Happy New Year!
I hope you had the best time ringing in the new year and that you’re just as excited as I am for this fresh chapter. In efforts to get us headed into January on the right foot, I wanted to share a list of easy tasks to help declutter your personal space, work space, and head space. All of these should take you less than 5 or 10 minutes and while they may appear somewhat insignificant, I assure you that these small tasks can promote good habits, ultimately leading to significant changes.
So let’s get started!
1. Clean Your Inbox
Let’s start super simple and easy with cleaning up your inbox. Not sure if you need to? Do you have 3,183 unread messages that you’ll realistically never open? Then the answer is yes. Take the next 10 or 15 minutes to scan your last 100 emails or so and unsubscribe to any businesses that are no longer relevant to you. This helps eliminate the haunting red dot on your home screen reminding you to check your email which feels so nice. This is now a habit I do weekly to keep junk mail at bay.
2. Edit Your Social Media
This one is a favorite of mine. I go through my “Following” lists constantly and remove accounts that don’t feed my soul. Does it entertain me or bring value? No? Easy unfollow. I just recently unfollowed all the accounts that offered parenting tips. I enjoyed them when I was pregnant with Isla, but that type of content no longer serves me, and I have zero interest in seeing it on my feed. I’m also acutely aware that as I’m typing this, someone is unfollowing me at the exact same moment, and bestie, it doesn’t bother me at all. I hate to see you go, but I love you all the same!
Also a great time to find new accounts! Have a new interest or hobby? Find fresh creators who are sharing about those things!
3. Find a Local Charity.
This may seem random but trust me. Do you want to declutter your home? The BEST thing I ever did to kill off my inner hoarder was to find a charity that I felt truly passionate about to donate to. Now I get so excited to purge items as if I knew exactly who was going to receive them. This past year I found a local women’s shelter to donate to and please trust me when I say this is NOT a humble brag but I’ve given hundreds if not thousands of items to Lotus House here in Miami. Which is an incredible testament to how impactful finding the right cause can be because I struggle with purging clothing. I always go back and forth with thinking, “Ohh, but maybe I’ll save this in case…” In case what?! RACHAEL, SHUT UP. This would make someone’s freaking day. PUT IT IN THE BIN.
Lotus House Thrift Chic Boutique
4. Refresh Your Underwear Drawer
I’m not going to tell you to purge your entire closet and build a capsule wardrobe but you can take 10 minutes to ruthlessly edit your bras, socks and underwear. We use these items DAILY but ironically this can sometimes be the category of clothing that’s neglected the most. You don’t need Gucci socks but if you’d be embarrassed to walk through TSA in them, they have to go. Linking my favorite basics below if you need some options!
5. Purge Your Pantry + Fridge
Did you buy a $16 organic artisanal salad dressing you were sure would be the key to getting you to eat more salads but it actually tastes like shit? Get rid of it. Check dates, toss the bag of stale pita chips, trash the bottle of ketchup with less than a serving at the bottom of it, wipe down your fridge, simplify your snack storage and you’ll find yourself being more inspired by your food.
6. Do Things In Silence
This last one isn’t so much as a task itself but a tip to apply to your tasks. Do things in silence. I usually work with instrumental, jazz or chill music playing in the background but very rarely do I do anything in pure silence. This is something I have to also make time to do as I have 2 very small children so I wake up at 5:30 am, make my coffee and map out my day in silence. No podcast, no YouTube video, no music, no nothing. I feel more creative, calm, self-aware and inspired when I do this so if you try it, report back and let me know your thoughts!
Cheers to the best year yet, bestie!
