted articles around you. Well, you must be too busy and occupied to clean up the mishmash around you. But the fact is "the sooner you declutter, the smoother your life would be'.

The first question arises- why must you bother to clear up all that the redundant mess? The piled up trash anywhere at your home or office will soon weigh you down. Your creativity and decision-making capacity is definitely slowed down. It is likely that you forget to pay an important bill timely because of the piled up mails or you land up spending money to impulsively buy a new dress when you already have tagged pieces hanging in your closet.

The next question which is tougher to answer arises- where should you begin decluttering from?

1. At Home

The moment you think of cleaning up, you suddenly feel exhausted and overwhelmed because you cannot figure out where to start from? Vasudha Gupta, CEO of Armofs Clothing, reiterates, "I always start the decluttering process at my home from small drawers, which boosts me to take up the bigger challenge and I steer clear my closets of all that I haven't worn or used in the past few months. Also reorganizing the closet reminds me of clothes I had bought but worn not even once." The thumb rule is if you haven't thought of something or worn it even in a year, you actually don't need it.

Sounds easy in words and it can reap manifold benefits when implemented in practice.

2. At Office

a. Office Desk

Does your office need cleaning out? Yes. You need to organize small drawers, prioritize work to gain maximum productivity and get rid of all extra papers and files which aren't required. "The more organized your workplace is, you will be able to meticulously carry out the tasks in minimum time with maximum efficiency," says Ashok Bhandhari, founder of A.K.Bhandari & Co.

b. Laptop and Gadgets

Sounds weird, but the truth is it's better to organize your laptop and mobile data than the fumble by wasting precious time and energy looking for data saved somewhere. An interesting observation was made by Vimal Gupta, CEO of New Idea Farm Equipment Company. He mentions that even his e-mail account is organized where his mails are categorized and saved so that he doesn't have to fish out for information and it is just readily available. "Separate titles like bank mails, company mails, client mails are various heads under which he stores various mails to avoid hodgepodge," adds Ashok Bhandhari.

c. Office stationery

This might sound like a ground level employee job. But it is advisable to organize office stationery so as to save time looking for pins, envelopes, pens or all the variety of files needed. You also will be saved by buying new petty items when you already have in abundance. ?

Did you spend the last ten minutes looking for the pen drive with your stored accounts? "It is inevitable to declutter right now to save oneself of unsolicited expenses, hassle, last minute tension and feeling tormented by not being able to make it in time," says Arpit Gupta, Co-founder of Medism.

3. Declutter your mind

You are too busy to notice but it's the weariness of your mind and thoughts which pull you back. All you need to do is steer clear of negative thoughts and endorse positivity by indulging in activities that make you happy. Meditate, express gratitude, smile more often and simply start waking up half an hour earlier than stipulated time to give a head start to your mornings.

Arpit Gupta further adds," Waking up early and going for morning walk has always helped me plan and prioritize my day. It helps me utilize the "me-time' walking in the fresh, green surroundings and staying calm through the day."

Over to you- To enhance your creativity and productivity; to reduce your stress level; to save time, money and energy; all you need to do is keep your home, office and mind clutter free. As Eleanor Brown says," Clutter is not physical stuff. It's old ideas, toxic relationships and bad habits." You must de-clutter right now to lead a peaceful and happy life.