The habit of decluttering your life

I was recently reading a book by Marie Kondo called “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.” One thing that Ms. Kondo describes in her book is how to declutter and organize a closet. Rather than scouring your closet for things to get rid of, you start by emptying the closet entirely. In order for an item to be returned to the closet, it must pass a simple test: does it spark joy?

Chances are, not everything you own "sparks joy" or makes you happy. Things simply accumulate over time.They follow you through your life and fill your closets until one day you realize you’re out of room. This is just as true for your mind as it is for your closet.

Our minds are packed with the clutter of our responsibilities. Endless to-do lists sap our energy and take up mental breathing room. When trying to be more productive, a good place to start is to form a regular habit of decluttering your mind.

Take a moment and write out a list of all the things that are or will occupy your time. No matter how big or small, totally empty your mental closet. When you’re done, go through that list and ask yourself: Is this task really worth my time? Will this make me (or those I love) happy?

On a clean page, transfer only those things that pass the test. Chances are, this list will be shorter, and much more motivating. In the Bullet Journal this process is known as Migration. Every month, you take everything out of your mental closet and decide what goes back in. Who doesn’t love a closet filled with things that make you happy with room to grow?