Is Decluttering Good for the Soul?
Approximate average reading time is 4.5 minutes.
My plan recently held a community-wide yard sale. We cleaned our houses, got to know one another a bit better by working toward a common goal together, made some money, and donated all unsold items to several charitable organizations in the vicinity. It was all good.
In preparation for the big event, I started at the top of the house and worked my way down. For me, that was the attic, media room, office space, and a bathroom. Then I moved to the first floor, focusing on the kitchen and dining areas. I was shocked by everything hiding in plain sight and, by the way, at the top of my pantry. Finally, I focused on the garage. I had already stocked piled boxes so as I finished a room, I was able to box up items and stage them to be removed.
Because I didn’t want to be rushed and I knew that I needed to look through closets and drawers, I worked over the course of several weeks. Having only recently done this, I share a few tips that may help you:
Allocate yourself time to declutter, even if it’s a few minutes every day. It helps to break the effort up into smaller, more manageable chunks, and as you finish an area there is a sense of accomplishment. Relish that as you move through the process.
Select critical areas to focus on. I took a top-down approach, focusing on closets, chests, and drawers which is where I personally tend to squirrel things away. I also selected specific rooms that I thought would need more attention and more effort.
Be realistic with yourself. You may be motivated to try to sell but remember that, too, takes effort. In my case, the motivation was the community yard sale, which was itself a large, time-consuming project. You don’t want to end up with boxes of items that sit in your garage. It may be more realistic and much more expedient to donate.
Trust your judgement and make your decisions final. I found myself asking questions like, “Why did I purchase this?” “Will I ever use this again?” “When did I use this last?” “Do I feel a really strong sentimental attachment?” “Does that even make sense anymore to me?”
Box and stage as you work. I found things that honestly just needed to be tossed. Those that I thought others might be interested in, I boxed immediately for removal. When the time came to move out the boxes, I didn’t second guess myself.
After the dust settled, I looked around with some relief. Things that I had hung onto for far too long, things from the past were gone. I didn’t miss them. I felt no regrets. Decluttering just may be “good for the soul.” It seems that “choosing what stays and what goes encourages you to make active decisions about what belongs in your life.” Maybe more important, making those decisions releases you from emotional clutter as well. And, in the end, we find ourselves living more firmly in the present than the past.
In the end, I can honestly say the process of letting go made me feel good. I let go of things. I cleared space. When I look across a room or open a closet and look at the gained space, I struggle to name what it was that took up all that space. It didn’t make me happy. It didn’t bring me any benefit. It certainly wasn’t irreplaceable. It was just stuff.
