If You’re Decluttering Your Life, STOP

Read time: 4 minutes

In order to achieve a clutter-free life, you're going to need a handful of things.

So if you're currently decluttering right now, STOP.

I started decluttering my life in 2016, and I've been on a mission to create my life with less clutter while doing work I don't want to escape from. And in many ways, this is the reality I also want for you.

As someone who has documented their journey and shared it on the internet, I understand firsthand the eagerness you feel about decluttering, figuring out what matters to you, and doing meaningful work that excites you.

This is why I feel so inspired to give you this checklist of must-haves to help shorten the timeframe of your decluttering journey.

Must-have #1

A Big Enough Why is the first thing you need to achieve a clutter-free life.

Now, if you don't have a why—or if you do but you don't love it, a few things can happen:

• You will lose motivation over time
• It becomes easier to quit decluttering
• Your life's vision becomes less clear
• You may declutter for the wrong reasons
• You may accumulate more stuff too quickly

Near the beginning of my decluttering journey, I made the mistake of overcomplicating and overthinking my why. This landed me in the middle of everything you don't want to happen.

I later discovered that the formula to find your why was more straightforward than I expected. In short, your why should answer this question: What am I hoping to achieve by decluttering?

Then add:

Must-have #2

The next thing you need is A Written List of Your Core Values.

• Why is this important?
• How do values help you declutter?

Consider it like this: "When your values are clear, it becomes easier to focus on what matters to you." This means you know with all certainty:

• Who you are
• What's important to you
• What's not important to you

(My Core Values Worksheet makes this very easy to figure out)

Once you have written down 3-5 core values, the next step is clarifying what they mean in practice. In the context of decluttering, this means you should start using your "Values" (and your "Why") as filters for making important decluttering decisions.

When you do this consistently, you eliminate the things I mentioned above from happening (see must-have #1). Additionally, this makes your decluttering journey and experience exclusively yours as your fingerprint.

Although other people may express their "why" in a way similar to yours, the combination of your why, your values, and how they're used to help you declutter puts you on a personalized path toward a clutter-free life.

Must-have #3

Third on the list is Courage.

Now, you're probably wondering what courage has to do with living a clutter-free life.

The short answer is everything.

That's because it takes courage to swim against the current. Allow me to explain.

The norm is to consume and to consume a lot! Just look at how commercialized our holidays have become. This means most of modern-day society is buying more than they need, with money they don't necessarily have.

But here's the truth, it doesn't take courage to follow what everyone else decides to do OR what society conditions us to accept as "normal."

Swimming against the current is choosing to do the opposite. Consume less.

Now what I'm about to say next may shock you. In my opinion, shopping isn't the issue, and I'd be lying to you if I said that I don't pay for subscriptions or buy nice things. So to me, it doesn't matter what you buy. Why you buy matters, and I believe this is a more meaningful conversation.

We often spend money unnecessarily on building an image to impress others, but the truth is that people don't care like we think they do. So save that money instead.💰

— Rᴏɴᴀʟᴅ L. Bᴀɴᴋs (@ronaldlbanks) January 19, 2023

Must-have #4

Following courage, the next thing you need is Consistency.

But consistency in regards to what?

• Consistently spend less money
• Consistently declutter things you don't need
• Consistently manage your time on social media
• Consistently curate the relationships in your life
• Consistently carry the right mindset

My point here is that achieving a clutter-free life isn't a one-and-done decision. You must consistently decide that this is the lifestyle you want to live every day. And this decision should be reflected in your habits, beliefs, and actions.

Must-have #5

The last thing needed is Structure Without Overwhelm.

The one thing you don't want to do is dive into your decluttering journey head first without a structure or action plan to help you navigate your clutter.

Regardless of how eager and excited you are to start letting go, doing this will result in more overwhelm than necessary and likely lead back to everything we discussed at the beginning.

So if you're currently decluttering right now, stop. Take a deep breath and slow down.

Decluttering is about creating your life, not stripping away the life you have.

And if you can nail these 5 things, you are absolutely on your way to a clutter-free life.

That's it for today!

Keep growing on your journey, and I'll see you next week.

TL;DR

1. A big enough why
2. A written list of your core values
3. Courage
4. Consistency
5. Structure without overwhelm
   
   

Whenever you're ready, here's how I can help you:

If you're looking for clarity and traction on your journey, I'd recommend starting with an affordable course:

⇨ The Decluttering Starter Kit: Skip the overwhelm and jumpstart your decluttering journey. This comprehensive course will teach and guide you through the system I used to transform my life from clutter to clarity. Get access here.