Take a minute to look around your house. How many items in the room represent something on your “to do” list? Every time you pass by that pile of mail are you reminded that you have bills to pay? Do you have a basket of laundry from last week still waiting to be folded?

When it comes to home organization, I tend to be a “piler.” Clutter is my default and sticky notes are my friend, but sometimes even those add to my clutter! Are you in the same boat? I’ve been there before! And honestly, I’ve had to learn quite a few new strategies over the years to organize my stuff.

Today’s guest, Kathi Lipp, can understand our struggle to keep things in their place! Growing up in the house of a hoarder, she’s had to learn the hard way how to organize and manage all her “stuff.” Since home organization is one of the most requested topics for the podcast, I wanted to bring Kathi back to the show! In this episode, she shares the impact clutter has on us, how to get the basics right, and the three reasons why we struggle to get rid of things we no longer need.

Now the podcast host of the Clutter Free Academy, Kathi is a national speaker, and the bestselling author of The Husband Project, Clutter Free, and Ready for Anything. I know you’ll love this conversation and I can’t wait to hear what you take away!

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• [Book] Clutter Free by Kathi Lipp
• [Book] Ready for Anything by Kathi Lipp (this has free resources for completing a food pantry inventory)
• [Podcast] Clutter Free Academy
• Episode 4 of my podcast with Kathi Lipp!
• Kathi’s Clutter Free Facebook Group 
• Connect with Kathi on her website, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram

My Key Takeaways:

1) Managing your stuff is learned. Most of us weren’t taught how to discern what is useful and should be kept and what should be gotten rid of.  If this doesn’t come naturally to you, don’t be discouraged! We all have to work on knowing how to manage our stuff and it is something we can get better at as time goes on.

2) Our “stuff” can often distract us from our purpose. When we leave things out, they take up space in our brain that pulls us away from what we were doing. In fact, the stuff that distracts us may even be tasks we have yet to do or just extra stuff that doesn’t need to be there. I love when Kathi said, “You can’t concentrate on all the things that you need to when you know that there are all these things around.”

3) Start with the basics. Kathi recommends prioritizing dishes and laundry. These are tasks that can easily disorganize your home and drastically affect your life. If your kids don’t have clean clothes, they could be late for school! If your dishes pile up, they can overtake your kitchen so you don’t have space to cook. By starting with these two basics, you can start to build healthy habits of managing your things.

4) Giving things away is an act of trust. We struggle to get rid of stuff for three reasons: fear, guilt, or shame. We are fearful that we will need it later, which is a lack of trust in God to provide. We feel guilty because someone gave it to us and it feels like a representation of our lack of love if we give it away. We feel shame because we spent money on something that we aren’t using. Whichever of these three you struggle with most, dig into the why behind those feelings and use God’s truth to set yourself free from the fear, guilt, and shame that is keeping you bound.

About Kathi:

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