Do You Have Too Much Stuff?

Here’s a scenario that may sound familiar:

As much as you want your day, your home and your office to be efficient and run more smoothly, you are surrounded by disorganization.  You’re overwhelmed with paper. There’s chaos everywhere you look. You feel frustrated and discouraged.

If this describes the conditions of your home or office and you are feeling stressed, then maybe you are wondering, “Do I have too much stuff?”

Well, let’s find out!

Signs that you have too much stuff

Do you think you have too much stuff? Do you wonder if other people live the same way?  Ask yourself the following questions:

• Are items piling up before you even get to use some of them?
• Do you have trouble finding things in your home?
• Do you end up buying duplicates and triplicates of the same item BECAUSE you have trouble finding things in your home?
• Do you have things that are still in their boxes or with tags still on them?
• Are countertops and tabletops all covered with stuff?
• Can you use the countertops without it having to be a chore itself?
• Can you close the dresser drawers and closet doors or are they overflowing?
• Are there too many clothes hung behind the doors that you can’t keep the doors opened?
• Can you walk around your home easily or is the floor piled with different things?
• Do you have lots of boxes and bins but have no idea what’s in them?
• Are your garage and storage area in the basement so full that you can’t find anything?
• Do you own a storage unit?
• Does your home feel disorganized and you feel overwhelmed with all the stuff around you?

Why do you have so much stuff

Have you ever wondered how long you have been accumulating these items and where they all come from?   

 Before we figure out “how” to solve the problem of having too much stuff, we need to find out “why” you had too much stuff in the first place.

Here are some of the most common reasons:

• Are you keeping items for “just in case” purposes?
• Did you spend a lot of money buying these items and now you have a tough time letting them go?
• Do you want to keep these items as memories (e.g. your children’s artwork)?
• You are not sure how much or how long you need to keep something (e.g. how long do you need to keep a paid utility bill)?
• Are there items that you want to donate or sell online but you just haven’t found the time to do so?
• Did some of the items belong to loved ones (e.g. a china set from your grandmother) and you have difficulty letting them go?
• Have you kept a lot of items in boxes, but now that you’ve moved homes a few times, you no longer remember what’s in them?
• Are you stressed out and discouraged by the amount of clutter that you don’t even know where to start?

If you are looking to find a solution to “de-own” the mountains of stuff, then stay tuned for my next blog post where I will discuss why owning too much stuff is an unhealthy habit and what you can do about it.