When talking about clutter and minimalism, most people only focus on the physical and
material side of life.
But there are many other types of clutter in our lives that we don't even realize are
there most of the time.
So rather than telling you to declutter the clothes in your closet, I’d much rather
dig a bit deeper and talk about types of clutter that are often overlooked and ignored.
Starting with mental clutter
This type of clutter is often ignored in favor of capsule wardrobes and highly aesthetic
furniture pieces with prices that aren’t very minimalist.
Now at no fault of our own, we believe that this is all it takes to live a simple life.
That if our home feels light and airy, and if it takes us less than 30 seconds to get
dressed every morning then we must be doing something right.
Now the physical side of clutter or decluttering has its place, but it’s not the be-all and
end-all to living a simple life.
See if our minds are cluttered with thoughts, emotions, worry, self-judgment, and concerns
about what others might be think about us.
Then it doesn’t matter how little you own, or whether or not you have pictures hanging
on your wall, or if every clothing item in your closet has a similar color palette.
You might appear to be living a simple life, but internally you’re as cluttered and a
hot mess as it can be.
Now the best approach to decluttering our mental space that I’ve found success with
is writing.
Add it to help you find the same success, I have a free-writing exercise with four prompts
that are guaranteed to help you get started, and begin to uncover the mental clutter that
is holding you hostage.
You can download this exercise on my website at ronaldlbanks.com/mentalclutter.
Behavioral clutter
Take a look at the things you do every single day that are both ingrained habits and a part
of your daily routine.
Maybe you come home from work or an outing and walk into the door and you don't hang
up your jacket, or you don't put your shoes away in the closet the moment you take them
off your feet.
Maybe you live out of your laundry basket, every week, after doing laundry like I used
to do, instead of folding your clothes and putting them away right away.
See these are behavioral things that we do out of habit that then turn into physical
clutter in our space.
99.9% of the time we are oblivious to these clutter-inducing behaviors we have, but if
we start paying attention, then we can reduce a whole lot of clutter in our life that’s
easily avoidable.
Now the best way to fix this is to first recognize and break up with these poor habits.
This means taking a step back and looking at your life and routines to see where you
can make the biggest adjustments.
We all have behavioral habits that add clutter to our life.
From there we can then develop and set new habits that will both aid us and remind us
to not give in to clutter-inducing behaviors.
Bargain clutter
Oh man, I wish I had old footage of all of the junk I use to buy just because it was
on sale or a good deal that I couldn’t pass up.
I’m talking about random picture frames, nicknacks that I tried to decorate with, shoes
I didn’t need, clothes I didn’t need.
I mean H&M was my spot back in the day, especially the sales rack in the back with the $5, and
$10 red stickers.
Yea that was all me.
See, taking advantage of a good deal is something we’ve all taken part in at some point, and
as a result, we’ve accumulated what I’m calling bargain clutter.
Now the best way to deal with these items actually starts with us, and that means we
have to develop some discipline and stop purchasing random things we don’t need just because
they’re on sale.
This also means we should eliminate window shopping as a pass-time habit whenever we’re
bored, because clearly, we don’t have any self-control.
Now when it comes to the random things we already own.
The best course of action here is to donate them to your local donation center or you
can try selling them using Facebook marketplace or offer up, or something similar.
Pro-tip, especially if you’re pretty crafty in your free time.
Is that you can also up-cycle many of these random things and turn them into new, one-of-a-kind
pieces that you can then turn around a sale as a custom item.
Guilty clutter
Comment below if you’ve ever used this excuse: “but I’ve spent so much money on it”
or “whoah!
do you know how much I spent on that?
I can’t just give it away.”
Well if you have, it’s likely that you’re suffering from guilty clutter because you
have a guilty conscious when it comes to the idea of getting rid of something you’ve
spent your hard-earned money on.
Common examples of this are clothes and shoes, that you haven't worn in years but you're
hesitant to let go of because again like I said, you spent a lot of money on them.
Now the best way to deal with these items again starts with us and it requires us to
realize and recognize that the money we spent is gone.
We’re not getting it back and it’s not likely that we’ll make back what we originally
spent on it if we tried to sell it.
Now, you can sell it if you want.
Just don’t have a high expectations around how much you’ll make.
Whatever you don’t sell, the next course of action would be to donate it or give it
away.
Now really quick, part two to guilty clutter is the guilt we feel in reference to gifts
we’ve received, but don’t want.
Now if this is something you feel then I’d like to remind you that gifts are given with
the intent to show love and or congratulations.
When we accept gifts we are accepting the intent in which it was given under.
After that, it's up to us what we do with that item.
If we decide to donate it, that’s our decision.
If you decide to keep it, that’s our decision.
And 9 times out of 10, the gift giver is not going to ask you about the gift the next time
we see them so I wouldn’t worry about that.
Aspirational clutter
Similar to bargain clutter, these are things you pick up and purchase regardless if they’re
on sale or not that are a reflection of your fantasy self.
Now, who is your fantasy self?
This is the side of you who aspires to be a certain way or live a certain lifestyle
but the real you is a little hesitant, to say the least.
You like the idea of something in most cases, but in practice, you haven’t shown much
promise of consistency.
So all of the gadgets and equipment you bought for said lifestyle and activity, are just
sitting there, taking us space and not being used.
So an honest question you have to ask yourself is do I ever plan on using this item?
And if so, when and how often?
Now if you don’t have a clear answer to that question, then it might be time to drop
the act and accept that it was a good idea, just not something you’re truly interested
in doing, and move on.
You can donate this item to your local donation center or sell it if it's in good condition.
Emotional clutter
Just like the mental clutter I spoke about at the beginning of this conversation, emotional
clutter is overlooked just as often.
Now when I say emotional clutter I’m talking about the emotions you’re holding on to
within yourself—maybe it's from an old relationship, an old friendship, a family situation, or
something personal you’re dealing with that has kept you trapped in an emotional jail.
Now I know it may be hard and challenging depending on your situation to know exactly
what to do.
But, the first step is facing those emotions so you can deal with them and rid them of
control over your life.
This may mean you start writing every day which is something I did to help me work through
my mental and emotional clutter.
But if you’re dealing with something deeper don’t be afraid to ask for help.
Seeing or wanting to see a professional is not something to be embarrassed of.
The moment you overcome and rid yourself of this clutter in your life, you’ll be opening
yourself up especially mentally to new and exciting things in life.
So if you take nothing else away from this conversation, please don’t ignore your mental
and emotional clutter because this is a must regardless if you’re a fan of minimalism
or not.
Sentimental clutter
Now I don’t believe you should feel obligated to get rid of all of your sentimental items
for sake of minimalism.
What you should do however is be extremely selective about what is actually sentimental
to you, so that way you can find ways to enjoy these things more.
Personally, I put all of my items in question through a four-step filter I created.
Step 1 is head, step 2 is mouth, step 3 is heart and step 4 is hand.
Now within step one there are a series of questions I like to ask.
Questions like:
Is this causing friction within my family?
Do I feel obligated to keep this?
Can I realistically use this or repurpose it in some way?
Now anything that makes it through this four-step filtering process, I consider a true sentimental
item and therefore I keep it.
Everything else goes on the chopping block as they.
Stocking up clutter
If the pandemic taught anything these last couple of years, it definitely taught us how
to stock up.
I still don’t quite understand the whole toiler paper craze.
Now outside of the recent pandemic that we are finally making our way out of, and everyday
household items that we buy and use every day.
Stocking up clutter is usually the result of a scarcity mindset.
A belief that there is never going to be enough so we stock up and hold on to everything we
can now, out of fear that it might not be available later.
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Now the best way to overcome a scarcity mindset and as result eliminate the stocking up clutter
we’ve collected is to prioritize an abundance mindset.
I share exactly how to do this in this video here: A Minimalist’s Guide To A Better Life,
that’ll link to below.
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However for some very practical next steps that you can take right now, I would suggest
that you spend some time going through every closet or cabinet that you’ve managed to
stockpile something in— Think about your hallway closet or the kitchen pantry—and
have an honest conversation with yourself.
Are these things you genuinely need and have a plan for or are they simply serving as a
comfort to a fear you have?
Financial clutter
Again, similar to mental and emotional clutter, financial clutter is often overlooked in favor
of donating clothes we don’t wear and gadgets we no longer use.
However, if you’re not facing your finances regularly, then I can guarantee that you don’t
know where all of your money is going.
Which makes it likely you have more financial clutter than you realize.
Now the best way to get ahold of your finances and begin to eliminate unnecessary spending
is by making it a priority to budget every month and track your spending.
And I know those are buzz words you’re probably tired of hearing, but they make up the core
foundation of money management that many people are not doing so I have to mention it.
Now if you’re a bit more advance when it comes to managing your money yet you still
have a bit of financial clutter then I’d start to look at trends within your spending
based on a certain time of the year as well as your overall financial plan and how things
like monthly and quarterly reviews and getting the family involved can help keep the ship
headed in the right direction.
Life changing clutter
Now this happens when a major life event happens in your life.
It could be a bad breakup or the loss of a loved one, but it doesn’t have to be bad,
it could be a marriage, or maybe you decided to start a family of your own and bringing
a child into the world.
Now, regardless of the nature of your life changing event, something major like this
can lend itself to attracting clutter.
Maybe it’s you coping with something bad that has happened in your life and you turn
towards shopping and collecting things as a way to deal with it.
Or it could be as simple as you and your partner are combining your two separate worlds into
one space because your moving in together.
Now the best way to navigate this will be to start slow and have open conversations.
At the end of the day, it’s just stuff and you don’t t want that getting between you
and your relationship
Now on the other hand, if you’re coping with something then the best approach here
is to give yourself grace and be gentle yet at the same time you have to take the first
step and that might mean asking for help if you need it.
Now if you want to continue exploring the nonmaterial side of life and clutter so you
can ultimately regain control of your life, then watch this playlist next and be prepared
to put in the work.
Otherwise, if you’re new to minimalism this is the best place to start.
Keep growing, keep learning, and always stay true to you.
I’ll see you in the next one.
Peace!