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Sometimes you will declutter something you eventually wish you hadn’t. Declutter anyway.
I wrote Your Junk or Your Life almost 8 years ago, and the advice continues to ring true. There may be declutter casualties, but the benefits of decluttering outweigh the casualties exponentially. Yeah, you may have to re-buy something later. But how much would you pay right now to have your home instantly decluttered?! The casualties are that cost. And they are worth it!!!
(And honestly, they are rare. You will not miss 99.9% of your junk. But that 0.01% worries some of you.)
In my time helping readers declutter and going into homes as a professional organizer, I’ve seen so many homes that are treated more like storage units instead of homes.
Let’s talk about storage units for a minute. I’m not talking about the storage unit for your boat or RV, I’m talking about the storage units for your “what ifs.”
I passionately believe 99% of the time, people should NOT get storage units. Storage units should be used to help with a move, or a life transition, not as a junk collection place you pay rent to every month. They become full of procrastinated decisions. Things become gross and obsolete. There’s not only the very real expensive monthly rent, but there’s mental weight and stress. Every day in the storage unit multiplies the money wasted and sunk cost of each item in that storage unit. That just creates an even bigger obstacle to decluttering those storage units when you’ve already invested so much into them. You must just cut it off, stop the cycle.
It’s just SO.MUCH.WASTE. I’ve seen people waste so much money on storage units, and then more storage units when those storage units fill up. All the while, they’re struggling with money for their own basic needs, which then makes them feel the stronger impulse to hold onto things.
Yeah, you can see, my feelings about storage units are passionate. It’s hard not to feel this way when you’ve seen what I’ve seen. All of this waste is just a result of people thinking about things in the wrong way – getting stuck on the possibility of those decluttering casualties.
You can imagine, if I don’t think you should have a storage unit because of the waste, I certainly don’t think you should turn your home into a storage unit! There are costs to your life even greater than money.
Using your home like a storage unit:
- keeps your home cluttered
- causes so much stress, which steals your sanity
- causes fighting in marriages
- makes parents and children feel shameful of their homes
- stops you from having parties and get togethers with friends
- makes you scared of friends and family “stopping by”
- creates a barrier between you and the outside world, stops you from getting close to people and having real connections
- makes it hard to feel peaceful and spiritual amongst that chaos
Uncluttered homes:
- are EASY to clean
- are EASY to keep tidy
- are EASY to organize
- and are MORE FUN to decorate.
Clearing clutter does more to make your home look and feel good than any organizing or decorating you could possibly do. Less stuff means an easier life!!!
Last week in our Facebook group, I reminded everyone something important! One of the things I see happening a lot, is that creative people want to hold onto things because they see the endless potential of everything.
But, not everything needs to be up-cycled. There is a real cost to keeping that item “just in case” you may find a use for it later. And if I’m being real, often, I see people transforming old junk into new junk. Just get rid of the junk altogether.
And I get it, none of it probably feels like junk to you. That’s why you’ve kept it, that’s why you’re tempted to keep it still.
But your home is not a storage unit. You do not need to continue to keep things just in case. You can be done with that now. I give you permission to feel zero guilt and just let it go.
Because so many of you have shared so vulnerably with me for so many years, I feel like I have a unique understanding of what you’re confronting as you declutter.
Please, I urge you, to just let the clutter go.
Don’t let your home become a storage unit. You deserve a home.
From my home to yours,
Mary
Sue Brown says
thank you! I’m not a hoarder, but I have to work really hard at keeping clutter at bay. I’m desperately trying to minimize. Two weeks ago I peeled a label off a nice white collage peptides container and thought, “this will be great for SOMETHING!” Its still on a low open shelf in my kitchen but guess where I’m going to go put it right now? Where I should have put it 2 weeks ago- the recycling bin.
Mary says
Yes!! I love it!! Way to shift your perspective right away, I can tell there’s some good decluttering in your future.
Clean By Nature, NY says
Also, a lot of wasted packaging cluttering around under holiday season. It drives me crazy! Great post by the way
elisabeth says
“using your home like a storage unit … creates a barrier between you and the outside world, stops you from getting close to people.”
Wow. I just found out that this is my most important reason for keeping my home cluttered. I want – need? – that barrier.
Mary says
What you’re experiencing is uncommon in those dealing with hoarding tendencies, though I obviously don’t know if that’s what you’re going through. There are literally layers of reasons people holding on to things. If you’re able to find a therapist that specializes in these things, I recommend that. Otherwise, just keep chipping away at the declutter challenge doing the best you can. All the effort will add up. Clutter, even when you want it, is taking a toll on your life and your home. I wish you lots of luck on your journey!