Tag: decluttering

7 Things You Should Organize this Summer

7 Things You Should Organize this Summer

The first principle of organizing is not deciding how to store your belongings—it’s deciding whether or not you need all your belongings to start with. First, decide if you really like it or need it, and then part with it if necessary. Once the stuff you don’t need is gone, organize what’s left. Your summer will be a lot easier if you have less to put away.

Tackle Piles of Paper

Create four piles: Recycle, Shred, File, and Urgent.Sort through any stacks you’ve accumulated around the house, and arrange or store as needed. Place important bills in an undeniable spot, with the goal that you won’t disregard them.

Smooth out Your Digital Storage

Taking 30 minutes to clean up your home PC will streamline your everyday more than you’d might suspect, and the association procedure is straightforward: Either document or erase. You likely have various arbitrary things spared to your work area (screen captures, old transportation names, tickets) that can be destroyed, and when you minister envelopes in clear manners (Kids, Home, Work), you’ll generally realize where to search for significant records.

Fix Your Fridge and Freezer

In case you don’t know what’s hiding at the rear of your cooler (like lapsed fixing bottles and questionable bundles of soy sauce), it’s an ideal opportunity to address your ice chest and cooler compartments. Initially, toss out the undeniable stuff (whatever’s lapsed or mildew covered) and consider throwing half-utilized containers of food that are in fact still great, yet that you have no plans of cooking with once more. In your cooler, junk any cooler consumed food or things put away for a stormy day—in the event that you haven’t had any desire to eat it by this point, it’s simply occupying significant room.

Sort out Your Closet

Seriously investigate your storage room. A decent storage room cleanse is one that numerous property holders maintain a strategic distance from, yet the system is shockingly straightforward: If you haven’t worn it in a year—since it doesn’t fit, shows extreme mileage, or you simply don’t care for it that a lot to begin with—you have to either toss it out or part with it. Tackle dress first, trailed by shoes and embellishments. Try not to haul everything out of your storeroom and dump it on your bed to sort; that progression can make the venture overpowering, and may make you surrender too early. Simply haul things out that you realize you don’t need; you’ll be amazed at how rapidly your storage room increases some breathing room.

Give Away Items Your Kids Have Outgrown

Children’s spaces frequently contain a huge number of modest knickknacks (hi, cheap food toys)— things that children play with for a couple of moments and dispose of. As opposed to handling the entire room, plan a speedy, easy decision clean up: Get a cardboard gift box prepared, go into your youngster’s room or den, and pull out five to 10 things that you realize they don’t play with or don’t care for. You can even make it a game with more established children, requesting that they assist you with picking the things to offer away to youngster out of luck. In the blink of an eye by any stretch of the imagination, your children’s space will unexpectedly appear to be somewhat more smoothed out.

Check Under Your Sinks

Set a clock for 15 minutes, and give that chance to your under-sink zones. There might be various things sneaking there—void bathroom tissue moves, old cosmetics, cleaning bottles with a quarter-inch of arrangement left in them—that you can throw without another idea, in a split second opening up a huge amount of space.

Don’t Forget About Your Outdoor Space

Stroll around the outside of your home and check whether you can spot whatever simply shouldn’t be there—like a messed up hose, a feeble (and unusable) stepping stool, or a heap of plastic plant compartments. Pack littler things, and convey the rest directly to the check. You don’t have settle on important choices about bigger things, similar to old barbecues or rusting porch furniture—this isn’t the chance to totally re-try your yard—yet your yard will in a flash vibe cleaner without each one of those littler bits of garbage jumbling your line of vision.

Marianne is Nixplay’s Web Content Editor. Her hobbies include exploring new places, playing table tennis, and cuddling puppies. Send her a message at marianne.salazar@nixplay.com.

6 Simple Ways To Make Your Home Feel Cozier

6 Simple Ways To Make Your Home Feel Cozier

Since we’re spending more time at home these days, it makes sense to make your abode as inviting to live in as possible. The good news is that you don’t necessarily need an expensive renovation job to achieve this goal. With these simple steps, you can transform your interiors into your own definition of a relaxing home without spending too much.

1. Clean up your clutter

Being in a disorganized environment can be stressful. If you’re on a quest to make your home a more relaxing place to be in, tidying up should be on top of your to-do list. Set aside a couple of days to tackle bursting cupboards, messy shelves, and tables piled high with all sorts of things. Be ruthless when decluttering, and dispose of items that don’t make you happy or are just not practical. Finally, make sure to organize your belongings, and invest in extra storage if necessary. While decluttering can be tedious and time-consuming, you’ll find that it can do wonders in making your place feel more liveable.

2. Soften the room with textiles

Drape a blanket on your couch, replace heavy curtains with sheer ones to let the sunlight in, and add pillows to your sofa to invite people to curl up and snuggle. A plush rug and a pouf ottoman can also get people to put up their feet and relax. These small, simple touches go a long way in making a home feel more comfortable. 

3. Display your favorite photos and mementos

Meaningful souvenirs, trinkets, and home decor can give your abode personality. These items are special to you, so it only makes sense to give them a place of honor in your home. This philosophy should extend to your photos: Why would you take dozens of photos during a vacation or a special event, only to keep them filed away in your computer forever? By displaying your photos on a Nixplay Smart Photo Frame, you’ll always be reminded of your favorite moments with the people that mean most to you.

4. Use smart appliances

What’s better than a home decked with the latest gadgets and gizmos? A home decked with gadgets that you can control with your voice or with your phone, that’s what. Invest in a Google Home or an Amazon Echo device, which you can use to control your other appliances. These smart home assistants work with Nixplay Frames, and you can just ask Google Home Assistant or Amazon Alexa to turn on your frame and play your favorite photo playlist if you’re in need of a pick-me-up.

5. Opt for warm lighting

You’d be surprised by how much impact lighting can have on a room’s atmosphere. Use natural light as much as possible–Avoid harsh, fluorescent lights, and look for energy-efficient bulbs that can impart a soft, warm glow to your space. You can also light some candles to give a room a relaxing ambiance.

6. Decorate with greenery

Plants can breathe life into an otherwise dreary space–and we mean this quite literally, as they give off oxygen and help purify the air in your home. The crucial thing is choosing the right plants for your home and lifestyle. Beginner plant moms and dads can opt for plants that are easy to care for, such as succulents or snake plants. If you love to cook, you can try tending to some potted herbs by your kitchen window. A potted palm or a fiddle leaf fig, meanwhile, can brighten up more spacious rooms.

Marianne is Nixplay’s Web Content Editor. Her hobbies include exploring new places, playing table tennis, and cuddling puppies. Send her a message at marianne.salazar@nixplay.com.

mental declutter

5 Ways To Clear Mental Clutter

Marie Kondo’s books and Netflix series have inspired people everywhere to empty out drawers, clean out cabinets, and get rid of anything that doesn’t “spark joy”. Her work highlights the benefits of clearing the clutter from your life, something professional organizers around the world have been helping families do for decades.

However, it’s important to know that physical clutter is only one piece of the simplifying puzzle. Getting rid of the piles of paper, the clothes that don’t fit, and your now-teenagers’ childhood toys littered in your home is a significant first step in the journey to eliminating stress and unwanted things. Clearing your mental clutter is another powerful step in the process of truly simplifying your life.

What is mental clutter?

I define mental clutter as the thoughts that take up space in your mind, creating confusion, stress, and exhaustion. Mental clutter keeps you from thinking straight, making decisions and living intentionally. With intention, focus, and patience, you can clear it from your life just as easily as tossing those holey socks and worn towels.

Here are six ways to clear mental clutter:

Spend time in nature (without your phone).

When’s the last time you went somewhere without your phone? Do you even remember?

We’ve become so used to always having a phone that it feels unnatural to leave home without it. But being unplugged can help you settle into a few minutes or a few hours of much-needed downtime. Immerse yourself in nature and let your mind wander. Approach this time away with curiosity and engage your senses to notice the sights, sounds and smells around you. This experience is an opportunity to clear your mind and set your thoughts aside.

Do a brain dump

How often do you think about all the things you have to do? Maybe you have sticky notes, notes on your phone, or voicemails and emails spread out, all over reminding you of the many tasks you need to complete. A brain dump will help fix this.

Choose a central location, either a notepad or a digital app, to serve as your main brain dump location. Write an exhaustive list of everything you can think of that requires your attention. Just getting these thoughts out of your mind enables you to see them as a whole, sort them, and act on them. Knowing your responsibilities and having a plan to tackle them takes the swirling thoughts out of your mind, eliminating your stress.

Finish or let go of an unfinished project.

Do you have any unfinished projects in your life? I’m guessing your answer is “yes” based on what I’ve seen in my experience working with families to simplify their homes and lives. Whether it’s a broken ornament you’re planning to superglue back together, a scarf you had the best of intentions to knit, or the storage rack you bought on sale last year and planned to put up in the garage, unfinished projects abound in our homes and lives.

While these unfinished projects don’t seem to affect us on a day-to-day basis, they can drain our energy and contribute to our mental clutter more than we realize. What do you think about each day when you pull into the garage and walk around the storage rack box sitting on the floor? What happens when you see the yarn basket next to the couch each night? Being aware of these unfinished projects is a significant step in clearing this clutter.

With your brain dump, you’ll have a clear list of the unfinished projects in your life. Once you know what your unfinished projects are, you can decide what to do about them. Your options are simple: Finish the project, or let it go. If you’re planning to finish it, schedule the time, set a deadline, and purchase any needed supplies. Break it down into chunks or ask for help if needed.

For example, if “organize my pictures” has been on your list for years, ask family members to share the responsibilities and costs with you, set goals for each month, and schedule the time in your calendar. Make the project fun by planning family gatherings to work on it or listen to music as you sort and scan. Stay focused on your end goal, such as seeing all of your photos organized and digitized on your Nixplay frame and think about how great it will be to finally finish the project. Of course, if you have unfinished projects that no longer sound exciting or necessary, return products and supplies that you can, then donate the rest to an organization that would be happy to have them.

Focus on one thing at a time.

Do you ever feel like your mind is a computer browser with 22 tabs open, all needing your attention? Just like your computer can’t function well with too many programs running at the same time, neither can you. Research continues to show that multitasking isn’t effective.

Learn to start focusing on and fully finishing just one project at a time. Use your brain dump to prioritize what you need to work on and schedule time in your calendar to complete the steps. Choose to delegate tasks that others can do and delete things that really don’t need to be done after all. Be mindful when you find yourself inching back toward multitasking. Use this as a signal to shift gears and do another brain dump.

Clear a shelf, counter, or surface.

Just as your unfinished projects subtly steal your attention and drain your energy, so can cluttered shelves and surfaces in your home. Experiment with this by clearing one shelf in your home. Choose one that you see every day and clear everything from it. See if you can keep it this way for one week (or longer). Creating this white space gives your eyes and mind a chance to rest. See what you notice over time. As you learn to embrace this space, continue clearing areas around your home and clearing your mental clutter.

You don’t have to be super busy all the time. Using these tips, you can clear the mental clutter from your life and spend more time enjoying the space you create!

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