For this week’s podcast on English.com, we’re talking about clutter.
So Jackie, what is clutter?
Well, it’s lots of things in a mess, isn’t it?
Too many untidy things
Yes.
Now why are we talking about it?
The latest trend is that we all have too many things.
We need to throw things away.
We need a tidier house.
Why?
Because you feel better living in a tidy place and with fewer things.
So Richard, I think our house is now too untidy and we have too many things we don’t use
or need.
Yes, I agree.
And I suppose, for me, we can start with clothes.
Yes, Richard, you have clothes you don’t wear.
There are clothes you bought a long time ago that stay in place.
In the wardrobe.
I can’t argue with that.
Now you don’t work in an office now.
So you have smart shirts you don’t wear for work.
Yes, true, true.
Ties.
Yes.
When was the last time you wore a tie?
For a wedding.
Yes, true, I don’t wear ties.
I don’t like them even.
No.
You have shoes you don’t wear and never will.
True.
Also, Richard, you have clothes which are too big now.
Yes, I’ve lost weight.
True.
And you have clothes which are rather scruffy.
Yes, I like my old clothes, I must admit.
OK, socks.
You need to throw away the socks which are not in a pair.
Yes, and I have socks with holes in them as well, I must admit that.
Yeah.
Well, anyway, I will sort out my clothes.
You need to sort out your office, well, I mean the area around your desk and your computer.
You have paperwork everywhere.
No, OK, I admit, I admit, it’s horrible.
You’ve got folders full of stuff.
Yes, yes, I need to put those somewhere.
And you’ve got envelopes, some old and some new.
But the old ones I want to recycle.
Hmm, yes.
Files.
Files, notebooks, letters.
I know, I know.
You’ve even got old Christmas cards.
But I like them.
But you really need to throw them away.
I know, some of the birthday cards I have from years ago.
I think also, Richard, the main problem we both have is all the books.
We’ve got loads and loads of books.
That’s true.
Some we will read again, but I think many we won’t.
We do need to get rid of some.
Some of those.
And also, Richard, what about the CDs?
We’ve got loads of CDs.
Yes, and we never play them.
We play things online now, don’t we?
We don’t even have a CD player.
OK, let’s spend 15 minutes or maybe half an hour every day going through our things and
deciding what to keep and what to throw away.
Good idea.
Little by little.
OK.
We’ll get rid of our stuff
