Unless one is a true minimalist we all have too much stuff. Simply look around. Without much effort you can see it. Right there.
Creeping in, taking over. Creating
needless work. Taking up valuable
space. Does it make you feel
anxious? Are the walls creeping in on
you?
Our things need a purpose. They
also need a place. If not, they really need to
go.
We all have stuff we use every week if not every day and that's
fine. It's all the other stuff that we
are dealing with (or attempting to) that we are talking about here. The excess.
Too much of
anything is simply too much. No matter
what it is.
While you may drink coffee consider this. How many coffee cups do you really need to
accomplish this?
Do you make a habit of accumulating multiples? Multiples of everything?
Does your stuff have a place to reside when your aren't using it? Are things stacked up waiting for you to get
to them?
How often do you organize? Do
you need to buy more stuff to organize your stuff?
What about shopping? Do you
buy stuff you already have and know you don't need? Are you buying things because
you can't find the one or ones you already own?
Are you in debt?
The simplest solution is to purge the excess and stop bringing
things into the home. For most of us this is
as easy as making a decision and sticking to it. For some it requires help. Even therapy.
We all have different reasons why we have excess stuff. Figuring out the why behind it is every bit
as important as the purge itself.
For me it was simply that a lot of lean years led me to thinking
that I should have extras "just in case" I needed something. More is better, right? Well, not really.
Not in my case anyway.
So is today the day to face it and get started? Are you ready to purge the excess?
I purge regularly, just not a deep enough purge. With the exception of things like the generator that we keep for emergency use, I have established the "have I used this in a year" rule. It really helps with the decision making process. I just hate that I use so much stuff regularly.
ReplyDeleteGood rule. I use that one myself.
DeleteStill de-cluttering, I don't appear cluttered but the closets, drawers and cupboards tell a different story. Each year it gets easier! Hooray.
ReplyDeleteIt is definitely a process!
DeleteWe have our house up for sale, and are moving to a smaller house.. Thus, I had to down size. And it has been wonderful to declutter. I have done a lot of donating.. and a lot of throwing away..
ReplyDeleteBest wishes with you de-cluttering project too.
We finished our de-cluttering two years ago and now we are working to maintain it and not fill the house back up. We downsized from a 3 bedroom house to a 27ft RV. It was wonderful! Now that we are back home we don't want to become packrats.
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