“If you wouldn’t do your job for free, then find a new one.”

I’m not sure who originally came up with this notion, but I’ve heard a number of my colleagues and a number of writers say it recently. Or similarly, they will say:

“If you don’t love what you do, then quit.”

There are idealists. And then there are IDEALISTS,  I suppose.

I’m not sure where this meme came from, but it’s been spreading like wildfire in the workforce.

The ideology goes something like this:

1. We spend a minimum of 8-12+ hours per day doing our jobs.
2. Life is short and precious.
3. If you don’t love what you do, you might as well move on until you find something that you do love.

And when they say “love”, they mean, you love it so much, you’d do it for free.

Novel concept, right?

Now, obviously, there is recognition that in order to survive you need to make an income. I *think* that those who repeat this meme want you to assume that you are financially independent. In other words, money is not an objective (otherwise, who would do a job for free?). That kind of goes back to the older meme:

“What would you do if you didn’t have to worry about money?”

Admittedly, that’s a bit different because we’d all play Mike Tyson’s Punch Out!, watch football, drink beer, and dine out at luxurious restaurants, no? That’s why the newer memes are more focused specifically on careers.

And they sound great, in theory. But there are obviously fears, doubts, and other considerations that one may decide to take into account before dumping their job. For example:

• Is it realistic in this economy to leave a good paying job?
• Is it realistic when you’ve spent years of your life and hundreds of thousands of dollars only to find that you do not like your career?
• Is it realistic when you have a job and so many others are struggling to get one?
• Is it realistic when “the grass is always greener”?
• Is it realistic when you have a family to support?
• Is it realistic when you are tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt?

It always seems to come down to money.

Or maybe money is just the excuse that is preventing us from taking risks and living more fulfilling, satisfied lives.

We can save that discussion for the comments.

For starters, I’m curious to see how many of you are actually loving your jobs so much that you’d do it (within reason) for free. Please fill in some color commentary on what you do if you answered ‘yes’. If you answered ‘no’, what kind of job would you do for free?

Related Posts:

• The Two Paths to Financial Independence
• 70% of Americans want to be Self-Employed
• 55 Marketable Hobbies you can Get Paid for

Would you do your Job if you Didn’t Get Paid for it? (reader poll) is copyrighted by 20somethingfinance.com without consent to republish.

This, paired with selling on Craigslist, EBay, and Amazon over the past few months has brought my total decluttering bounty to over $1,000.

Not surprisingly, I do not miss one thing

The list of things I’ve sold includes: a couch, a bed, a bookshelf, a fake houseplant, a real houseplant, two old bikes, suitcases, pet supplies, a dresser, a nightstand, and much more. I’ve also given a few garbage bags full of clothing and 6 boxes of household items to charity. That’s enough stuff that I wasn’t using to basically fill up, wall-to-wall, about 200 sq. feet of home space (or about 500 sq. feet of properly furnished space).

It wasn’t easy. In fact, it was a 6 month process, that included:

1. Going through every belonging in the ENTIRE house on three separate occasions, each time with a more critical eye than the last.
2. Researching where to sell what items for the highest return.
3. Posting and selling dozens of items on Craigslist, EBay, and Amazon.
4. Planning for and holding the garage sale for everything I wasn’t selling elsewhere.
5. Donating to charity four different times.
6. Recycling what I could that a charity would not take.
7. Throwing away the rest (I’m proud to say that I threw out less than a trash bag worth of stuff throughout this entire process).

Here are five reasons to start YOUR decluttering project, without any delay:

1. Your Stuff is Not Going Anywhere on it’s Own

Unless you leave your doors open inviting in burglars (I actually left my garage sale unguarded for a bit, so don’t laugh), your stuff is not going anywhere on its own. It’s up to you to physically move it and get rid of it. Stop putting off the inevitable.

I had held on to my notes from classwork in college. How ridiculous is that?

2. Your Stuff is Depreciating in Value

This ties in to #1. If you’re going to get rid of your stuff, why not sell it before it depreciates in value even more than it already has? Sure, there may be a few antiques or collectibles that are exceptions to the rule, but not many.

3. Get Rid of your Stuff BEFORE you have to

Let’s say that you are offered a new job or lose your existing one and have to make a quick move. What do we all do when this happens? We fill the truck by priority and get rid of everything that doesn’t fit. Not only does this represent wasted money, but you just added your belongings to a landfill instead of getting rid of them responsibly. Don’t wait for this to happen. Sell or donate while you have the freedom and time to do it and give others the chance to use something you no longer do and get it for a bargain.

4. It will Feel Damn Good

It took a while to get to this point, but my dwelling feels noticeably ‘lighter’. My conscience feels lighter too. More space, less clutter, less dust, and more of a feeling like I own my possessions versus them owning me.

5. You May Just be Able to Downsize your Home & Save a Ton of Money

When we (humans) move into a place, we tend to buy based on how much stuff we have. Ironically, we got started buy buying stuff to fill empty rooms. Why not end that cycle and cut down on your mortgage or rent, property taxes, and energy bills? I need 200-500 less square feet to hold my possessions than I did just 6 months ago. And my next house will be significantly smaller as a result. This will produce multiple times the return that I received for the items I sold.

Decluttering Discussion:

• Have you purged recently? How did you get rid of most of your stuff?
• What benefits did you realize after selling/getting rid of your stuff?

Related Posts:

• Sell your Car on Craigslist
• 5 Ways to Make & Save Money on Craigslist
• Spend what you Sell Decluttering Strategy

5 BIG Reasons to Start Selling your Stuff Today is copyrighted by 20somethingfinance.com without consent to republish.

But there’s a new strategy that I just devised that I’m going to try out for a while.

It’s simple, fun, and if carried out with a little discipline, should be amazingly effective. You may want to give it a try too!

I call it the “Spend what you Sell Strategy” (SWYS). Let me explain…

What is the single biggest problem with traditional decluttering strategies?

You keep accumulating new stuff! All organization, selling, trashing, and other decluttering strategies only focus on the outgoing component. Rarely do they also tie in to what you accumulate. The ‘SWYS’ strategy does just that.

Here’s how it works:

1. Sell stuff you no longer need and want to get rid of.
2. Record what you sell and how much you sold it for in a spreadsheet. Sum it all up.
3. Simultaneously keep a list of things you want to buy. Don’t include food/entertainment/utilities. Just material possessions.
4. Create a third list of stuff you actually buy. Your sell list minus your bought list equals your balance to purchase new things.
5. This is the key component: Only spend the equivalent amount that you have sold. Don’t go over that amount.

In Action

I recently tried this strategy out last weekend. I realized I had a few huge items just sitting around that we weren’t using – a guest bed that only gets used a few times a year, a couch in the basement, a dresser, a fake tree, a luggage set, etc.

At the same time, we wanted to turn our guest room into a more functional room and thought a futon, storage unit, and rug would do the trick.

I was able to make $335 by selling all of the used possessions on Craigslist and the new items cost $320. I got rid of clutter, made my house more functional and enjoyable, and still came out ahead financially. Win, win, win!

Why the SWYS Method is so Effective

Outside of collectible rarities, used material possessions rarely accumulate in value. This is a key component to this system being so effective. The SWYS strategy simultaneously has a few great benefits:

1. It declutters: It forces you to sell off stuff and declutter. You’ll eventually need to buy some new things at some point.
2. It is frugal: It’s incredibly frugal! You’re essentially creating a bank account from stuff you already own.
3. It encourages mindfulness: You’re forced to really evaluate what you are buying (you can only sell off so much stuff). It also creates a ‘holding period’ between adding an item to the list and actually buying it. This will really cut down your impulse purchases.
4. It’s very efficient: Because new stuff costs more than used, you’re eventually going to hit a point where you’ve sold off everything you no longer need. Wouldn’t that be a great problem to have?
5. It’s very fun and motivating: It’s kind of like running a mini business!
6. It’s accountable: You record and keep track of everything you are buying and selling. This allows you to see progress (selling) and your consumption habits (buying).
7. It’s sustainable: This strategy motivates you to find a buyer who will use what you are selling versus simply tossing it in the trash and sending it to a landfill.

To Help you Get Started

Here is replica of the Google Doc spreadsheet that I am using to keep track of everything. You can log in to your Google account to make a copy, or you can download as an excel sheet.

Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Spend what you Sell Strategy Discussion:

• Have you tried anything like this?
• What decluttering strategies have worked for you?

Related Posts:

• Why Getting Rid of Clutter is Hard
• Craigslist Cars
• 3 Simple Strategies for Getting Rid of Clutter

The Spend What you Sell Strategy Gets Rid of Clutter & Makes you Money is copyrighted by 20somethingfinance.com without consent to republish.

Last week, Mint.com asked the question, “Should employees be allowed to nap at work?“.

It’s an interesting question, but with all the studies out there extolling the virtues of getting adequate sleep and taking naps when needed and the resulting productivity gains (see NASA study on naps at work significantly increasing working memory, or anything the National Sleep Foundation publishes, for example), perhaps the question should be re-phrased to:

“Why aren’t employees encouraged to take naps at work?”

It’s a question that more employers should explore.

Sure, there are jobs where napping is simply not possible, or at least not easily accommodated to. But there are a whole hell of a lot of jobs where napping is entirely possible and easily accommodated to (think any office job – it just takes a small pillow and just maybe an alarm clock).

I think the short answer to this question comes down to this: employers are afraid to encourage any activity that might even remotely (by nature) inhibit or challenge productivity.

The irony, in this case, is that naps represent a complete void in productivity – and at the same time the after-effects represent a net positive in overall productivity. And more balanced and happier employees.

Without a doubt, most workers are too damn tired and everyone could benefit from us getting a refresher. A 2008 National Sleep Foundation sleep study found that:

• 29 percent of those polled fell asleep or became very sleepy at work in the past month;
• 36 percent have nodded off or fallen asleep while driving, with; 32 percent reporting that they drive drowsy at least 1 to 2 times per month and 26 percent drive drowsy during the workday;
• 14 percent have missed family events, work functions and leisure activities in the past month due to sleepiness;
• 12 percent were late to work in the past month because of sleepiness.

Do Employees Really have the Choice to Sleep at Work?

No. At least the ones who want to keep their jobs. About 50% of Fortune 500 employers will fire you for napping at work. Nobody is going to be the ‘pioneer’ at his/her workplace to start the trend of napping at work, if not encouraged first by their employer to do so. And the ones who are doing so, are doing it privately, which creates a guilty relationship with your employer even though you are doing something healthy for yourself that will improve your overall performance.

To the employers – when I say ‘encouraged’, I don’t mean turning a blind eye, I’m talking about placing a pillow and 15 minute alarm clock at everyone’s desk and sending a company-wide email encouraging employees to take naps if they need it. That’s ‘encouragement’!

Nap at Work Discussion:

• Have you ever napped at work? Does your employer encourage or accept it?
• Does napping at work improve your productivity?
• If napping at your workplace is not currently encouraged, would you do it if it was?
• Have you heard of another getting reprimanded or fired for napping at work?

Related Posts:

• The U.S. is the most Overworked Developed Nation
• I Hate my Job!
• Job Security
• Why Job Performance is Mostly Unrelated to Job Security

Napping at Work – Why don’t Employers Encourage it? is copyrighted by 20somethingfinance.com without consent to republish.

Shopping for flights is often a painful experience. I usually want the a combination of the cheapest flight with the shortest flight time. I’m willing to throw in a stop or two for a cheaper price, so long as the total flight time doesn’t skyrocket. And I might be willing to pay a tad bit more for what I deem to be a better airline.

I think that a lot of the readers probably have similar tastes when picking flights. The problem is that airfare comparison shopping sites like Orbitz, Priceline, Kayak, and Expedia don’t offer a very intuitive interface to shop for the best flight.

I just came across a new flight comparison site called Hipmunk. Fun name, but I’m not sure exactly what a chipmunk, or a ‘hipmunk’, for that matter, has to do with airfare comparison shopping. Oh well, that’s part of the fun I guess. Anyhow, Hipmunk basically does a visual search that is so much easier and more intuitive than any of the aforementioned flight comparison sites. I’ll take you through a search so you can see what I’m talking about.

Hipmunk Flight Search

Very simple in its design, Hipmunk’s homepage starts out with a search much like other flight comparison sites. You can leave the return date blank if you want just a one way and can shop for the return flight later.

Hipmunk Flight Comparison Results

Once you’ve completed your search, you get a very pleasant results page. If you have particular times you know you don’t want to fly (I usually am not willing to get on a flight before 9 AM or a red-eye coming home, for example), you can slide the little arrow to narrow your search to the times you want.

A couple of notes about the interface:

• the tan sections on a flight indicate a stop (and the airport you’d be stopping at)
• if no tan section, it’s a direct flight
• hover over a flight to get specific departure and arrival times
• click on a flight for specific flight details
• you can sort by agony (works in price and flight length) which is the default, or strictly by price, stops, departure, arrival, or duration

Another neat thing about the interface is that it automatically filters out flights that it deems to be worse than the ones showing in the results, to reduce clutter. On the right, you can restore these flights to the results, if you’d like by clicking on the little number with a down arrow. Once you click on it though, you can usually see why it is filtered out. For example, flights that cost more and have a longer duration are automatically filtered out. Why anyone would choose those flights is beyond me.

Choosing your Flight

After choosing the first leg of your flight, Hipmunk will prompt you to choose a return flight. Choose your return flight, and then Hipmunk gives you the option to buy on Orbitz.

Final Thoughts on Hipmunk

I don’t know for sure, but I’m guessing sending referrals to Orbitz is how Hipmunk makes its money – as an Orbitz affiliate. I’ve found all the flight shopping comparison sites to be identical in the prices they show, so buying from Orbitz is as good as any of the others. I’m surprised that these flight comparison sites haven’t developed an interface as intuitive and enjoyable to use as Hipmunk. Perhaps, Hipmunk is looking to sell their technology to one of them ultimately? Who knows. All I know is that Hipmunk is the site that I’m starting off all of my flight searches on for the time being. They succeed in making a painful process kind of fun for a change.

Related Posts:

• How to Avoid Theft When Traveling Abroad
• Using an ISIC International Student Identity Card for Travel Savings
• How to Find the Cheapest Flights
• Couchsurfing

Hipmunk Makes Airfare Comparison Shopping Fun for a Change is copyrighted by 20somethingfinance.com without consent to republish.

Why is getting rid of clutter so dang hard? For starters, we tend to get emotionally attached to things. We tend to think that all of these material possessions symbolize a piece of us. And if we get rid of them, we are ‘throwing our past away’. We can even hear a faint, fading, yet hideous scream, “NOOOO!!!!” as we toss our Mr. T air fresheners, M.C. Hammer pants, and Metallica t-shirts into the trash.

Each of the last 2 times I’ve moved dwellings, I’ve had to upgrade to a bigger truck. That is ridiculous.

Because it’s a constant personal struggle, I’ve covered this topic in the past pretty extensively (see links at the bottom of this post), but I’m afraid that I may have been a little too simplistic in my de-cluttering strategies. Until now…

De-Clutter Requires Guerrilla Tactics:

You wouldn’t defend your house from invading Guatemalans with a Smith & Wesson pistol, would you? Heck no, you’d want to pull out the big artillery. I’m talking Tommy Guns, grenades, and rocket launchers.

Simply going through your things and saying ‘yes, I’ll keep it’ or ‘no, I won’t keep it’ isn’t going to cut it. This isn’t an exercise where you can sit back on the defensive. It’s time to take it to the enemy. So here are some guerrilla tactic approaches to de-cluttering.

Tactic #1: Buy your Clutter Back Tactic

• 

  Step 1: Round up everything that you don’t use at least once a week and pile it all into one big room or in the yard.

• Step 2: This will admittedly take an entire day to do. So find a nice CD (one that you listen to frequently, because everything else is going in the pile).
• Step 3: Do a rough count of all the items in your pile. Write down the number.
• Step 4: Go to the bank and get a number of pennies that is equivalent to one-quarter of the number.
• Step 5: Buy back your stuff until the pennies are gone.

Congrats, you’ve just eliminated three-quarters of your clutter!

Why it works: The ‘Buy your Clutter Back’ tactic works because it forces you to go beyond ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and actually prioritize what you value the most. In a way, it is like you briefly do not own your stuff anymore. It makes you ask the question “if I had to go out and buy that again, would I?”. In most cases, the answer is ‘no’.

Tactic #2: The No Use, It’s Clutter Tactic

• Step 1: Again, round up everything that you don’t use at least once a week and pile it all into one big room or in the yard.
• Step 2: Go to a local department store and get a lot of boxes.
• Step 3: Box it all up. Everything. Seal it shut. And don’t label it.
• Step 4: Live your life for 12 months.
• Step 5: If you had to go into the boxes and get something to use, keep it. If not, get rid of it.

Why it works: The ‘No Use, No Clutter’ tactic works because it does not judge. You either had a use for something or you did not over the year. I specifically chose the year period because it allows you to get through all 4 seasons, if you life in such a climate. You can probably use a much smaller time period if you live in a different climate. If you didn’t use something over a year, you probably don’t need to keep it.

Tactic #3: The Out of Mind, Out of House Tactic

• Step 1: Once again, round it all up, box it, and seal it.
• Step 2: This time wait 1 month.
• Step 3: Grab a pen and paper and a kitchen timer (hopefully you didn’t box it up).
• Step 4: Give yourself half an hour to write down everything you want to keep that is boxed up.
• Step 5: Get rid of all stuff you didn’t write down.

Why it works: The ‘Out of Mind, Out of House’ tactic works because it forces you to really think about the things that are important to you in a limited amount of time. If you’ve completely forgot about something after just a month, do you really need it anymore?

De-clutter Discussion:

• What unique de-cluttering tactics have you used? Did they work?
• Have you tried one of these clutter-busting tactics? How did it work?
• Are you willing to try one of these tactics?

Related Posts:

• 8 Personal Finance Spring Cleaning Ninja Moves
• How to Get Rid of E-Clutter
• The Story of Stuff
• How to Sell your Stuff Online

3 Guerrilla Tactics to Get Rid of Clutter is copyrighted by 20somethingfinance.com without consent to republish.

There are two categories that I generally don’t skimp on (which I’ll get to in a minute). Don’t get me wrong, I’m still always looking for the best deal or for ways to keep my expense as low as possible without sacrificing quality.  But I generally pay more than I probably should for these things:

1. Food

A few weeks back, I highlighted the 6 food characteristics that I’m not willing to sacrifice for cost savings. Taste is an underrated sensation. And I want to eat healthy food that is also ethically sound. I just can’t ever see myself sacrificing my favorite foods to save a few bucks.

2. Sporting Hobbies

There are four sports that I’m pretty passionate about and I’m willing to pay top dollar for the best goods:

Disc Golf: I’ve highlighted how to play disc golf on 20somethingfinance before. It’s an addictive and wonderfully frugal sport (most courses are free to play). The discs themselves cost about $10-$15. And I have a ton. I carry about 5 drivers, 2 mid-range discs, and two putters. And a top of the line bag. But since I get out once a week and don’t have to pay to play, I don’t feel a bit guilty.

Tennis: Tennis is another gloriously cheap sport. A new pack of balls every month and new strings once a year, and you’re good to go. Except – when you need a new racket. Good rackets can cost in the upwards of $300. And in my opinion, they are worth every penny.

Cycling: I have one of those goofy hybrid bikes, but my Tour de France obsession has be clamoring for a shiny new road bike. I know that I’d get a lot of use out of it, and it’s a very healthy activity (if you don’t get hit). When I do get a new road bike, it’s going to take a nice chunk out of my bank account.

Ultralight Backpacking: This is my Achilles heal of costly guilty pleasures. As I highlighted in my REI review (which is why I got the REI membership to save 10% on gear), ultralight backpacking is incredibly expensive. In my latest spending binge, I have been able to cut the weight of my tent and sleeping bag more than in half. I expect to do the same with my bag. But those upgrades certainly haven’t been cheap. However, when I’m able to hike twice as far and twice as fast because I don’t feel like I’m dragging a little person around on my back, then the added expense will definitely come to fruition as money well spent.

Costly Pleasure Discussion:

But enough about me. I want to hear what your costly pleasures are (guilty or not). Please share with everyone!

Related Posts:

• Wants Vs. Needs Budgeting
• How to Cut Down on Impulse Buying

What are your Costly Pleasures? is copyrighted by 20somethingfinance.com without consent to republish.

Material clutter is not the only ‘object’ that we become indebted to. These days, it’s just as easy to feel overwhelmed and stressed out by a different type of clutter. I’m talking about electronic clutter (or E-clutter). You can’t touch it and you won’t need a Two Men & a Truck to move it around, but it’s there. And it’s controlling your life – if you let it.

Kind of ironic, isn’t it? Living in a digital world takes no substantive material ‘space’, yet it can have such a profound overbearing impact on our ‘mental space’. For some of us, it might make the battle with material clutter seem easy. I’m going to highlight a few of the biggest types of e-clutter and how to fight them.

Email Clutter

Using your inbox as a to-do list? We’ve all been guilty of it. Keeping emails around as mental reminders. Well, those reminders are like having post-it notes all over your house. They are there until you get rid of them. Here’s a few tips on how to limit email clutter – which may be the worst kind of e-clutter of all:

• Use GMail. GMail is where it’s at. I made the switch from Yahoo about 3 years ago, and I’d never look back. I’m not going to list all the benefits here, you’ll just have to trust me on this one. GMail makes email organization soooo much easier.
• Archive Everything: Seriously. Just do it. If it was important enough to require a response the first time around, it will come up again. This is particularly effective after coming back from a vacation. Scary? Yes. Effective? You bet.
• Auto-Archive: Have permissive spam that you get from retailers you like or non-profits you work with? Auto-archive it so that it skips your inbox. Check it when you get free time.

MP3 Clutter

I have a simple rule here. If I always skip a song when it comes up in the play list, I delete it. Some songs you just grow away from with time. It’s OK to acknowledge it, remove the nostalgia, and move on with your life.

RSS Clutter

I need some help on this one. RSS is incredibly addicting. I subscribe to over 30 blogs/websites and try to at least skim through every post that comes through. It’s time consuming. Please offer your tips on this one! My best strategy thus far has been to delete the feeds that I always skim through and never stop to fully read. I’ve also organized my feeds into topic categories: work-related, fun, personal finance, self-help, etc. Still, I’m struggling on this one.

Document Clutter

I’ve found that the best way to get rid of old documents is to sort by ‘date modified’. Anything you haven’t modified in two years most likely needs to be updated or you can just delete it. Important docs that I always access have found a shortcut on my desktop. Also, uploading docs to Google Docs has become an effective way to have everything in the cloud, and it’s all searchable.

Facebook/Twitter Clutter

E-clutter at its finest. There are a few apps out there designed to make these two productivity killers more efficient, yet they can still dominate your time. A best practice here is to follow or friend only people that you are truly interested in getting updates from. I think that we feel compelled to follow someone who follows us or to accept every friend request. You don’t need to do it. If you find yourself always skipping over someone’s updates, unfriend them.

Digital Clutter Discussion:

• Have you tried these strategies? Did they work? What problems did you run into?
• What’s been the most difficult type of e-clutter to get control of?
• What’s a worse problem for you – e-clutter, or material clutter?

Related Posts:

• 5 Easy Steps to Eliminate your Junk Mail
• Complete Guide to Effectively Organizing your Paperwork & Mail
• 3 Guerrilla Strategies to Get Rid of Clutter
• How to Sell your Stuff Online
• 12 Garage Sale Tips

Ways to Minimize the Material Impact of E-Clutter is copyrighted by 20somethingfinance.com without consent to republish.

Get Rid of Clutter Strategy #1: One Comes in, One Goes Out

The strategy here is that every time you bring something new into your dwelling, you take something out. An example would be buying a pair of new socks and getting rid of your most hole-ridden pair of socks that you own. Three new books? Sell or donate three older ones. Want to speed up the de-cluttering process? Make it two things out for every one in. Good luck with that one!

Get Rid of Clutter Strategy #2: Keep it, Sell it, Donate it, Trash it

Keep it, sell it, donate it, recycle it, trash it is a systematic way of going through everything that you own and making one those four decisions on each item. Earlier in the year we discussed five of the best ways to get rid of your stuff, selling on Ebay, selling on Amazon, Garage Sales, Craigslist, and donation. If one of these isn’t an option give it away via Freecycle or curbside or recycle it if you can. Last resort, trash it.

Get Rid of Clutter Strategy #3: The Philisophical “What would I Take with me?” Method

This is probably the most fun way to tackle clutter, but maybe the most difficult because it does require a lot of energy. The method is to apply a philosophical question to your stuff. Here are some examples:

• “If I had one car load to move things across the country, what would I bring?”
• “If the Apocalypse hit tomorrow and I had one backpack worth of stuff to take with me, what would I take?”
• “What would I want to pass along to loved ones when I die?”

Don’t think about it too hard!

Clutter Discussion:

• How have defeated physical clutter?
• Have you tried these strategies? Did they work? What problems did you run into?
• Do you have more or less ‘stuff’ now than you did a year ago?

Related Posts:

• Why Getting Rid of Clutter is so Dang Hard
  
• 5 Easy Steps to Eliminate your Junk Mail
• Complete Guide to Effectively Organizing your Paperwork & Mail

3 Simplistic Strategies for Getting Rid of Clutter is copyrighted by 20somethingfinance.com without consent to republish.

Why it is so Hard to Eliminate Clutter

But, honestly, it’s damn hard to let go of things. The reason you have ‘things’ that you no longer use is that they – at some point in your life – were important to you. Since these things were important to you at one point, there’s that side of your conscientiousness that whispers to you ‘it may be important to you once again’ or ‘this object is a little piece of you. Get rid of it, and you’re getting rid of a piece of yourself’.

But ask yourself this question: “would my life be any different tomorrow without this object?”. If the answer is no, and the object offers to clear circumstance where it may come in handy in the foreseeable future, then why hold on to it? In fact, wouldn’t getting rid of that ‘thing’ take a little bit of weight off your shoulders? Even if the answer is clearly ‘yes’, it’s still not easy.

Common Clutter that I struggle with:

I’m sure I’m not the only person to struggle in eliminating these types of items – but these are my clutter Achilles’ heals:

• CD’s
• VHS and DVD’s
• Books
• Magazines
• Clothes
• Paper documents
• Pictures

A New Kind of Clutter – Electronic Clutter

As if getting rid of physical objects in your life wasn’t tough enough, a new kind of clutter has krept into our lives in the last decade. This clutter is just as, if not more, disruptive in one’s life than the physical kind. Let’s call it ‘E-Clutter’ or ‘Electronic Clutter’. Examples of E-clutter include:

• Docs
• MP3′s
• Email
• Jpg’s
• Tweets
• Facebook comments
• RSS feeds
• Text messages

Just when I thought I was getting the physical clutter under control, E-clutter has really impacted me in ways that steal my focus and my free time.

How to Eliminate Physical and Electronic Clutter

The topic of clutter elimination is one that I take pretty seriously as I find ways to try to simplify my life. Because it’s a topic that many of us struggle with, I want to cover it in a series of posts that will hopefully lead to some good discussions. Before we get into the specifics of clutter elimination, please share your thoughts on how clutter has impacted you.

Eliminating Clutter Discussion:

• Is clutter something that you struggle with?
• What kind of impact does clutter have on your emotional/mental well being?
• What types of clutter do you struggle with the most?

Related Posts:

• 5 Easy Steps to Eliminate your Junk Mail
• Complete Guide to Effectively Organizing your Paperwork & Mail
• The Effective Simplicity of Budgeting by Envelopes

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