Too Much Stuff

From Bedlam to Brilliance

Too Much Stuff
And, What Are You Going To Do About It?

Do any of the following statements resonate with you?

I had the space to put things I wasn’t using anymore.
My children may want these someday. Ask them. Chances are they won’t want a lot of what you are saving for them.
The items were on sale. They were 75% off.
I bought something new but didn’t get rid of something old (the in-out rule).
My parent(s) died, I had to quickly clean out where they were living, so I brought their things to my house and/or rented a storage unit.
I am very sentimental.
I’m overwhelmed by all that I have and don’t know where to start. Because of this, I haven’t started.

If so, and you finally realize that now is the time to get rid of the “stuff”, you’ve come to the right place.

Whether or not you have to go through your items quickly (someone died, you have to move because your house sold quicker than you thought it would) or have the luxury of taking the time to sort through what you’ve accumulated through the years, you can do this as long as you have a plan in place and follow the SMART goals approach.

S = Specific. Start in one area and stay in that area until you’ve gone through everything. If you are organizing your file cabinet, don’t go into another area of your home or office if what you find does not belong in your file cabinet. Put it aside until the end of the session and take it to where it should be.

M = Measurable. At the end of your organizing session, can you see what you’ve accomplished? If you decided to organize your closet and wanted to have between 3 and 5 bags of items to donate, were you able to gauge this correctly? Maybe you even had more.

A = Achievable. Remember, slow and steady wins the race. If you’ve lived in your house for many years, you’ve collected a lot of things. You will be able to reach your goal of getting rid of unwanted items as long as you are mindful that it is going to take longer than a couple of hours.

R = Realistic. If you don’t have a lot of time on a particular day to de-clutter but still want to get something done, cleaning out your whole garage may not be practical. Conversely, if you have the whole day, this may be a project you want to undertake. Don’t bite off more than you can chew.

T = Timely. Schedule time on your calendar like you would when you do anything else. Allow for some interruptions, but once you know you’ve committed to this time, you are more apt to stick to it.

My tool kit includes not only sharpies and a label-maker, but also lots of resources for those items with which you are ready to part. In addition, when we work together, I take the items out of your home or office and donate, recycle, or shred appropriately.

What are your plans to finally get rid of those items that no longer serve a purpose in your life?