Motivation Monday - Over your head in clutter?

  Photo credit Google Images

I've been talking a lot lately about getting organized and simplifying, it's always been important to me but just how important it is didn't really hit home until I had to deal with the huge task of having to sort through and clean out my mother's belongings. It became very clear that "stuff" holds us back from living life to the fullest. It's like chains holding us down, using up our time, and in some cases using up our money too. Let go of the stuff and be free!

It's so much easier to keep our surroundings clean and organized if we don't have a lot of clutter, and isn't it so much easier to function both physically and mentally in clutter free, clean, organized surroundings? Do you want more time in your day? Get rid of stuff and you will free up time almost magically!

Think about it - how much time do we spend dealing with our stuff whether cleaning it, moving it, looking for it, putting it away, etc.? Why do we hold on to so much stuff to begin with? Is it memories, guilt, fear of not having enough, saving things because they could be worth something? Maybe it's time we think about that and acknowledge the emotional reasons for the clutter before we can let it go.

Here's a few things that might help...

1. Photograph items you are holding onto just because of memories. It's much easier to store a digital photo in a folder on your computer than it is to store the stuff!

2. Are you holding onto stuff because it has some value even though you don't want or need the items - sell them. No, not later, right now! Be honest with yourself. When is the last time you sold something? Is it really ever going to happen? If you answered no then let it go. If you are going to hold onto things to sell be sure they are stored away together and ready to sell. Give yourself a sell by date and mark it on the box. If you haven't sold it by that date donate it!

3. Donating things to others brings good karma. Trust that if you ever need something the good you've done for others will come back to you. I honestly don't recall one single time I've ever wished I had something back that I had given away.
 
4. Live by that old saying "A place for everything and everything in it's place" - if it doesn't have a place it has to go!

5. Pick one room to completely declutter and organize. Pay close attention to how you feel while you're in that room compared to more cluttered areas of your home. I promise it will make you want every room to be clutter free!

Do you have any tips to add about simplifying and getting organized? Please share!

Join me on my quest to live simply, live well.