12: The Empty Drawer Challenge - Rethink Your Need for More Space
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Welcome to episode 12 of Permission to be Messy. I'm your host, JoAnn Krall and today I'm talking about space and I don't mean outer space. I mean, the space that things take up in our lives, whether it's physical, digital, or mental.
And while I want to talk about, do we really need more space? The reason why I'm doing this, I want to present you a challenge that might help you rethink the way that you're using your spaces. And I'm not going to ask you to downsize to a 400 square foot tiny home or get rid of all your stuff, but I think it's really important to think about space because honestly, the more space we have, the more we tend to fill it, it's just like the more money we make, the more money we spend.
I grew up in a small Cape Cod home on the south shore of Massachusetts. I'm sure you can hear my Boston accent slip in from time to time.
But my parents, while they could have afforded a much larger home. They never upgraded. They simply just didn't need more space, although we could have used another bathroom.
Now I could have gone the opposite way and said, oh, once I get a home, it's going to be a really big home because there's that mentality of you have the starter home and then you move up to a bigger home. And we, somewhat did that. We bought a condo, but we flipped it. So we only lived in it for about three years. And then we bought our forever home.
But the home that I live in now, a lot of people would look at it as a starter home. We've never added onto it. We've just kept it the same way it is. Again, we could probably stand to have another shower in our house, as my girls will tell you. But as far as space goes, it had always fit us nicely. Now, once the pandemic hit.
That changed, having everybody home, we needed more space, not for a stuff, but for our ability to spread out and separate sometimes. In fact. I'm recording this in my bedroom and I've already been interrupted so many times and it's really difficult. what I'm addressing today is the need for space for all of our stuff, we've gotten to a point where bigger is better and more space means more stuff.
I've worked with a lot of people who have massive kitchens with more drawers and cabinets in one room alone that are in my entire house and they feel the need to fill every cabinet and drawer with more stuff. One of the exercises that I've always done with them is I have them empty out a cabinetand I say. We're going to leave this one empty. And they're like, what? I can't do that. And it's very uncomfortable and I get it because it feels wasteful to not have anything in there.
But you will be amazed at allowing yourself to do that and free up that space and leave it empty will help you rethink your space in so many areas of your home, your business in your life.
So today, I want to challenge you to do the same, pick a drawer or cabinet and leave it empty. Maybe you have several junk drawers in your home. Take one of those, empty it out and leave it empty. Or you have a cabinet in your kitchen. This is assuming you have a very large kitchen. Leave it empty.
And just see how it makes you feel. And I actually, I would love for you to report back to me any thoughts or blocks or feelings that you had? My contact information will be in the show notes. Because it's so fascinating how different people feel about this exercise?
It's amazing how it can really open up your mind because space allows you room to breathe. Space in your home, in your office, in your closets and even in your car, according to the principles of Feng Shui. Leaving space allows for more of what you want to flow in. And I know that sounds counter-intuitive we're leaving space. Why would we want to bring more in, but we don't have to, it doesn't have to be a one for one.
If we open up space all around us. We can bring in more and It could be more peace, more money. More time with family.
Now if you have a really small kitchen. Or wherever, whatever area you're doing this in. And it doesn't seem viable to free up a space because that would be my house here. I need every available spot to use. Then think about emptying, a countertop. Think of that as your space, clearing that off and leaving it clear.
And if you don't have that option, maybe look at your floors, make sure there's nothing lingering around on the floors that you could maybe pick up and keep that clear. Think outside the box. and
choose some spaces in your home that you won't fill up. Or pick a day on your calendar where you won't book a single appointment, allow yourself some space and see how it feels.
I can tell you that some of my clients have had major breakthroughs on how they've been using their space, what they've been bringing into their lives and how they've been able to apply it to their homes, their businesses in their life.
This was a quick one today, but I wanted to get this challenge out to you. So try it. Let me know.
And as always, I'm wishing you much productivity. Peace prosperity and the permission to be messy. Thanks for listening.
