Clutterbug - Real-Life Hacks and Tips to Declutter, Organize and Clean your Home Fast - What is your Clutter costing you? | Clutterbug Podcast # 98

Episode Date: November 9, 2020

In this episode, I challenge you to change your mindset about your stuff and ask yourself: "What is my Clutter costing me?"         You can find more Clutterbug content here: Website: http://www.clutterbug.me YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clutterbug TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clutterbug_me Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clutterbug_me/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Clutterbug.Me/   #clutterbug #podcast     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we're talking about clutter and what it's costing you. And trust me, it isn't money. Hey clutterbugs. Welcome back to the clutter bug podcast. I want to talk today about the cost of clutter. I have had so many people, so many clients, so many just friends and family even say to me, I'd love to get organized, but I just don't have the money. I just don't have the money now to spend on bins or baskets or storage. Everybody, you look at social media, let's be honest, or even on TV and magazines, on Pinterest, and you see these beautiful spaces. I mean, let's talk home edit with all their collections from the container store and it's like a bazillion dollars and you think, oh my gosh, I could never have that or I need that

someday when I have the time and the money. That's when I'll do it. And in the meantime, you're living in a home that is not suiting your needs. You're always losing things. It's embarrassing. you're feeling really self-conscious, you're feeling bad about yourself, and you're not living the simplified functional life that you deserve. And if you have to look for keys, look for your phone, look for your favorite pairs of pants, if you have to step on toys or tidy your house

for over an hour before you can clean it, the real issue is that you have too much stuff. this isn't about spending a ton of money on organizing supplies this isn't about having to have some Pinterest worthy space it's about just editing your life it's about going through your stuff and saying I'm not using this I'm not loving it it isn't serving me why the heck is it in my house it's only making my life harder and I know I say this all the time and it it sounds like I'm simplifying it and it's such an easy concept but it is so hard and the reason is hard is because letting go causes anxiety. Whether we know it or not, it's totally against human nature to let things go. We are hunters and gatherers. We are made for evolutionary reasons to collect things for our own survival.

Getting new things feels good for that reason. Going to target and buying new things, we get these releases of dopamine and serotonin, but it isn't just buying things. It's receiving gifts. It's finding something awesome on the side of the road. am so guilty of breaking for furniture on the side of the road to see if it's good. It feels good to acquire because that is what we are made to do. And unfortunately, this isn't the wild. There is a target around the corner. We are not, you know, going months without anything. So we don't need to be filling our home with just in case things. Because all these just in case things are taking away our space, they're taking away our time, and they're taking away our happiness.

But our primitive lizard brain is telling us that we need it and that getting rid of it is wrong. I want you to take a... I've seen this quote all the time. Look at all my stuff that used to be money. Right? You look around and how can you not see the money that you've spent on that? and that feels like crap especially if we're not using the items and if we're struggling financially letting go and decluttering if you're struggling financially or you have a shopping addiction or you're impulsive and you've purchased things that you shouldn't have purchased can really be like

you know irritating a wound it can be drying up all of those uncomfortable feelings and just like laying it bare for yourself but when we're not decluttering, we're not thinking about it. We can avoid thinking about it. We don't have to think about the fact that we shouldn't have bought it in the first place, that we're spending money that we don't have, we don't have to think about that we don't really have as much money as we should. We don't have to think of any of those uncomfortable feelings as long as we're not decluttering. But what this is doing is just kicking the can down the road. It's avoiding the issue for the sake of feeling good now, even though it makes us feel worse later.

And so I really want to talk to you today about the cost of clutter, what it's costing you to hold on to things that you're not using and loving, so that you can change your mindset from seeing all your items as money to instead seeing those items that you have that you're not using as the negative thing that they truly are. And that's going to make it so much easier to let them go. If you can look at that treadmill, if you can look at those clothes that don't fit anymore, if you can look at, I don't know, the stereo equipment you bought 10 years ago that you don't use and it's completely outdated, if you can see that not for $500, $100, $100, but instead see it for, oh, what a sucker it is from you, a sucker of your time and your energy and your space and your

happiness, it's going to be so much easier to let it go. These items in your home are not the money that you spent on them. You are not richer. You are not $1,000 richer because you own a treadmill you spent $1,000 on. That money has been spent. It's gone. And the honest truth is we can never sell anything for even close than what we've paid for it. And holding on to things does not make us richer.

What it is taking is your floor space. Every time you look at it, you're like, oh, I really. really should be using that I probably should be running and you know you're not going to start running so it's taking away your self-esteem it's making you feel really bad about yourself and you're going to have to dust that bloody thing so it's taking away your time too let's be honest you're probably hanging clothes on it that's what I do to mine I hang stuff on it but my point is it's time for us to look at those items for what they really are I also am wondering if it goes a little bit deeper. I'm going to throw my sister under the bus here, but she really struggles

with letting go. She also isn't happy with her home. She's not happy with her home, and she has said to me a lot of times, I would get organized if I had the money, and I know the truth is just decluttering, letting things go would make her feel so good, but because of financial struggles, again, she's like, oh, but I can't afford to replace it if I get rid of it. And so what I notice her doing is avoiding spending time in her own home a lot. She makes excuses to leave the house because being home makes her feel bad about herself. Being home makes her look at the mess and the stuff and the clutter and reminds her of wasted money. It reminds her of all the things she has to do. It feels like a burden and a chore to be home. And to say to her,

the only thing you have to do is get rid of the things that you don't use and love and everything about your home can change sounds so easy but she needs to make that mental shift into seeing those items for the toxic clutter that they are so i'm wondering do you make excuses to leave the house to avoid looking at your home do you miss out on relationships with friends and family because you're too embarrassed to have people over they call this the like chaos syndrome can't have anyone over syndrome because your house is messy are you missing out on opportunities when your kids are like mom can my best friend come over after school do you die inside like at the thought of an eight-year-old seeing your mess right are you embarrassed and are you missing out on opportunities to host friends and to entertain and to be that house

for your kids that you want where their friends are always welcome over because of your stuff that you're not using and loving? These are not like small concerns. These are big concerns. Do you and your spouse argue over the mess? Do you argue over whose mess it is or who's picking it up and who's tidying it? Are you resenting your family for the mess? Are you looking around with the stuff and thinking like, ugh, it's not fair that I have to be

the one doing this, why is it always me? Is it making you feel negative thoughts about your partner and your kids? There are so many negative things that your clutter is costing you. And your clutter, I totally define this as just things you're not using and loving. So I'm not talking about the piles of paper on your desk. I'm not talking about honestly the stuff you can see because most of the time the stuff that you can see that's laying out everywhere is laying out because you don't have an easy place to put it away. And the reason you can't put it away is because the spots where you would put things away are full of things you don't use in love. So you have drawers, like just filled with random whatever and closet stuffed with who knows what. I mean, if you're like,

where the heck am I going to hide Christmas presents this year because every hidden space in my house is shoved, you have too much stuff. And it's totally time to declassies. clutter and I want you to remind yourself of what it's costing you. So there is an exercise that you can do that helps change your mindset. It's just a piece of paper and a pen. I want you to think of something in your home that you know you don't use in love but you're really reluctant to let go of or take a peek under your bed or in a closet and find something. Maybe it's a vacuum cleaner that broke that you swore you'd fix one day or maybe it is electronic equipment that you just, you know, haven't done anything with you're not using it but it's expensive so you're storing it i want you to

write down 10 ways that this is taking from you not giving taking and then look at those 10 things maybe it's taking away the space you could use for something else maybe it's making you feel bad about yourself every time you look at it maybe it's causing arguments between you and your spouse maybe if you can't even come up with 10 things how about five let's let's make it easier let's go five five ways that this is a negative in your life. And then look over that list and ask yourself, is it worth it? Is holding on to this thing worth any of these things? And maybe you're like, I could sell this online for $30. Ask yourself, is $30 worth feeling all of those things? Is it, is it really worth what it's taking from you? And this immediately alleviates

the burden of, oh, I should set up a yard sale or I should do an online thing. I should take pictures, more tasks, more to-dos, more work. Decluttering should not be work. It should be grabbing a box or a bag and just putting stuff in it and letting it go. And by all means, if you have something that you know you're going to get a lot of money for and you're feeling excited about taking a pictures and posting it to sell, then do that. But if you've been saying that you're going to do it for the past year and you haven't done it yet, you are not going to. And that isn't something to beat yourself up over. It just means it isn't worth your time and you're moving on. You're putting it in a box or a bag and you're moving on. Because less stuff, you guys, less stuff equals so much more.

It means more self-love. It means more time. It means more happiness all over in your family. It means more family time. It means more self-respect. It just, it's more. And I know I say this all the time. If you're listening to this, you're probably rolling your eyes.

But this is something that I want to keep saying over and over until you guys have really given it a try. And I don't just mean one time packing up a couple of garbage. bags. I mean making a continued effort all the time to simplify your life because it's life changing. And it's something that you won't really get until you've got to a point where you've gotten rid of enough stuff that it's had a huge impact on your life. So if you've decluttered in the past, you're like, yeah, I got rid of some stuff, but I don't see what the big deal is. You haven't got rid of enough. You have not gotten rid of enough. When you wake up and you you're like, wow, I have extra time in my day or I just, it's so easy to find stuff or I haven't

misplaced something in months or oh my gosh, it only took me 10 minutes to clean up all to tidy up before I can clean. When you're noticing that level of change in your life, that's when you know you've made the difference. That's when you know you've decluttered enough. And so look in those hidden spots. Push yourself out of your comfort zone. Ask yourself the three rules have I used it in the last year do I love it and would I buy it again and if the answer is no let it go and push push push yourself and when those items come up when that anxiety comes up about those things and you're like oh but it's expensive and I don't want to buy it again and blah blah blah you're going to write down five ways that that item is costing you and really ask yourself if it's worth it and if it is

if it's worth it, then keep it. I'm not suggesting you get rid of everything, but I want so much more for you. I really do. I want so much more for you. And I see this, I see the struggle in my sister. I see the struggle in my best friend. I see the struggle in clients who have hired me

and just haven't been ready to really make that jump into simplifying their life. they're all miserable in their home. Not their life is miserable, but they're not happy with their home. And they're looking for a quick fix. They're looking for this magic secret, this trick that's going to allow them to get organized and have this life and this home that they want without having to let stuff go. And that just doesn't exist.

That is not reality. What they really need to do is change their mindset about the stuff. The problem is, isn't the stuff, it's their fear and anxiety about getting rid of the stuff. It's their mindset about minimalizing, about decluttering, and about what it's going to cost them. They need to change that and you need to change that mindset from what it's going to cost to let it go to instead what it's costing you to keep it. So thanks so much for listening. I hope you enjoyed and I'll catch you guys in the next one.