< PreviousWe often picture pollution as smoke billowing from factory towers or car exhausts. However, indoor pollution arising from biological substances is just as prevalent. Australians spend 90% of their time indoors, whether we’re at home, work or simply socialising. Cluttered environments can encourage biological pollutants, such as dust mites. These build up and increase our risk of exposure to allergens indoors. Biological pollutants can lead to acute allergic reactions. For example, people living with allergies may be affected by rhinitis, nasal congestion, inflammation and asthma. Decluttering your home and office space will reduce the health risks associated with indoor dust pollution,.Clutter pollutes the home2Have you ever had a mountain of work that no amount of coffee can assist with? If you're struggling to concentrate, workspace clutter may be a factor. Researchers from the Princeton University Neuroscience Institute have found that people’sability to focus can be directly linked to their surroundings. When you are surrounded by clutter, your brain will process this information, rather than focusing upon the task at hand. In this way, workspace clutter causes a distraction for your brain that screams, ‘Look at me!’ In turn, this reduces our concentration and productivity.Clutter reduces concentration3Although we can make excuses for the clutter in our lives, if you have belongings that haven’t been used in years, it may be time to declutter your home or workspace. Simplifying your surroundings leads to a more beneficial and healthier lifestyle. There are many different methods of decluttering. ime to declutter?TChoose four boxes label: ‘trash’, ‘give away’, ‘keep’ or ‘relocate’ Move throughout the room and select items to belong in each box. This method requires you to be committed and ruthless in selection. THE FOUR BOX METHODBOX AND BANISH IS A LESS CONFRONTING OPTIONGather all clutter from counters, drawers, chairs, tables, floors etc and place them into boxes or bags. Place these out of sight, in a space like the garage. Out of sight, out of mind! Anything you truly cannot live without goes into this box, and can be placed somewhere else within your home. Choose a relocation spot that doesn’t add to overall clutter. o declutter your home, we suggest a combination of both approaches which requires three boxes:TAnything you don’t utilise but cannot part with yet, can go into this box. Place the maybe box into storage unit for 6 – 12 months. If you don’t go looking for these items by then, you don’t need them! Anything you are willing to part with immediately, goes into the bin box. The bin box can go to the dump, and items in good condition can be sold or donated. However for some people, the idea of decluttering can become overwhelming and they don’t know where to start. To ease any anxiety associated with this process start small. Work room by room and don’t feel pressured to complete the whole house in a day, or even aweek. Decluttering is a process, slow and steady wins the race. Everyone has possessions that hold sentimental value. - ANN VOSKAMP Simplicity is ultimately a matter of focus EATING CLEANBy Kathy Ashton 7 SIMPLE TIPS TOH Are you like so many who suffer from not enough hours in your day? Have you noticed there is a disconnect between all you have to do in your life and having the energy to do it? Do you find yourself saying “I just need more energy to get through my day”. The one thing that seems to go wrong when we are busy is our diet. We get so busy we do not leave enough time or have the energy left to cook ourselves a meal that is nutritious. We seem to forget the food we eat is the fuel of our bodies. Our food gives us the nutrients that become part of us. We get off the Kreb cycle, the energy cycle fuelled by amino acids (protein), B vitamins and other cofactor nutrients. Our thyroid, which helps control our metabolism, is fuelled by amino acids (protein), iodine and several other cofactor nutrients. ow busy is your life right now? The point is, if we eat crappy food – Calorie Rich And Processed – we are not eating the right nutrients to fuel our bodies so they can work at optimum level. The question asked in thousands of homes all over the country, usually after breakfast, is what’s for dinner? If your life is cluttered, busy and hectic, the answer is often take away. It's an easy choice to pick up the phone and order in, however takeaway food is not usually healthy food. Pizza, fish and chips, burgers or some other fast food chain - it's not food that is healthy or ‘clean’. hat does it mean to eat clean?WNutritionists hear regularly from patients how unwell they feel but insist they eat clean. It is not until they are shown how ‘unclean’ their diet is, that the penny drops. Simply using these terms implies we knowthe way we live and the way we eat is somehow killing us. The statistics certainly show this to be the case and we instinctively ascribe the situation we are in, to these two areas, lifestyle and food. We live in a materialistic world driven by taste intensity. We think every meal we eat needs to be gourmet. We are driven by oral entertainment. The media tell us meals must be a work of art, and food is segregated into protein, carbohydrates and fats. But food is just food; it is fuel for our bodies. ‘Clean’ food is food that has had minimal processing applied. Whole-food is clean food. But whole food does not come in a packet labeled whole food. Next >