September 2003
Imagine being told to gather whatever
you need and evacuate your home ASAP—perhaps never to return!
My friend Cindy always teased her mother about the emergency list
she kept posted on the bulletin board—until the devastating
firestorm of 1991 in the Oakland hills.
“When you’re in a panic, you can’t think straight.
The list helped us relax about our decisions. We even added a
few things that weren’t on the list."
Begin by listing the things you can’t or don’t want
to live without; things that if lost, even temporarily, would
seriously threaten your quality of life, such as prescription
medicines. Other things that being without would cause inconvenience:
contacts/phone numbers, passport, credit cards, etc.
The list has other advantages beyond emergencies. Take your list
a step further to include what you would really miss not having.
What would be hard to replace? This productive exercise does the
following:
- Provides a fresh, valuable perspective about your “stuff”
- Helps weed out the truly important from the not-so-important
- Aids in de-cluttering your home or office
- Reduces feelings of overwhelm about clutter—because
you have a clear sense of what’s important to YOU
While it’s not necessary to pare down to barren surroundings,
living with less clutter does a body good. So make your list,
and see if you find it easier to shed a few leaves of clutter
this fall.
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