With these simple steps
Have you ever felt overwhelmed in your home?
Maybe you have a house full of kids?
Which means, your house is probably never one hundred percent.
Which means, you probably struggle with the simple task of just KEEPING your house clean and orderly.
I know. It's tough. With children, it's just nearly impossible. We like to give our kids things and our little ones like to get INTO things. And it doesn't just end there. As adults, we have our share of belongings and collections that accumulate also.
Every year it seems as if I'm rummaging through more and more in this house. I'm finding things I haven't used in a while and even finding items that I've never used. After debating whether to toss the item out, I somehow convince myself that I may need this in the next few months. I hold onto it for another year only to realize it's just collecting dust.
How many times have you done this very same thing?
This very action can cause you to accumulate so many things in a short amount of time. What about the clothes and shoes you're hoarding in your closet? Or the hundreds of different beauty products gathering in your drawers? Or what about the gazillion toys your kids have just lying around the house?
This seems all too familiar, right?
Just the thought of organizing and cleaning is just staggering.
So where do you start?
A few years ago my dear friend told me about a Netflix documentary called Minimalism. Not only did this documentary help explain the current situation in our society, but it also encouraged me to continue to do what Rob and I had already been doing for years. KEEPING IT SIMPLE. We live a pretty simple life already but this documentary was on another level. It really opened our eyes to how infatuated our culture is with too many things.
Yes. I said it. TOO MANY THINGS!
We value the haves and not the have nots.
We over-complicate our own lives by having so much. What if I told you it's the simple things that make life easier and happier? What if I told you that if you DIDN'T have so many things it would be easier to maintain your house?
If you're interested or have the extra time, check out the documentary. I don't have a subscription with Netflix anymore so I don't know if it's still available but I'm sure you can rent it on YouTube. Here's the trailer and I highly recommend you watch it.
We are by far minimalists, but we try to keep it as simple as possible. The weight of not having so much stuff feels really good. However, over time things can quickly add up and start taking refuge in your house again. When this happens, you have to take action quickly or you will end up feeling overwhelmed once again with all the clutter.
When you don't have so much clutter, it can free up your time so you can focus on the things that matter most to you. If you're finding yourself constantly spending too much time cleaning and organizing or you're just trying to make things a little simpler around the house just look around.
Analyze each object in your house and ask yourself these questions.
1. How often do I use this item?
2. Does this item benefit me in any way?
3. Am I going to lose sleep if I get rid of this item?
4. Can I do something good with this item such as donate it to a local church, school, charity, homeless shelter, woman's shelter, etc?
Put extra thoughts into the reason you have the things that you have. Go through every drawer, crook, and cranny in your house. Like I said, we are far from minimalists but we do try to purge our house every so often from all the excess.
I guarantee you that once you get rid of something, you probably won't even notice its gone. It's just the process of letting go. Minimalism is also a way of being humble and has been practiced by Christians for thousands of years. There are many scriptures in the Bible where Jesus specifically talks about this subject. Jesus was a minimalist and also encouraged others to live this way.
When you minimize and simplify the things around you, you will find that you are happier. You will have freed yourself of that overwhelming feeling and the time that you would have otherwise spent on these objects.
I hope you enjoyed this post. Have a blessed day!
