After doing a few Google searches for "clearing clutter" & "getting rid of clutter" I had a breakthrough about the clutter in my house. After trying for my entire adult life to understand the mechanisms that contributed to people being 'neat freaks' or messy and desperately trying to re-train myself from the latter to the former I feel like today I took a major step in this process just by having this breakthrough.
JUST DO IT.
There, that's my breakthrough. So I got up, went to the second bedroom (that I'm trying to turn into my little guys bedroom/playroom) and just picked something up and instead of saying "do I need this?" I said "have I used this?" It's definitely not easy to get rid of something that looks useful and promises you all kinds of things (I will organize your paper if you use me, I'm a cool gadget for when you need to weigh your luggage...) but it turns out that the feeling of being free is more rewarding!
I totally hear you. several factors have contributed to easing my journey of de-cluttering and letting go. these include yoga which makes me question "is this item serving me? does it have a purpose in my life now?" and the insight I've gleaned from articles and studies on decision fatigue since I find the visual clutter exacerbates my sense of "brain" clutter and weakens my naturally low strategic planning skills.
ReplyDeletein our consumerist world we internalize the message that possessing lots of things gives us happiness and it is incredibly freeing to not only reject this idea but to act on it to pave the way for more streamlined and aesthetically pleasing living.