Anything you cannot relinquish when it has outlived its usefulness possesses you, and in this materialistic age a great many of us are possessed by our possessions.

Peace Pilgrim (1908-1981) American Teacher and Spiritual leader and Peace Prophet

My house is in chaos! The children have taken to keeping to their rooms and have to weave their way around obstacles when they want to go anywhere else. Are we moving? No, although it might be easier for everyone if we were. What is taking place is a DECLUTTERING! After a talk I gave at the end of last month, in which we discussed Motivation and those things that could be holding you back, I decided it was time to once again follow my own advice and clear out all those things Id been hanging on to, especially those that I was keeping just in case. This is also a nudge to all of you who have been thinking about it but havent quite got round to starting your own decluttering.

So this brings me to the topic of possessions and their effect on us. What are your surroundings like? Are they full to the brim of anything and everything and a lot that youd forgotten you even owned, or is your home and workplace a haven of order and system where everything has a place and is in that place? Well, we can all aspire to the last, but I think that most of us are either in the first, or somewhere between the two. What can you start to do today to sort out your possessions and stop them possessing you?

With decluttering, timing is everything. Firstly identify the areas you need to address. Then decide how much time each day you are prepared or are able to commit to the process. Which area is causing you the most grief? Start there. If its a large area and you feel overwhelmed it will help to break it down into smaller areas. For example, your desk can be considered to be made up of the work-top, the drawers and if you have one, the integral cupboard. Decide which would be the most useful of these to get started on. If necessary use a timer to focus. It is amazing how much you can achieve in bursts of ten or fifteen minutes!

What have you been putting off? Is it that hall closet that you dont even open the door of anymore because youre afraid the contents will topple out and squish you? Or is it the messy drawer in the kitchen that seems to devour everything that you put in it and never spits them out again? Or that pile of paperwork that is growing beside or even on your desk that threatens to turn into an avalanche? Stop putting it off! Get started. Allocate yourself enough time and get going.

If it is other peoples stuff that is causing you grief, it is time to set policy! How are you going to handle it? What do you expect from the owner of that stuff? Are you prepared to negotiate with them to achieve a happy solution? It might be a bit tough to get this process started and you may have to be consistent with your reminders, but in the long run you will feel less stressed and more in control of the situation. Just ignoring it and hoping it will go away will achieve nothing!

Decluttering takes action and activity. By doing something each day and by setting systems in place to help you avoid a build-up again, you will feel so much more in control, and much more able to carry out your daily activities more efficiently. You could do a different area every single day. Within a very short time you see results. Youll be able to function so much more efficiently.

KEEP AT IT.

Do you like living with disorder and chaos? (Apologies to those of you who are already organized and orderly!) What will be the effect on you if you leave things as they are? And if you put in the effort and get things sorted. What will the effect on you then? Wanting the result will help you go the pain of getting there. Can you picture how it will be when you have finished? If necessary, close your eyes and do just that.

Get creative with your storage options and also how you intend to dispose of what you dont need or want any longer. Draw floor plans. Design simple and efficient systems. Can some of the things youve been hanging on to be used in other ways? There is so much scope for you to be creative.

Decluttering is all about getting rid of, or rationalizing, rather than getting more. In fact you will be gaining something, but the cost is time and effort, rather than monetary. What youll gain are surroundings that are more conducive to working, or relaxing. Youll have more space to function and those things that you do decide you want to keep will be there for a reason either because you really do need them or because you really love and appreciate them. You will possess your possessions rather than them possessing you.