The riddle: “What are we always trying to get rid of at the same time that we add to it?” The answer? Clutter.

What are the essentials needed to prepare your body and mind for sleep? For starters, they begin with working toward, through meditation or even visualization, a sense of rest and peace. ‘Free your mind, and the rest (as in sleep) will follow.” For most, this is hard to do – especially if your bedroom space is stuff-y, as in has too much stuff. But if your living space – meaning the floor, the nightstand…the bed itself, is void of what your mind will turn into “distractions,” or even nightmare fodder for young children, you are on your way to getting a better night’s sleep.

Clearing clutter has always been a “nice thing to do.” Minimalism is now an embraced thing. It’s even trendy to clear our living space of things that don’t “spark joy.” If that motivation doesn’t work for you, how about clearing your space of things that don’t “bring sleep.” That might work well. If you’re not getting sleep, you’re likely not very joyful.

According to Psychologist, Dr. Sherrie Carter, messes make the human brain distracted which delay it from doing important tasks. The brain gets cluttered with excessive stimuli that it does not need which prevents it from focusing on important things. In order to sleep well, we need to clean well (and by “clean” we mean clear away and get rid of).

Here are both long and short term steps to help you achieve and remain clutter-free:

Declutter Level 1 and 2: Short-Term Plan. 

The first thing you must do begins long before bedtime.

• Clear your space of clutter. Take a look around your bedroom. Likely clutter catch-all’s are chairs, nightstands and the bed itself. They become filled to the brim (we know who you are) with clothes, and other sundry items that you just didn’t get around to putting away in their place (or getting rid of them because they’ve bounced from closet, to floor, to chair, to nightstand and back again a few times).

• Next, downsize. Go through your closet, nightstand and clothes and purge – with the idea in mind that you are also going to get rid of the space savers, plastic shoe tubs and temporary, plastic 3-drawer box you’ve had since college. If you must, use it to store items from the garage (and place it there), but vow you are going to only use the closet bar to hang your clothes or your dresser drawer.

Downsizing also applies to your nightstand. Perhaps replace it with one without a drawer so that you are not tempted to store things that you don’t need. The place for a book may be on your nightstand. The place for your library is outside of the bedroom.

Big or Small Space Clutter-Free: Long-Term, Level 3

• Declutter regularly. It’s a vicious cycle. You whine about not having space to sleep. You declutter. And then, you’re sooo proud of yourself, that you buy a new dress, new book and before you know it-you have to guess what? Again! So soon? Schedule a time in your calendar to declutter each month (and if possible, try to refrain from replacing the items – which can lead to more work in the long run).

With the right elements, you can still relax, and get the quality rest you need, even in a small space, without feeling crowded or distracted.

Now you are ready for rest as it was intended. To help you get to sleep and stay asleep, drug-free, check out the Sound+Sleep MINI, just announced and now available on Amazon and many other online retailers. The MINI, is sleekly designed to fit any small space or size nightstand. Like the original Sound+Sleep, sound machine, it features non-looping sounds taken directly from nature that mask disruptive noise with adaptive sound technology, helping you get to sleep and stay asleep.

For more information about where to buy, visit www.asticorp.com and Happy Holidays from all of us at ASTI.

Sources:

Does Being Messy Affect Our Sleep

Why Mess Causes Stress

Want to Get Organized? Marie Kondo’s Tips for Decluttering