If you are looking for the perfect alibi- check in to the Hotel California. But, if you want to free yourself from being the prisoner of your own devices- watch this video. Let us light up a candle and show you the way to having such a lovely place.
(Click here to watch on YouTube if you can’t see the embedded player. Or watch the video at http://bit.ly/tcdalibi.)
Transcript:
Hi. I’m Lorie Marrero, creator of The Clutter Diet Book and on-line program, and today we are going to go over five clutter alibis and why they don’t hold up. In other words, some of your best excuses. Let’s just shatter those right now, shall we?
So the first one we hear a lot is, “I might need it later. I might need it someday.” So the question you need to ask yourself about that is, “When is the last time I used this?” If it’s been longer than a year, and especially if it’s been longer than two years, you’re probably never going to use that item. So, you can safely get rid of that. And if you really can’t bear it, then you can put it in a box with other things like that, seal it up, put a date on it, and vow that if you have not looked in that box and had to open it up by the time that date rolls around, which could be like a year later, you have to get rid of that box without opening it. How about that for a deal? Okay, so try that.
The second alibi we want to shatter right now is “I don’t know how to dispose of it.” Well, if you are literally disposing of something, like you want to throw it away, and you’re feeling like you need to recycle it, or maybe it’s hazardous or something, then you can look on Earth911, which is a fantastic website that tells everything about your exact locale – you know, you can put your zip code in– and it tells you where to take hazardous materials, or paints, or whatever it is. If it is not necessarily a literal disposal like a throwing away, but you just don’t know where to take this item in general, or sell it, or whatever, then what I want you to do is ask yourself the question, “What is the next action I can take toward disposing of this?” If you don’t know the answer, what’s the first step in trying to get the answer? Is there someone you can call? Is there something you can Google? Is there someone you can ask? Take that next action so that you can go to the next step.
All right, the third clutter alibi. “I paid too much money for it.” So if you did, and you don’t want to donate that for that reason, you can consider giving it to a friend or family member so that the gift of that has more meaning and you feel like that value is sort of preserved within your circle of friends and family. Also, if you want to sell it, I do have a couple of other videos about how to use Craigslist, and I think I have one on seven different ways that you can sell things or dispose of things. So find those other videos. We’ve got links for them here for you.
Alright, number four. “My children might want it.” Are you sure? Have you asked them? So if you have asked them and they have indicated maybe not, are you listening to their answer? Please do not force them to take something or put guilt on them about it. If they are grown up and have their own homes and families, they really don’t need some of that stuff even though you sentimentally would like them to have it. If they’re not interested, then they’re not, and they’re adults, and they can make that decision. If they are interested in the item, then make sure that you act swiftly and you take action and box that up and ship that to them or whatever. Get that out of your living space. So, if they have a box of memorabilia of their old school trophies or whatever that might be, go ahead, box it up, send it their way, and get it out of your life.
Alright. So the fifth one we want to do today is, “It reminds me of a special time or a special person.” So this is sentimental reasons. And that’s great. And if you really love this item, and it really reminds you of something special, by all means keep it. The problem is, if you have too much of that stuff. So if you have one or two sentimental things, that’s beautiful, and there’s a lot of honor in that. If you have a thousand sentimental items, they sort of lose their meaning. So set yourself a quota. We often recommend that people get a box for memorabilia and limit themselves with our limiting container idea, to everything that fits in that box is what you can keep, and when that box is full, then you have to start prioritizing what you remove from the box if you want to add something else in. So think about that method. And also, you can take a photo of the item before you donate it so that you can preserve the memory without preserving the object. We also have other videos about sentimental objects that might help you too.
If you are deciding to get rid of something after going through all of these excuses, just have a moment, be grateful, acknowledge the role that that item had in your life, and say goodbye. Donate it, sell it, whatever you need to do, and move forward with your life.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this, and I will see you next time. May you always be happy and grateful for having more than enough.
You may have been searching for tips for letting go of excess stuff or how to downsize and simplify.
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