Less is More

James Wallman, author of Stuffocation: Living More With Less, says we have more stuff than we could ever need – clothes we don’t wear, stuff we don’t use and toys we don’t play with.

But having everything we thought we wanted isn’t making us happier. It’s bad for the planet. It’s cluttering up our homes. It’s making us feel ‘Stuffocated’ and stressed. He defines “stuffocation” as a feeling of stress caused by having so many things that you do not know how to use or store them all.

It used to be cutting back was a sign of poverty. It was a sacrifice, but now we are turning it around to something positive. Here are some easy ways to cut back in 2020:

1. Donate any shoes you haven’t worn in a year
2. Open any email that you didn’t sign up for, or signed up for but don’t need/want/like anymore, scroll to the bottom of the email and click “unsubscribe”.
3. Bring two small bags to your car. Fill one with trash and the other with anything that doesn’t belong in the car.
4. Discard the duplicates. Walk through your home with a box and fill it with duplicates. If you have two sets of measuring cups, put them in the box. Copies of the same book or DVD? Put one in the box. Once you fill the box, label it “Duplicates” and put it out of sight for 30 days. If you don’t need anything or don’t remember what was in the box, donate it.
5. Bring a box into your bathroom and fill it with anything that has expired or that you don’t use or that will be expired by the time you use it.

Through decluttering, and focusing on the best things instead of all the things, you can create a life with more savings and less debt, more health and less stress, more space and less stuff, and more joy with fewer obligations.

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