The Habit That Helps Everyone
Boxes and bags represent clutter in virtually every home. And this type of clutter doesn’t just affect my clients who struggle with chronic disorganization – it affects everyone.
Developing the habit of UNPACKING THOSE BOXES AND BAGS RIGHT AWAY will help eliminate clutter in every home where it is practiced.
A tremendous amount of both physical and emotional clutter follows bags and boxes of purchased items into our homes.
The physical clutter literally relates to the presence of more “stuff.” The emotional clutter represents the weight of “to dos” which packed boxes and bags contain.
Here’s The Habit
As soon as it comes into the house, open the box. Then take the contents out and break down the box. Do it all in one step.
No more peeking into the box and leaving it to sit. Doing it right away immediately eliminates the physical bulk of the box, the need to navigate around it and rifling through the packaging to find what you need.
This habit sounds simple in theory, but is hard to execute at times.
The reason many of us struggle with unpacking is because items don’t have a designated home, so we don’t know what to do with them. And if we have to think too hard about something, we aren’t likely to do it.
The good news is that addressing the challenge of unpacking presents an opportunity to understand it and to correct it.
Why it works
Finding a place for everything we own means thinking about each item and intentionally putting it somewhere. That’s its home. When everything has a home we don’t have to think about where it should go, because we already know.
Creating homes for things is also an opportunity to remind yourself of why you purchased it, and to ask yourself if it really has value to you at this point in your life. Does it belong here? If so, give it a home.
It takes practice to establish any habit, and unpacking boxes and bags right away will help you physically clear your spaces and emotionally lighten your load. As you address and create homes for the things that really belong in your life, you’ll find it so much easier to let go of those things that do not.