May 17, 2024 • 24 mins
It's quite possible that there are clutter enablers in your life that you haven't yet recognized. Things that are inviting the clutter in and things that are making it hard to let go of the clutter.
After listening, focus on 2 or 3 of these clutter enablers and then through mindset shifts and action steps, find ways to eliminate those enablers from showing up in your life.
If you’re ready to embrace your space, hit subscribe so you don't miss an episode.
Want to stay in touch , dive deeper, and take action towards living with less clutter and more you?
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:03):
Welcome to Less Clutter, MoreYou, a podcast that travels with
you through the journey ofletting go and creating order so
you can start making more roomfor what matters most.
Together, we'll go beyond thebasket to start unlocking your
next level of embracing yourphysical and mental space
through mindset shifts andaction steps.
I'm your host, Maggie Brittain,professional organizer, clutter
(00:25):
coach, wife, and mom of four.
And I am so glad you are here.
Clutter Enabling 1/2 (00:35):
Before I dive in I have a list of eight
clutter enablers that areshowing up in your life.
I first want to say threethings.
One, there is a new feature.
So at the bottom of this episodeor any episode going forward, it
will show you the option to Textme, but please know that it's
(00:59):
only a one way text.
So if you want to have aconversation, follow me on
Instagram at Chesterfieldorganizing co.
or send me an email at helloChesterfield organizing co.
com.
But for the text message, ifyou're right in the app
listening to this podcast andyou want to share your takeaways
(01:19):
from an episode, or you want meto cover something specifically
in an episode going forward,this is a perfect place.
You can also just let me knowwhere you're listening from.
Cause I love to know who'slistening, who's out there,
Where are you?
When do you listen?
Tell me when you listen, also,while you're in there, down in
(01:39):
the notes and down on thispodcast page, go ahead and leave
a review because this helps.
other people find the messagethat a lifestyle of less clutter
allows you to show up with moreof you.
And lastly, next Monday, thiswould be Monday, May 20th, 2024,
(02:06):
is our next live session insidethe community.
And during these live sessions,it's Q and A, and active
decluttering.
However, you need that time withme on the other side, that's our
next session is May 20th, andthat's still at the introductory
rate.
So hop in before that rate goesup.
(02:30):
Now to today's episode ofclutter enablers.
So what I find is that a lot oftimes.
People are going throughouttheir day, and they are not
being mindful of all the hiddenmessages that are supporting
(02:53):
clutter or enabling the clutteror enabling the thoughts or the
actions that are contributing towhether clutter is sticking
around or whether clutter iscoming through the door or your
mind and your thoughts.
(03:14):
or on your calendar and yourschedule, right?
So I have listed eight.
Number one is your thoughts.
What are you saying to yourselfto enable more clutter to come
in or to prevent the process ofletting go of clutter?
(03:38):
When you say.
Oh, I need to go and fill thisvoid and I'm going to go
shopping.
And you're probably not sayingI'm going to go fill this void.
It might sound more like, oh mygosh, I'm feeling so down and a
new shirt could really just bethat thing that I need.
(03:59):
Or this item.
is going to really boost my moodjust by going out and finding it
or going online and finding it.
And as you're going through thatthought process are you not
pushing back when you start tofind yourself going down that
(04:24):
road or are you taking a secondand recognizing that you can
totally shift the direction.
of whether you're going to fillthat void by shopping and
bringing more clutter into thehouse or finding something else
to do.
(04:46):
Or are you working throughdecluttering and you find
yourself up against somethingthat feels uncomfortable to let
go of and your thought processis saying, Oh no, come on, Meg,
you can keep that.
What's another one of those?
Or, oh, you don't need to getrid of that quite yet.
(05:09):
And sometimes that's true,right?
Sometimes we're not ready, butif your brain is trying to trick
you, you might have to startbeing more mindful of those
thoughts that you're tellingyourself.
So that's number one.
Are your thoughts, what are yousaying to yourself that may be
(05:33):
enabling the actions of bringingclutter in or preventing the
action of letting go of clutter?
Then the second thing isdigitally.
There are so many digitalenablers of clutter in our lives
all the time.
And you have to be so mindful tofind ways to just completely
(05:57):
eliminate them if you're unableto control the thoughts.
So, recently I saw a post and itwas one of those, you only live
once posts.
And so it said, go out and buythe thing, go out and get this,
go ahead and treat yourself tothat.
But that narrative is enablingthe clutter to build up.
(06:23):
Because when they're telling youthat you only live once, go
ahead out and buy that thing, goahead and treat yourself.
Are they also going to be there?
When you're home managing thatitem, are they going to be there
when it's time for you to find aplace?
(06:44):
in your home for that item.
So pay attention to thenarrative.
That's telling you that screwit.
Go out and buy the thing.
There is a time and a place forthis.
Okay, but if you're not checkingyourself and you're not going
back to those thoughts andyou're drawn in and you're
(07:04):
saying some stranger on theinternet told me I should go out
and buy it, then that isdefinitely enabling the clutter
that's building up in your life.
A second thing digitally areFacebook shopping groups.
So these groups, you may be apart of them, you may have been
(07:25):
invited into them, but theentire concept of the group is
buying things, finding things onsale, getting a good deal on
something.
But chances are you never eventhought about buying that item
before seeing the link or beforesomeone else using it.
(07:49):
So if you are part of thesegroups and you're finding
yourself going down the rabbithole of what someone else is
suggesting that you're buying,then that might be an enabler to
the clutter that's building up.
And the only way around that, ifyour thoughts are not yet built
(08:10):
strong enough to know when youactually need something or when
some stranger is suggesting youneed something, then you need to
remove yourself from thosegroups.
Because if you can't handle thetemptation, then you need to
remove the temptation.
And this is a third thing,digitally, are the emails with
(08:34):
discounts to new products fromall of your favorite brands.
But the chance is, again, youmay have not even knew that you
needed this item, but now youfeel like you're getting a good
deal.
So it feels like it's there.
A reasonable thing to do is takeadvantage of this, the sale,
(08:55):
this discount.
So what can you do instead?
Unsubscribe to those emails thatare constantly coming at you
with the message that more,more, more, more, So that's two,
that's digitally, the digitalenablers.
Number three, and um, thissurprises a lot of people, but
(09:22):
this is something that I havefound working through has made a
huge deal in enabling theclutter that sticks around.
is furniture.
What type of furniture is inyour house that is enabling more
clutter?
(09:43):
do you have extra dressersthat's creating more space for
you to put things?
Do you have end tables in yourfamily room that have drawers so
that you can add things to them?
(10:13):
What in your house is supportingand enabling you from holding on
to more things?
Clutter Enabling 2/2 (10:21):
Just recently, I repurposed what was
being used as our homeworkcenter, craft area, project
table into our dining room,repurposing our dining room into
a sitting room.
And through that process, I hadto reconsider the furniture
pieces that were in thosespaces.
(10:43):
And in what was, what had servedas our homework center, was a
old armoire that I had boardgames and school supplies and
things that we weren't using somuch that now my kid's homework
(11:04):
is basically all through acomputer.
So by letting go of this armoirethat really wasn't serving a
purpose, I was able to reclaimjust open space.
But if I decided, oh, I hadalways had that, I should keep
it around.
I can, you know what?
I can use it to put more thingsin.
(11:26):
in it, that would have justenabled me to hold on to more
clutter, things that I didn'tactually need, an entire
furniture piece that I didn'tneed.
And I'm seeing this shift ingeneral because previously the
style was this big bulkyfurniture that just kept holding
(11:48):
on to things, those extra setsof china.
I know you know the ones becauseif you didn't have them, someone
you know has a big armoire withmultiple sets of china.
But if you start to shift andrecognize that you're only using
so much, why have an entirepiece of furniture?
(12:10):
to hold things that you aren'tusing, then you might start to
see things in a different light.
So go around your house and, andthink, is that furniture holding
things?
First of all, do you even knowwhat's in the furniture?
Do you know what's inside thosedrawers?
And could I eliminate that andjust open up that space to allow
(12:33):
more positive energy to flowthrough?
Because that's what's going tohappen.
And you might feel at first whenyou remove this furniture that's
just holding on to things thatthere is a sense of emptiness.
But when you start to embraceand shift the thought of
emptiness into openness.
(12:56):
and less things to clean andmanage, then this could be one
major enabler that you can letgo of.
So that's three, is furniture.
Four, not asking for help.
We're not having theconversation about clutter.
(13:17):
If you aren't asking for help,you're just enabling yourself to
be the one that manages all theclutter on your own, which in
exchange adds more mentalclutter.
And we want to avoid that, whichyou can do by talking about it.
But if you're not talking abouthow the clutter is affecting you
(13:39):
or how you need help to preventthe clutter from building up.
Then you're just going to end upin that cycle.
Or maybe you're in adecluttering season of life.
Are you letting other peoplearound you know?
Or are you just keeping thatsilent, which means you're going
(14:02):
to be more tempted by otherpeople around you.
And that goes right into numberfive is friends and family.
Because if they don't know thatyou are being intentional and
you're being mindful and you aretrying to let go the clutter and
create more simplicity withinyour life, then they're going to
be tempted to keep those samestanding traditions or social
(14:27):
activities going.
Maybe you have a familytradition that looks like every
holiday you get a new pair ofpajamas, whether you need them
or not.
or a pair of socks or this orthat, or everybody has matching
something.
These family traditions, if youdon't have the space for this,
(14:48):
if this is becoming clutter inyour life, then it's just
enabling it, getting it throughthe door.
So then now it's your job to letit go.
Or are you getting together as asocial activity and going out to
shop or going to a yard salethese activities enabling the
(15:11):
clutter?
When you are working so hard tolet it go.
So again, if you're not havingthat conversation that I talked
about, it's possible that all ofthese extra activities outside
of your own are enabling, arebuilding up, are contributing to
the clutter coming in to yourhouse, into your personal space.
(15:34):
Or Maybe the family and friendshave a narrative that they don't
want you to be wasteful.
So when you are left and it'syour decision to be deciding
what is staying and what isgoing, if you can hear them
saying things like, Oh, well,when I grew up, I had to keep
(15:56):
all of these things.
We never had nice things likethat.
That's a good dress.
Why would you let go of that?
Or that's wasteful.
I don't think you should beletting go of that.
So think about those narrativescoming in from family and
friends, the traditions, thesocial activities that are
(16:16):
surrounded all around physicalitems.
And then number six is what Icall fake space.
And fake space.
It falls along the lines of tipsand tricks to organize more.
(16:40):
But if you've listened to pastepisodes, you know that you
cannot organize clutter.
So if you are trying to trickyour space into allowing more
things to get into it, you'reenabling the clutter to be
there.
And maybe you have a smallspace, right?
(17:00):
For all of these are exceptionsto the rule.
But if these are happening overand over again, and you find
yourself that this is whatyou're leaning towards, it might
be enabling the clutter.
I recently saw there is a drawerorganizer that you can put into
your bathroom drawer.
And if you lift it up like atackle box, you can get multiple
(17:23):
items in multiple layers.
Okay.
Maybe this has a place in asmall bathroom with multiple
people using it, or maybe you'regoing to put it there and
completely forget that you havesomething on the first layer of
that organizer.
And then it becomes clutterbecause you're not using it or
(17:47):
you're not focusing on theboundaries of that drawer and
your limitations and stickingwithin those boundaries.
And so you're finding all thetips and tricks that you can get
more in, more in, more in.
And fake space can show up inmultiple different areas.
Maybe it is an airtight bag sothat you can store more under
(18:11):
your bed, even though you have acloset and you have drawers.
But now this tip and trickaround this fake space isn't
allowing you to keep more thingsin it.
Maybe it's an over the doordrawer.
that you are now using to storeitems because you have busted
(18:32):
out of the closet.
And I have talked about this inprevious episodes as well.
So pay attention to those fakespaces and those tips and tricks
that are pushing past theboundaries.
And then the next one isrepurposing.
So if you have the mentalmindset that Anything you own,
(18:59):
if you're not using it, findinga new purpose for it is the only
way that you can prove that youare not a wasteful person, then
this is going to enable clutterfrom building up and from never
leaving your house.
Recently, I saw someone whoasked the question, they had a
(19:19):
encyclopedia, where can theydonate it?
What should happen with it?
And someone responded that ifthey hollowed out the
encyclopedia, this would be agreat place to store things.
And I'm here to tell you thatthat mentality is going to cost
you.
It's going to cost you yourspace, your energy.
(19:41):
Your time and eventually yourmoney to remove all the things
that you are trying to repurposeinto something else.
But another thing was, you know,toilet paper rolls, a good box.
How else can I use this?
If that's where your thought,your train of thought is going,
when you're trying to let go ofsomething, I want you to pause
(20:02):
right there and recognize thatby trying to repurpose something
that no longer is serving you.
That will enable the clutter tostick around and to build up,
and it's only going to make itharder for you.
So do yourself a favor, and whenyou are done using something for
(20:24):
the original purpose that it wasthere for, Give your permission,
your self permission to let itgo and not to feel the need to
repurpose all things.
Again, an exception to a rule,but if that is your default is
repurposing, then it is time tolet that go.
(20:48):
Go.
And then lastly, fear, the fearof needing something.
And that goes back to themindset and the thoughts that
you're telling yourself that itcould be as extreme as what
happened if the grid goes downand I need to survive.
(21:09):
Or it might be something thatlooks like you.
Being afraid of letting otherpeople down.
People pleasing.
Because you're afraid of nothaving something for somebody
else when they need it.
This person might get hurt whilethey're here.
I should have all the options.
(21:32):
This person might need thiscolor construction paper.
So I'm going to have that readyto go just in case in five years
that person needs it.
So the fear around what ifs andsome days is enabling the
clutter to A, come in throughthe door and B, never to go back
(21:53):
out the door.
So to run through my, runthrough those eight clutter
enablers again is one, yourthoughts, two, what's showing up
in your digital space.
Three, the furniture that isjust extra space to store extra
(22:16):
things.
Four, not asking for help or nothaving the conversation around
your goals of clearing theclutter or how the clutter
affects you.
Number five, the narrative, themessages, the conversations that
you're having with friends andfamilies, the activities, the
(22:36):
traditions that are surroundingthat.
Number six, the fake space, thetips and the tricks on how to
get more in and how to find morespace.
Number seven, repurposing,finding new ways to use things
that no longer are serving you.
(22:58):
And number eight, the fear, thefear of not having something
just because someday you mightneed it.
So try to focus on.
Two or three of these and seehow you can start to pay
attention, how those are showingup in your life and enabling not
(23:21):
only the clutter coming throughthe door, but also in enabling
the clutter from sticking aroundin your own space.
And then now that you know thatyou can leave me a text message
or send me an Instagram DM, letme know what you're working on
and just keep going because anysmall change does grow and it
(23:43):
will make a difference.
It does matter to stop and getintentional and be mindful of
what's entering your thoughtsand how you're processing the
things in your life.
Until next time, go out and findthose clutter enablers.
Welcome to Less Clutter, MoreYou, a podcast that travels with
you through the journey ofletting go and creating order so
you can start making more roomfor what matters most.
Together, we'll go beyond thebasket to start unlocking your
next level of embracing yourphysical and mental space
through mindset shifts andaction steps.
I'm your host, Maggie Brittain,professional organizer, clutter
(00:25):
coach, wife, and mom of four.
And I am so glad you are here.
Clutter Enabling 1/2 (00:35):
Before I dive in I have a list of eight
clutter enablers that areshowing up in your life.
I first want to say threethings.
One, there is a new feature.
So at the bottom of this episodeor any episode going forward, it
will show you the option to Textme, but please know that it's
(00:59):
only a one way text.
So if you want to have aconversation, follow me on
Instagram at Chesterfieldorganizing co.
or send me an email at helloChesterfield organizing co.
com.
But for the text message, ifyou're right in the app
listening to this podcast andyou want to share your takeaways
(01:19):
from an episode, or you want meto cover something specifically
in an episode going forward,this is a perfect place.
You can also just let me knowwhere you're listening from.
Cause I love to know who'slistening, who's out there,
Where are you?
When do you listen?
Tell me when you listen, also,while you're in there, down in
(01:39):
the notes and down on thispodcast page, go ahead and leave
a review because this helps.
other people find the messagethat a lifestyle of less clutter
allows you to show up with moreof you.
And lastly, next Monday, thiswould be Monday, May 20th, 2024,
(02:06):
is our next live session insidethe community.
And during these live sessions,it's Q and A, and active
decluttering.
However, you need that time withme on the other side, that's our
next session is May 20th, andthat's still at the introductory
rate.
So hop in before that rate goesup.
(02:30):
Now to today's episode ofclutter enablers.
So what I find is that a lot oftimes.
People are going throughouttheir day, and they are not
being mindful of all the hiddenmessages that are supporting
(02:53):
clutter or enabling the clutteror enabling the thoughts or the
actions that are contributing towhether clutter is sticking
around or whether clutter iscoming through the door or your
mind and your thoughts.
(03:14):
or on your calendar and yourschedule, right?
So I have listed eight.
Number one is your thoughts.
What are you saying to yourselfto enable more clutter to come
in or to prevent the process ofletting go of clutter?
(03:38):
When you say.
Oh, I need to go and fill thisvoid and I'm going to go
shopping.
And you're probably not sayingI'm going to go fill this void.
It might sound more like, oh mygosh, I'm feeling so down and a
new shirt could really just bethat thing that I need.
(03:59):
Or this item.
is going to really boost my moodjust by going out and finding it
or going online and finding it.
And as you're going through thatthought process are you not
pushing back when you start tofind yourself going down that
(04:24):
road or are you taking a secondand recognizing that you can
totally shift the direction.
of whether you're going to fillthat void by shopping and
bringing more clutter into thehouse or finding something else
to do.
(04:46):
Or are you working throughdecluttering and you find
yourself up against somethingthat feels uncomfortable to let
go of and your thought processis saying, Oh no, come on, Meg,
you can keep that.
What's another one of those?
Or, oh, you don't need to getrid of that quite yet.
(05:09):
And sometimes that's true,right?
Sometimes we're not ready, butif your brain is trying to trick
you, you might have to startbeing more mindful of those
thoughts that you're tellingyourself.
So that's number one.
Are your thoughts, what are yousaying to yourself that may be
(05:33):
enabling the actions of bringingclutter in or preventing the
action of letting go of clutter?
Then the second thing isdigitally.
There are so many digitalenablers of clutter in our lives
all the time.
And you have to be so mindful tofind ways to just completely
(05:57):
eliminate them if you're unableto control the thoughts.
So, recently I saw a post and itwas one of those, you only live
once posts.
And so it said, go out and buythe thing, go out and get this,
go ahead and treat yourself tothat.
But that narrative is enablingthe clutter to build up.
(06:23):
Because when they're telling youthat you only live once, go
ahead out and buy that thing, goahead and treat yourself.
Are they also going to be there?
When you're home managing thatitem, are they going to be there
when it's time for you to find aplace?
(06:44):
in your home for that item.
So pay attention to thenarrative.
That's telling you that screwit.
Go out and buy the thing.
There is a time and a place forthis.
Okay, but if you're not checkingyourself and you're not going
back to those thoughts andyou're drawn in and you're
(07:04):
saying some stranger on theinternet told me I should go out
and buy it, then that isdefinitely enabling the clutter
that's building up in your life.
A second thing digitally areFacebook shopping groups.
So these groups, you may be apart of them, you may have been
(07:25):
invited into them, but theentire concept of the group is
buying things, finding things onsale, getting a good deal on
something.
But chances are you never eventhought about buying that item
before seeing the link or beforesomeone else using it.
(07:49):
So if you are part of thesegroups and you're finding
yourself going down the rabbithole of what someone else is
suggesting that you're buying,then that might be an enabler to
the clutter that's building up.
And the only way around that, ifyour thoughts are not yet built
(08:10):
strong enough to know when youactually need something or when
some stranger is suggesting youneed something, then you need to
remove yourself from thosegroups.
Because if you can't handle thetemptation, then you need to
remove the temptation.
And this is a third thing,digitally, are the emails with
(08:34):
discounts to new products fromall of your favorite brands.
But the chance is, again, youmay have not even knew that you
needed this item, but now youfeel like you're getting a good
deal.
So it feels like it's there.
A reasonable thing to do is takeadvantage of this, the sale,
(08:55):
this discount.
So what can you do instead?
Unsubscribe to those emails thatare constantly coming at you
with the message that more,more, more, more, So that's two,
that's digitally, the digitalenablers.
Number three, and um, thissurprises a lot of people, but
(09:22):
this is something that I havefound working through has made a
huge deal in enabling theclutter that sticks around.
is furniture.
What type of furniture is inyour house that is enabling more
clutter?
(09:43):
do you have extra dressersthat's creating more space for
you to put things?
Do you have end tables in yourfamily room that have drawers so
that you can add things to them?
(10:13):
What in your house is supportingand enabling you from holding on
to more things?
Clutter Enabling 2/2 (10:21):
Just recently, I repurposed what was
being used as our homeworkcenter, craft area, project
table into our dining room,repurposing our dining room into
a sitting room.
And through that process, I hadto reconsider the furniture
pieces that were in thosespaces.
(10:43):
And in what was, what had servedas our homework center, was a
old armoire that I had boardgames and school supplies and
things that we weren't using somuch that now my kid's homework
(11:04):
is basically all through acomputer.
So by letting go of this armoirethat really wasn't serving a
purpose, I was able to reclaimjust open space.
But if I decided, oh, I hadalways had that, I should keep
it around.
I can, you know what?
I can use it to put more thingsin.
(11:26):
in it, that would have justenabled me to hold on to more
clutter, things that I didn'tactually need, an entire
furniture piece that I didn'tneed.
And I'm seeing this shift ingeneral because previously the
style was this big bulkyfurniture that just kept holding
(11:48):
on to things, those extra setsof china.
I know you know the ones becauseif you didn't have them, someone
you know has a big armoire withmultiple sets of china.
But if you start to shift andrecognize that you're only using
so much, why have an entirepiece of furniture?
(12:10):
to hold things that you aren'tusing, then you might start to
see things in a different light.
So go around your house and, andthink, is that furniture holding
things?
First of all, do you even knowwhat's in the furniture?
Do you know what's inside thosedrawers?
And could I eliminate that andjust open up that space to allow
(12:33):
more positive energy to flowthrough?
Because that's what's going tohappen.
And you might feel at first whenyou remove this furniture that's
just holding on to things thatthere is a sense of emptiness.
But when you start to embraceand shift the thought of
emptiness into openness.
(12:56):
and less things to clean andmanage, then this could be one
major enabler that you can letgo of.
So that's three, is furniture.
Four, not asking for help.
We're not having theconversation about clutter.
(13:17):
If you aren't asking for help,you're just enabling yourself to
be the one that manages all theclutter on your own, which in
exchange adds more mentalclutter.
And we want to avoid that, whichyou can do by talking about it.
But if you're not talking abouthow the clutter is affecting you
(13:39):
or how you need help to preventthe clutter from building up.
Then you're just going to end upin that cycle.
Or maybe you're in adecluttering season of life.
Are you letting other peoplearound you know?
Or are you just keeping thatsilent, which means you're going
(14:02):
to be more tempted by otherpeople around you.
And that goes right into numberfive is friends and family.
Because if they don't know thatyou are being intentional and
you're being mindful and you aretrying to let go the clutter and
create more simplicity withinyour life, then they're going to
be tempted to keep those samestanding traditions or social
(14:27):
activities going.
Maybe you have a familytradition that looks like every
holiday you get a new pair ofpajamas, whether you need them
or not.
or a pair of socks or this orthat, or everybody has matching
something.
These family traditions, if youdon't have the space for this,
(14:48):
if this is becoming clutter inyour life, then it's just
enabling it, getting it throughthe door.
So then now it's your job to letit go.
Or are you getting together as asocial activity and going out to
shop or going to a yard salethese activities enabling the
(15:11):
clutter?
When you are working so hard tolet it go.
So again, if you're not havingthat conversation that I talked
about, it's possible that all ofthese extra activities outside
of your own are enabling, arebuilding up, are contributing to
the clutter coming in to yourhouse, into your personal space.
(15:34):
Or Maybe the family and friendshave a narrative that they don't
want you to be wasteful.
So when you are left and it'syour decision to be deciding
what is staying and what isgoing, if you can hear them
saying things like, Oh, well,when I grew up, I had to keep
(15:56):
all of these things.
We never had nice things likethat.
That's a good dress.
Why would you let go of that?
Or that's wasteful.
I don't think you should beletting go of that.
So think about those narrativescoming in from family and
friends, the traditions, thesocial activities that are
(16:16):
surrounded all around physicalitems.
And then number six is what Icall fake space.
And fake space.
It falls along the lines of tipsand tricks to organize more.
(16:40):
But if you've listened to pastepisodes, you know that you
cannot organize clutter.
So if you are trying to trickyour space into allowing more
things to get into it, you'reenabling the clutter to be
there.
And maybe you have a smallspace, right?
(17:00):
For all of these are exceptionsto the rule.
But if these are happening overand over again, and you find
yourself that this is whatyou're leaning towards, it might
be enabling the clutter.
I recently saw there is a drawerorganizer that you can put into
your bathroom drawer.
And if you lift it up like atackle box, you can get multiple
(17:23):
items in multiple layers.
Okay.
Maybe this has a place in asmall bathroom with multiple
people using it, or maybe you'regoing to put it there and
completely forget that you havesomething on the first layer of
that organizer.
And then it becomes clutterbecause you're not using it or
(17:47):
you're not focusing on theboundaries of that drawer and
your limitations and stickingwithin those boundaries.
And so you're finding all thetips and tricks that you can get
more in, more in, more in.
And fake space can show up inmultiple different areas.
Maybe it is an airtight bag sothat you can store more under
(18:11):
your bed, even though you have acloset and you have drawers.
But now this tip and trickaround this fake space isn't
allowing you to keep more thingsin it.
Maybe it's an over the doordrawer.
that you are now using to storeitems because you have busted
(18:32):
out of the closet.
And I have talked about this inprevious episodes as well.
So pay attention to those fakespaces and those tips and tricks
that are pushing past theboundaries.
And then the next one isrepurposing.
So if you have the mentalmindset that Anything you own,
(18:59):
if you're not using it, findinga new purpose for it is the only
way that you can prove that youare not a wasteful person, then
this is going to enable clutterfrom building up and from never
leaving your house.
Recently, I saw someone whoasked the question, they had a
(19:19):
encyclopedia, where can theydonate it?
What should happen with it?
And someone responded that ifthey hollowed out the
encyclopedia, this would be agreat place to store things.
And I'm here to tell you thatthat mentality is going to cost
you.
It's going to cost you yourspace, your energy.
(19:41):
Your time and eventually yourmoney to remove all the things
that you are trying to repurposeinto something else.
But another thing was, you know,toilet paper rolls, a good box.
How else can I use this?
If that's where your thought,your train of thought is going,
when you're trying to let go ofsomething, I want you to pause
(20:02):
right there and recognize thatby trying to repurpose something
that no longer is serving you.
That will enable the clutter tostick around and to build up,
and it's only going to make itharder for you.
So do yourself a favor, and whenyou are done using something for
(20:24):
the original purpose that it wasthere for, Give your permission,
your self permission to let itgo and not to feel the need to
repurpose all things.
Again, an exception to a rule,but if that is your default is
repurposing, then it is time tolet that go.
(20:48):
Go.
And then lastly, fear, the fearof needing something.
And that goes back to themindset and the thoughts that
you're telling yourself that itcould be as extreme as what
happened if the grid goes downand I need to survive.
(21:09):
Or it might be something thatlooks like you.
Being afraid of letting otherpeople down.
People pleasing.
Because you're afraid of nothaving something for somebody
else when they need it.
This person might get hurt whilethey're here.
I should have all the options.
(21:32):
This person might need thiscolor construction paper.
So I'm going to have that readyto go just in case in five years
that person needs it.
So the fear around what ifs andsome days is enabling the
clutter to A, come in throughthe door and B, never to go back
(21:53):
out the door.
So to run through my, runthrough those eight clutter
enablers again is one, yourthoughts, two, what's showing up
in your digital space.
Three, the furniture that isjust extra space to store extra
(22:16):
things.
Four, not asking for help or nothaving the conversation around
your goals of clearing theclutter or how the clutter
affects you.
Number five, the narrative, themessages, the conversations that
you're having with friends andfamilies, the activities, the
(22:36):
traditions that are surroundingthat.
Number six, the fake space, thetips and the tricks on how to
get more in and how to find morespace.
Number seven, repurposing,finding new ways to use things
that no longer are serving you.
(22:58):
And number eight, the fear, thefear of not having something
just because someday you mightneed it.
So try to focus on.
Two or three of these and seehow you can start to pay
attention, how those are showingup in your life and enabling not
(23:21):
only the clutter coming throughthe door, but also in enabling
the clutter from sticking aroundin your own space.
And then now that you know thatyou can leave me a text message
or send me an Instagram DM, letme know what you're working on
and just keep going because anysmall change does grow and it
(23:43):
will make a difference.
It does matter to stop and getintentional and be mindful of
what's entering your thoughtsand how you're processing the
things in your life.
Until next time, go out and findthose clutter enablers.
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