The daily habit of getting rid of things you’re not going to use will help you cut down on clutter, ensure you think twice before buying something new, and make you feel light and free. Holding on to old stuff just because you hate to get rid of it is just clogging up your home with dust magnets, making your office look cluttered, and it might even be causing brain fog which cuts down on your productivity.
It really doesn’t matter what any guru or so-called expert says, if your 1000 book collection brings you joy, even though you have to dust it, and you rarely read the books again – it’s not wrong to keep them. However, don’t let an illogical attachment to stuff keep you trapped in an environment that is not conducive to reaching the goals you’ve set for yourself.
So, if you read this title and thought, “Not another lecture on minimalism,” don’t worry, it’s not. In many ways, the ability to even call oneself a minimalist is pretty privileged to start with, and minimize is really in the eye of the beholder. This is more about keeping your spaces less cluttered and doing it by simply making it a habit to clean up right away. Practice throwing away, giving away, and ending clutter on a schedule to help turn it into a habit.
- Set Up a System – Everyone has paperwork and mail coming in. The best way to handle this is to set up a system. Try only to touch the paperwork once. Get the mail, open it by the trash and organize each piece. Every year when you do taxes, toss out the tax year that no longer needs to be saved per your accountant’s advice.
- Trash, Process, or File – If you got a medical bill you need to pay, process it, and file it. If you got a letter from your congress person, you could throw it away; if you got a letter from the IRS and there is no need to do something, file it. The idea is when you do what needs to be done immediately, you have less clutter around.
- Get Rid of Those Clothes – If you have clothing you’ve not worn for a season, socks with holes, and other things you never use, don’t save them. All they are doing is attracting dust and taking up space. Make this easy by keeping a donate bag in your closet that you fill over time and donate when full.
- Throw Away Old Electronics – You may need to find a safe way to dispose of these through your city offices, but there is no reason to keep old electronics forever collecting dust and taking up space. Instead, find a place to donate them and make it a habit to do so yearly.
Keeping these things causes dust and clutter in your home or office, but studies show that physical clutter in your space causes anxiety and even depression. People who keep their environment less cluttered tend to get more done and report feeling more successful. You don’t have to be perfect but make it a habit to toss things you’re not using every single day.