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How to Get in the Mindset of Simplifying your Home
August 6, 2021 | Morgan Paixao, Humble Home Organizing
Living with only what you love and need seems...simple, right? Well, it’s actually a bit more complicated than that. Scratch that - WAY more complicated than that. You see, our homes and the items we choose to put in them have a long history and relationship with our minds, starting all the way back to how we grew up.
But first, before taking a deep dive into that connection, let’s talk about why one might be drawn into this world of simplicity in the first place.
It’s no secret that modern life is completely saturated with information and stimuli. Every which way we turn we are inundated with tasks and distractions that demand our attention. Many of which we can thank our handy-dandy, handheld computers (phones) for. These little devices go with us just about everywhere and while they themselves simplify a lot of tasks and systems, they also bring with them a lot of mental clutter.
This mental clutter adds up and compounds throughout the day on top of work duties, household management tasks, kids’ schedules, doctors appointments, grocery lists, what to make for dinner...OOF it just goes on and on! And THEN we come home to a house full of physical clutter which makes everything feel even more overwhelming.
And so, we find ourselves in a place where simplifying our spaces is quite intriguing indeed - a way to live with less stress and more mental clarity for all the other things on our to-do lists.
As I said earlier, making this mindset switch is difficult though, we have been conditioned to think about our belongings in a certain way, and for a very long time. A lot of these old habits, and ways of thinking come down to one very big emotion - fear. How exactly does fear come into the picture with regards to our stuff? Here’s a few examples:
- Fear of needing something ‘one day’ and not having it.
- Fear of hurting a loved one by getting rid of a gift they gave.
- Fear of regretting letting something go.
- Fear of wasting money spent on an item.
So in order to break free from fear-based decisions, we need to push past the discomfort and uncertainty.
- Get very honest with yourself. Your gut really does know exactly what brings you joy and improves your life.
- Let go of all the guilt. Time to take a deep breath and release yourself from self-imposed gift, money, or any other kind of guilt.
- Stop giving power to all the ‘what if’s’. Every ‘what i’f scenario is just an excuse not to move something on that deep down, you know you need to.
- Think about your future self. What we surround ourselves with makes a difference in our trajectory. Does your space inspire you to become the best version of yourself?
Once you’ve crossed over from the side of fear, you will begin to see your belongings with so much clarity. You will easily be able to identify what is serving you and what isn’t. And that is what simplifying is all about - cultivating freedom from the many unnecessary emotions wrapped up in our ‘stuff’. The other amazing outcome from this process - it starts to affect other important aspects of your life as well. You’ll begin to see what your true priorities are, where you want to spend your money, and how you want to spend your time. It’s such an empowering transformation and I know you can get there.
Want to dive even further into this process? Check out my eBook, ‘The Guide to Letting Go’ where you’ll learn how to tackle the most daunting of clutter categories...sentimental clutter. In this eBook, I go over exactly what sentimental clutter is, how it affects our lives, and both actionable steps and mental exercises for working through it.
- Morgan Paixao
Humble Home Organizing
@humblehomeva
