Stuff, stuff and more stuff. We are experts at accumulating things and not always so good at eliminating them. We have mastered bringing things into our homes and offices yet the outflow seems minimal or nothing at all. We need to find ways to reverse this habit and keep the elimination flowing.
How does this happen? Often we aren’t aware of things coming in until we realize our spaces are filling up with little room remaining. Items get piled on top of other things, buried in the back of the closet and cupboard until we no longer see what’s there. We end up purchasing things we already have because we can’t find the original item. Knowing what’s in our storage areas is key so we can manage them and use what’s there.
By simplifying, we pare down, we keep what’s essential, we recycle, purge, give away, sell, and extricate our spaces from too many things–often things that aren’t needed and yet we feel compelled to keep. When I work with a client, we address these items and make decisions about them so they don’t sit on a shelf collecting dust and taking up space.
I recently worked with a family moving overseas and the husband is a hobby guy, including wood working, car repair and home repair. As a result, he has plenty of bits and pieces of this and that and a variety of projects ongoing. Because of the move, we’ve needed to clear out drawers and cabinets of things he had forgotten about, discovering a life time supply of sand paper, nuts, bolts, screws and the like. When we have a variety of hiding places to put things, we can deceive ourselves into thinking we don’t have as much as we do. Only by pulling things out and grouping it together, do we discover how much is actually there. It can give us pause when the impulse to buy more of the same thing comes over us.
Simplifying eliminates the unnecessary. It creates more space. It frees up valuable storage space for usable and pertinent items that are often lining the perimeter of a room.
One Day, Some Day…these are not new days of the week. They will never arrive. I hear this repeatedly from clients that they may need this “thing” one day which is why they still have it in the first place. If it truly is something you will use, then keep it. If it’s something you are holding onto with the vague hope that you might use it, then get rid of it. There’s a good chance another 5 years will pass and you still won’t use it. We need to be ruthless with ourselves, as well as honest, and purge what we don’t use and clear the space so it is functional and works for our benefit.
If you should need help organizing your space, need help making decisions about your things, sorting and storing, call 510.501.1213 at Creative Space Organizing and let’s get your stuff simplified today.
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