Stuff….so much stuff. Are you feeling overwhelmed with too much stuff? We all seem to have more of it than we can handle. Throwing it out seems wasteful, but every year it gets worse and worse.
Clutter does much more than take up space. It affects us in so many different areas. I recently stumbled on the Minimal Mom, and was completely motivated to start decluttering!
I don’t consider myself a hoarder, not at all.
Yet, I am also a very frugal person, so just throwing stuff away doesn’t happen very often either. How can I reduce the clutter in my home, and still not be wasteful?
I procrastinated with decluttering. All those baby clothes from ten years ago? I still have them.
Until I heard about the Silent To-Do List.
The Minimal Mom introduced me to this idea this summer and I was blown away by how much truth there was to it.
The concept of the Silent To-Do List is that everything in your home is silently telling you something.
Some things tell you positive things, but a whole lot of things are negative.
For example, the pile of dishes at my kitchen sink is telling me that I am being lazy. My running shoes sitting in the living room are telling me “why haven’t you gone for a walk yet?”
Take a look around, what are your things telling you silently?
As I look around my house, I see the flashcards that my first grader should be practicing. They sure are reminding me loud and clear.
Then there is that pile of dust in the corner that needs to be vacuumed. And the boxes that need to be put into storage. Or the garbage that should be taken out.
All these things are constantly speaking to me, and it makes me crazy and overwhelmed!
That’s why clutter has such a big effect on our mental health.
Clutter not only negatively affects our mood, but it also depletes our energy and can lead to anxiety. The burden of too much stuff affects every part of your life.
Organizing your home, and decluttering is very important to your peace of mind. When you have too much stuff and not enough space, your mental health will be suffering.
If you want to learn more about the Silent To-Do List, check out the video below.
5 Decluttering Tips When You’re Overwhelmed By Too Much Stuff
1.Use the Onion Method
With this method, you take things one layer at a time.
The first step is the easiest because you go quickly over your home with a big box and start putting things in there that you are not attached to.
This step will often include things that need to be dumped, as well as given away. They usually don’t have a lot of emotional value but are easy to get rid of.
Once you are done with this step, you peel another layer. This time go a bit deeper into asking yourself whether you really use your stuff or not.
2.Er on the side giving too much away.
Of all the stuff that I have given or thrown away (so far), I regret only one thing. All the rest of the stuff I’ve forgotten what it even was. I don’t miss it at all.
3.Go Slow (But Not Too Slow)
If you have hoarded up 12 years of stuff, decluttering will take time.
It can take a year of dedicated decluttering before you realize how freer you are. However, don’t declutter one day, and then stop.
Focus on getting rid of as much clutter as possible.
4. Stop Buying Stuff
Are you an emotional buyer?
I am not a big shopper, but I often find myself disappointed after buying something that I wanted. If you don’t desperately need it, then don’t buy it.
This also helps to save money. When you do need stuff for a new baby etc. buy used. Buy and Sell groups on Marketplace on Facebook often have great stuff.
The truth is, we don’t need as much stuff as we think we do.
We are fine with much less.
When I recall my grandparent’s home, I remember two books, a small toy, and that’s it.
They did not have a lot of stuff, and their home was always neat and tidy. It always felt like a place of rest.
Us grandkids were never bored. They had a big garage and we have spent hours playing in there with the rest of the cousins.
Less stuff meant becoming creative in our play.
5. Learn As You Go.
Becoming minimalist might not be your style, but a life of no clutter should be. I doubt my husband would agree to a bare minimal home, and that’s not my style either.
Yet, learning to live with less stuff is great for your mental health.
In North America, we have too much stuff. Marketers are doing a great job convincing us that we won’t be happy unless we own everything.
Yet, instead of a more peace-filled generation, we have anxious, overwhelmed, and burnt-out moms who are looking for a better way.
Being overwhelmed with too much stuff is not fun, so take that first step.
It may be small, but as you realize that reducing clutter actually helps to have less stress, you will be encouraged to get rid of even more.
Could it be that our mind, or else our brain, has only so much storage capacity? Well, whether or not that is so, each thing we own requires not only a space in our house, it also requires a space in our memory.
If you have ever opened a storage space or container and said “Oh! I forgot I had that!” Then you probably have too much stuff. If that thing you rediscovered brings you relief, joy, or at least a positive association, it might be worth keeping. But some other unhappy or neutral item, which might have replaced it in your memory needs to go.
Each useful thing requires you to recall its use and where it is. Maybe also why you kept it.
That takes memory effort. Too many needless things might just clutter the brain storage as well as the house storage. Is there only so much storage in the brain like there is only so much in the house? Brain fog? Foggy thinking?
Cleaning out stuff cleans out that space (House or Memory space) for better use. Leave space free for clearer thnking and less maintenance.
I tried the Marie method for my clothes. Wow I could store twice the clothes in half the space! But twice the stuff was more than I needed to keep. And more than I needed to remember. And more than I needed to maintain. Because my closets slowly began to get overcrowded again. LOL.
I really do not need to keep what I forgot I had. My brain has already filed it away from my short term memory where I must keep what I really need for day to day living. And I certainly do not need to buy that thing again!
Maybe getting rid of stuff improves memory? Clears the mind?
It certainly takes less work: you don’t have to dust it, wash it, polish it, store it…nor remember it.
You take away it’s nagging voice, lol.