How strong is your no muscle?
Simplifying our homes and our calendars requires us to let go and prune.
But it also requires that we take a look at where the stuff is coming from.
Where did all the stuff come from that clutters the cabinets and the garage?
Where did all the appointments and schedules come from that clutters the calendar?
It came from somewhere and it came from someone.
If you only prune in your simplifying process, then your home and your calendar will inevitably fill back up if you don't also look under the hood and inspect where the problem comes from.
For example, if you find yourself letting go of things that you didn't purchase but someone else did (like gifts), then you've identified one source.
Or you might find yourself letting go of things that you bought "on a whim" or when you were bored. Or gifts that you bought for people but never seemed to get around to giving them.
Where is the source?
It's possibly a mixture of external and internal.
Once you know the source, then you can begin to craft a solution. And that solution will always require boundaries. Why boundaries? Because you cannot solve a problem at the same level in which it was created.
Boundaries update the playbook.
Let's say that you want to lose weight so you can feel better. You know that something must change in order for that to happen, because if you keep doing what you are doing, then you will keep getting what you are getting.
Same rings true for simplifying. Something must change in order to get a different result.
The quickest way to jump start the change is to hand out "no's". Artfully and craft-fully that is.
You can kindly acknowledge someone's well meaning invitation or well meaning gift, and still turn it down.