How To Emotionally Declutter

Bottling up your emotions can leave you feeling stuck in the past. But by addressing these feelings, you can put that suppressed energy into moving forwards with a more positive life

Dealing with our emotions and regularly getting rid of the unnecessary worries that trouble our minds is so important. This is called “emotional decluttering”, and is a great way to cleanse your mind. When emotions are suppressed, anxiety and depression can often follow, so it’s essential to clean up your thoughts for a fresh start.

Think of issues left undealt with as stuck energy that holds us back from living a happier, more fulfilled life. The more we work on ourselves, allow ourselves to feel and then let go of unwanted emotions, the more energy we have to create the lives we want. Here are some tips to change your life for the better, and emotionally declutter:

Empower yourself by thinking about your ideal life. Would it involve a career change, embracing a passion, or doing something positive for society? By imaging where you want to get to, you can start to think about the steps it takes to get there.

Note down all the aspects of your life now: your friends, your career, your love life, and any other areas that matter to you. Pay attention to how you feel about these aspects when you think about changing your life. Which areas do you feel you need to pay attention too?

For example, if you want to focus on your love life, but you know you haven’t gotten over your ex-partner yet, this is an area you’ll need to release the emotion around.

From the process above, note down all the situations or areas you need to address. These are the things that are blocking or limiting you.

This step is essential to declutter your emotions. You must dig deep and identify the areas you are stuck in. Putting them in writing helps to have a clear vision of the overall picture – and the work that needs to be done.

Once you’ve understood what might be limiting you from moving forwards, go into each scenario and really feel those emotions.

If it’s about an ex-partner you’re not over, get a cup of tea and think about that person and how they made you feel. Often, we hold our feelings in –we distract ourselves with food, alcohol or anything that can numb the pain. The trick here is release the locked emotion.

Once you start addressing these emotions and decluttering, you swipe away these blocks and limits with a mental broom. Just put pen to paper and let your stream of consciousness write what it needs.

Once you’ve addressed emotions that were holding you back, take the time to write your new story of how you want your life to look. You are your own best friend and advocate, so rely on yourself to define your future vision. With a clearer head, you’ll find the energy you used to use to create negative thoughts can be put to good use here.

Take simple, daily steps towards the new story to make it reality – no matter how small they might seem. Working on the story daily will give you confidence in it. Be nice to yourself along the way. It may take time, but you can get there in the end.