Your Biggest Problem Is…

As I begin to have less and less, I find more and more what a burden all of that stuff has been.

I realize that thinking yearningly back at my younger days for the carefree lifestyle wasn't so much about the kids or the work load – it's about the stuff.

I was broke. I didn't have any.

But I did have a clear mind and room to breathe. I had time to take long walks and long bubble baths too – after I got a bathtub with running water. I'll tell you about THAT story some day .

I juggled one check book on one bank account.
No credit cards.
I knew my finances to the penny every day of the week. I had to.

I'm slowly moving back in the direction of less is more and it came to me this morning that my biggest problem has been the stuff.

It was suffocating in every way.

Too much to look after.
No time left for anything fun.
Or energy.
Mortification when visitors arrived unannounced – there was just too much.

Somehow I had begun to think that my job was to manage all of this stuff. That there was nothing I could do about it. It was here and here to stay.

The reality is so much different than that.

DIARY OF A MAD HOARDER:

Uncluttering Your Life

I read an article by Betsy Lowther (link above) about her discovery that she was a pack rack the day her closet imploded – or exploded – when the rod holding her clothes broke. She calls it her Thing Awakening. She outlines exactly what she did to 'unpack'.

I was really interested in this paragraph because I was noticing the same thing – we seem to swarm in droves with the same issues -

"What I'm now calling my thing awakening coincided with a societal backlash against excess. Americans are realizing the stuff they just had to have — Manolo pumps! A sushi-roll-sized Japanese camera! A talking coffeemaker! — clog their homes and minds."

Who would have thought!

ALL IT TAKES…

So how do you dig yourself out if your biggest problem is a mountain of stuff?

All it takes is

2 hands (more is better but 2 will do)

the will to change.

the belief that you can.

5 minutes at a time works wonders. Any way you can ramp it up from there will seem a miracle.

If you can do it consistently, the world is yours.

GIVE IT A TRY

If you need some help, join TAKE 5. It's free and you will receive one 5 minute task daily.

Ready? Set your timers…

Have a Shiney Day :0)
Jan Ferrante

http://queenofkaos.com

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Tags: clutter, minimalist, simplifying

2 Responses to “Your Biggest Problem Is…”

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Fee

February 27, 2010 at 8:42 am

CONSISTENCY as you correctly say, Jan, is the name of the game.
I have experienced a clean, uncluttered home, and then because of some reason or other, have seen it all fall apart….

Where would I be without my Spring into Spring Challenge, my Boost Circuit, My Take Five Daily Missions and the amazing Secret Confessions of a Clean Freak…?

These items help keep my home and self uncluttered and sorted in a fast, crazy world.
Thanks Jan!

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Jan Ferrante

February 27, 2010 at 10:14 pm

Hi Fee, I know exactly what you are talking about. Consistency really is so important. It takes so little time – an amazingly small amount – for things to fall to pieces. It happens to me too when I get off schedule, especially from by BOOST housework circuit, it really does work wonders for me day by day.

The great news is that once you have been consistent it gets easier and faster to put it together again every time. THAT is a relief!

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