{"id":24248,"date":"2020-09-24T22:23:43","date_gmt":"2020-09-25T05:23:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/?p=24248"},"modified":"2020-09-24T22:23:52","modified_gmt":"2020-09-25T05:23:52","slug":"mess","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/mess\/","title":{"rendered":"Messy House? Maybe You Own Too Much"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I work out of an office. Most days, it\u2019s just me. However, from time to time, I host a few others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For that reason, I keep a set of four coffee mugs around. I drink coffee most of the day when I’m alone. And if there\u2019s a meeting happening, I\u2019m certainly brewing a fresh pot for anyone who wants it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yesterday, I noticed something out of the ordinary, despite working alone all week, all four of the coffee mugs were out of the cabinet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One was next to me with fresh coffee, two were dirty in the sink, and the fourth was sitting on the counter, next to the sink.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has been a couple busy days\u2014the first week of the Uncluttered Course always requires a significant amount of my energy. And we just started up this Tuesday. Because my days have been full, I\u2019ve fallen into a common trap:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I didn\u2019t need to wash my coffee mug because there was a clean one still in the cabinet, so I just left it out dirty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We do this all the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When life is not busy, or my attention is not divided, it only takes a few short seconds to hand wash my coffee mug and put it away before I leave the office. So I often do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But during this busy week, when my attention was divided, and there were other things on my agenda, it became too easy to leave the cleaning task undone\u2014even though it would have only taken a few seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is how our excess possessions lead to a messy home. When we have more than we need, there is less incentive to clean up along the way. And when our attention is pulled from one thing to another, this excess gets left out all too often.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Much of the mess in our home is a result of having too much stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just think of the different ways this plays out in our homes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 We leave dirty dishes in our sink because we can grab a new one from the cabinet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 We don’t clean our pots and pans or spatulas because it\u2019s easy to grab a different one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 We leave out the blanket in the living room because there\u2019s another one in the bedroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Our dirty clothes piles grow taller and taller as long as there’s something clean to wear in the closet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Our kids leave their toys out, all over the house, because there\u2019s always another one they haven’t played with yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Rubber bands and pens and paper clips collect in our junk drawer\u2014way more than we’ll ever use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Coats gather by the backdoor because everyone in the house is wearing a different one today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Books and magazines and newspapers pile up on our counter because there’s always a new one to read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Phone charger cords can be seen in every room of the house because there\u2019s always another one in the room we are heading to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Our linen closet shelves fill up with towels and sheets because there are so many that rarely get used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 And the list goes on and on: tools, board games, yarn, shoes, sporting equipment, DVDs, video game supplies, purses\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For me, in this specific scenario, it didn\u2019t take long to wash and dry my coffee mugs and put them back where they belong\u2014eliminating the small mess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in our homes, it’s a different story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The average American home has over 300,000 items inside of it<\/a>. That’s a whole lot of excess… and a lot of mess because of it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your house is messy all the time, maybe you\u2019ve got too much stuff inside it. Owning less will help you keep it clean, among other benefits<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I work out of an office. Most days, it\u2019s just me. However, from time to time, I host a few others. For that reason, I keep a set of four coffee mugs around. I drink coffee most of the day when I’m alone. And if there\u2019s a meeting happening, I\u2019m certainly brewing a fresh pot […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":24251,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"0","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[440],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nMessy House? Maybe You Own Too Much<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/mess\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Messy House? Maybe You Own Too Much\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I work out of an office. Most days, it\u2019s just me. However, from time to time, I host a few others. For that reason, I keep a set of four coffee mugs around. I drink coffee most of the day when I’m alone. And if there\u2019s a meeting happening, I\u2019m certainly brewing a fresh pot […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/mess\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Becoming Minimalist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/becomingminimalist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/becomingminimalist\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-09-25T05:23:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-09-25T05:23:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/messy-house.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2234\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1340\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"joshua becker\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@joshua_becker\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@joshua_becker\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"joshua becker\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/mess\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/mess\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"joshua becker\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a6475137c3080b3e68cb23aa9e40ec11\"},\"headline\":\"Messy House? Maybe You Own Too Much\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-09-25T05:23:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-09-25T05:23:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/mess\/\"},\"wordCount\":639,\"commentCount\":63,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/mess\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/messy-house.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"articles\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/mess\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/mess\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/mess\/\",\"name\":\"Messy House? Maybe You Own Too Much\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/mess\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/mess\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/messy-house.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-09-25T05:23:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-09-25T05:23:52+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/mess\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/mess\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/mess\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/messy-house.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/messy-house.jpg\",\"width\":2234,\"height\":1340},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/mess\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Messy House? Maybe You Own Too Much\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/\",\"name\":\"Becoming Minimalist\",\"description\":\"Own less. Live more.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Becoming Minimalist\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/becoming_minimalistA.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/becoming_minimalistA.jpg\",\"width\":2549,\"height\":898,\"caption\":\"Becoming Minimalist\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/becomingminimalist\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/joshua_becker\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/joshua_becker\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/JoshuaBecker\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a6475137c3080b3e68cb23aa9e40ec11\",\"name\":\"joshua becker\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e115429cac082338e5a78b84564f7406?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.becomingminimalist.com%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fbecoming-minimalist%2Fimages%2Fgravatar-bm.png&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e115429cac082338e5a78b84564f7406?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.becomingminimalist.com%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fbecoming-minimalist%2Fimages%2Fgravatar-bm.png&r=g\",\"caption\":\"joshua becker\"},\"description\":\"Joshua Becker is the creator of Becoming Minimalist, a website dedicated to simplifying life. He has published four books on minimalism, with some being named best sellers by Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Amazon, Audible, and Publisher's Weekly. Joshua has also made live appearances on Wall Street Journal, CBS Evening News, Huffington Post Live, and more.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/becomingminimalist\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/@joshua_becker\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/joshuabecker\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/author\/jbecker12\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Messy House? Maybe You Own Too Much","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/mess\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Messy House? Maybe You Own Too Much","og_description":"I work out of an office. Most days, it\u2019s just me. However, from time to time, I host a few others. For that reason, I keep a set of four coffee mugs around. I drink coffee most of the day when I’m alone. And if there\u2019s a meeting happening, I\u2019m certainly brewing a fresh pot […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/mess\/","og_site_name":"Becoming Minimalist","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/becomingminimalist","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/becomingminimalist\/","article_published_time":"2020-09-25T05:23:43+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-09-25T05:23:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2234,"height":1340,"url":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/messy-house.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"joshua becker","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@joshua_becker","twitter_site":"@joshua_becker","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"joshua becker","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/mess\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/mess\/"},"author":{"name":"joshua becker","@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a6475137c3080b3e68cb23aa9e40ec11"},"headline":"Messy House? Maybe You Own Too Much","datePublished":"2020-09-25T05:23:43+00:00","dateModified":"2020-09-25T05:23:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/mess\/"},"wordCount":639,"commentCount":63,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/mess\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/messy-house.jpg","articleSection":["articles"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/mess\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/mess\/","url":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/mess\/","name":"Messy House? Maybe You Own Too Much","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/mess\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/mess\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/messy-house.jpg","datePublished":"2020-09-25T05:23:43+00:00","dateModified":"2020-09-25T05:23:52+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/mess\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/mess\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/mess\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/messy-house.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/messy-house.jpg","width":2234,"height":1340},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/mess\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Messy House? Maybe You Own Too Much"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/","name":"Becoming Minimalist","description":"Own less. Live more.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/#organization","name":"Becoming Minimalist","url":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/becoming_minimalistA.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/becoming_minimalistA.jpg","width":2549,"height":898,"caption":"Becoming Minimalist"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/becomingminimalist","https:\/\/x.com\/joshua_becker","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/joshua_becker\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/JoshuaBecker"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a6475137c3080b3e68cb23aa9e40ec11","name":"joshua becker","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e115429cac082338e5a78b84564f7406?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.becomingminimalist.com%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fbecoming-minimalist%2Fimages%2Fgravatar-bm.png&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e115429cac082338e5a78b84564f7406?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.becomingminimalist.com%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fbecoming-minimalist%2Fimages%2Fgravatar-bm.png&r=g","caption":"joshua becker"},"description":"Joshua Becker is the creator of Becoming Minimalist, a website dedicated to simplifying life. He has published four books on minimalism, with some being named best sellers by Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Amazon, Audible, and Publisher's Weekly. Joshua has also made live appearances on Wall Street Journal, CBS Evening News, Huffington Post Live, and more.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/becomingminimalist\/","https:\/\/x.com\/@joshua_becker","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/joshuabecker"],"url":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/author\/jbecker12\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/messy-house.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24248"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24248"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24248\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24256,"href":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24248\/revisions\/24256"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}