Need some input...

[anrchy]

OK so for the last several months I have gone through a major shift in my mind. Had some dmt experiences that have caused me to shed quite a bit of my materialistic habits. I applied this to my life a great deal, and have found it immensely more easy to save money now.

But... I have found it slightly difficult to achieve the level that I have wanted. I'm currently attempting to rid myself of a good portion of objects that I own (that also own me). I'm a bit of a hobbyist jack of all trades wants to try everything once type of person.

I am trying to refine myself to a point where I can contemplate first and discard the need to try certain things that I know are just for instant gratification. My current issue is this.

I'm finding it difficult letting go of certain things. I'll get the thought in my head that this object might come in handy should I need it. Or this one is fun to play with ect. Even though I know I haven't touched it for months or that that I use it, get bored, then set it aside for a long time.

So I'd like to ask for some ideas on how to decide what things to get rid of and what things to keep.

The less things I have the more time I have to relax, or enjoy life ect.

 

[corpus callosum]

Perhaps construct an "X year rule", where X is chosen on the basis of how strongly you desire to make the change. If its not been used for X years then dispassionately get rid of it. Be ruthless!

 

[anrchy]

Thanks that definitely will work for certain things. I also have stupid little things that I pick up every once in awhile, like my lasers. But I'm not as interested in as I was before. I still mess with them and sometimes feel like I want to build another one...

Uhg I hate stuff. I want to get rid of all the stuff!! LOL

 

[3rdI]

morning anrchy,

its a tough job you've got there, im currently in a similar boat and its a nightmare.

I think the fact that you are a bit of a hobbyist makes it even worse as the things you acquire are actually useful.

I have been a photographer for about 15 years but about 6 months ago I sold my camera because I had stopped using it:thumb_dow , about a week after I got rid of it I really wanted to take some pictures but couldn't, I realised my mistake and last week I bought a new camera :thumb_up:

maybe you could try to work out how many useful/positive uses each item has and then begin to get rid of the things with the least positives, im think something like this...

1, Camera- fun to do, gets me outdoors, allows interaction with people/friends.

2, DVD collection- entertaining for an hour or so.

so the camera has 3 positives and DVD collection has 1, get rid of the DVD first.

 

[cyb]

Box up all the stuff...
Put it away in the attic/garage...
If you still haven't retreived/used it in 6 months...sell it!
If you retrieved it and used it...keep it, you need it.

Outta sight, outta mind is a powerful concept. :thumb_up:

 

[hug46]

I am the proverbial horder and i keep all sorts of useless shit around the house thinking that it will one day come in useful. Every once in a while i have a friend who is not only very assertive but a little bit OCD aswell. He slaps me round the face, forces me to face my hording demons and we purge all the unnecessary stuff out of the house. It always feels like a weight has been lifted.
Maybe you should get a similar friend round who can look at your possessions from a different perspective to you and help you to do what has to be done.

 

[anrchy]

3rdi: Yes I feel you there. The same thing has happened to me a few times. I've given things away or sold things or even thrown things away that later on I regretted. Although some of those times, upon purchasing a replacement realized I was back in the same boat again... LOL

Another thing is, I would like to get myself down to only a few major things/hobbies to make room for more time to focus on those things. I find myself wanting to create new hobbies to replace old ones. Like a camera. I have one on my phone, and I take a ton of pictures with it, but the lack of image quality leaves me feeling like I need a better camera. I am just not quite sure if I will utilize it enough to justify the money, and the space and time. So again I am going to put off anything new at all and focus on ridding myself of as much stuff as possible first.

CYB: Yes I agree, and this has been a method I have used before. One thing though that has been bothering me is the fact that everything I own, even if it is out of sight it isnt out of mind. I have realized that the more things I own the more space in my head it takes up as well as physical space. I know about it, have memory reserved for knowing where it is and what its function is ect. The clutter is mostly mental, I feel mentally disorganized just by owning these things. But that approach is definitely useful in deciding the easiest things to get rid of. So thank you for that suggestion. I will be doing this when I wake up.

hug46: That is actually a pretty good idea too. I have a couple ideas to implement that sort of thing thanks.

I already have a few things that I am going to be selling that I have not used for awhile. Some things I have had to decide that I am going to give up on cause they dont have importance over others or/and I have lost the main drive to pursue. I have a few seasonal hobbies that I am going to stick with, and as time goes on theres one that I might be ditching since I havent done it in awhile.

It's hard because I have created emotional attachments, memories of good times, and the feeling that I will need it at some point to most of these things. I think I will be donating some things to a couple friends that would be interested. That way if I really needed to use it I would be able to at least borrow it. Thanks for all the suggestions, and keep em coming this is giving me a lot of motivation to continue on and improve myself in this area. And now I'm off to bed.

 

[cyb]

It's hard because I have created emotional attachments, memories of good times

One thing I do when this happens is take a digital photo of the object...then get rid of it.
The memory/emotional attachment remains in a format that doesn't take up any space and can be accessed anytime...this frees your brain from storing it and transfers the burden to a small black box.

Another policy I adopt is "one in/one out"...If I aquire something new, I ditch something else.
This way the clutter never gets any bigger.
I've been systematically ditching all my goods for some time now. Every single item I own will now comfortably pack into a small car. Still more to ditch though...
Feels very liberating to be able to pick up and leave at a moments notice if the :surprised hits the fan.

 

[anrchy]

Those are both great ideas. I think that will help for sure. I have tons of pics that i have taken over the years, great memories. The one in/one out is something I have tried to stick to but I'm where I am now because I didn't follow it very closely hehe. Thanks everyone all great things that will assist in my growth.

 

[anrchy]

One thing I have noticed is there is a snowball effect. It's exciting getting rid of stuff, and the more I set aside for termination the more stuff I realize I just do not need... yay for me!