32 Reasons to Declutter
and the Power of Less
In this post, I am sharing all about the power of less and how clutter affected us as a family and what benefits we received with decluttering.
Are you wondering WHY and HOW to declutter? I hope you find some good tips from this post!
Clutter is unfinished business. It is a procrastination style. Taking care of the clutter is about setting healthy boundaries for our space.
How clutter affected me? Here are 12 ways:
1. It made me clumsy
2. And I got overwhelmed
3. I was easily distracted
4. And it filled up my mind
5. It took away my focus.
6. I started tasks hoping to finish them, but nothing got done and I ended up with even more
7. Unfinished tasks
8. I fell behind wiith everything on my list.
9. And it made me irritated
10. And unsettled
11. The clutter created guilt when I needed a rest.
12. Due to the stress, I started to procrastinate and that just made a deeper hole in my already existing everyday problems.
This ended up in a vicious cycle! This made me thing how families functioned when I was growing up. I started to realize that people had less back then – less expectation, less comparing, and I started to see my home with a fresh perspective.
We had more stuff that we can properly store or just keep in mind. We will remember all the important things, and some not so important things will be forgotten.
I learned a lot about myself in this process. I faced my fears and I learned to be honest with myself. I learned new skills so I could reduce the ‘solving your problem’ gadgets.
Decluttering my home gave me a focus and clear vision of what I want in my everyday life and what would be my goal instead of surviving my days.
Here are 12 points of the benefits we received with decluttering:
13. It gave me peace in my soul and mind.
14. This led to increased focus.
15. I gained more time.
16. I learned many new skils.
17. Less clutter reduced and lightened my chores.
18. I started to have healthier habits of finishing tasks.
19. I was also much less distracted.
20. Decluttering created a cleaner home…
21. As well as cleaner air in our home.
22. It freed up more space.
23. I have become more calm as a person as it had a positive impact on my mental health because I was getting guilt-free rest.
24. I now have more energy.
And that is the power of less! It really is amazing.
A decluttered home doesn’t mean that it is always organized and everything is always put away. It’s the other way around as you actually use what you have. Instead of having 400 items in a room, you only have 20 which you can fix and clean in 20 minutes or less!
The whole decluttering process was done in layers for us. First, I removed the obvious. Then, I faced my fears and reduced the items that were harder to decide about. I thought about what items were something I truly was going to use versus just dreaming about using. If it was something I realistically would not have time for or wasn’t enjoying as much as I thought, I would declutter it and put it in a pile for donation.
Simplifying the surroundings in my home had an absolutely positive and huge impact on our life as a famiy. We all gained benefits from it. We got to spend more time together. We created a more simply but meaningful life that helps to bring out the true self instead of giving in to the pressure of who we think we should be.
Every room in my home has a purpose. Some have more items and higher traffic like my kitchen, some have less decor and physical stuff and more calming things like the bedroom and our living room r dining room that is more commonly used.
Each family has their own unique sweet spot that works for them the best. Once I have found what works for us the best, it shifted the energy at home, we feel more relaxed, and it sparks more creativity at home as well.
Here are a couple more tips on decluttering. I have asked myself questions about what to keep and what to get rid of, as well as how to get rid of it.
25. Is it worth as much as the storage box? These days, if you want to buy a nice quality storage box, it can be costly. Is it really worth it to store it in that box and invest in that box? Sometimes it has helped me to reevaluate the item’s worth.
26. Is it worth the cost of storing in your home? How much real estate do you keep occupied with things? The value of your home, divided by the square footage, will be the number that you have to pay monthly by square feet for storage.
For example, if you have a garage that is full of stuff, it can add up quickly. This becomes a space that you don’t use, and you basically end up paying for storage. This can be expensive! This is the same with a room that is filled with clutter, or a closet that cannot be used properly because it is filled with stuff that you are not using and just want to hang on to.
27. Shuffling items. The items that were hard to decide on were shuffling from one room to the other based on which room I was cleaning out. This wasted most of my time in the decluttering process, because I always find an excuse about how to use them or where to store them. Once one room was done, it went in to another place, and then I came across the item again and again.
28. Comprehending reality. I had to accept that if I want this stuff out of my sight, it has to physically leave the house. This had to sink in, which sounds silly, but that’s truth. I really had to comprehend that these things had to go.
29. Create a “Want to get rid of” pile. I gathered all the items that were hard to let go of, yet I couldn’t really bring up any reason of why I should keep it. I just couldn’t bare myself to let it go.
I put these items all in one pile and the amount of fear I had seeing all of these items in one place was the first reality check that it was actually I lot of stuff I was dealing with! It also helped me to see the items next to each other and compare them in a way of seeing which items were more improtant to me than others. This made an easier choice for me and deciding which items were of the lowest priority to me and I could get rid of it.
I went back to this pile the next day and as I’m seeing them next to each other and again, as I’m seeing them next to each other and comparing, it definitely helps with the decision making of what is less important. That is how I was able to reduce the items.
The funny thing is, as I was getting to the end of the items, and I was left with 5 items, I was able to feel it. Actually, these items, I don’t need them. That’s how I got rid of the items that were hard to decide!
I did the big decluttering about 14 years ago. Decluttering my kitchen was the hardest thing for me. Bedroom, clothing, living room were on the easier side for me. The kitchen though is where I like to cook and I was afraid that I was going to miss something.
30. Simplify tasks. Gaining some skills with the knife like how to cut and chop helped eliminate other things that I didn’t need in my kitchen.
31. Reverse method. When I decluttered my kitchen, I just packed everything in to boxes and I focused on what to keep instead of what to get rid of. I just pulled out the items that I knew I was going to use every single. As I started to work with them I realized things that I could go without. For example, I found that instead of using a garlic press, I could just chop the garlic up and was able to eliminate the garlic press. One-by-one, with each item, I was put through the task of if I could be without it and I slowly started to bring in a few and that way I was able to realize what I truly use. This also made it easier to get rid of items that I didn’t need as they were already in a box!
32. Keep decluttering as life changes. There are seasons in our life and it depends how busy we are, what our occupation is, and how old the kids are. I would say we were the most minimalistic when the kids were little because we were in surviving mode. It is getting easier now to enjoy more of my hobbies as my kids are getting older and more independent so I can focus on those things. I have a little more of my hobby items now and I was able to get reduce the ScanFair items that I used to gather. It keeps changing as we are keep changing, or at least that is how it is in my case. It is nice to stay in touch realistically with ourselves with what we really truly enjoy. Something that is our favorite one day, may not matter as much in a couple of months. It is important to check in what we truly enjoy to do or what supports us.
Thank you so much for reading this post! I hope you found it helpful. I also shared how tips of how I organized and decluttered my home in this video below if you would like to see it! I really appreciate you being here!