Consumers use language to camouflage the clutter.
We call the material clutter names like tchotchkes, collector’s items, gifts, and souvenirs.
There is also other clutter that consumes our lives. This is often categorized as commitments, goals, habits, plans, responsibilities, obligations, and tasks.
Some tchotchkes and commitments are valuable, but most fail to serve a purpose or contribute to our well-being.
It’s easy to keep adding to our plates. Making a dozen agreements is easier than uttering a single refusal, and we’ll do anything to conform to the societal norm.
This makes others content while making ourselves constrained.
Every commitment, goal, habit, plan, responsibility, obligation, and task has a cost that you pay with your life. Some contribute to your fulfillment and help you become the best version of yourself. Others cost you time, energy, attention, and equanimity that could be better spent on what you value most. Author James Clear summed it up best when he wrote, “No is a decision. Yes is a responsibility.”
You don’t have to be a lawyer or doctor to set a high value on your time. All you must do is be someone who cares about living an intentional life, and act accordingly.
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