Free Your Clutter

People generally like to store things, like a pack rat. They enjoy collecting so many items that is so called needy or memorabilia, storing them at home in every nook and corners they can find, instead of getting rid of them. Read this blog and help you self to remove your mess.

I was watching a television show recently where a retired couple wanted to renovate their house, that had so many items laying around the house. Most items were either in boxes or placed indiscriminately around their living room. The husband claimed his wife was a perfectionist and ironically, she claims the same. What intrigued me was when I heard them talking about their personal space and organized kitchen, but what I saw was poorly organized rooms and inability to freely move around the house. It was terribly congested.

Many people seem to be deeply absorbed and feel very comfortable in saying, “ I am a perfectionist ”. What I see is that most of the time, they are actually being ‘contradicting perfectionist’. This means, what they claim to do is not similar to the outcome.

I suggest that you avoid using perfectionist, as a description of yourself. Do not be absorbed with this word. If someone suggests that you are a perfectionist, please inform them that you are not. People often may call you a perfectionist, when they deny themselves from doing the same tasks properly. It is an indirect-absolvement by them, whereby they themselves do not wish to go the extra distance in undertaking the tasks.

Being called a perfectionist is not a compliment,
and sometimes, it can be cynical too.
Maximus @ MaximusPrimo.com

Perfectionism is not absolute and the standards set is not fixed or high in limit. I find perfectionism being so badly misinterpreted. Someone who describes themselves as a perfectionist with great pride, may have rooted themselves with arrogance. For example, if you draw a full circle using freehand, without the use of a protractor, it describes that you have drawn a perfect circle. It is your ability to do so. It does not mean you are a perfectionist.

Do not hold on to anything unless it is a tradable asset, to which you are going to make money within a decade or two. For example, if you got yourself a Rolex Submariner watch, its expected to appreciate in value over time when it becomes a collector’s item. However, when you are travelling on holidays, the purchased memorabilia that you bring back home, may not carry similar value. You will soon find your house being full of items that you cannot get rid of. I assure you, most of your family members are not going to take them as repackaged gift because it is not ‘their collection’.

Get rid of your clutter. In fact, don’t start putting things around your house. One vase here, another there and soon enough, the house is full of different vases. You probably have one that is so big, you can hide yourself in case your spouse is annoyed with you. If you do plan to have some memorabilia, then get a small showcase or cupboard where you know that some items can be placed. Remember, keep it simple. Before you know it, this cupboard is going to be filled up with so many items, that spring cleaning is going to be a nightmare.

You must have heard about Feng Shui, a Geomancy approach and a practice of arranging layout in your living spaces. The objective is to create balance with the natural world. It is believed to establish harmony between the occupants and their environment by harnessing energy forces. The simple logic to all is to remove all clutter and organize your space. You don’t need to pay someone thousands of dollars, when you can do it yourself. If you are so bad at organizing layouts, ask a friend or a relative, who you know is good at it. Buy a fruit cake and offer them a good cup of tea or coffee, for their generous assistance.

It is most common, that everything in your home, is just having some form of valuable memory to you. If so, then just take photos. Store it in your hard disk drive and watch it whenever you want. Alternatively, go to a print shop and get it compiled in a photo album. That is easier to store on your bookshelf.

You can clear your items by giving them away, resell it online or have a garage sale. Do not be the skilled person to buy storage boxes and vacuum sealed bags to store your items somewhere safely. You will have no recollection of it until many years down the road. It seems to appear again when you are moving to a new house, and you realize these items were hiding in storage. This triggers a new challenge. You will be in doldrum and not knowing what to do next. High chances are that you will bring them to your new house and find another new place to store them, all over again!

Do not get attached to tangible items.
It is just not worth it.
Maximus @ MaximusPrimo.com

Learn to organize and reuse anything that you have stored in visible places. If you do store it in a closed cabinet, then you know that all the items will be used within the month and not more that three months.

Have you seen plates, glasses, saucers, pots and pans that are stored and not even used once? Repack, be generous. Pass it to someone who really needs them. Similarly, your cabinet is full of unused clothes. You bought them, used once and gracious me, if you wore them again in one month, that will be a miracle. Someone out there would like to have your excess clothes. Donate them wisely. I am sure most of your spare and unused clothes are nearly as good as new.

Similarly, your workplace needs to be clutter free too. Have you heard of 5S Kaizen? How does your work table look like? Are you searching for documents and cannot remember where you placed it last? Do not just follow 5S Kaizen module, if you have implemented it in your workplace, but you ignore when you come back home. I am not asking you to start a military barrack rule at home, that you will possibly drive your family insane. Just implement basic necessity to clutter free environment, that will create a harmonious place for you and your family to live in. Do the same, at your work place too.

Is your computer desktop screen full of application icons and shortcuts to files? You claim that by doing so, you can access your files and programs quickly? That is cluttering your desktop!

Pin frequently used applications to your Taskbar. In your Start Menu, categorize and organize your preferred applications, that you use once a while. Don’t keep installing new applications to try them out and never use them again. If you do not use it productively within a period of one month, delete it. You can find this problem most commonly with your smart phone. So many redundant freeware applications, used just a few times and now residing in your devices, clogging allocated memory and its resources.

When you have a clutter free place, you will also have better hygiene. You can easily clean up time to time, no spring cleaning is necessary. Vacuuming and moping becomes an easy chore. You do not need to move and lift so many items or be worried that you may break one because of its sentimental value. Use some of your saved money, in the form of your next investment. Whenever possible, be generous and donate to help the needy.

Last but not least, when you free your clutter, you will also see changes in your personal energies. Your body and mind feels refreshed, having a clearer passage to visualization and not burdened with unnecessary worries. This is one habit that you must inculcate within yourself for your long-term benefits. You may not understand it now, but if you practice clutter-free habit, the resultant over time will reflect upon yourself. You will surely find the truth in what I have said.