Just Throw it Out Already
“Let the past die, kill it if you have to.” - Kylo Ren, as played by Adam Driver, The Last Jedi
Lately I have being really into getting rid of stuff. I’ve donated some items, sold others, and also have just thrown away a good amount of stuff I don’t need anymore. This is a big deal for me because as a person living with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, I have always found it hard to part with things. I had this tendency to place undue sentimental value on different items and it made it hard to part with them. But it’s not just me living with OCD that caused this. I think most people can find it hard not to cling to old things. Getting rid of them and moving forward can start a sort of snowball effect that can have a lasting impact.
A great example is my old gaming systems. I had several in a big Rubbermaid tote in our storage room. Most of them had been untouched for almost two decades. Finally I bit the bullet and was able to trade them for store credit and buy a few board games that I’ve wanted for awhile. So I turned a large block of wasted space into something that my family will enjoy. It felt pretty awesome.
The absolute best part about it wasn’t getting the new games, it was getting rid of the old ones. I know this because in addition to those items, I’ve also been able to donate several car loads of items to a local Goodwill and also a ton of old clothes to a local community center that provides them free of charge to those in need. Doing those things felt even better than trading for new stuff.
So to recap, I got rid of a lot of unneeded stuff, got a few new toys, and was able to have a positive impact on families in need. That’s pretty much the perfect scenario in my book. So perfect that I find myself really annoyed that I didn’t take this leap years ago. Sure in the past I have cleared things out but this has been and continues to be the biggest exodus of things from my house that I have ever had.
So why am I talking about this in a leadership development blog? Have I finally gone off the rails and turned this blog into my own personal Marie Kondo tribute site? Definitely not.
I’m talking to you about it because of what it’s done for my headspace. It started with removing things from our storage room and then I realized that I enjoyed getting rid of stuff so much, it started to spread out to places like my home office. I began the undertaking of organizing all of my game design tools and supplies, which is a really big job on its own.
Working at that made me start wanting to clean out other things. I took a day off from doing my job and cleaned out our entire garage, making it super easy for winter parking. It started to snowball into me wanting to be more organized digitally. I’ve now spent a good amount of time organizing different files and items for both coaching and game design.
This isn’t just about cleaning things out. It’s about taking positive actions. It’s about changing the space around you in a positive way. A lot of times those actions included getting rid of baggage from the past, both physically and psychologically. Both of those kinds of baggage cause clutter. That clutter can make it difficult to bring new things into your life.
Point in case, not too long ago I got a great deal on this new professional printer for game design work. The printer was bigger than I expected, so it sat for a week in the box before being setup because I had no room for it. I actually went to the copy shop and spent money to print something after getting the printer. That’s one simple example but we do this in our lives constantly.
But as I said, we aren’t just talking about cleaning out physical space. In fact, I would argue that we what most need to throw out are old ideas that we are clinging to. Those could be old routines. Old processes. Those things we do because of the dreaded phrase, “that’s just how we have always done it.”
I think the first step in any of these examples is really analyzing what you need and what you don’t need. Ask yourself, what is helping you and what getting in the way? What is holding you back from improving your current situation? Doing a really good analysis of that can start to get you in the right mode of thinking.
Obviously, the physical analysis is likely easier than the psychological one. So my suggestion is to start there. Look at your physical space and determine what you need and what can go. Start the snowball effect of throwing things out, selling old things, donating items, and maybe even introducing some new things that will help you. Then use that energy to pivot into non-physical realm and you should be off and running.
For me it turned out to be an accidental way to hack my brain to self improvement and much more organized living space! I hope it can help you as well.
-Jason