#02 Definition Of Clutter

Awareness is the first step in this minimalism journey. It's important that you get a solid understanding of what clutter and excess mean so that you can start applying minimalism into every area of your life. Clutter is a personal perception and it can mean something different for every individual. What is clutter to you, it may not be clutter to another person.

Transcript

Lesson 2.

Definition of clutter.

Clutter is a personal perception and it can mean something different for every individual.

What is clutter to you,

It may not be clutter to another person.

It's very important to get on the same page when it comes to clutter,

Especially between family members and people you share your life with.

Communication is essential to force the respect and awareness of each other's needs.

There is a huge relationship between clutter and mental health.

Clutter can overload your senses,

Creating stress,

Making you feel overwhelmed,

Frustrated,

Isolated,

Ashamed,

Depressed,

And prevent your ability to think clearly and make good decisions.

It can also decrease your productivity and energy levels.

But what is clutter?

There are a few definitions to help you define what clutter is.

A collection of things laying about in a disordered manner.

Items that don't belong in the space.

Items that don't have a permanent home.

Items that you don't use.

Items that are broken.

Items that don't add value to your life.

Stuff you are storing for someone else.

Things that don't fit in the space.

Items that prevent you from using the space for its intended purpose.

Objects that break the natural flow of the space.

Items that back you or are meaningless to you.

Stuff that take away your time from doing meaningful things,

So distractions.

And this last definition is my favorite one.

It's from an association called Clutterers Anonymous.

And they say that clutter is anything we don't need,

We don't want,

Or we don't use that takes our time,

Energy,

Or space and destroys our serenity.

Clutter can also be a constant reminder of unfinished projects.

Projects that you need to find time to finish and maybe projects that are not relevant to you anymore.

Things start piling up over time and it becomes more and more difficult to get started.

There are many different kinds of clutter.

Physical,

Social,

Mental,

Emotional,

Financial,

Digital,

Just to name a few.

Everybody can be a victim of clutter at any point in their lives.

Clutter can be a result of lack of time,

Too many projects on the go,

Tasks or commitments,

Storing stuff for someone else,

Unbalanced lifestyle,

Working too many hours,

Traveling too much.

Big life events like divorce,

Moving to a new home,

Getting a new job or being fired,

Having a baby,

Downsizing,

And just not having enough time to adjust to these changes.

Lack of systems to keep things organized.

Not having permanent homes for every item.

Living with others and not finding a balance.

Bringing too many objects at home and not having the space to deal with them and store them.

There are some best practices to reduce and eliminate clutter from your life.

Before bringing items home,

Ask yourself,

Can I afford this?

Can I afford the money,

The time,

The space,

And the energy that this item will require from me?

Learn how to say no to things that you don't need.

Don't accept items from family members or friends unless they bring value into your life and you have space,

Time,

And energy to deal with them.

You are working very hard to conquer the clutter in your life.

Ask your loved ones to respect your decision and to support you on this journey.

The same apply to commitments,

Social events,

And anything to do with your time.

Learn how to be intentional and learn how to say no to things that don't bring value to your life.

I want to finish this lesson with a quote from Lana Nakon.

She says,

When you understand what drives you,

What truly motivates you,

You are then able to create an environment that facilitates your goals.

It frees up space so the new you can step in.

There is purpose in how you live.

It's time to create your environment so that you can thrive in life.

Are you ready?

Reviews

Thank you very much for this useful information Emilio. Namaste 🙏🏾☀️

Loved it! “An environment that facilitates my goals” will now be the solution to my clutter problem! What motivation!😍😍😍 Other than money this has been the first motivating line I’ve learned to reduce my clutter at home and in storage! Thank you so much !

Very interesting. I have never thought about clutter this deeply and this is helpful.

Thanks for this good definition of clutter. It’s helpful in thinking about my physical and mental space.

Excellent, short sharp succinct definition of clutter, with realistic solutions! Thank you 😊🙏🏾💕

Good pep talk for feeling a bit overwhelmed facing the prospect of finally having the time (recent retirement) to tackle the clutter and finally seeing just how large a project it actually is. I've got my decluttering planner and journal out and now feel calm enough to take a mental step back and make a plan to systematically work through it, rather than just starting somewhere and getting frustrated at the lack of visible progress. I felt a lot better after hearing the reminder that it can happen to anyone and things I can do moving forward to prevent it from building up again. Thank you for sharing this!
I see you and the light within you. Be well. 🤲🏻❤🤲🏻

Whoa!! Wowie is this short talk P O W E R F U L!! 🤩🤩🤩🤩🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻. I am going to listen to it again right now!! Thank you 🙏🏻 so much, this brought so much clarity to exactly where I am at the moment. I have been attempting unsuccessfully, to clean out and organize our apartment for 3 months. This talk brings it all into Perspective. Yay 😀

This was a very useful talk and gave me an insight to different forms of clutter and how I can take steps to avoid and eliminate these, for a lighter and more liberating feel to my life. Thank you 😊

Wonderfully explained

All good insights. I’m motivated to get started. Thank you

This was great! I need to listen to it again and again. Thank you.

Clutter means so much to me. As in I experience brain fog and pain.
Learning every day to decompartmentalise.

Brilliant thanks for sharing your thoughts on clutter, this is just what I needed to hear. I'm dealing with others clutter that is invading my life.

Loved this. I'm always keeping a mind to what I have, now I need to keep mind to the before I bring any thing in.

Yikes! I just moved and have lots of clutter by many definitions. Seeking organization! Thank you! ☮️💟🕉

Thank you very much, Emilio! It was interesting to listen to the different definitions of clutter.
And many thanks for your life sessions! I like them a lot and hope to learn/find my way of decluttering soon. 🙏 💕

Very helpful & an inspiring reminder! Thank you 🕉 🙏🏼 💟

This is a Valuable, direct talk on keeping clear, free & living our purpose in a much better way! 👍🏼👍🏼

Very helpful and concise explanation, and its interesting to know how many kinds of clutter there are. Thank you.