How to Weed Out the Clutter and Let Your Garden Grow

By

What is clutter?  It's a mess.  Clutter is an untidy collection of things that 

  • aren't needed
  • haven't been put away
  • don't belong in the space they currently occupy  


Clutter is also appointments and time wasters that keep us from taking care of our most important goals and relationships.


Whether it's clean clothes piled on a chair, unloved toys tossed into an overfilled cupboard, unused kitchen gadgets that crowd a drawer, unopened mail scattered over the coffee table, or too many activities and too much social media, clutter swallows space and time, clouds your judgment, and makes every task harder. 


weed-free garden



Think of decluttering like weeding a garden.


Weeds can steal sunshine, water, and nutrients from the flowers or veggies you actually want.  With the weeds gone, your garden has room and energy to grow and flourish.  


In the same way, when you remove the clutter from your home or your schedule, you find renewed zest and creativity for the things and activities that matter to you. 




4 reasons we accumulate clutter


1.  Stockpiling

Between constant "special" sales, "buy one get one" offers, and "just in case" worries, it's very easy to buy much more than we want or need.  I find that two strategies help:


  • Be realistic about what you'll actually use.  Having an extra 4-pack of toilet paper is prudent, but a hoard of 50 rolls might indicate paranoia and fear.
  • Choose quality over quantity.  Better to have one premium lipstick in the perfect color than a 40-piece "lip palette" that will mostly go to waste.

2.  Sentimentality

Whether a gift from a loved one or a souvenir of your past, removing unneeded possessions that hold emotional value can be challenging.  But you don't need to feel burdened or guilty about these things forever.  Here are tools that can help you discover the most meaningful items and let the rest go.


3.  Aspirations

Most of us are tempted to buy things that we think will make us happy or "better" in some way.  We have visions of ourselves as fit, beautiful, talented, intellectual, and more.  


It's good to have goals, but so often we buy stuff and then fail to follow through.  The aspiration isn't real – it's something we've been sold by a clever ad or savvy influencer.  Exercise machines, trendy clothing, critically acclaimed books, chef-endorsed cookware, high-end hobby equipment... the list of potential dust-gatherers is endless.


By asking questions about who you really are today and what you really hope to achieve, you'll be able to declutter your fantasy self and either use those aspirational items or lose them.


4.  Social pressures

Many of us are "super busy" and find it hard to say no to new obligations.  We fear missing out, causing offense, or not measuring up to our own or others' expectations.  But learning to say no is essential for our happiness.  It's the only way to make time for tasks we really care about.




Instead of losing space, time, energy, and creativity to a cluttered home or schedule, give yourself the opportunity to flourish.  Weed out the clutter and let your garden grow!




Updated June 2023


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

52 Minimalist Hobbies to Benefit and Enrich Your Life

By
Image
Everyone benefits from a hobby or two.  Hobbies reduce stress by letting you spend time on something you enjoy provide scope for creativity and imagination make you more knowledgeable and interesting help you develop patience and skills improve your sense of accomplishment and self-esteem promote mindfulness and concentration can create a social life and let you bond with others who share your interests can allow you to stay active and physically healthy I've known people with entire rooms dedicated to their hobby – studios for painting and pottery, sewing rooms, woodworking sheds, and basements filled with wine-making apparatus or a model train setup. But even if you live in a small space, like my husband and I do, or you want to pursue hobbies that require less equipment and expense, you're in luck.  Many hobbies take a lot of space and tools, but many do not, and you can probably find one of those that you'll enjoy. There are some tricks to making a hobby work in a small...
Read more

12 Easy, Daily Chores to Keep a Tidy Minimalist Home

By
Image
Good habits are more than the actions your mama nagged you about (wash your hands, turn off the lights, say please and thank you).  They're a foundation for the actions we need to do that let us take care of business without having to plan or decide each and every step.  For example: If you develop the habit of taking vitamins with a big glass of water each morning, you get all the benefits without having to debate the action. If you deal with mail efficiently each evening, you streamline your to-do list without burying a few important items in a mountain of junk. These useful habits benefit us, unlike bad habits such as smoking or oversleeping.  So why not develop some good habits to help us keep our homes tidy and clutter-free?  Reduce decision fatigue by making small, daily actions a routine for you and your family. Huge decluttering projects or deep cleaning sessions have their place, but for daily ease, try these quick and simple chores to make a profound differ...
Read more

Why You Should Make "Less is More" Your Mantra for Life

By
Image
Maybe you've heard the saying popularized by architect Mies van der Rohe in 1947:  "Less is more." It's an oxymoron – a phrase that seems to contradict itself.  Others include "old news," "open secret," "unbiased opinion," and "awfully good."  Or the lament, "Parting is such sweet sorrow." What does "less is more" mean?  It's wonderfully open-ended.  Answers to that are as varied as the people who reply.  Consider: Less anxiety, more peace. Less debt, more savings. Less busywork, more substance. Less clutter, more space. Less comparison, more contentment. Less sugar, more vegetables. Voluntary simplicity Back in the 1990s, a fair number of Americans realized that the continual quest for more and better was stressing them out and keeping them from creating lives of purpose.  After the consumerist binge of the yuppie-era 80s, some started wondering if the big house, flashy car, exotic vacation, and Rolex we...
Read more

Help - My Partner's Clutter is Driving Me Crazy!

By
Image
You love your partner.  But you don't love her stuff.  (And she doesn't love your nagging about her stuff.) It's a common issue for couples.  In fact, some surveys have found that nearly half of all couples argue about clutter.  A few even have the argument every day. If you're in this situation, decluttering by itself isn't going to add to your peace.  In fact, it might create more tension in your household.  It's important to find ways to come together in this area. Why clutter is an issue One reason there's so much friction about this topic is that, for many of us, possessions are part of our identity.  Your husband's tee shirt may look to you like it's ready to become a dust rag, but to him it might be a reminder of the time he saw his favorite band perform.  Your attempt to downgrade it might feel like a personal attack.  It's not so much about the physical item as it is about the emotion that's attached to it. How can this be resolved?...
Read more

Finding the Good in Hard Times

By
Image
As a child, the name "Good Friday" always confused me.  How is it good if it commemorates the day Jesus died?  I understood that Easter was the joyful celebration of Jesus' resurrection, the triumph of good over evil, and the hope of eternal life in relationship with God.  But how is the suffering of that Friday good ? I had to go through some suffering of my own to learn its potential. Whether or not you're a Christian, you're going to go through hard times at some point.  The world isn't perfect, and struggles and disappointments are real.  A strong and hopeful perspective is one you'll want to cultivate. 15 lessons we might learn from hard times 1.  We might learn that we're stronger than we know, and that we can survive things we never thought we could endure.   2.  We can learn to let the past go, wake up tomorrow, and try again. 3.  We learn not to waste energy on things that aren't important in the long run.  We get better at...
Read more