Cutting down on my clutter

I recently read an article about trying to simplify your life by getting rid of things in your home that you don't use or rarely use. Often, when I try to get rid of things I turn first to my closets. A good place to start. However, this article urged me to look to my kitchen and bathroom as well. I ended up with a couple boxes of utensils I don't use, vitamins that have expired, and personal products that just seem excessive. I also went through my closet and got rid of stuff. While my life doesn't feel different, I am pleased that my load is lighter for when I make my next move. It now seems silly that I kept so much stuff. I'm sure at one point I just put the stuff aside thinking that I may want it again at some point.

Reducing the clutter in my life also helped with another goal I have, which is to slow down and enjoy life more thoroughly. Having less clutter in my life and fewer distractions will allow me to have more time to enjoy the moment, whatever it is that I am doing.

I no longer have the article I read with the list of things to get rid of. To me, that was unimportant. The takeaway was that I go through my surroundings and minimize the materialistic items that I did not need. There are many articles online that will give you an idea of where to start. Sometimes it is difficult to find a starting point when there is much to be done. Here are my tips and advice:

• Look up high in closets and go through all items that have not been in use in the past year. Will you ever use them again? Are you waiting for a certain kind of day or event that hasn't happened in a long time? This day or opportunity may not come. My closet example is a pair of shoes I wore to a wedding eight years ago. No longer in style and no longer needed. 

• Sift through your kitchen drawers, you know the ones where you store odds and ends. Do you need to store these odds and ends? There's a reason they have been given that name. They are odd and you may not need to keep them. I found three beer cozies, and I never use cozies. They were just taking up space. 

• Check your bathroom cabinets. Make sure you're not hanging onto products that you no longer use. Many bottles are left half full when the owner finds a better product. You don't need to keep that subpar product. You don't need to keep the medications you did not finish up and I didn't need the giant horse pill vitamins that didn't work.

• Survey the items in your home office. If you're like me, you like to keep books. I like to have them around to remind me of the good stories I've read. Now, I strive to keep only books that I loved or those I may read again. I had to do quite a bit of cleaning out of old grad school papers and text books. They no longer served a purpose. 

I hope you'll use this as a start to make your life less complicated and less busy. The key to your happiness may lie in a life that is more simple.