A client and I were talking last week about the “hazards” of having too much storage space. If there is room to store items you may or may not use in the future, the decision to keep or discard can be postponed. For some of us, those decisions have been postponed for 20 years!
Before I became a professional organizer, I didn’t fully understand the downside of keeping items I didn’t use or love. I thought that if the house looked nice and I could find what I needed quickly, everything was copacetic. I now know that excess can often create fatigue, shame and embarrassment as well as a lack of focus and clarity.
Here’s where I got in trouble: when I decided to remove an item from my living space and the thought of getting rid of it pulled at my heartstrings, down to the basement it went. Why decide now? There’s plenty of room in the basement! My logic was:
- I might need it someday.
- I’ll decide what to do with it when preparing to move.
See anything wrong with that thinking? I now have a basement full of stuff (neatly stacked and labeled, of course) that I rarely use. My new logic is:
- If I don’t use it, I lose it!
- I’ll have so much to do when I move – the last thing I need is a houseful of decisions!
As I’m learning to let go of anything that doesn’t make my life work better, I’m starting to de-clutter my basement. While I don’t have chunks of time to work on it, I spend an extra five or ten minutes in the basement while doing the laundry and make sure I toss or donate items every single week. In time I’ll get through it all.
I look forward to feeling freer and lighter as I let go of what I don’t use and love.
About the Author
So true Ellen. Just because it does not add clutter to my home, doesn’t mean it is adding anything to my life – except perhaps extra weight to (physically and mentally) carry.