Declutter

Throwing stuff I don't need, right away.

This has:

1. Reduced the clutter in my life.
2. Made my environment cleaner and neater.
3. Given the important things in my life a better chance at being front and center.

Decluttering helps, but throwing stuff I don't need at the moment I get it means I don't even need to spend time and energy decluttering afterwards.

The way I do it is heavily influenced by David Allen's GTD (Getting Things Done) system and Peter Walsh.

Say I get a pen as a door gift:

1. I ask if I want to take an action on this? Since this pen isn't asking anything from me, I go to step 2.
2. Does this item add to my life or take away from it? Does this thing help me move closer to the vision I have of my life?
3. If something isn't actionable, I can either: Trash it or keep it. If I need a pen, I keep it. If I remember that I have a lot of pens in the office already, I don't take the gift or try to pass it to someone else. If the pen is hideous, it doesn't help me move closer to the vision I have of my life, so I get rid of it.

This quote from Peter Walsh has helped me make my life simpler:

It’s not about the stuff – it’s about the life you wish to live... It’s important to remember that what you own and where and how you live is a reflection of the person you are. A clutter-free, organized life is about living in a way that helps create your best possible life – happy, stress-free, creative, motivated and enriching. Happiness can’t be found in the quantity of stuff we own, it’s in the quality of relationships that we form. What we own should foster that life, not be a hurdle to it.

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