Decluttering 101 - Clear Out the Clutter in the 8 step CONVERT process

I haven't taken the time to blog much lately. I have been busy trying to get our house to "The House That Cleans Itself" stage. Our new favorite household motto is "Change the house to fit the behavior." And, if you can't change the house to fit the behavior, then work on changing the behavior.

Another favorite eye-opener for me from this book is how to decide to get rid of an item or keep it. This is the most difficult thing for me - the process of decluttering and deciding to purge something from our home.

So many of the experts (in books and on websites and on television help shows) say to pick up each item in your home and ask yourself questions like these: "Have I used this in a year?" "Does this item bring a smile to my face?" "Do I love this item?" "Do I really need this item?"

None of this has helped me. Not having used it in a year doesn't mean I won't need it soon. Bringing a smile to my face and loving an item are both relative to what the item is, what its purpose is, and may change from day to day. Needing an item is also relative and changes periodically. The need to hang on to stuff just in case is greater than whether I need it right now.

I already know I need to declutter. I have known it for a long time. But that knowledge hasn't made the task any easier. I have learned that it really stresses my husband out to come home to it. (We have found ways to circumvent this problem on a daily basis, but the undertow is still there.) I feel like I can't accomplish things sufficiently that I desire to accomplish. I feel it affects our day-to-day life. One of my desires is to have my home be a safe-haven for my husband when he comes home from work, and for my children every day as well as for others that need it from time to time. I feel that this is greatly hindered by too much stuff. And, above all, I feel like it limits how free we can be to do the things God would have us do. In the end it is such a bondage.

But there are three things that have helped me tremendously in this decluttering decision-making process over the last several months. First, going through Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University classes brought so many good results for us. Scott and I agreeing on our finances, agreeing to be accountable to one another, and being on a budget has limited, if not eliminated, the bringing in of more stuff we don't need. That is critical to the decluttering process.

Second, a phrase author Mindy Starns Clark uses in the book - do I need to waste any more time of energy on this item (paraphrased) - has given me a new way to think through the process. Granted, I probably still haven't gotten rid of as much as I need to yet; it is a slow process for me. But, I even got rid of a whole couch using this line of thinking!

Our main piece of furniture in the living room was at one time a wonderful hand-me-down sleeper sofa that has served us well for a few years. It needed a couch cover, and the couch cover needed adjusting EVERY day, maybe even several times a day to look neat. As soon as I read this section in the book, I knew it was time to say good-bye to what had become an eye-sore and a pain in our behind (especially Delainey's since it was her job to fix the couch cover... I think she was the happiest to see it go.)

It wasn't worth one more ounce of energy - the energy it took to straighten the cover, the energy it took to move the couch out so the cover could be straightened, the energy it took to fret about how it looked or whether it was neat when someone stopped by... you get the idea. When I looked around and considered our seating options and realized that we really didn't NEED that sofa, it was so freeing. I felt like a bird that could fly out of the nest for the first time.

But the last help is probably the most important. Don't I trust God enough to provide for us when we need it? He always does. Now, I am not saying that we are going to give away all our possessions just yet, but we are bringing two more human beings into this home. And we need to make room for them. I don't think saving junk for the sake of saving junk is being a good steward of our home or our resources.

Matthew 6:21 says "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Now, I don't think I really thought of all my stuff as 'treasure', but that is how I treat it, isn't it? I give it a significant place in our home. I tell everyone to be careful around it. I get it out from time to time and look at and clean it. It is too precious to give away (but I doubt I could really sell any of it). Well, where is my heart then? (This also goes back to the energy thing as well.)

Let me quote Matthew 6:19-20 (NASB) here: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal; But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal...

I decided I needed to reevaluate where my treasure is stored up. And, even if I was going to store up treasure here on earth, is the stuff I have really what I want to claim as my treasure? I don't think so. It just helps add a little different perspective for me - something beyond myself.

Since this epiphany, I have sent several lawn and garden size trash bags to the donation center. As soon as a box or bag is filled, it is out the door so I don't have time for second thoughts! I have only really made it completely through two zones in my house, but I feel so much better already. I feel a sense of accomplishment, and I know there is light at the end of this tunnel.