20 Lies About Clutter | Stop Believing This! ⛔️

Today, I'm going to talk about something that might be a little bit unpopular because I'm basically talking about ways that we lie to ourselves about our clutter. Before we dive in, I want to let you know that this video is sponsored by Squarespace and I'll share more about them later. I know that people just really love it when you tell them that their belief system or their way of thinking about things is wrong. But I think that it's important that we are offered another perspective, another way to look at something that we feel like is maybe insurmountable or is just like the way it is and the way it has to be. I don't believe that that's ever the case. I do have another video you can check out that's called This Is Why You Have So Much Clutter, where I talk about fear, holding us back from letting things go. And I talk about how our excuses are just like sugarcoated defeat. They're these just things, these stories that we tell ourselves over and over again that really keep us stuck and lower the ceiling on what we're able to accomplish, especially inside of our space. So often I hear from people who just have these different beliefs about their clutter or about going clutter free. They really just aren't true. And so today I'm going to be sharing 20 lies that we tell ourselves about our clutter. Hey, everybody, welcome back to the channel. And of course, if you're new here, then welcome. My name is Mia Danielle and I chat all about holistic and clutter free spaces. So if that's something you're into, be sure to click subscribe and turn on those notifications. I release new videos every Tuesday. Number one is the common saying better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. Have you ever found yourself saying that before? I know that it's really common. I mean, it's a phrase because so many people truly do believe that that's the truth. But is it a lot of the things that we hold on to just in case are not things that we're going to readily or usually be needing and they end up just taking up all of our space in our drawers and in our cabinets, our bins and cubbies and all over the place that detracts from our daily ability to enjoy our space. So if you're ever feeling frustrated and overwhelmed or paralyzed by the clutter in your space, would you say that that is a better option than possibly not having something that you might potentially or potentially not need at some point in the future? Number two is going clutter free means that I'll need to get rid of fill in the blank. I'll need to get rid of my art collection or I'll need to get rid of these sentimental items. I don't know why people think that clutter free living or minimalism means that you have some strict set of rules that you have to adhere to. But you don't. If you're using something or you're actively getting joy out of it, it's not really clutter in the first place. So there's no reason to think that getting rid of clutter means that you can't also have things that you truly love and get value out of. I'm not sure why people think that that's the case, but I do hear it a lot and it's just not true. Number three is the big sunk cost fallacy that it is wasteful to get rid of things that are in perfectly good condition or that have value, even though you don't really like them. It's not your style. You're not going to use it. But, you know, somebody paid a lot of money for it. So it seems wasteful to let go of something that has value. I think that if we change our perception and the way that we look at these belongings to be more factual, more black and white and less story and gray area, it becomes so much easier to create a clutter free space. Is it more wasteful to give something of value away to somebody else who could actually use it or to even sell it for some kind of monetary profit, even if it's not the same amount that you spend on it initially? Or is it more wasteful to shove it up in a closet somewhere or push it to the back of a cabinet and just hold it? For the sake of holding it, you're paying for the space that you're using. So if you're using all of this space for things that you're not using, then it's kind of a waste of money in itself. Right. It's not like you're getting the money back for that thing by holding on to it. Number four is I'm not organized enough to be clutter free or I'm not organized enough to be a minimalist. Those people are just super organized. And honestly, the two don't directly relate to each other. People who are super organized or even borderline OCD with their organization and like to do the labeling and the bins and the color coding and all of that stuff, which is fine, it's great. But I think that a lot of times those people have more difficulty getting rid of things because they're so great at organizing the stuff that they have. And when you're really good at organizing and you're really into buying the big, expensive, extravagant types of organizers, it also makes it really easy to hide in the back of all of these organization systems. So I personally am more about super simple in your face types of organization systems and then just keeping the things that you want and need inside of those spaces. So don't feel like you have to be an organized person, which not everybody is. The two are not the same thing. Number five is one that personally irks me a little bit. And that is the idea that I can't declutter or go clutter free with kids. And I think that this one hits a little more personally to me because I do have two kids and now they're teenagers. But they weren't when I first started all of this. You know, I was a single mom for many years. It was just me and two preschool elementary aged little girls. I think that the whole idea that if I have kids, I can't be clutter free is just clearly not true to me because I was able to do it. And in fact, it made my life as a mother so much easier, even initially started going clutter free at the beginning, which I've shared many times because I became a single mom and because I suffered with things like anxiety and depression and just unpredictable energy patterns. And I wanted a space that was going to support me when I had depleted energy. Right. And that is what I got from having a clutter free space, especially because I had kids. So when people say, oh, well, I have kids and they have all of their toys and they are super messy and all of that. It just doesn't really resonate with me because I think that if you're feeling extra stressed and chaotic, then that's just really all the more reason to declutter and get some of the stuff out. Number six is I'm not a clean freak. I don't want to spend all day wiping down surfaces and cleaning up things. I have better things I'd like to do with my time. A lot of people just assume that because you're clutter free or because you have an interest in minimalism, that you must also be a clean freak. They're only related in the fact that when you have less stuff, things become easier to clean. And in fact, you know, I've said before, I used to have this banner that said minimalism because I hate to clean. And that is so true. Like, I am not a big fan of cleaning. Sometimes I might get in the mood to do some spring cleaning, but it is definitely not a part of my daily routine and it's not something that I wake up eager to do. And so I don't think that people have the right idea whenever they are saying, well, I'm not a clean freak, so I can't get rid of the clutter. Well, because you're not a clean freak, it would do you well to get rid of the clutter because you're going to have less stuff to clean. Number seven is that it's rude to get rid of gifts. This is a really considerate and sweet concern to have. But again, it's really moving out of the whole black and white area of I have this thing, I'm not going to use it. Therefore, I will give it to somebody who could and instead layering in all of these stories about, well, how is this person going to feel? What are they going to think? What if they come over to my home and they ask to see it and I don't have it? And then this whole conference, like you just add all of these stories and layers to something that really is a very simple fact of I have this belonging in my home, I'm not going to use it. Therefore, I'm not going to allow it to take up my space. And I say the thought is what counts. But really, like the idea behind the gift is the gift. Hopefully the people who give you gifts feel this way, too. And if they don't, it's really not your fault. It's their fault once it's given to you. Now it's your belonging to do with as you please. And if somebody gives you a gift and they give it with some kind of oppressive intention of you constantly using it and storing it and cleaning it and having it, that's their fault. If they expected or had some grand expectations that came along with the gift. Number eight is I can't declutter because I have low energy or it might be because I'm sick or because I'm elderly, all of these different reasons that are very valid reasons, I mean, there are medical conditions, there are disabilities, there are people who just physically don't have the abilities that maybe other people have, there are always things that can be done. And I think that people really discount the things that can be done, that whole, you know, I can't do everything, but I can do something. And so even if you can't do something, maybe the something that you can do is look for somebody who's looking for a little extra cash and maybe just see how much they're willing to help you clear out for twenty dollars, you know, and maybe for twenty dollars, somebody can come declutter one of your storage areas or something, you know, like you have methods and ways to work around things. And if you can't afford at all to hire somebody to help out like that, then there's always that organic decluttering. I talk about organic decluttering in this video on how to find the time to declutter, because a lot of times finding the time to declutter isn't just about being too busy to find the time, but it's about the time of having good, strong energy to be able to do the tasks. It's very limiting to say, well, because of this, because I have low energy, because I just don't have enough time of positive, strong energy to be able to bust through this whole thing, I just can't do it. Instead, try thinking, how can I do this? It is still possible. It just may take a little extra effort and it may take a little extra time. Struggle does not equal defeat. I think that it's really important to acknowledge that we don't all have the same struggles. We don't all have the same life situations, but that struggle in itself doesn't equal defeat. The same goes for number nine, which is something I've heard many times. And that is, I'll always have clutter because I have ADD or ADHD. Again, that's worth talking about because it is a legitimate thing, like having constant distractions and feeling overwhelmed by the stimulus. It can really slow down your progress. But I also have seen many studies that say that having a clutter free space helps the ADHD. It helps to remove those distractions and to allow for focus on the things that you're trying to focus on. So look at the positive benefits of that. And again, think of how can I make this process work for me? It may be that you need a little bit of a different system or that you need baby steps or that you need to just completely shut yourself in a room and put a sign on the door that says, don't leave this room until this, this and this is done to remind you every time you go to leave the room. You know, just there are things that you can do. But to say I can't or that, you know, I'll always have this problem. I feel like that's a little bit defeating. And I don't think that we should let any kind of life struggle or life circumstance hold that much power. Number 10 is decluttering is only worth it if everybody is on board. Yes, it can be hindering if you have a significant other who is constantly bringing in things and undoing your progress, but you can still make progress. And I've spoken to so many students who have started the process of getting the clutter out and moving more in the clutter free direction. And their spouse just followed suit. If you just hold this belief that, well, everybody's not on board, so I just can't do it, then that's always going to be the case because you're not trying new things. Also, there are always other methods. I have an entire video on what to do when your significant other isn't on board every single day. I talk to people who have one cluttered spouse or one non minimalist spouse while the other one is a minimalist. And you can see tons of YouTube videos. I'm one of those people who believes, well, if anybody can do it, then I can do it. If you see all of these people who are in that exact same boat and they say, it actually works for me, I'm able to have at least a better condition inside of my space than I did before because of trying X, Y and Z, then there's no reason to believe that you couldn't also try some of those things. And of course, even decluttering your own stuff makes a difference. If you declutter your own clothes that only you have responsibility for, you're going to find a difference in being able to get dressed and being able to feel more put together when you wake up in the morning and go to your closet. Number 11 is very common. I just don't have time to declutter. It's not like our time throughout the year is exactly the same. I think a lot of times we even have cycles of busyness and then cycles of downtime. And I think that that's just totally normal. It's the way of life. It's the way of the seasons and nature and the world. We have times that are busy, but again, there are always options. There's the option to temporarily hire some help who is looking just for a little extra cash on the side. Some kid who likes to do babysitting, but is also cool with coming over and helping you go through a few boxes. Or again, I'll defer you back to my video on finding the time to declutter and learning how to just declutter organically when you're already standing in a place. Another thing that I think is really big and impactful is doing something like habit tracking, understanding when you have more time inside of your day or inside of your schedule and just planning decluttering projects around that maybe you don't have the time to declutter for the next week or two, but have a big break after that, where you have plenty of time to declutter. So just really breaking down your schedule. Think about the return of investment, just like it takes money to make money. People say, well, sometimes it takes time in order to make time when you remove the clutter and you create a space that you're not having to spend so much time keeping up after you're saving time when you create a space that invigorates you and energizes you and that isn't distracting because it doesn't have clutter so you're able to be more productive, you're saving time. So think about the return of investment. And instead of thinking, I don't have the time to get the clutter out. Think, well, do I have the time to not get the clutter out? Number 12 is I need more storage. People will say I need better storage solutions because I have tons of storage, but it's still not enough to hold the things that I have and to me, that's a red flag that you don't need more storage. You need less stuff. I think that if we go along our homes with this thought pattern of, hey, if my storage is bursting at the rims, I don't need more storage. I need less stuff. It's really going to put a different light on things. It's going to spin things around for you a little bit. And you're going to see that you actually do have more things that you could get rid of. And maybe you actually don't need more storage right now. Number 13 is I'm just too sentimental to let stuff go. I'm just too sentimental. I can't do it. I think that this is a really big belief barrier that so many people have. And it keeps people from being able to create the space that they want because of all of this emotional collecting. I will say I am not the most sentimental person when it comes to belongings. I kind of worked my way out of that many years ago. But I still have things that are sentimental. If you watched my video on my ultimate guide to decluttering papers, I show you my entire memory box, cards, letters that the girls had written over the years, where this becomes a problem is when people start to over identify as everything being sentimental. If everything is sentimental, then nothing is sentimental. I like to think of it like a candy bar, right? There's nothing wrong with having a candy bar, maybe even sneaking in another one. But what about 20 or 40 or 50? At some point, that candy bar becomes a form of self-sabotage. And many times that's what we do with our space. We sabotage our space by holding on to and identifying too many things as being sentimental, even things that really aren't. Number 14 is the belief that being clutter free means that your space has to be cold and boring and austere and just not enjoyable and not warm and cozy. I think that there are so many people out there who disprove this all the time, like I watch people like Ashlyn Eaton. I think she has a very warm and cozy space. I did my own home tour last week. You can check it out right here where I share that my goal is to create a space that does feel cozy and that does feel inviting and warm and still have a clutter free space. And it's absolutely attainable. I'm not sure why so many people feel that clutter equates comfort. Number 15 is the lie that decluttering is just always overwhelming and paralyzing. And I know where this comes from, because I have tons of students who joined my program because it feels so overwhelming. Emotion of overwhelm is the number one thing that leads to inaction and people just not taking any steps at all. In reality, there are tons of ways and tons of strategies that you can use to keep the process from being overwhelming. Take baby steps, do organic decluttering where you're only decluttering the areas that you are. Take a program like my course, Clutter Cure, that walks you through step by step and walks through the mindsets and the emotions. Free checklist that just walks you through different areas to pay attention to inside of your home. And I'm always mentioning other people's resources as I come across them. So just keep your eyes open and find what works for you. Number 16 is something that I personally think is kind of silly, but I've definitely had people mention it before. That clutter free means no joy. If you don't want to have anything to make you happy or you don't want to have any joy in your life, then be sure to go clutter free, like you have to let go of all of the things that you love. And you can't have any kind of joy. You just have to sit in a big, empty, austere space and exist. And I think that that's so silly that people think that. I think it's the most ridiculous thing when I get these comments, because obviously the whole reason that you would want to get the clutter out is so that you can have more joy so that you can enjoy the things that actually are worthy of your enjoyment and not have to feel like you're constantly just picking up and taking care of things that you're not even using. I'm not sure why that one comes up, but it does. So I definitely had to add it to the list that that's just not true. Number 17 is another one that I hear quite frequently, and that is that I'm just too broke to go clutter free or I'm too broke to declutter these things. And again, this is one that I don't really understand, because if you're not using the things and they're clutter and they're excess anyway, how is that impacting your financial status to discard those things? If anything, if you're able to sell some of those things, you could actually have a stream of income coming in, especially if you have a super cluttered home or an entire basement full of boxes. Think of how much of that stuff you could potentially sell, whether you did a garage sale or just posted some things on offer up, I myself have made quite a bit over the years on just posting things that I'm not using on to offer up or Facebook marketplace. I'm not sure why people think that only rich people are OK with decluttering their things. That's really a mindset issue that is really prominent. I mean, money mindset is a real thing and a lot of people really do struggle with it. But I think that it's helpful when you take a step back and look at it a little more logically. If this is clutter, if I'm actually not using it, then it doesn't make sense to hold on to it as if that's improving my financial situation, number 18, decluttering isn't eco friendly. Now, granted, there are some things that can't be donated, that can't be recycled and that do inevitably need to be trashed because that's just the best option for those things. But there are so many things that can be recycled, that can be donated or given to somebody else who can use it. I have an entire article on specific ways that you can declutter things that maybe you weren't even aware you could recycle or that you weren't aware that there is a special donation facility just for that type of thing. I recommend that you take a look at that video if that's one of your reasons for holding on to things, because there are things that can be done in a more eco friendly, eco conscious way. Number 19 is that you lose a part of yourself when you let things go. This can oftentimes relate to things that are sentimental, but not always. Actually, it's funny. Matt used to tell me that when he was younger, he had an issue with even getting rid of a nickel because he knew that he would never be able to see that exact nickel again. And a lot of times people do attach to the permanence of letting go of something, even if it's not something that's sentimental. Just this whole idea of making this decision has a permanence to it. It's something that won't be taken back, that can't be undone. The idea of having something like that, that is a permanent change, is just scary to a lot of people in general. But that doesn't mean that letting go of those things is in any way going to cause you to lose a part of yourself or even to lose a memory. I read an article that was titled, the headline of it was you will forget the things that you love. That sounds a little bit scary, but when you actually opened it up and read the article, this person was sharing about all of these boxes and things that they used to hoard and hold on to because they felt like they were so valuable, like, oh, I love all of these things. And eventually they went through the process of getting rid of them and never missed them, never thought about them again. So in some ways, that is actually a refreshing thing, that these things that you think are so important and need to be a permanent fixture inside of your space, when you let those things go, you're probably going to forget about them. And that's not a bad thing. And number 20, I've touched on it a couple of different points throughout this list is that I have anxiety or depression and that keeps me from being able to declutter and to create a clutter free space. Even to this day, I still struggle with anxiety all the time. I don't struggle so much with the depression, but, you know, I understand what it's like. I have a whole other video here on minimalism and mental health that you might want to check out if this feels like it resonates with you. There are ways to plan around it, to pay attention to that whole cycle of energy that I talked about earlier. Habit tracking is an amazing way that I've been able to do that in the past. Find out when you have more energy, when you tend to have less energy, because a lot of times there are outside influences to that and you can kind of plan around those things and basically prepare in advance for the times when you inevitably are going to have lower energy. You know, even those who have anxiety, eventually after just days or weeks of highly anxious times, your energy will then plummet and you'll have to rest and take time. But if you plan for those in advance, understanding what your energy patterns tend to be, there are ways to create that space for yourself. And once you've created it, you're going to get that return of investment because you're going to have a space that supports you when you do take those down times. You're going to have a space that doesn't totally fall apart when you need to take that time for yourself. Hopefully this list was helpful for you. Let me know down in the comments which ones you really resonated with the most. Or if you can think of some other lies that you hear people say regarding their clutter that you want to point out or add to this list, I would love to hear those down below as well. But before we go, let me share a little bit about today's sponsor, Squarespace. Hey, this portion of the video is sponsored by Squarespace, the all in one platform for building any kind of website, whether it is e-commerce, a blog, a podcast or a portfolio. In my case, I recently used Squarespace to create a standalone page for my podcast, The Mind Your Home Podcast. This process was so easy. Squarespace is very intuitive and the templates were so gorgeous. So being a newbie to Squarespace, I really appreciated that they had the instructions right there for me. How do you create a page? How do you move pages around? How do you rename them? Editing was as simple as clicking the edit button and typing anywhere you want to change. There are so many options for content built right in. So you don't have to worry about plugins and you can change the fonts for the entire page. If I click on that, it changes the font throughout. I don't have to go through and make individual little nitpicky changes. I can change the entire vibe of the site at just a click of a button. As a business and a blogger, even more important than making everything look gorgeous and being intuitive. It's important that I have good SEO. I need for people to be able to search for and find my content. If I go to marketing, it gives me SEO options. It gives me promotional pop up options. So I don't have to use a third party in order to get my opt ins to pop up on the screen. Head on over to Squarespace.com to start your free trial. And when you're ready to launch, be sure to go to Squarespace.com forward slash Mia Danielle in order to get 10 percent off of your website or domain. Thank you to Squarespace for sponsoring this. And thanks to you for watching. And I will chat with you next week.