Freeing Yourself From Your Junk

Junk. Clutter. Trash. It is a fact of our modern lives. We are constantly collecting stuff. We are constantly buying new things like clothes, or kitchen appliances or items for the garage or yard. We receive gifts, a lot of gifts, for birthdays, weddings, holidays and more. We inherit stuff such as hand-me-downs from family and friends or when a loved one dies. We get freebies from events shows we attend. The list goes on and on.

That stuff must all go somewhere and with such a constant stream of new stuff coming into our homes, we soon run out of places to put it. We start stuffing it in corners and in cabinets. On top of furniture or the back of a closet. We move the car into the driveway and put it in the garage. We pile it in a corner of the yard. It starts to take up space on a shelf or two and then three. It might start to occupy part of the kitchen counter and maybe even a corner of the kitchen table.

It just grows and grows.

This should not really be surprising. For every item that comes into the house, if another item does not leave it, we have just increased the amount of stuff we have to find space for.

It is not in our nature to get rid of things. We want to hold on to them in case we need them in the future. It is a sort of protection mechanism against a time of scarcity. Such concerns are valid, but so much of what we hold onto will probably be of little use in a true time of need.

Additionally, most de-cluttering books and websites indicate that living in an over-filled, cluttered space has a negative impact on our mental health. All this extra stuff literally weighs on our minds. It brings us down. It overwhelms us. It depresses us.

For many of us, the way to solve both problems (in other words, getting junk out of the house but still holding on to it) is to get a storage unit. It is a huge, booming business. Several statistical sites estimate the annual spending on storage units to be around $40 billion dollars in the United States, used by roughly 10% of households at nearly $90 per month.

Isn’t that amazing? We are spending $40 billion dollars to hold on to stuff that we aren’t even keeping in the house. Our clutter… our stuff, has overflowed into additional rented space!

How can we fight this battle? How can we turn the tide on all of this . . . junk . . . cluttering up our lives, our homes, and our minds?

At its most basic level it is simple… get rid of stuff.

However, as with most things in life it is not always that simple.

Besides the natural desire to hold on to stuff in case we need it later, there is often an emotional attachment to things.

“My daughter used to wear that box of clothes.” (They are stained and 10 years old.)

“My son used to sleep on that bed.” (He was little and it doesn’t fit anyone in the house now.)

“That was a gift from my mom.” (I never liked it and only kept it to not offend her.)

“I’m going to use that on a project one day.” (It’s been 20 years but maybe next year?)

“If I just replace that one part, I can use that again.” (I already bought a new item in the mean time.)

It can be hard to let go of things. Thus the clutter just grows and grows.

There are strategies that can help. There are books, websites, videos and even personal coaches that can help you find ways to make decisions and plan how to eliminate clutter.

Some common suggestions for ways to combat the clutter are:

1. For everything you bring home, get rid of something.

There are always exceptions, but in general if you get a new pair of pants, get rid of a pair of pants. If you get a new coat, get rid of the old coat. If you can make a general habit of getting rid of things when new things come in, then you can prevent the amount of stuff you have from growing any larger.

2. Choose a room, a closet or even just a counter or drawer and de-junk that space.

You don’t have to improve every area all at once. Starting with something small and simple can make the task easier and less emotionally draining. If you were do to this even once or twice a month, after a few months you would have already made real headway on de-cluttering your home.

3. Keep living areas clear.

Don’t store things on a kitchen counter or on top of a bookcase unless they truly belong there. (Like a kitchen appliance or canister for sugar or flour, perhaps.) Keep these areas clear and be vigilant about it. Make sure everything in those rooms has a home.

Sometimes my family would play a game where we would put things out of place in a room and then see who could figure out what was misplaced and where it goes. This kind of activity is a fun problem-solving game that also teaches everyone where things belong and where they don’t. It gets you into the habit of subconsciously looking for things that don’t belong in living spaces. It will make it easier to keep that area clear and prevent stuff from accumulating.

These are just a few ideas to help you start ridding your home from clutter and excess stuff. (And hopefully keeping it that way.)

It can be a battle, but cleaning up the spaces you live in and eliminating excess stuff can be freeing. It can create a more calm living space and be less taxing on your mind and your sense of well-being.

(I think my New Year’s resolution for 2024 might be to learn how to truly de-clutter my house and then actually do it. I am not big on resolutions and prefer to make changes when ever needed through the year, but sometimes New Year's is actually a good excuse and time to make a big change.)

If you are like most of us living with too much stuff, I hope you found this helpful. And if you find you need to get rid of a bunch of excess stuff, Freedom Junk Removal would love to help you haul it away and free you from your junk.