In professional organizer Peter Walsh’s book, It’s All Too Much: A Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life with Less Stuff, he has a chapter entitled “Excuses, Excuses.”
Walsh details a variety of standard excuses people use to retain clutter (and ultimately a state of disorganization). He begins the chapter with some interesting insight:
“Everything in your home is there with your permission. All the stuff is there because you think it holds answers, evokes memories, contains a promise, or serves a purpose.”
We have responsibility for our current situation…stuff did NOT trot into our house and plant itself there against our will. It is there because we chose or allowed it to be there (so maybe your spouse or child is responsible for some of it.)
It’s an interesting exercise to look at Walsh’s list of excuses and see where they play a role in our own lives.
Excuse #1: I Might Need It One Day
It’s true…you might. But chances are, you won’t.
And in the meantime this “might” is mightily cluttering up your home, your sanctuary, your castle.
As Walsh asserts, “clutter stops us from living in the present. The future is important. But you have to consider the quality of your life today and strike a balance between the life you are living today and the multitude of possible paths your life may take in the future…those things we hoard for an imaginary future do little other than limit our possibilities and stunt our growth.”
This doesn’t mean throw out or give away everything you haven’t used in the past month.
Simply be aware of your self-talk when you’re wading through a room that has too much stuff in the amount of space available.
You might need it “someday”, but TODAY, you just need to be able to walk across the room without tripping! You need to be able to walk into your house and feel peace and serenity. You deserve it.
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About the Author
Aloha Organizers Owner Nancy Nino started organizing under her former business name, Nancy Organizes!, in 2008. After over three years of working on her own, Nancy had an opportunity to bring on additional organizers. She changed the company name to Aloha Organizers which better reflected the team approach to the business.
Since the beginning of her work in the organizing field, Nancy has been a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), the Hawaii Association of Professional Organizers (HAPO), the Association of Personal Photo Organizers (APPO) and Faithful Organizers. Nancy and her partner organizers are committed best practices, as well as learning from and working in concert with their colleagues in the field. For more information, visit our website at www.AlohaOrganizers.com or call us at (808) 347-7480.