reducing clutter tips
Sep. 2nd, 2006 09:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
salixbabylonSome people have tips about travel, some about cooking. Me, I recently found myself writing a lot about the removal of clutter to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sarka and realized some other people might be interested, too.
So here are Salix's Tips For Getting Rid Of The Crap:
I used to have a lot of crap in my house and I couldn't find things and it drove me nuts. Plus, keeping fewer things means less things to clean up later on -- a small amount of tidying up every week means no huge projects like cleaning out an entire closet packed floor-to-ceiling with stuff.
Now I periodically go through the house to see the areas where I've started "collecting" things again - the hallway closed, under the bed in the guest room, the linen cabinet. I know getting rid of things can be hard, especially when we have emotional attachments to things and/or the fear of poverty in our pasts. So I don't want to sound at all dismissive about the urge to gather, but here are some of the criteria I use to decide what goes:
1. If you haven't used it in 2 years and don't immediately think you will use it in the next 6 months, get rid of it. This is especially crucial for clothing.
2. Allow yourself some sentimentality. For me, it's one small box of "memorable" clothes (which no longer fit), and a box of diaries/whatnot. I have the old love letters. Some of the trinkets, too. Set a size limit. When the space/box gets too full, decide what has less meaning (I kept the love letters and got rid of the concert tickets and dried flowers.)
3. Childhood stuff/knickknacks have a place, but eventually I ended up getting rid of most of mine. I kept the one favorite stuffed animal that I loved the best and got rid of the others. Any time you can separate out the *one* thing that's most meaningful, let yourself keep it and get rid of the rest. Focus on how good you were to get rid of the other 30 stuffed animals. For example. *cough*
4. Class notes from school: I kept some stuff that stood out - "oh wow, I remember writing this story when I was 7" and got rid of the notebooks of algebra and geometry and stuff. If it brings fond memories, keep the class notes. If you honestly think they're useful (using the 2 years-past, 1 year-forward) rule, keep it. If not, toss it.
5. Be reasonable about crafts and hobbies - yes, if you ever decide to take up painting again, you'll wish you hadn't gotten rid of the easel. But will you really take it up again? Could someone else use it? Can you sell it for money and (mentally) apply that later if/when you need to buy a new easel? Hobbies suck because they're often a big investment to get started, but if you're done with it, that's all right - let it go. You're allowed to change your mind about what interests you over time.
Be as ruthless as you possibly can be, and then be sure to reward yourself with movies, drinking, desserts, and hot baths. Or whatever makes you happy.
Note: the first time I did a big purge, it *hurt*. I cried. I drank too much port. I whined to everyone I knew. And then a few days later, I felt *so* much lighter in spirit. Getting rid of the *stuff* helped me let go of the past in ways I never even imagined. And then I had so much spare room, too! :)
sarka and realized some other people might be interested, too.So here are Salix's Tips For Getting Rid Of The Crap:
I used to have a lot of crap in my house and I couldn't find things and it drove me nuts. Plus, keeping fewer things means less things to clean up later on -- a small amount of tidying up every week means no huge projects like cleaning out an entire closet packed floor-to-ceiling with stuff.
Now I periodically go through the house to see the areas where I've started "collecting" things again - the hallway closed, under the bed in the guest room, the linen cabinet. I know getting rid of things can be hard, especially when we have emotional attachments to things and/or the fear of poverty in our pasts. So I don't want to sound at all dismissive about the urge to gather, but here are some of the criteria I use to decide what goes:
1. If you haven't used it in 2 years and don't immediately think you will use it in the next 6 months, get rid of it. This is especially crucial for clothing.
2. Allow yourself some sentimentality. For me, it's one small box of "memorable" clothes (which no longer fit), and a box of diaries/whatnot. I have the old love letters. Some of the trinkets, too. Set a size limit. When the space/box gets too full, decide what has less meaning (I kept the love letters and got rid of the concert tickets and dried flowers.)
3. Childhood stuff/knickknacks have a place, but eventually I ended up getting rid of most of mine. I kept the one favorite stuffed animal that I loved the best and got rid of the others. Any time you can separate out the *one* thing that's most meaningful, let yourself keep it and get rid of the rest. Focus on how good you were to get rid of the other 30 stuffed animals. For example. *cough*
4. Class notes from school: I kept some stuff that stood out - "oh wow, I remember writing this story when I was 7" and got rid of the notebooks of algebra and geometry and stuff. If it brings fond memories, keep the class notes. If you honestly think they're useful (using the 2 years-past, 1 year-forward) rule, keep it. If not, toss it.
5. Be reasonable about crafts and hobbies - yes, if you ever decide to take up painting again, you'll wish you hadn't gotten rid of the easel. But will you really take it up again? Could someone else use it? Can you sell it for money and (mentally) apply that later if/when you need to buy a new easel? Hobbies suck because they're often a big investment to get started, but if you're done with it, that's all right - let it go. You're allowed to change your mind about what interests you over time.
Be as ruthless as you possibly can be, and then be sure to reward yourself with movies, drinking, desserts, and hot baths. Or whatever makes you happy.
Note: the first time I did a big purge, it *hurt*. I cried. I drank too much port. I whined to everyone I knew. And then a few days later, I felt *so* much lighter in spirit. Getting rid of the *stuff* helped me let go of the past in ways I never even imagined. And then I had so much spare room, too! :)
