Clutter Free: Quick and Easy Steps to Simplifying Your Space

by Kathi Lipp

Researchers at UCLA’s Center on the Everyday Lives of Families (CELF) found a link between high cortisol (stress hormone) levels in female home owners and a high density of household objects. In other words, the more stuff, the more stress women feel. And every woman on the planet said simultaneously, “Duh.” It’s not a surprise to any of us: the more stuff, the more stress. And that’s why our stuff battle is a spiritual battle.

Organizational systems are to cluttered homes what credit cards are to debt. Credit cards tell you there is still more money, even though your bank account says no. Organizational systems tell us there is still more space, when our house cries “No!”

But another thing we must recognize about clutter is that it’s active. Even if it’s just sitting there on a shelf or buried in a box, clutter is actively working in our lives. It makes us feel unsettled. Clutter never lets you rest. It is constantly talking to you and letting you know that things are wrong and there will be no peace until you tend to the mess. You cannot enjoy any activity—time with your family and friends, reading, exercising, anything, because clutter is telling you, “Pay attention to me!”

“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” Good

You can spend a lot of money, time, and energy on something, and it can still be OK to admit that it’s over.

I needed a better set of clutter questions to help me get unburied from the piles of stuff that were taking over my home. Better questions like these: 1. Do I currently use it? 2. Do I really love it? 3. Would I buy it again? These three questions? They have become the clarifying lenses I see all my possessions through, and they help me quickly and unemotionally clear the clutter from my life.

Enough is a beautiful thing.