Things to get rid of before the New Year have always been a focus for me in the final days of December. Traditionally, I’ve spent this time decluttering my wardrobe and organizing other spaces around the house. But in recent years, after streamlining my closet to the essentials, decluttering has taken on a more intangible meaning.
Clearing not just physical items, but mental and digital clutter, has become just as important. This is the perfect time to refresh your life, and I’ve put together a list of key things to let go of before the new year begins!
Toxic Thoughts
I'm talking about all those negative and useless thoughts that don't do us any favor, but haunt us nonetheless and constantly come to our mind, again and again. Let's declutter them merciless – before anything else!
But it's not that easy of course. Therefore I invite you to read this article, which contains some helpful tips to get rid of toxic thoughts:
Expired Medicines and Beauty Products
To examine them all doesn't usually take too long. This year I didn't ounly declutter my expried beauty products; I also donated some new products that simply aren't the best choice for my skin and hair type.
Speaking of rationalizing your beauty products, I also wrote this post some time ago: questo utile post su come razionalizzare i cosmetici, pieno di consigli pratici. (It's in Italian only, sorry).
All the clothes that don't make us feel beautiful
We know it's easy to declutter old and worn-out clothes, as well as those that are out of fashion or really ugly. But it's more difficult to let go of those garments that don't have any real flaws, but simply don't make us feel beautiful when when wear them. Since they have a big impact on our mood, though, we should really let them go!
The terrible habit of checking out our cell phone or the Internet before going to sleep
I think this is a really toxic habit, but also really difficult to eradicate. For this reason, I'm trying to put my phone in airplane mode some time before going to sleep and to watch a movie or read a book instead. It's working!
Old frozen leftovers
I don't know why, but I tend to believe my freezer has magical powers, like the one to maintain everything fresh forever. It's not true, of course, so I invite everyone to throw away without mercy all those old leftovers that have been vegetating in your freezer for so long.
Old birthday cards
It's one of the few things I tend to hang on for sentimental reasons. Lately though I tried something new: I took pictures of the most significant birthday cards I've received, for example for my last “important” birthday, and made a mood board with all of them; so I can read them every time I like it.
Too many plastic bags
I shall start by saying that I make a real effort to always use recyclable bags instead of buying new plastic bags. Nonetheless, they tend to accumulate over time. I notice that, often, other people is anxious to give you their own plastic bags when they give you something, probably because they have too many of them too and feel guilty because of that.
I feel like a sort of eco-criminal because I have so many, but I think that collecting them and bring them to a waste management center so that they can be managed and recycled properly is the lesser evil.
Useless paper documents
For how long do you have to keep paper documents?
For those who live in Italy, I found this practical guide: https://www.laleggepertutti.it/266580_per-quanto-tempo-conservare-i-documenti
And for those who, like me, live in Switzerland, I suggest to read THIS, at least for commercial documents .
Toxic people
This is without any doubt the most difficult kind of decluttering, at least for me. People clearly are not things. We make connections with other human beings, even if they end up being toxic for us. And these bonds are not easy to break.
But when a situation really makes us suffer and reveals to be toxic for us, we owe it to ourselves to do it.
If it helps, you can still leave the door a little open; if the toxic person decides to come back, at YOUR conditions this time, he or she can still do so. But in the meantime you will have eliminated a weight from your shoulders you didn't deserve to have in your life.
I wish you all a great new year. May you live it with lightness and grace, with few weights and a lot of free space to greet all the new, fantastic things that, I am sure, this new year will bring you.
Happy new year!
What about you? Are there particular things, thoughts or persons you would like to get rid of before the new year begins?
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