LensqPrint | Kindle
After reading The Life changing magic of tidying up, I wanted to read deeper books on decluttering. Reading the description of what is your clutter trying to tell you, I felt that this book will have answers to the questions I had in mind. I won’t consider this as a mind opening book except for the concept of boundary setting. From the culture I come from, boundary setting is the rudest thing you can ever do. But this is what I needed to hear. This one concept made the book a good read for me. The other good points in the book is the way Richardson points out how the physical clutter you hold is related to the mental beliefs you hold. The book has action points for each chapter to make you do the thinking. Rest of the book is just okay. It is short and easy. I was half expecting Richardson to write a story on his journey of moving from 2000 sq ft to 230 sq ft but that story has not been discussed in detail.
The book starts with making the reader think about the clutter and the ways in which it might be telling a story which the reader is ignoring. It sets the tone to go deeper into understanding the clutter. Then he moves on to the inner critic we all have and how we find it difficult to get past the comfort zone, in this case, living with clutter. Then he mentions the top cluster hotspots and causes of them. In the next chapter, he addresses the causes of clutters in depth where he talks about the boundary setting. Later on, he provides insights on how we hold on to clutter since we can’t get rid of certain beliefs. In the last two chapters, he addresses how to get rid of the clutter.
Notes:
- Causes of clutter
- Excess weight is usually a protection from other’s energy, painful relationships and nasty self-talk
- Physical clutter is sometimes the side effect of draining relationships. It is usually caused by the emotional clutter
- Car clutter tells that you are constantly on the run
- Hidden clutter is always calling for your attention and fuels your inner critic on what you should be doing
- Boundary setting – Practise disappointing challenge by saying no at least 3 times a day. Start with low risk relationships. Say no whenever you don’t really want to help and if helping drains your energy
- Statistically, we wear 20% of our clothes 80% of the time. It is time to regularly declutter the clothes you no longer wear
- Even though it is tough, declining hand me downs which are an obligation help you save clutter
- Look out for I might need this someday syndrome, retail therapy ( buying goods to feel better)
- When you keep items gifted by old relationships which you no longer have, they take up the energy which prevents the formation of new relationships
To think:
- If clutter were no longer an obstacle, what would you then have time for?
- We pile on the stories in our minds, making it bigger, heavier, and more intimidating than it needs to be
- Do you believe it is not spiritual to have financial abundance?
- Fear of rejection is a reason you can’t lose weight
- Sometimes the person you need to forgive is yourself
- She is not an asshole. She is just wounded.
Further reading
- The art of extreme self care
