As I get older, I start to realize that I really don’t have all of the time in the world. because of this realization, I actually have less clutter. There is a definite link between your time and your clutter. Keep reading, and I’ll explain.
We all think that we have more time on our hands than we do. For example, I used to snap up any interesting used book that I could find. But the reality is that even if I started reading for hours a day, it might take me a year to completely finish all of my books. At the same time, I was acquiring more books all of the time. While I love to read, the reality is that there are only so many hours designated in a lifetime and most of those hours need to be spent elsewhere.
Think about your own home. Are you guilty of tons of scrap booking supplies, sewing items, craft items, puzzles, knitting projects, wood projects, magazines, movies, games, etc? Roughly count up how many hours it would take to use up the stuff that you have and then make some decisions about it all. Is it practical to think that you will actually get to everything in your lifetime, or would you rather spend that time with your spouse, your kids, your family, traveling, or on some other past time?
There is no reason why you can’t have things around that you can enjoy in your leisure time, but just try to be practical about it. A good rule of thumb is that if you haven’t touched a project in a year or a book in two years, then it probably should go. Notice that I gave books an extra year there. You know where my passions lay. Decide on a reasonable place to put the stuff you really will get to and then discard something old when something new comes in.
Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, creating a home in the Home Blog, caring for little ones in the Baby Blog and now relationships in the Marriage Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here or subscribe to the blog using the subscription box on the right.
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