DECLUTTERING YOUR LIFE IN 13 WEEKS (10 MINUTES AT A TIME): WEEKS 9 & 10

Hello again! Here’s hoping you’ve been doing some decluttering in your life a little at a time with ec. Take a look at the next two weeks and let us know how you're doing!

Week 9: Exercise for ten minutes a day, every day.

Whaaaaat? I know you’re saying it. I can hear you. I’m going to give you several good reasons why you should get in the habit of exercising. It’s only ten minutes, and if you have a life that is so busy you can’t spare 600 seconds to do something important, you are too busy.

Exercise is a fancy way of saying “move your body.” You have 206 bones and over 600 muscles. You have tendons that hold muscles to bone, and ligaments that hold bones together. And all of your bones, muscles, tendons and ligaments need oxygen, blood, and nutrients in order for you to have energy and feel good. So how do you get the oxygen, blood, and nutrients into your body? Exercise. It’s a great way to clean out physical and mental clutter.

Exercise burns off the extra calories you’ve eaten so you don’t store them as fat. Exercise gives you a feeling of well-being, improves your mood, and helps you fight stress and negative emotions. Exercise gives you confidence in your body physically, so you trust it to hold you up, steady your balance, or move in an easy and comfortable way. It is one of the best habits you’ll ever develop in your life.

So why ten minutes? Because you should start slowly. Because anything is better than nothing, and because you should get in the habit of doing something intentionally every day. Any movement is better than just sitting around on the couch. There’s nothing wrong with sitting, but also giving your body a little workout is going to really improve how you feel.

So which exercise? Assuming you’re in reasonably good health and your doctor would say OK, go for a walk, or alternate walking and running for ten minutes. Run up and down the stairs, ride your bike, jump rope, or stand on the curb at your house with one foot on the curb, one off, and jump-switch like you’re in second grade. You could do jumping jacks, wave your arms around like you’re crazy, jump on a trampoline, or practice your kung-fu kicks. You could raise yourself up on your toes while you watch TV. You could lift weights (but do it safely). You could clean your room and go so fast you get a workout. Vacuum the house. (If you’re already in sports, then you know the value of exercising to keep yourself in top condition. Just keep it up and enjoy it.)

You can do anything as long as a) your body starts to feel warm after a few minutes, b) you’re being safe, and c) you aren’t pushing yourself so hard you’re gasping for air at the end. You should definitely feel that you’ve been working, but don’t overdo. If you have a medical condition like asthma that means take it easy, then take it easy. Listen to your body. Give your body what it needs; don’t hurt yourself or make yourself sick.

Before, during, and after, try to get a handle on how you’re feeling. At the end of the week, have a little sit-down and think about what you’ve done. Did you like it? Do your muscles feel better, even with a little bit of working out? Did you get bored or have problems with motivation?

What stood out to you as fun, interesting, or worth doing more of? Try to find something you can keep doing, and then start working at it. Set a goal of eventually working out for three hours a week, divided up into whatever segments you can do.

Yes, I said three hours. That is 180 minutes, or 7 25-minute workouts. If you work out for 45 minutes at a time, you’ve only got to do 4 workouts. You can schedule your workouts any way you want. Can you do this? Absolutely. Will you find the time? That’s up to you.

Week 10: Go through your closet again.

Take ten minutes, a new playlist, and try to set aside a few things that you don’t use anymore, are worn out, broken, in bad condition, or out of style. You’ll find more than you think. Set what is still useful aside for donation, and chuck the rest.

For ten weeks, you’ve done something every week to reduce the amount of clutter you have. I hope you’re seeing places where you can develop habits that keep your life from getting cluttered in the first place! See you in two weeks with some all-new challenges.