Let's Discuss Lifestyle Clutter, Shall We?

We've discussed home clutter, car clutter, yard clutter, and storage shed clutter. How about we discuss our "lifestyle clutter"--those little (and BIG) things, thoughts, or people who clutter up our lives with stress, waste our energy, waste our time and money, and do not enhance our lives? We all have lifestyle clutter in various forms, so let's discuss them.

THE YES SYNDROME

As women, we feel the need to nurture everyone else, often at the expense of our own health. We run around like superwomen trying to make everyone else happy while becoming more stressed and even experiencing health problems as a result. We take on more than we can handle; yet we do manage to get it all done well. But we sometimes feel resentful of the impositions on our time and energy as we have very little time to nurture ourselves. I think it's time we learned to delegate more and say NO more. Yes, it's hard to say NO, and that's why people keep running to us, becoming dependent on us. We need to weane them off of us and let them do some things for themselves. Saying NO, like anything else, gets easier with practice, and it's liberating!

TIME-WASTING CLUTTER

We also have time-wasters clutter. For instance, how many times do you run to the grocery store when preparing the Christmas dinner? Some of you, I know, forget things and will go back to the store 4 or 5 times before dinner is finished. Start weeks ahead of time and make a shopping list, keep it on your fridge, and add to it when you think of something else. You'll save not just time, but energy and gas too.

Many of us waste time in our home offices. Do you put off filing papers until you have a boxful? So when you need a certain receipt, you have to sift thru a boxful of papers looking for it. If you'll file daily, you could find the receipt immediately in the proper folder.

Are you a perfectionist? Must everything be EXACTLY right or you keep tinkering with it until it is? Will anyone really notice if it's not perfect? If it's just great, isn't that good enough? Learn to relax a bit and save some time.

MONEY WASTING CLUTTER

What about money-wasting clutter? Do your bills pile up or are they scattered here and there so you put off paying them, altho you have the money? Do you pay late fees or reconnect fees because you forgot to pay the bill or you forgot to mail your payments? Get most of your bills on bank draft so you don't waste time writing checks. Get your paycheck on automatic deposit so you don't have to rush to the bank to beat a check you've written. Put all your bills in one location and pay them twice a month, say, on the 1st and 15th.

Do you have credit card debt? Quit spending, quit charging and begin paying off those debts as quickly as you can. Look at the monthly interest you're paying--$50, $100, or more. That's a big chunk of money! And doesn't being under that debt stress you? Pay off the credit card with the highest interest rate first. Pay more than the minimum if you can. When you get any kind of extra money, apply it to that credit card. Think about how much money you could "hoard" away in the bank if all those monthly payments and interest charges were actually going INTO your bank instead of OUT of your bank.

EMOTIONAL CLUTTER

Women are particularly emotional. We never forget a betrayal, an insult, a slight. We replay them over and over in our minds. We defeat ourselves with negative thoughts and emotions. Voices in our heads tell us we're not smart enough, good enough, thin enough; we're just not enough. Now is the time to kick this clutter to the curb. Who needs it??? What purpose does it serve?? Who are these people to tell us we aren't enough?? Only people who themselves feel they're not enough will tell us that we're not enough. It may be time also to eliminate these people from our lives or at least minimize our exposure to them.

If you often get overwhelmed by negative voices or memories in your head, sit down and make a list of your great qualities, your accomplishments. Do you quilt? Have you been promoted at work? Did you raise a daughter who's an accountant? Do you volunteer your time somewhere? Do you positively impact someone's life--pull someone out of depression, help feed the homeless, help a lost little girl find her mommy, rescue a stray kitten? We all have reasons to hold our heads high and don't let anyone convince you otherwise. YOU control your thoughts and feelings, so think positively.

HEALTH CLUTTER

Some form of health clutter affects all of us. Are you healthy? Do you eat right? Exercise? Do you take a lot of prescriptions for conditions you may be able to relieve or eliminate with proper diet and exercise or some other way? For example, do you have high cholesterol? Even if it runs in your family, many people can overcome it with proper diet and exercise. Often it runs in families because families tend to eat alike and perhaps not get as active as they should be. Do you take an anti-depressant? Could some therapy help you overcome the depression? Would Vitamin D help? Would proper diet or getting involved in the community help? In some cases, these alternatives can eliminate depression. In some, the medication is still needed, so speak with your doctor if you'd like to try something different.

Do you have "body clutter" aka extra weight or poor muscle tone. Do you wish you were a size 10? Do you have clothes in smaller sizes in the closet that you hope to wear again someday? Do you wish your arms weren't so flabby or your thighs were firmer? Do you wish the mole on your face wasn't there? Do your short nails disappoint you? If you can do something about your body clutter, do it. Work out and build your muscles. Have the mole removed. Get your nails done. Why not? If it makes you feel better about yourself, do it. You deserve it!

RESOLUTION TIME!

A new year is coming up soon, so now is the time to make some promises to ourselves to eliminate ALL clutter in ALL forms from our lives. WE control the clutter; it doesn't control us. So let's ban together and fight it. We've seen on other threads how we inspire each other to activity, so let's do it here. Let us know what you struggle with and perhaps some of us can offer ideas for defeating it. Your progress will inspire the rest of us. LET'S SAY NOOOOOO TO LIFESTYLE CLUTTER!!!

NancyAnn