Since its inception in 2004, when Perfectly Organised was set up to provide decluttering and organising services to commercial and private clients, I have witnessed first hand how clutter and belongings are taking over many of our lives.
We work to pay for housing and bills, and we use what’s left to buy things which are supposedly meant to enhance our lives – what often ends up happening is just the opposite. ‘Things’ need maintenance. They take up space and need cleaning, hence we are using our energy whilst hanging onto them – and we use our hard-earned cash to eventually replace them. It’s a never ending cycle.
For as long as I can remember the thought of living more simply, with a lot less stuff, has been compelling me to move towards a life less cluttered. In 1998 I read Janet Luhrs’ book, The Simple Living Guide, and my attitude towards a lot of the things that I owned – and until that moment had held dear in my life – changed for good. Going forward I promised myself that I would live a clutter-free life, and to some extent I have managed this – but still clutter of one sort or another can creep back into my home and my life.
Another book which had a profound effect on me was Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin – I promise if you read and digest the information in this book, it will change how you think about your wages, hourly rate and money, forever!
But it’s not only physical objects that can lead to clutter and chaos; a cluttered mind can be very detrimental and often leads to ill health. To some, this may sound far-fetched, but there has been a lot of research done to support this (just look online – more on this in future posts).
Freeing up space in our lives, whether it be physical, mental or emotional (think emotional baggage, holding onto the past), can have a major positive effect on our state of mind. It also frees us to enjoy living in the moment and appreciating everything around us.
For me, moving on with my clutter-free journey has led to an increased interest in minimalism and there are some great books and websites around to help (try The Minimalists, Simple Living and Becoming Minimalist for inspiration). While I still have some way to go before I can say my husband and I live in a completely clutter-free zone, progress has definitely been made and we both feel so much lighter because of it.
Why not start getting rid of some of your own ‘stuff’ and see where it takes you? The sky really is the limit!
Gill xx
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