To keep or not to keep, that is the question

I´m sure most of you, if not all, have thought at some point in your life what you are doing with that item hanging in your closet which you have never even worn. Well, I have that´s for sure and I consider myself quite cold when it comes to giving things away. However, I must admit that there is an important factor called sentimental value. I get it, and I feel it too (for a few things), but what I don´t want to get myself into is having my entire house crammed with things in wardrobes and other valuable storage space because its being taken up by things I don´t even use. I understand that some things like clothes, and souvenirs can be passed on to generations, but I do like to think there is a limit in terms of what is kept and what not. 



I am fortunate enough to be able to store some things in my parents´attic back home. In those boxes (labeled with my name on them), I have packed some things like childhood toys, clothes and books that I too would like to pass onto my children.

My background plays a major part in this attitude I suppose, as I´ve had to learn that not everything can come along with me to new destinations. Don´t get me wrong, this doesn´t mean that wherever I move to equals to an empty flat. It is quite the contrary actually, I have learned to make each new rentalsmy home by adding a few special things to it and making sure it is clutter-free. However, I think that people who have never moved home, feel a stronger connection to material items and can not let go of them, which leads me onto the topic of hoarders. For me it's as simple as this:

Hoarding is a general term for a behavior that leads people or animals to accumulate food or other items during periods of scarcity. Some hoarding in humans may be a form of mental illness, specifically obsessive-compulsive disorder, where the perceived importance of the hoarded items far exceeds their true value.

Often times hoarding affects the sort of clothes, decorative pieces, books and other objects we may keep. I have managed to keep that area under wraps. Paperwork, on the other hand, is something I have only mastered in the last year or so. I just never really knew how long I should keep the bills for or how I should take note that it has been paid for. As a result, all this varied paperwork would pile up in my workspace, taking up valuable space and blocking my creative process. As part of my new year's resolution, I decided I needed to get better at organizing the paperwork at home. My aim was simple: to reduce the amount of paper. I created a spreadsheet with my monthly payments, once the bill was paid and received the bill in paper, I would type in the amount and throw the bill away. Making a note of all your bills this way, will not only save you money but it will visually show you how much you are spending on a monthly basis. Below is a simple table which indicates how long you should keep your paper work for. In other words, a part from maximizing your space, you might even end up maximizing your earnings!

Retention Schedule for paper work:

Keeping valuable souvenirs from childhood, presents from loved ones or outfits you think your children might is of course not “hoarding behavior” because the quantities are smaller and also because the process is more selective. When we find that what we keep, or rather what we do not organize adequately, begins to take up not only our physical space but also our visual space, that is when this sort of intervention is needed. My years in the far East, and the influence of Feng Shui theories has taught me that Clutter-clearing is modern-day alchemy. It is one of the fastest ways to completely transform your life. 

Hope it helps all you space optimizers out there!