by Bill Longshaw

If you have ever had clutter build up in your home, at work, or in the car… no worries. I think this will easily and naturally occur for many people at some point. Especially if the person is busy. Still, learning to get at the clutter in short bursts, or increments can be more useful than spending large amounts of time working on it. 

There is a certain level of clutter that should be a cut off point. At that point, there is no reason to feel the need to dive in and spend an hour or a whole day working on it. No. Simply choose to take five minutes and do something. Over time, that will add up.

This is so yogic. There is no need to have a big reaction or a big change. We can make small adjustments with our bodies,  our diet, our homes, and our work spaces. It will matter that you made adjustments using ahimsa (non-injury) and with some compassion.

This is all nice to talk about, but what if a big change is needed?

I would suggest breaking any big task into smaller ones. Each time you successfully get through one section, you are building the muscle for the work. In yoga practice, consistent and steady effort, over time, without cessation leads to yoga. The same is true with de-cluttering.

Check out this cool blog post by Gretchen Rubin of the Happiness Project. She shares her five-minute de-cluttering strategies. They are exceedingly practical. I actually think these are the habits of people who keep the clutter at a minimum. See if you can pick just one to work with for the rest of the week.

Ten Tips to Beat Clutter… in Less Than 5 Minutes

Yoga Pose of the Day: Plank Pose (My suggestion is to start at trying to hold for 30 seconds. You can work in small increments each day to build up to 5 minutes)

Yogic Concept of the Day: Let me take 5 minutes to do something to de-clutter or organize.