How a Tidy House Helps You Stay Fit and Fabulous Podcast Episode

Healthy habits aren’t about discipline, they’re all about how you set up your life to make them easy. Including your house!

A cluttered house increases feeling of stress and make it harder for you to maintain your healthy habits.

Equally a decluttered house is calming, relaxing and supports your healthy habits.

Today I welcome Lisa Zarwrotny from Positively Productive to help us declutter so our healthy habits happen without us thinking about them.

Why Is Decluttering so Important when it comes to Healthy Habits?

“It’s not just the stuff on the floor! Clutter is anything that gets in-between you and the life that you want to live!” Peter Walsh

Clutter can get in the way of living a healthy and fit and fabulous life. For example, if you walk into your kitchen and it’s so cluttered you can’t find what you need, you’re more likely to reach for easy, unhealthy foods, or even order a take out.

But if your kitchen is a tidy and enjoyable space to be in, you’re more likely to take delight in being there, creating tasty and healthy food for the family.

Decluttering is a way of setting up your environment so that healthy habits come easily. A way of setting yourself up for success.

A decluttered space will also help you feel calm and relaxed rather than a low grade continuous stress.

Is it Possible to Have a Decluttered Home with 4 Kids?

Yes but you need to meet your family where they are. For example, if you have young children you might not have time and space to teach them to tidy after themselves.

You might need to manage your expectations to avoid disappointment!

There is also an investment in time and energy to teach your kids to tidy and contribute to keeping the house tidy.

How Do We Start Decluttering?

Lisa uses the SIMPLE system.

S: Set. Set aside time to set yourself up for success. E.g. setting goals, tracking progress, assessing and deciding what you’re going to do.

I: Identify. Identify what you want to use that time or space for. This will help you decide what lives where. For example, if you want the kitchen to be a space where the kids do some arts and crafts, you might want to keep arts and crafts materials in the kitchen.

M: Matching. “Like with like”. E.g pull out all your pots and pans and decide how many you actually need.

P: Pair. As in “pairing down”. What are you going to throw out?

L: Limit. The limit is your container. E.g a small kitchen or a small cupboard.

E: Evaluate. Are you able to get things out and put them away easily? It’s an on going process.

How do we Throw Things Away that We Have Emotional Attachment to things?

We all have emotional attachments to things. For children, it’s important to recognise that it can affect their sense of security and safety.

Start by talking to them about what they want to do and how they want to live.

Boundaries are an Important Part of Keeping a House Uncluttered

We all need to keep things in their place.

Why Is Gratitude so Important To Maintain Healthy Habits?

Gratitude is an appreciation for what we have and finding the good in all we have.

Gratitude will increase our perception of abundance and how much we have.

In relation to clutter, this allows us to let go of things that we no longer need and are no longer serving us.

Gratitude is an amazing mindset tool and is linked to building resilience.

How do You Practise Gratitude

Practising gratitude is a habit. A power habit!

It can be as simple as thinking about 3 things you’re grateful for first thing in the morning or before you go to bed.

As with all habits, it’s about making it routine and easy.

Lisa’s Last Words of Wisdom

“You’re allowed to be a work in progress and a masterpiece at the same time”. Sophia Bush.

Staying in Contact with Lisa

Check out Lisa’s website: Positively productive.

On IG: instagram