4 Easy Ways to Cleanse Your Life Right Now
No better time than the start of the new year to do a cleanse. I love a good detox. Whether it’s a digital detox or a juice detox I pretend I’m doing great (look, I would rather have the burger), I love taking an opportunity to just refresh. Detoxes are meant to rid us of harmful things like toxins or just toxic bullshit overall. That said cleansing one’s life doesn’t have to be drastic. It can be making ever so slight changes that just make you feel happier and less stressed. At least that is what I’m looking for right now.
Adjusting to the first week back and getting into the swing of things was really difficult. Trying to get motivated to leap back into work, a coup attempt, and just having the biggest bought of depression I’ve had in a long time felt like trying to climb a snowy mountain during an avalanche. That is when I realized I needed to move at my own pace and do a few things to get myself back into the groove. These are 4 things I’m doing to cleanse my life right now and they are pretty easy so you can do them too!
Reassess the Daily Schedule
When looking back at lessons from last year I learned boundaries were really important. Many people believe they should have others available to meet their every whim, but that isn’t possible nor should anyone compromise things they need in order to do so. Being stuck at home for the foreseeable future really means finding the right balance between making time for things we love and ensuring necessary tasks are done in a timely manner (especially with work). But there is a difference between forcing productivity and being truly productive. So maybe that task that isn’t getting the results you want, can wait for another day or designated day of the week to build routine. And frankly, if I don’t love it…I don’t have to do it.
Donate Extra Clothes
Raise your hand if you’re like me and essentially loading up on new clothes as if you have a billion different places to wear them? I know my living room sure does love my daily styling. I clean out my closet almost seasonally in order to move things around by use. But it can be really hard to get rid of pieces that we love or have an emotional connection to. I get it. I do the same thing. We really don’t need to keep clothes that don’t fit with the hopes that we wear them someday. First off, appreciate the body you have right now and second, if you haven’t worn it to that “perfect” situation yet…you probably aren’t going to. These clothes are just taking up space and honestly, there are people out there who need them far more. Keep anything you have a deep emotional connection with or has meaning in your life that you can’t replace and donate anything else. If you can sell your clothes, great. If not donate them to a women’s shelter and help give women a fresh start.
Detox the Nighttime Routine
I’m not entirely talking about beauty products or the beauty routine here. I’m talking about making your bedroom a sanctuary that winds you down and gets you the rest you need to take on life. I started using Apple’s bedtime wind-down function. Essentially you set a “bedtime” and before that time your phone turns into a sleep mode that darkens the screen and goes on “do not disturb.” This makes it pretty annoying to unlock it every time you want to use it. Of course, you can add shortcuts like your sound apps or podcasts or whatever you need to sleep. It’s intended to help ease into sleep better without scrolling endlessly or being tempted to answer that all-important text that comes in. Trust me, having to go through two screens to answer a text…..you’ll eventually give up. If you’re not that dedicated, try just turning down the lights and having a nightly routine that tells your body it’s time to chill out.
Clean Out the Inbox
Remember that one online shopping email list you signed up for months ago to get a discount code? Well, their email campaigns are in your inbox right now and you haven’t opened a single one of them. How I got signed up for weird political emails with subject lines about T*d Cruz I’ll never know. There are many different apps and websites you can use to mass unsubscribe and Google has even made it a little easier with their notifications asking about unsubscribing. Not only do these emails load up your inbox and it’s tabs, but you’re also not benefiting the company or their email marketing data in any way (nerd alert). If the thought of unsubscribing seems overwhelming, do what I do. With as many inboxes as I keep track of, I’ve come up with a pretty good system of sorting emails, but when it comes time to clean up I delete as much as I can especially marketing emails and newsletters. This way as these emails trickle in I can keep better track of what is there and easily unsubscribe from whatever is no longer serving me.
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