Question why you have what you have

• You and your stuff. You have a relationship with everything in your home and office, whether you're aware of it or not. Some relationships are obvious: with your house keys you have a relationship of utility; with the art posters in your living room, one of beauty. You can characterize your relationship with anything, but sometimes it's not cut and dried. Your TV can be an information and entertainment source, but it can also drain you if you sit numbly in front of it for hours. Your grandmother's porcelain figures can bring back pleasant memories; on the other hand, you may think they're ugly and feel guilty for not wanting to display them.

• You get to decide. Remind yourself that you are in charge of all these things; you possess them, not the other way around. So re-evaluate your possessions. Decide whether each one deserves its place in your home. Is it earning its keep by being useful or beautiful (or legally necessary)? Does it reflect the person you are now or the person you are aiming to be?

• Find out what you've got. Question why you have what you have. You had a reason for acquiring each of your things, even if the reason is that your sister didn't want it anymore and you didn't want it to go to waste. Are those reasons still valid? You don't have to purge everything, but know what you have. Just knowing what is in all those boxes will at least cut the vagueness and uneasiness in your head that constitutes brain clutter.