Purging Feels Goooooood

I just did some major toy purging this weekend. I got rid of 5 very full trash bags. It feels so good! No, my kids have not yet noticed which is why it is still feeling good.

To get organized sometimes you have to purge your household of all your useless excess stuff. It can be tedious work. You have to be in the right mindset. You have to be ready. You have to be tired of the status quo. You have to be willing to let go. It has always interested me as to what causes people to hold on to stuff that they don’t use. Sometimes there is an emotional attachment to an item or memories that surround the purchase of an item like a special trip. Then, there is the fear that as soon as they rid themselves of an item they haven’t used then they will come up with a use for it and wish that they had it. I believe that the latter motivation for holding onto stuff has deep roots in our past. For instance, if you grew up in an affluent household and were able to easily replace a broken or lost item as a child, you are probably more likely to discard items that you aren’t currently using. You have little fear of never being able to replace the item if necessary. On the other hand, if your parents barely scraped by with what little they had you might appreciate coming across items that might possibly have some obscure purpose sometime in the distant future and therefore have a difficult time parting with stuff. I must confess that it is rather easy for me to discard things. I do not suffer from sentimentality. Besides, you can’t take things with you when you die. We’ve all heard that before. So, unless I am using something or going to use it in the immediate future, I don’t want it cluttering up my home. Photos are a great way to compromise getting rid of a useless item. Take a digital photo of the item. It won’t take up physical space in your home but you can easily keep the image forever.

There are many different approaches that professional organizers use to get their clients to purge clutter. Usually 90% of clutter is easily identified as such and tossed. Beyond that, see if you can discard items by going through these questions: I don’t think it’s all that complicated.

1) Is it useful or necessary?
2) Do you have the space to keep it?

3) Do you have a duplicate/triplicate/etc so that you can purge the extras?
4) Why are you holding on to it?
5) Is there a reason that a digital photo / scanned image cannot replace the original?
6) If you still cannot part with it can you find an immediate use for it even if simply for display purposes?

Beyond that, if you do not have space for something that is not useful, then it is your choice to be tripping over it until you get the courage to discard it. I have some boxes of things in the basement that I have not yet had the courage to toss. I would love to rid myself of these things but cannot. I do not like them. They are not useful. My dear grandmother values things a lot more than I do and has given me some things that I feel too guilty to get rid of because I know she would not be happy if I did. She is also of the mistaken impression that they are valuable antiques. After much research I have proved that they are not valuable but I still cannot discard the items. I need to get the courage to toss them or talk to her about it. Maybe I can push them off on another relative instead (hello mom, Aunt C or Cousin C). Hmmmmmm