A while back I began to get irritated with painting my nails. They were only nice for a couple days before one would get a chipped and I would have to fix or hide them. One day I decided to stop painting them. I then realized how much happier I was with my natural nails and I decided I would become the type of girl who just didn't paint her nails... EVER. I got rid of all my nail polish and that was that. Now I have healthier nails and serious peace of mind. I have no more nail polish cluttering up my bathroom, no more stinky nail polish remover spilling on things, no stress about chipped or ugly nails, no money spent on nail salons or new polish, and no more time spent painting my nails. They are more beautiful today and I am happier.
Are you looking for more time, money, peace, or simplicity?
One amazing solution I discovered through this experience is that you can completely cut a category from your life. No, you don't have to stop doing your nails if that's something you love. And if you are a man reading this and aren't sure why you're still here, there are LOADS of categories you can cut out too.
Let's figure out your life-sucking categories. If you cut even just one small category, you could save hundreds of hours over your lifetime, hundreds (or thousands) of dollars, loads of square footage, and most importantly... your peace of mind.
1. Brain Dump for 5 Minutes
Set a timer for 5 minutes and write down all your hobbies, collections, and habits that take time, money, or space. It's totally fine to write down things you DON'T want to cut. The idea is to get a bunch of these categories out of your head and onto paper.
Here are some questions to help you with your brain dump:
What do you spend time doing daily? Weekly? Monthly? Seasonally?
What are the categories where you own a lot of items?
What is something you do or purchase that you don't find a lot of value in anymore?
After 5 minutes if you still feel like writing more, keep going! If not, move on to step 2.
2. Add to Your List
Take any items from the list below that you may have missed in your brain dump that cost you money, time, or space and add them to your list.
Getting your nails done/doing your nails (I cut this out and you can too)
Fancy hair care/coloring
Makeup (I recently cut this category out of my life too. Although I still have a little stash for just in case.)
Bubble baths
Any other body care or self care activities you do semi-frequently
Scrapbooking
Cardmaking
Painting
Any other artistic/crafting hobbies you do (or no longer do but still have the supplies for)
Boating
Golf
Skiing
Basketball
Any other sports/outdoor hobbies you do (or no longer do but still have the equipment for)
Stamp/coin collection (or any other collections)
Smoking
Drinking
Partying
Eating junk food
Holding on to friends who just take
Any other bad habits sucking your time, money, and energy.
3. Declutter Your List
Cross off your keepers.
First, cross off any item on your list that you absolutely LOVE doing. It brings joy and value to your life.
Next cross off any item that you CANNOT cut out of your life even though you don't love it. If you feel pressure from your family, lifestyle, or habits to do it or keep it, that does not count. Something that would fit into this is a category that isn't yours to cut, such as a hobby that your significant other does/has lots of equipment for (although there is no harm in sharing this post with your significant other hoping they will find a category to cut). Or perhaps you wrote down something you have to do for your work. Although if you HAVE to keep/do something personal for your work that you don't love, that could be a red flag about your work. Just something to think about...
If you cut even just one small category, you could save hundreds of hours over your lifetime, hundreds (or thousands) of dollars, loads of square footage, and most importantly... your peace of mind.
4. Pick One Category to Cut
Now it's time to look at the remaining categories on your list and pick at least one to completely cut out of your life. By that, I mean get rid of the equipment involved in that category, and stop participating in the activity all together.
If you are really feeling motivated, you can do more than one category. But one is plenty for now. You can always come back to the this exercise later and let go of another category.
This process can be a stressful, emotional, and overwhelming. Not just for you, but also for family, friends, or coworkers depending on what category you choose. So, if the money, time, and energy you save by cutting this out is MORE important to you than keeping this activity in your life, be sure to stick with cutting it no matter what your brain or others might tell you.
This may be hard, but it will be so worth it.
5. Declutter
Declutter all the items associated with this category. You can use this as a guide if you need help knowing how to get rid of decluttered items.
6. Change your identity.
Decide you are the kind of person who doesn't do that activity or collect that kind of item anymore. This may be extremely difficult, but it is the most important one for creating long lasting change.
7. Stop Doing It
To stop participating in this activity, you may need some help. Ask your roommate, significant other, or trusted friend to keep you accountable. And if getting rid of the supplies isn't enough (aka you are trying to stop eating junk food and the grocery store isn't making it easier), create some rules for yourself to help make re-purchasing more difficult (no grocery shopping hungry, always stick to the list, keep a healthy snack in the car, etc.).
Let me know in the comments what category you are going to cut!
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