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Reducing Physical Clutter

By Anthony DePalma on July 25, 2013

Possessions Are Fleeting

The first step to simplifying your life is reducing your physical possessions. As consumers we have been led to believe that acquiring more possessions leads to more happiness. But for many reasons, the opposite is true.

"The things you own end up owning you." - Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club

Before you are willing to reduce your possessions, you must first consider the cost of owning them.

1) Personal Space

Possessions reduce your personal space, one item at a time. Try working on a cluttered desk vs a clean one and see how much of a difference it makes to your productivity. Even if you don't need any of the extra room, just having it available is a huge mental relief. The same concept applies to the rest of your living space.

2) Personal Time

Possessions decrease your free time. Consider how much time you waste fishing around in drawers, putting things in their place, or searching your closet for the right clothes. The more stuff you have, the more time is lost over the course of a day. If you were to waste a conservative ten minutes per day, that's one hour over the course of a week, and two full days over the course of a year!

3) Organization

Possessions make it harder for you to stay organized. The time you spend organizing is compounded by the number of things you own. As a result, its often easier to stay disorganized. Even if you try to prevent it, things inevitably tend to fall back into disorder. This isn't a character flaw, it's the second law of thermodynamics - the universe always tends to approach chaos.

Fewer possessions means fewer things to organize. Its easier to put together a puzzle with 10 pieces than one with 1000 pieces. Why then, do we make it a point to keep accumulating pieces? How can we get rid of them?

Reducing Your Possessions

People love to make excuses for keeping things that provide no value to them. Unfortunately, they rarely experience how liberating it is to let them go. Here are a few ways to overcome any excuses and reduce your possessions.

1) Chuck It.

The simplest way to get rid of something is to just throw it out. Don't think about how much it cost you, don't think about how long you've had it, don't envision a scenario where you use it to save the day. Just put it in a garbage bag, and move on. If you keep questioning your decision in an hour, then consider keeping it. But you'd be amazed how quickly you stop caring once you make a decision and move on.

Occasionally you'll find something that you forgot you even had - that just means you didn't care about it in the first place! Let it go, let it go.

2) Sell It.

Sometimes you know you want to get rid of something but you can't quite justify throwing it away. Why not turn it into cold hard cash? Throw it up on eBay or Craigslist, and get paid to simplify your life. Its win-win!

Don't worry too much about the price. Its used, and you don't want it anymore. Sell it for a price someone will pay, and get it out of your life.

3) Gift It.

Gifting is a great way to get rid of things without feeling guilty about it. Instead of waiting for special occasions, just ask someone out of the blue if they'd use something you're about to throw away. You've already decided that you don't need it, now let them decide whether it goes to them or the garbage. Just make sure that the things you are offering are worth giving away - don't treat your friends like garbage cans!

4) Donate It.

Clothes are the perfect candidate for donation. Whether you've outgrown them or they've failed to keep up with the times, you'll be much happier with them out of your closet. Donating your clothes gets them out of your life and into the lives of those who need them. Again, win-win!

Keeping the Clutter Away

After purging your possessions, its up to you to keep your item count down. Keep a small miscellaneous item drawer for new things, and force yourself to throw out something old every time you add something new. Don't let things accumulate and consume you!

Try It!

Create a Goal called Reducing Physical Clutter, and measure your progress by objectives completed. Create an objective for any room, closet, desk, or drawer that should be purged, and use the principles in this article to declutter something in your life today.

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