Sometimes decluttering is about stopping completely and doing nothing. How could doing nothing achieve anything? Will my space suddenly clear itself of anything that has had its day? Of course not. The fact of the matter is this: if you get too embroiled in trying to let go of things your mind is going to start playing tricks on you.

It’s a question of no longer seeing the wood for the trees. When you spend a lot of time trying to achieve one particular thing, your vision may become blurred, for a number of different reasons.

In a previous post we looked at electronic storage and the usefulness of removing apps and programs you do not use any more. This time, let’s take a close look at the actual machinery that you use.

We all have some gadgets in our homes that seemed unmissable when we bought them and proudly brought them in. We were excited to use them for the first time and then found that they weren’t quite as useful as they seemed at first…

Most of us will likely have a computer or a smart phone that is in constant use. You’ll also find yourself downloading and installing apps on your phone all the time, or updating programs or operating systems on your computer on occasion.

All this seems innocuous but not only leaves traces on your data trail, but also may clog up your storage space and make thing run slower than necessary.

Decluttering can be a challenging prospect to go into and – like so many resolutions – often ends as soon as you start. This can have a multitude of reasons: you may run out of time, you forget, you don’t feel it’s all that important, you are overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work it requires… take your pick.

But maybe there are other ways to do this that are more suitable for your particular needs and style?

Feeling lonely means feeling that there aren’t a lot of people who are ‘there for you’. Quite apart from the notion that this may just be a thought in someone’s head and they may find that reaching out will conjure up people who care about them, it makes it more likely that they retreat into a world where the things they own end up being imbued with emotional attachment that otherwise would be reserved for the people in their life.

This is the last of a three-part series on the subject of “clutter and loneliness”. I recommend watching Matt D’Avella’s video on the subject, if you can: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3aIQuMWJCA&vl=en

Besides the way we deal with clutter at home, loneliness  also has an effect on how we accumulate clutter. Of course, it does not make you go out and buy more stuff, but it certainly has an effect on the frequency and urgency with which we likely to add more items to what constitutes our ‘home collection’. Let’s look at some basic ideas about this…

This is the second of a three-part series on the subject of “clutter and loneliness”. I recommend watching Matt D’Avella’s video on the subject, if you can: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3aIQuMWJCA&vl=en

While it remains to be seen if loneliness can really be called an ‘epidemic’ (personally, I feel that an epidemic would involve some kind of infectious agent like a virus, and I cannot really link that notion with loneliness), it is certainly very clear that a growing number of people suffer from some level of loneliness in their lives.

This is the first of a three-part series on the subject of “clutter and loneliness”. I recommend watching Matt D’Avella’s video on the subject, if you can: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3aIQuMWJCA&vl=en

Memorabilia can take up a large chunk of what you keep in your home, and most of us have at least a certain number of things in our homes that could qualify as memorabilia. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with this, unless they have taken over your home! I have found that many people have a special category of memorabilia close to their hearts: those are commonly known as ‘keepsakes’.

How are they any different from standard memorabilia? Let’s look at the definition: keepsake = “anything kept, or given to be kept, as a token of friendship or affection”. Memorabilia cover everything that reminds us of something, while keepsakes are given to us with an intention. It’s a direct exchange between two people rather than a something that sparks your interest and ends up sticking around for a long time.

Decluttering can be hard work. Sometimes the process is working fine and you manage to separate the important items from the ones you feel happy enough to let go, and that is great. But then again, there are situations when the going gets tough and you need a little more time and consideration to make decisions.

Either way, you will end up with a number of items that you have decided to let go. Now what?

Statement: “Decluttering is all about reducing the amount of stuff we have in our space.” This sounds true at first sight, but if you think about it, this is not all there is to it: a lot of clutter accumulates because we follow our specific way of life and daily routine, we cope with trauma in particular ways, or we spend our days in a routine that leads us to bring in more things on a regular basis.

In a way, we allow ourselves to turn a blind eye to what makes us acquire more. When you think of clutter, you only consider how to get rid of it, but not so much about how it keeps sneaking in all the time.