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| Disorganization from clutter can distract the mind from tackling work. |
Collecting a lot of stuff is wonderful. The only problem is that all those things can soon take over your life and home before you know it. After all, too many of anything can make it hard to find what you need when you need it. At the same time, when you have an over abundance like too many outfits or makeup then making a decision can be difficult searching through what you have and result in a lot more wasted time. However, purging some of your excess possessions can simplify your life.
That shopping passion for new clothes, shoes, makeup, books, electronic to toys for your children or grandchildren occupies more space with each purchase. Unless you have a huge house with lots of walk-in closets, then you’ll find those items spilling out of your closets or forced into storage bins or cedar chests because of a lack of room unless you declutter.
The problem can even be worse for those that are drawn to flea markets and antique fairs because they soon are overwhelmed adding to their collections. Before you know it, you can boxes upon boxes of what special item that you collect piled high, perhaps, in your garage.
I knew this man that collected antique jars from before the Civil War. Some were quite valuable. He proudly would display them on his table and add new pieces that he paid a premium for as an investment due to this love of those jars. Yet, to all other people these old jars that were beautiful to this flea market dealer and other antique bottle collectors, had no meaning or value to many others.
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| Too many of anything are not helpful. |
Sadly enough, this older gentleman died and his children were left with his massive antique jar collection. The children had no idea as to the value of their father’s collection or how to dispose of it. The antique jars that took him years and a lot of money to collect ended up getting sold as a cheap lot for a few dollars at an estate sale.
If you have a valuable collection, I suggest leaving instructions with your relatives as to the worth of your collection and how to liquidate it. This will solve a lot of problems.
I knew another woman that loved to collect cookbooks. She got to the point that not one more book could fit in her house. She had cookbooks in every room upstairs, downstairs, in her garage from floor to ceiling that the couple's cars had to park outside. Then she started keeping her cookbooks outside before renting a storage locker, then a second storage locker. The problem is that she owned so many that she didn’t even remember what books that she had, but always wanted more. You would think that this woman cooked, but she said she never had time. She just liked to collect.
Another woman I knew loved buying practically at the flea market as long as it was a good deal. She always had big packages in her arms from things like baby dolls when there were no children at home to play with them. Her husband once told me that their gameroom was polluted with garbage bags with all her flea market deals that never saw the light of day.
I had a college teacher that was obsessed with his love of books that he bought every first issue of a magazine as well as buying first edition books. His collection kept growing and finally got to the point that it drove his wife to divorce, which cost him more than the price of all that literature he coveted so much.
The best way to start breaking the clutter cycle is setting some groundwork. Therefore, learning to modify your buying behavior is a helpful beginning.
Ask Yourself What You Really Need
If you just like to buy because it’s on sale or the neighbor just got one and you need to have one to keep up, then it is not benefitting you. Instead, make a conscious effort to realize what you need first before buying without thinking.
Give the Clutter a Deadline to Take Action
Enlist a Family Member for Emotional Support
Parting with possessions that may have sentimental value can take willpower. Nonetheless, you need to be strong if you want to adapt this destructive behavior. Often just another person to help remind you why you can let that item go can be valuable.
Replace Clutter With a New Use for That Space
After you sort through a formerly overcrowded shelf of figurines for example, don’t be tempted to replace the vacant space with many other decorative objects. Instead, limit yourself to a special few to take better advantage of the space for a fresh look to that room.
Trying these tips will bring you the calm that you need without having that clutter burden draining your energy, sanity and money overspending. If you practice them enough, you’ll experience fewer stressful days of tackling clutter in the future.
