Four questions to help you remove clutter in your life

If you were given 48 hours to move, could you do it? Could you sort, trash, recycle, and pack everything in that amount of time? You probably know someone that couldn't clean out their car in 48 hours more or less pack up their home or work space.

Photo credit to Puuikibeach

We've seen extreme hoarding. Somehow it became trashertainment. But that's why these homes are on TV, they are outrageous! But what about you? You might not be extreme enough to get on hoardavision but you might be letting things start to collect.

Time is my enemy. I'm moving out of my office I've been in for six years. I found things in the storage that for the life of me I can't remember why I put there! Over time, things collect. All innocent decisions to keep things. Decision making clouded by "What if?". What if I need this later? What if someone else will need this later?

So through the process I needed defining questions in what to keep and what to get rid of.

I'd like to share the questions I asked myself:

1. Does it add value to your life? I don't mean value in the sense of money. Few things will gain monetary value over time. Also, to gain monetary value over time you have to put a great deal of effort into keeping it in "mint" condition. Examples of value that I am referring to are: simplification, more accomplished in less time, or it keeps me engaged longer. The best example I can think of is my MacBook Pro. It has brought all three of these to my life.

2. Does it tell a significant story? I can easily get lost in the fear of tossing a picture or momento. Our office has hundreds of pictures and I evaluated every picture this way: Does it share the story of what we are about? Does it add to our history or does it look just like all the others. If I knew I had a digital copy I trashed it. Or could I tell the story of each person in the picture, than I kept it.

3. Have you used it in six months? If you haven't used something in six months that's a strong indicator you won't use it again. Don't stress over, just get rid of it.

4. Do you have space for it? Stacks don't count!!! Have you created an intentional space for whatever it is. Vertical only counts if a structure has been built to take things vertically. If you have to squeeze something in than it's probably not that valuable to you. You need to get rid of it.

Removing clutter will create space for greater things in your life like peace, effectiveness, calmness, and rest. Clutter is a silent thief in our lives. Over time it will decrease the amount of good things in our lives.

What have you done to remove clutter from your life? What questions do you ask yourself? Please leave a comment below!