Think about how often you sit down without disruption and intentionally relax. Many people don’t even know when they are feeling stressed because they are so used to it. Stress typically causes physical or emotional symptoms. It may be an acceleration of heart rate, perspiration, headache, stomachache, shallow breathing, tight neck and shoulders, crying, etc. In order to reduce stress in your life, you first need to understand what it is. Some stress is unavoidable in life and can even be productive. The kind of stress that is uncomfortable, rather than motivating, is the source of energy drains. Negative stress is easily recognized if you are in touch with how your body feels.

Is your closet a disaster? Does opening the closet door create feelings of stress and confusion? When you reach for an item do the walls come tumbling down?

Your clothes closet is a major contributing factor in how you start your day. If you feel rushed in the morning, perhaps it’s because you stand there wasting precious minutes surveying your wardrobe, deciding what to wear. What does your daily inventory reveal? Pants and skirts that don’t fit? Dresses that you never should have bought in the first place (price tags still in evidence)? Fashion relics that you haven’t worn in years? Sweaters and whatnot jumbled in corners and on top of shelves? Hordes of empty wire hangers that seem to produce families overnight? (Get rid of the hangers now—recycle them at the dry-cleaners.)