By Jamie Strickland
I’m on a quest to get rid of stuff.
The older I get, the less stuff I want to have around me. I have too much going on, and my brain just doesn’t have the bandwidth for figuring out what to do with stuff all the time, and I find I don’t really need all that much these days. And the less stuff I have, the less stuff I have to clean up and the fewer decisions I have to make about it.
I don’t want stuff all over the counters. I don’t want stuff on shelves. I don’t want stuff on the floor. I want nice, clear surfaces, free of nick nacks that need dusting, and paper stacks and piles of doom that are constantly brought into the house.
What I want is not always what I get, especially with four busy people living in the house and as the mom, trying to keep track of everything for everyone can definitely get overwhelming. It’s amazing how fast the stuff piles up!
My solution of moving stuff from one space to the next and from one pile to another is not very effective in the long run, and if I could just throw it all out, I most definitely would. I envy people who are naturally organized.
I’m not sure I’m quite ready to make the leap, but I’ve even considered minimizing my wardrobe choices to reduce decision fatigue and free up my brain power to focus on more important things. Highly successful people like Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs and even Albert Einstein are known for wearing the same things every day for this reason. Einstein is quoted as saying that choosing clothes is a waste of time.
There are also studies that prove that too much clutter is bad for your mental health.
A study from UCLA’s Center on Everyday Lives of Families (CELF) found that women who perceive their homes as cluttered have higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol, leading to increased anxiety and depressive symptoms.
A Princeton University Neuroscience Institute study discovered that visual clutter competes for attention, making it harder to focus and process information efficiently. This can contribute to cognitive overload, increasing stress and reducing productivity.
I’ve attempted to get some of the stuff under control by joining a “Buy Nothing” group on Facebook, where neighbors give things away to other neighbors. The items are perfectly useful and don’t belong in the trash, but just aren’t needed in the homes they pile up in. This has helped clear the clutter of toys and other stuff my kids have outgrown over the years, or things that once had a use but just don’t for us anymore. I’m happy to let stuff go, knowing that someone else will get some use out of it.
I’ve also tried to adopt the “Don’t put it down, put it away” rule, where instead of setting something down where you are, you put it directly in its place. And if it doesn’t have a place or you can’t easily find one for it, you probably don’t need to keep it anyway.
I also try to use bins and baskets to store stuff and help keep things organized. The key word here is try. It’s a never ending struggle, but I’m making progress.
Now if I could just get the kids on board…
