8 Great Reasons to Get Rid of the Clutter
Clutter is the enemy of an organized home. It manifests itself in piles of mystery stuff that grow and spread, but the impact doesn’t end there. The physical refuse of your life also costs you time, money, fun, and sanity.
Consider these eight reasons to lose the clutter that’s choking your space and your life:
You waste time looking for things.
How much time have you spent trying to find your keys, your kid’s permission slip, that shampoo you could swear you just purchased, your left shoe, or any number of other things? Clutter is not just an organizational annoyance but a major time suck as well. You have plenty you want to accomplish with your time. Going on a frantic scavenger hunt for your belongings probably isn’t on the list.
You’re forced to spend time and energy maintaining your stuff.
Everything you have has to be maintained in some capacity. At a minimum, you choose to devote physical space to an item when you could use that space for some other purpose. You might have to dust the stuff (or dust/vacuum around it), polish it, or move it around occasionally when it’s in your way. By reducing the quantity of stuff you have, you dramatically diminish the time and effort you have to devote to its upkeep.
Lost and forgotten stuff costs you money.
Lost bills don’t get paid and rack up late fees. Not being able to find your lotion or make-up — or forgetting that you bought some in the first place — means that you go out and buy unnecessary duplicates. Knowing what you do have means that you don’t needlessly go out and buy another one (and then another one).
Your stuff could be making you money.
Instead of hoarding your items, consider selling some of your belongings. Craigslist, eBay, garage sales, and Facebook sale groups are great ways to connect with potential buyers for those possessions of yours that might have value for someone else. You can even sell your unwanted gift cards for a tidy sum.
You could be helping other people.
If you’re getting no use or enjoyment from them — or even suffering by having them cluttering up your house — consider handing off your stuff for free to people who can use it and will enjoy it. Household goods, clothes, toys, books, electronics, CDs, DVDs, sheets, towels, eyeglasses, and more can all be donated to organizations and people who need them. Many — like the Salvation Army — will even save you the hassle of driving and unloading your stuff at their facility by coming directly to you to pick up your donations for free.
You’re missing out on quality time with loved ones.
Are you losing time with family and friends because you want to have them over but can’t? Would it take days — or weeks — to get your home looking company-ready? Don’t force yourself to be a hermit on account of your clutter. Clear out the entertaining areas of your home so that you can easily host get-togethers with your loved ones.
You equate keeping items with holding on to memories.
Maybe you save a playbill to recall a show you attended, a plastic bracelet to remember a fair you visited, or an old notebook to look back on your favorite college class. Losing the physical item doesn’t mean that you won’t have or don’t treasure the memory. When in doubt, take photos of items you want to see but don’t physically need to have. Digital photo storage takes up much less space than your stuff!
You can’t truly enjoy the things you have.
Most people have items that they consider treasures and with which they would never want to part. If yours are hidden in a sea of stuff that you own, you’re not honoring and enjoying those possessions as well as you might. If you save every greeting card, photo, and knickknack, it’s incredibly difficult to locate and savor those that are incredibly meaningful.
Chuck the things that you wouldn’t miss. Create meaningful storage for the items you sincerely value so that you can see, access, and enjoy them whenever you wish.
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This post was syndicated with permission to BonBon Break Media LLC.
