It's very easy to accumulate things.  E-mail comes in without our asking it to.  Laundry piles swell unremittingly.  Daily snail mail brings with it a pile of paper.  Everything we say “yes” to tends to hang around until we actually do something to terminate it.  There are some things we say “yes” to that seem interminable (can we all say together “neighborhood association board?”).

When we are in our younger years, let's say our 20's, we tend to believe that the more we acquire, the better we have it.  By extension, the better we have it, the better we are.

I would say when I was in my 20's (yes, I still can remember thank you), I was not so much about accumulating things because I was knee-deep in graduate school, not making much moolah, and had too little time to focus on acquiring things.  Too much on my hands already.

But then, in my 30's, with the pressures of graduate school behind me and some income coming in, it seemed the wisest way to spend my leisure time was to accumulate things.  I wasn't after anything in particular.  Whatever “need” arose, I suddenly developed the great capacity to acquire the thing that would satisfy that “need” so that I would no longer feel that “need.”  What a great system.  Following that system for several years, I convinced myself that I was capable, because I could take care of myself this way.

Unfortunately for me, only part of that taking care of myself was working.  Yes, I was able to spot a problem and handle it.  But I was not taking care of myself in terms of making sure my acquisitions balanced out other important items like:

• my actual need (not just my perceived one)
• my budget (I didn't keep one)
• my space to house these acquisitions
• my time I had to spend to go get these items
• my need for rest and errand-less living
• whether these acquisitions made any sense in my overall life picture

Fast-forward to the present day.  I've spent the past few years — the past 12 to be exact — slowly learning how to curb the aforementioned system of self-care.  I reached a time in my life where real non-stuff matters easily trumped my desire to possess more.  I more recently reached a point in my life where I realized, I not only didn't want to be saddled with stuff, I also didn't want to be held back by living “the busy life.”  Being busy to look busy was making me tired, cranky, and pretty much unproductive all the time.  And please of course always remember whenever I tell you a personal story, you should factor in that you are reading about a chronic Procrastinator too.  I think that makes my story much more dramatic, don't you?

So what does this mean for you?

I could go on about this forever, but I know you are reading this because you want to get on with your life also.  You want to be free to move about as you please.

I suggest you take that potent wish and decide today which of the following categories you are going to take on first.  Are you going to cut out:

• e-mails?
• clutter?
• expenses?
• debts?
• appointments?
• stressors?
• memberships?
• apps on your phone?
• relationships that are purely not good for you?
• activities that don't make you feel well?

Recommendations for a successful go at this

With excess comes a feeling of being stagnant, heavy, and overburdened.  In light of that, please be kind and patient with yourself when you decide you are going to start getting rid of the excess.  I recommend chipping away rather than hacking away the excess in order to ensure your sanity remains intact.

Take an hour today and chip away.  Here are some general guidelines for doing so:

• target your current zone of excess
• spend 20 minutes in the zone with a focus on reducing, reducing, reducing
• quickly reset your zone (especially if you created a bit of a mess)
• set your plans for your next chipping away session
• praise yourself, breathe, and go on with your day
• repeat

Have a great day today.  And tomorrow.  Chip away.

Please share with us any stories you might have to share of reducing to get ahead.  I'd love to hear them.