I know what’s holding me back. I don’t want to admit it even to myself.
I have bad habits.
For a long time I did not know they were bad habits. They were just how you did things. It was how I was raised. It was what I grew up learning. It is what I was taught.
Over a year ago I decided to do something about one of them. I decided to declutter my environment. I grew up the son of wonderful parents who grew up during the Great Depression & World War II. They learned to hold onto things. Things you might need one day. Never mind that that day may never arrive. They, with no malice or fault in their reasoning, raised me to save, to hoard, to hold on to things that I might need one day. The end result is a house of clutter, a car with clutter, and an office that all too often has clutter.
It isn’t easy to declutter.
I have the best of intentions but I also have a family and I work in the family business. Stuff flows into my house sometimes faster than we can get rid of it. My father started the business so changing the culture of keeping stuff you might need is like turning an aircraft carrier. It takes a big circle to get going in a different direction. The good news is my lovely wife is on board, the kids are learning that you don’t have to save everything and at work the staff is thrilled with having an uncluttered environment.
You may not realize it but everything you own has costs. There is the mental or psychological cost, the monetary cost, the cost of storing or displaying, the cost of ownership, and the cost of time. Some of these costs are trivial depending upon the object but some can be overwhelming. What do you do with that heirloom you don’t particularly love?
I started small in fits and spurts: a closet here, a drawer there, one room then another. Recently, I tackled one I had put off. It was the basement storage area. The one where all the half-finished projects went to wait. The projects waited for a part, for the time to complete them, for me to get motivated to do something I didn’t particularly want to do. It’s also where the tools and parts I needed to complete other projects went to live till I got inspired to complete them. It took a full day to declutter half the basement area. I filled a big green trashcan with junk and waste. I left the area clean and sorted with only the other half to do the next free day I have to declutter.
The rewards have been immense.
Psychologically there is a feeling of a burden being lifted. There is the feeling of accomplishment knowing that a lot of stuff has left my house to never return. I found the parts I needed to complete three minor projects around the house I had put off knowing that the part was in the basement but not knowing where in the basement. I have learned to accept letting go of things where I realized that while the fantasy was there the reality was not. My main fantasy was believing I have all the time in the world to do anything and everything. I have had to accept that I will never be a master woodworker, painter, or electrician. I haven’t given up on the master gardener though.
Accepting my limitations in some areas leaves me more time to explore new opportunities and strengthen my skills in others. You don’t have to live with your bad habits you can change them to good habits. I will probably have to be on guard against clutter for the rest of my life. The good news is there is a light at the end of the tunnel. There are a few more rooms in the house that need to be decluttered, the basement needs work and the office is almost there. Mentally it is more relaxing at home and work. The best benefit is time; I have more of it to spend with my family after all I am not spending my time dealing with clutter.