Discover the root causes of your clutter and how to be free of it with the tips and strategies (along with some pretty hilarious stories) shared by well-respected clutter-clearing expert Kathi Lipp.
Kathi specializes in approaching this challenging issue from a biblical perspective. And don’t worry, she’s not some neat freak whose going to shame us messy Marys. Rather, she has overcome her own struggles with stashing stuff and she knows the fear, guilt, and shame that keep us stuck in our piles of junk. She has conquered her clutter and is living clutter free and wants to help us do the same.
So get ready to laugh out loud and be equipped to confront your stuff and make the mindset shift to living clutter free.
Discoveries Awaiting You in This Episode:
- True clutter (as opposed to the day-to-day little messes of living life) must be confronted and dealt with if we want our homes to provide an appropriate sense of security and relaxation. [7:28 ]
- There is a connection between the state of your relationship with God and the root issues fueling your clutter problem. [10:48]
- How to decide what to keep and what needs to go. Kathi’s 3 questions will guide your clutter-clearing decisions. [8:00] Kathi’s hilarious story of her parent’s cast iron coffee grinder is a great illustration of how to know when its okay to keep something you don’t actually use. [9:05]
- How to know if you’re holding on to something out of fear. [11:39]
- How to release the guilt associated with letting go of an item someone gave you but which you don’t love or use. This story about the gift from Kathi’s mean aunt will have you laughing out loud. [13:11]
- How to recognize when you are keeping something because you feel shame about letting it go. [14:33 and 28:40]
- 3 simple things that can cure you of “return-to-store-a-phobia”. [14:41]
- How we talk ourselves into clutter with the lies we tell ourselves and how to confront those lies with God’s truth. [18:07]
- 9 everyday actions that cause our clutter. [19:15]
SoulSpa Ah-ha moments:
- Being proactive about eliminating clutter is a way of taking great care of yourself andothers. Deal with your stuff in the “now” and save your future self added stress and effort. [4:55]
- The root cause of our clutter comes down to 3 words: fear, guilt, and shame. You can trace each item of clutter to one of these causes. [11:21]
- When I hold on to something out of fear it reveals a lack of trust in God to provide for my needs. [12:39]
- Ask yourself this simple question in the store so you don’t get stuck with a bad purchase becoming the next addition to your clutter stockpile. [15:45]
- Your shame-based clutter blesses no one. But when you give it away, you exercise good stewardship in the kingdom of God. If you have things you don’t ever use but you’re keeping them out of shame over what you spent on them, it is time to get those things into the hands of someone who will love and use them. [16:34] Check out Kathi’s story about her son’s shoes illustrates the power of blessing others with your clutter. [29:10]
- Don’t allow yourself to move clutter to a less visible place. Make yourself confront it and deal with it so you eliminate it not just relocate it. [19:43]
- Routines reduce stress and makes it easier to actually do the good things we want to do. Routines are a way of pre-deciding how to handle items that have the potential to become clutter if we procrastinate dealing with them. [15:30 and 22:48]
- Reliable retrieval systems eliminate the fear of not being able to find things if we put them away. [25:44]
- You have to do what works for YOU! The best organization system is the one that you will use and that makes sense to you. [26:55]
Links & Resources
Want to connect with Kathi? You’ll find her at KathiLipp.com and in The Clutter Free Academy Facebook group. Kathi also has a Clutter Free online course which I purchased and have LOVED!
Kathi’s books* related to this subject include:
* If you purchase through these Amazon links you’ll be helping support this ministry. You won’t be paying any extra but a tiny portion of your purchase price will go to support Agape SoulSpa. Thanks!
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