How To Identify and Deal With Aspirational Clutter
As mentioned in the article on aspirational clutter, getting rid of the things you do want is a different game—one that may be more difficult than decluttering what you don't want. While decluttering may seem challenging at first, after some practice, many of us get the hang of it. For those who could use a refresher or if you're new to decluttering, give the Declutter audio series a listen. You may also find different decluttering methods helpful.
At some point though, you'll start getting into the aspirational clutter territory. And that's where many people, myself included, have encountered difficulties in decluttering further.
If you haven't seen the overview article and video on aspirational clutter, it would be helpful to review that before continuing on with the video and steps below.
Aspirational clutter is the excess of what we hold onto for our potential selves instead of who we are and what we're able to do in the present.
It's beneficial to want to try or learn something new. It's great to want to do certain things for yourself and for others. But when all the things you want to do cross the line of what's feasible in the present, the aspirational clutter often negatively impacts our ability to focus and feel at peace. Instead, we can end up more stressed, feeling like we're never doing enough and there is never enough time.
Because it's human nature to want to evolve and improve and do things, aspirational clutter can be extra challenging to identify and deal with. So how do you distinguish between what's aspirational clutter and what's not? And what are the steps you can take to deal with the aspirational clutter that's weighing you down?
Steps To Identify And Deal With Aspirational Clutter
1 / Awareness
As with anything, the first step is awareness. I've come up with a list of questions I will ask myself to help me identify the aspirational clutter in my life.
- What are all the items or ideas that I want to do (not the things that must absolutely get done) that are in my head or on the to-do list?
- What's my true motivation for wanting this item or idea in my life?
- Is this item or idea truly important to me or is this really for someone else?
- Is the item or idea coming to mind repeatedly?
- How do I feel when I'm reminded of this item or idea?
- Am I inadvertently viewing this item or idea as a to-do list item? - Do I really have space for this right now or in the near future? - If I were to make space for this item or idea, what could it look like?
Journal or reflect upon these questions to help you identify the aspirational clutter so you can then do something about it. There is no real right or wrong answer, as the only person who can determine whether or not something is aspirational clutter is you. By thinking through these questions, you'll develop a better sense of what things are weighing you down. After you have a list of what's currently cluttering up your life, it's time to address each thing you've listed.
2 / Assess and Release
The next step is then to intentionally assess and release the aspirational item or idea from cluttering up your life. This is more of a statement to yourself that releases the aspirational clutter either by removing it from your life, postponing the item, or deciding the next steps to take action on it.
It's as simple as saying, "I release this item or idea from my life right now" for the things that aren't for you at the moment. You could decide that the thing isn't for you at all and that you want to remove it altogether. Alternatively, it can be deciding you want to take action—to create space and take action towards the thing. By intentionally deciding to remove, postpone, or take action, you're effectively releasing an item from being aspirational clutter.
3 / Make A Plan
The final step is to make a plan for how to remove the item or idea, or intentionally deciding when and how you will be able to make forward progress on the thing.
If it's a physical item, you can choose one of the options in our intentional decluttering guide. For digital items, set some time aside to delete the emails or apps that you simply don't have the time to read or use. It's worth spending the time to remove the aspirational clutter from your day-to-day life so you have more energy for and increased focus on what's going on now.
Otherwise, make an intentional plan for the item. Start planning for and creating space for that thing in your life at some specific point in time. If that's not possible in the near future, organize or put the item away out of sight until you're ready for it.
For ideas, you can start planning how and when you can start working on the idea. Maybe the idea of planning sounds like too much or too soon right now. If so, write it down in a journal or someplace where you can revisit it at some point in the future. Otherwise, release the idea back out into the world for someone else.
Revisiting Aspirational Clutter
The main objective of the process above is to intentionally decide what you want to do with the aspirational clutter. That way, you don't inadvertently spend energy thinking about or feeling bad about things you don't even realize are weighing you down.
It may be helpful to revisit this process of identifying and removing aspirational clutter from your life a few times a year. I've personally found it's easy for this type of clutter to naturally slip in as we balance work, family, health, and other priorities in our lives.
What are sources of aspirational clutter for you? Take a moment to notice the items and ideas you're holding onto for a future self that hasn't shown up yet.