Have you ever done this?

Have you ever spring cleaned your house or donated a bunch of stuff to charity?

Feels good, doesn’t it? Sure, the actual process of decluttering can be time-consuming and downright daunting, but you’re almost guaranteed to feel lighter and clearer when you’re done.

The problem is, the clutter eventually comes back. What gives?

Your stuff isn’t the problem.

After I published my first book, Lighten Your Load, I received feedback from countless readers who were particularly inspired by the section on clutter. One reader cleared out his garage. Another immediately donated three bags of clothes to charity. Yet decluttering was the smallest part of the book. Hmmm. Naturally, I became curious.

Perhaps decluttering resonates with so many people because it offers an immediate win. After all, it’s easy to find something we no longer use or like, and get rid of it. Among the 35 strategies I wrote about in the book – to de-stress, detox and declutter – clearing out your bathroom cabinet can certainly seem more doable than taking up daily meditation.

And then it hit me.

Yes, everyone likes to experience an immediate win. But the real issue is this. For however much stuff you give away, throw away or donate to charity, if you’re like most people, you’ll have just as much stuff – if not more – six months from now. Why is this?

Most people either have a habit – or a full-blown addiction – to re-cluttering.

So, I wrote a new book about that. It’s called Free and Clear and will help you break this re-cluttering habit once and for all. Warning: this book will not reveal the perfect method for folding your shirts or rearranging your stuff. What it will do is shed light on why you accumulated all that stuff in the first place.  Check out the book here.