The First Step to Getting Rid of Clutter

Do you ever have times where you notice every single thing that’s piled up in your home. Are there times where you notice everything that is out of place in your home? Does it drive you crazy, but you just don’t have the energy to do anything about it? Me too! This post will give you the first step to getting rid of clutter.

Time to relax?

The other night around 6pm, all I wanted to do was chill on the sofa and watch TV with the boys and a glass of wine. I noticed my husband’s iPad and a stack of journals on the kitchen island. Jude’s shoes were under the coffee table and his dirty lunch dishes were on top it. There were basketball shoes and a backpack on the floor in the middle of the
kitchen. The list goes on. You get the picture. At first I had a hard time relaxing because I felt compelled to pick it all up. I just couldn’t, though. So, I chose to ignore it. Truthfully, sometimes I pick it all up and sometimes I don’t. I’m ok with that. It’s just the mess of everyday life.

Mess vs. clutter

The first step to getting rid of clutter in your home is understanding what it is. There’s a difference between the mess of everyday life and true clutter.
I like to think of it this way. The mess of everyday life involves things that you use and are valuable to you. When they create a mess they are just temporarily out of place. Clutter, on the other hand, typically involves items that we don’t necessarily need. For some reason, we have decided not to dispose of them.

What is clutter?

Merriam Webster defines clutter this way: “to fill or cover with scattered or
disordered things that impede movement or reduce effectiveness.”
I disagree with part of this definition. I don’t believe things have to be
scattered OR disordered to be clutter. Clutter can be arranged very neatly
and tidy in stacks and labeled containers. Rather, I consider clutter to be
anything (yes, ANYTHING) that isn’t essential to your everyday life.

Essentialism

Clutter is anything that isn’t essential to your everyday life.
Greg McKeown talks about this concept of essentialism in his book with the
same name. Check out this amazing book if you haven’t already!
He says that we need to start “scanning our environment for those vital few
and eagerly eliminate the trivial many. Only then can we say no to good
opportunities and say yes to truly great ones.”

How to get started

The first step is recognizing which one of these you are looking at. Is it the normal mess of everyday life or is it clutter? Once you have determined that, you can decide how you want to approach it. I can help you do that.
Click here to schedule a 1:1 Clutter Coaching Discovery Call with Me.