Clutter Conversations

Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash

It's a little ironic that right after I published my last post, I found out I would be leaving my hectic job for a different position within my company. I thought for sure that a less stressful job, closer to home would mean more time to write. After 5 months at my new job though, I'm just now writing again.

I have however, been spending more time with my family. I actually get to see my wife and most of my kids in the morning before leaving for work. I also haven't been taking out my laptop in the evenings and weekends to get prepared for the next meeting. It's been nice. The busy times help you appreciate the less busy periods of life even more.

One thing I've found regardless of where I go, I end up having a conversation with someone who is struggling with the same clutter problems that I am. Right after coming to my new job, I had nearly the same conversation I've had many times with other people. We usually agree on a few things that happen at home.

• Our kids have so many toys that they are overwhelmed and end up not playing with any of them
• We've tried putting some away and planning to go through the pile so we can declutter, but we either don't make the time to do so or the kids find the pile and start playing with their lost treasures
• The kitchen counter seems to be a problem clutter accumulator for nearly everyone
• Ultimately, we don't know what to do so we end up living with the clutter and mess in frustration

I wish I had the ultimate solution to all of it, but I don't. We can read another book on decluttering or watch another episode of Marie Kondo, but unless we act on the lessons from those resources, we're just wasting time. So I want you to know two important things. First, you're not alone. Second, it's only going to get worse if we just keep buying things we don't need.

You aren't the only with too much clutter
Like I said earlier, I've had the same conversation over and over. People everywhere are struggling with the amount of clutter in their homes. Have you ever had someone over who saw your basement for the first time. I always apologize to people for the way mine looks.  The usual response I get is something like "this is nothing, mine is a lot worse".

​Here's an idea. The next time you're thinking of taking some items to donate somewhere, you call up a friend and see if they have some stuff to get rid of too. In my case, there's a brewery near the local Salvation Army store. I like to drop off a car load at the Salvation Army and then celebrate with a pint.

Stop buying things you don't need
Clutter is like calories when you're trying to lose weight. If you burn 500 calories by working out but then eat 1000 calories at the pizza buffet every day for lunch, you're not going to make any progress. We have to resist the bargains at our favorite discount store and we have to resist the mindset that because we got rid of something in our home that we just made space for something else.  Fight that urge and enjoy the extra breathing room instead.
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I'll leave it at that and keep this post short.  I've been neglecting my website and my Facebook page lately but I'm going to change that.  Expect to see more posts but probably short ones and more content being shared on Facebook even if it's not my own.  Thanks for reading.