While I consider myself an organized person in general, there are certain moments that make me feel like a hopelessly hot mess. Cleaning for Passover is always one of those moments! Every single year, without fail, I find myself wasting an unbelievable amount of time sorting through mountains of stuff. Between couponing and blogging, I acquire so many things for free, I literally can’t use half of it. Sure, I donate some, but a lot gets boxed/bagged and tucked away, totally forgotten.

Instead of tackling the problem annually, I’m trying to be more mindful of clutter on a regular basis. Something that really helped was reading Unstuffed: Decluttering Your Home, Mind & Soul. In this book, author Ruth Soukup shares her own story of conspicuous consumption and what fueled her obsession (childhood abuse, severe depression, and multiple suicide attempts created such horrible feelings of worthlessness, she tried to ignore it by surrounding herself with useless things).

I had known there was an emotional component to shopping, but for some folks, it’s all-consuming and stuff becomes a replacement for relationships. Possessions not only live in our homes, but in our hearts/heads as well. How can you tell the difference between healthy habits and obsession? Take the Unstuffed checklist:

• Do you ever find yourself frustrated that even when you do manage to get your house cleaned up, it never seems to stay that way?
• Have you ever found yourself buying more storage containers to organize stuff you probably should have just gotten rid of?
• Do you sometimes feel like you can’t keep up with all the activities and obligations you have committed to?
• Do you ever struggle to find an important piece of paper because there are just too many pieces of paper to keep track of?
• Have you ever felt guilty for getting rid of something that was a gift, or held on to something you didn’t really like because someone gave it to you?
• Do you feel like there are people in your life who simply suck the life out of you?

Most of us would admit to doing those things (buying extra storage really struck a chord with me. So silly but so true!). Once we acknowledge the problem, we can attack the clutter monster. Ruth suggests doing a weekend challenge. Starting on Friday and finishing up Sunday night, there are step-by-step instructions in the book that help make this doable. While I didn’t follow it exactly, it was a much-needed jumpstart and I certainly felt less stressed after paring down—hence the mind/soul part of the title.

There are some free Unstuffed resources to begin with if you want to test the waters, but I don’t think anyone would regret purchasing the book. A balanced life is worth every penny!