We've been trying to get a handle on simplifying, downsizing, decluttering, and organizing for decades now. Even before the Fly Lady went viral in 2001, there was the Pigpen to Paradise in 1977. When did stuff become such a problem? As a child, I remember having one shelf in the closet where both my sister and I kept all our games and toys. We shared a dresser and all the clothes we owned between us fit into it and a small closet. I grew up and had no idea what clutter even was.
Clueless about clutter, I went out into the world. I lived in a dorm room for the first three years where I had a dresser for my clothes and a locker for any valuables I wished to store in a room I shared with three other room-mates. Although my work clothes consisted of a set of military issued uniforms, I did have a small set of civilian attire. When I got married and moved into base housing, the furniture began to accumulate. We bought our first table and chairs for $25 from a lady advertising in the Trading Post. We traded our lawn chairs and milk crates for a donated couch and two end tables. Our tax refund was spent on a new queen size bed. We could still barely afford groceries so even though we were accumulating enough furniture to fit in an average size U-haul we were still a few years off from the clutter bombardment. The first time I noticed that clutter was encroaching on our lives was shortly after we had our first child. In addition to the bare essentials; the baby clothes, bottles, walkers, and diapers; we seemed to be taken over by toys. These were not the few toys we could afford to buy for our child but gifts given to them by dotting grandparents and aunts and uncles. By child number three, I had an overflowing closet full of stuffed animals and each child had their own over-flowing box of toys. By child number three, we had accumulated a few toys ourselves- our first computer with its software and disks as well as our first video player and camera and thier associated video tapes. With each child came memoribilia that was kept to remember their firsts and ongoing acheivements in every area of their life from sports to academics to just plain cuteness. As technology changed, so did our paraphernalia but we held on to the old media hoping to convert it's contents to conform to our new media players. With every change, came new toys and gadgets and with every age,came new interests and the accumulation of more paraphernalia and sentimental memorabilia. Soon we were taken over with-- well-- CLUTTER!
My attempts to contain it by simplyfying failed. The simple life of my uncluttered childhood seemed to vanish as soon as my first child was born into a material world. My attempts to diminish it by downsizing were futile as my fear of getting rid of something I would need in the future persisted. Decluttering attempts failed for the same reason. Organizing temporarily masks the problem until it is obvious that there is just too much clutter to organize. So what is the problem that clutter masks?
The problem that is never addressed in any of our clutter buster strategies is the underlying reason our clutter accumulates in the first place. What is your motivating factor in keeping what clutters your living spaces? What makes it so hard to part with material objects or papers in their varying forms? Although, when it comes to material things, we know that less is more it is still difficult for many of us to just "let go." How do you know what to keep and what to let go of? How do you determine what is worthy of your time and effort to organize and maintain?
One way to decide what stays in your life and what to let go of is what I call the suitcase method. Pack a suitcase for a trip and decide what gets to go and what gets to stay. You get to pack a suitcase full of things you will use while you are there and a carry on full of things you will do along the way. The first choice you make is where you are going. Then you can start deciding what kind of things you'll need to take along the way. If you could go wherever you want for two weeks, where would you go? What you put in your suitcase and carry on represent the kinds of things you need most to get you there and to enjoy you're time while you're there. These are the things you should keep more of and everything else represents things you could do with less of. This method works very well if you actually take your suitcase on a trip with you. Because you can make a list of the things you wish you would have packed and the things you miss from home while you are gone. The list may include people, pets, or activities you miss while you're away from home. What items did you take out of your suitcase the most and what items didn't you need on your trip? Use the experience to list what is important in your life and when you get home-- clear out the junk that isn't.
Where are you going in life? Where do you want to be in the next two years? What do you need to get you there and what do you need when you get there? Only keep what you need to make the trip in your "suitcase"-- let the rest go! You will find your trip is much more relaxing and worry-free when you only have to maintain and organize the material things in one suitcase and one carry on bag. Carrying around extra luggage makes life more cumbersome and chaotic!
