Clutter Lesson #1

Clutter, it's everywhere, from junk mail to children's toys, to clothing and just stuff.Why do we need all this stuff? Well, you don't and this is the first lesson on how to get  rid of stuff, known as clutter that makes you crazy. For the past year I have been cleaning out stuff that has been collected for years in my house. Papers, clothing,appliances,photos,magazines,books, furniture, kids toys, etc. etc.
The first step in getting rid of clutter is to decide what you are going to do with it.You need to set up three stations: keep,discard, give away. Recently, I went threw all my books and decided to give them away.Afterall, they were just sitting in boxes and I knew I did not want to bring them back into the house from the garage so I went to the Eastern Bank in Hingham Center where there is a book depot and got rid of five boxes of books. Easy right? Well,I thought twice about getting rid of some books and then I said to myself, you already read it, someone else can enjoy it and you will be free of it. It felt great to be rid of them.
But while doing this I had doubts. What if someone wanted one of the books, maybe someday I will have shelves in my living room to store the books. It was my doubt that prevented me from letting go of the books and it is our doubt that makes us keep clutter. The what if's and the somedays prevent us from letting go and it is the letting go you have to contend with in your mind. So today, pick a drawer, a closet, a boxfull of junk and take it one step at a time.Look at it. Do you REALLY need it? Can someone else benefit from using it?
Ask yourself these questions and then toss.Go head, toss it! It will feel good.

Junk from my junk drawer.