The One Thing

The spaces are simplified. The decluttering and purging is complete. Boxes are donated. And suddenly, out of nowhere, the living room looks like it did two months ago with dirty socks and random toy cars and hair clips under the ottoman. The One Thing can keep the clutter and stress at bay and is a powerful way to keep our spaces simplified.

The One Thing

There are a few things that need to happen in order to keep our spaces simplified, but The One Thing is the most important. The One Thing is this: keep things from coming in. Stop bringing things into our homes, stop purchasing, stop grabbing the free whatever, stop clicking Buy Now, stop picking up the random seasonal thing on the Target end cap. It’s simple and yet extremely challenging. I struggle with The One Thing on the daily and is something I have to be super intentional about.

Although we all need stuff to live an optimal, intentional life, there is a point when more can lead to a life of less (thanks to The Minimalists for that aha moment). If we want our homes to be filled with the most important things that don’t distract us from the ones we love, we need to keep things from coming into it.

How?

Decrease the number of advertisements we see.

Americans see anywhere from 4,000 to 10,000 advertisements a day. That number is significant and can highly affect us on a daily basis. One way to stop bringing things in is to try to eliminate the number of advertisements we see. Pay the extra couple of bucks for ad free streaming. Unsubscribe to catalogs and email advertisements. Scroll Facebook and Instagram less. Eliminating ads we see allows us to be in control of our purchases instead of letting marketing companies sell us things we don’t need.

Stop shopping.

I sometimes find myself on Amazon searching for random stuff, usually when I’m bored or think I’m going to solve a problem with a magical product. Choosing not to scroll online shops helps curb boredom shopping. Every time I get the urge to shop, I try texting a friend or reading a book or moving my body instead.

The 1 in 1 out rule.

Every time something comes in, something has to go out. This helps us be more intentional with the things we bring in, because we know something has to go out.

Borrow instead.

Instead of buying new all the time, consider borrowing. Utilize the library for books. Ask friends or family to use a large serving tray or bundt pan or massive ladder. Considering borrowing instead of purchasing when possible.

We all want our hard work to be worth it. We want our simplified spaces to stay that way and for the stress and clutter to not creep back in. The One Thing will help us maintain our homes and live a more intentional life.