The Less is More Project: Week 16 - Mental clutter

Luis Marina, Flickr

When it comes to clutter, a lot of it is invisible: it's in your mind. And by "it's in your mind" I do not mean that you are imagining it. 

Mental clutter can take many forms. 

Mental clutter happens when you own a lot of stuff which, even if it is well organized and stored neatly, still nags you imperceptibly. Part of your brain knows that the stuff is there even if that stuff is put away, and that knowledge adds to your levels of stress. That's one reason why I want to own fewer things. 

Home owning in particular adds to the stress because of all the different things you have to maintain and generally take care of. We recently had to service the water softener. It will soon be time to re-stain the decks. And clean the windows. If we're lucky we'll eventually see the grass and the flower beds, with all the work that it implies. Meanwhile, some of the baseboards need touch-ups. One of the bathtubs could use new caulking. The list is endless, and as soon as you take care of an item, another one pops up! Whether you do it yourself or pay someone else to take care of it... there is always something. Your mind is very aware of that.

Mental clutter also happens when you have a lot of activities, responsibilities, appointments and the like to keep track of. CEOs and working parents are equally familiar with that kind of clutter. No matter how organized you are, and even if you have a personal assistant, everything you have to remember still hangs above your head like a sword of Damocles. That also adds to your levels of stress. This is one reason why I want to simplify my schedule and that of my family members... and learn to say no. Easier said than done.

Where do you think your mental clutter comes from?



WEEK 16 IN REVIEW

Temptations

One of the main topics at my last Minimalist Meeting was photos and mementos (and children's artistic productions). How do we eliminate clutter without completely getting rid of those items that are high in sentimental value? The answer: take a picture (if the item isn't already a picture), scan it, and store it in a safe place. No more thick photo albums, no more dust gathering trinkets, no more boxes and boxes of preschool crafts. If you want regular access to the memories, you can then put the scanned pictures in a digital frame. 

What was my temptation this week, then? Well, I bought an external drive. My music and photos and documents were not safe enough stored on my computer only. Computers crash. An external drive provides an extra safety. So yes, I bought something, but I believe it is a step forward in my minimalist endeavor: for one small object and about a hundred dollars, I can now get rid of a lot of clutter.

There is another temptation in the back of my head, and it's in the shape of a house: nice, big, on a lake, reasonably priced, in our neighborhood. The funny thing, however, is that it's over 4000 square feet. That doesn't sound too compatible with minimalism!

Any tips on how to manage sentimental items?

And how do you reconcile luxury (e.g. a big house on a lake) with minimalism?


Donations (good riddance)

I finally got rid of books! Twenty of them! As is often the case when you are stuck, I got unstuck by asking for help. I had D go through the bookshelves and tell me which books he thinks no one will ever re-read. Now that we got started eliminating books, it doesn't feel so daunting.

My next goal is to get rid of paper. Some documents need to be kept, but I find organizing paper stressful for some obscure reason. I wish I had a magic wand to take care of the piles I have accumulated. Running a business from home is not the most conducive to a minimalist interior. Got to work on it. 

How do you manage paper documents and work-related supplies in your home office?

Observations and cogitations

I have been reading Everything that Remains, by The Minimalists. It's a nice account of what it feels like to experience abundance and then decide that frugality makes more sense. That's where the "voluntary" of voluntary simplicity takes all its meaning. A lot of stuff you have dreamed of acquiring can lose its appeal once you have easy access to it. As a French Literature Master's (and writer in the making), one of my ideas of "making it" was to acquire a Mont Blanc (those luxury pens are a couple hundred bucks a piece). Once I did get one, however, the initial excitement quickly faded. Did I really need a Mont Blanc? Nope.


What minimalist book, article, blog or website have you been reading?

Have you experienced a blasé feeling once you had reached a certain level of luxury?

What did you resist this week? Did you donate or get rid of anything? Did you face any challenge? Please comment below! And...

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