Letting go is not always simple, but it is possible. And it can be done with less difficulty when you follow these six simple rules for decluttering.
Six Simple Rules for Decluttering
1. Know why not how
Understanding why you want to do this work is integral to your success. When you have a clear picture of what being decluttered can offer you, and your space, you will let go more easily. Your “why” is your North Star, your guide to help you through what can be profoundly difficult.
Your inclination is to jump to how to do the work. But finding your why by digging not just into the piles of clutter on your countertops but into your soul will make the “how” feel more appealing.
To determine your why, ask and answer the following questions:
What do I want to accomplish in life?
Who do I want to be? {What characteristics do I want to describe me?}
How do I want to feel in my life and in my space?
When you ask these questions you can connect and match up what you want to feel in your life with what you own and keep in your space.
2. Don’t eat the elephant whole.
Slow and steady will win this race. You didn’t get cluttered in a day. Don’t burden yourself with thinking you must get uncluttered quickly. This process is a step-by-step, shelf-by-shelf, mug by single piece of paper by wooden spoon process. Taking it slowly, methodically, one bite at a time doesn’t mean it will take forever.
It means you will be thorough and deliberate, and will grow more from being “in” the mess instead of skating over it to get to some arbitrary endpoint.
Trust that you’ll find you arrive where you need to get to in the perfect time for you.
3. Quiet the noise.
There is a lot of noise in this world. And when it comes to letting go it can be particularly loud. Noise comes in the form of competing, comparing, and putting forth too much effort to be like everyone else. It also comes from limiting beliefs and the voice in your head. The noise can pull you from your goal and the vision you set. And it can make you lose trust in yourself.
Don’t look outside. You must look inside – in your heart, your home, and with your family.
It is unselfish to focus on yourself and what you need and want. In fact, you must focus on yourself because when you let go of what is heavy and taxing you free yourself to be the best person you can be.
The world needs more of what you have to offer.
4. Be consistent.
Stay the course with interest. Be inquisitive. Instead of shaming yourself for past decisions, let them teach you something.
Consistently address the work while you keep your vision in the forefront of your mind. The more you do it, the less scary it is. And the less scary it is, the less overwhelmed you will feel.
5. Find what matters.
Everything can’t matter. You don’t have enough hours in the day or years of life to love all the clothes, shoes, toys, tchotches, jewels, and gadgets. And if you did have all the time to touch, use, play with, and admire all of those things – ask yourself, is that what you want to spend your time doing?
When decluttering, things can get to a point where they all look and feel the same. You can’t decide. You can’t decipher.
Go back to your why. Look at your vision and trust that you do know what matters — because you do.
6. Permit yourself to let go.
You are the architect of your life. You get to choose the contents – the thoughts, things, and even people that make it a life you love. Sometimes, choosing feels heavy and you start to doubt yourself, and the process. Sometimes choosing is layered with guilt whispering a story about someone else’s life in your ears. You have permission to let go of what you don’t like, need, or use. It doesn’t matter who gave it to you, or how it came to be.
If it doesn’t hold meaning, purpose, or usefulness in your life – now – you can let it go…and release the guilt at the same time.
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