Decluttering at the Speed of Life: Winning Your Never-Ending Battle with Stuff

by Dana K. White

Decluttering Question #1: If I needed this item, where would I look for it first? Take it there right now. The key word is would, which is a question of instinct. No pondering or thinking or analyzing needed. The second part of question #1 is ridiculously important. Take it, right now, to the place where you’d look first. Decluttering Question #2: If I needed this item, would it ever occur to me that I already had one? This needn’t be asked if question #1 has an answer. If there is no answer to question #1, it’s likely because I wouldn’t look for it because I didn’t even know I had it. If the answer to this question is no, I stick it in the Donate Box.

Give yourself permission to just declutter. Don’t worry about getting organized, and focus on getting the things you don’t need out of your home.

What was a “decent number of skillets” becomes five skillets. The number five (a concrete number as opposed to my totally ambiguous concept of how many I might have) registers in my brain as more than I need. And as that realization hits me, my eyes are opened, and the three I rarely use (and don’t actually like) reveal themselves to me.

If I feel like my head is going to explode over a decision that isn’t life changing, but feels totally life changing, I choose to declutter the item. Because no item is worth my head exploding.

Are you keeping these things because you love them, or because you feel guilty about not keeping them? Can you use them?

If there’s an entire collection of Grandma’s plates that you don’t love and aren’t willing to make space for by getting rid of the ones you actually use, can you keep one? A plate hanging on the wall will remind you of her every day. She’d like that better than a messy kitchen anyway.

When I look, in addition to trash and easy stuff, I often find IBMTs (I’ve Been Meaning Tos) or WDIHTs (Why Do I Have Thats). Those are Duhs. Don’t spend energy or emotion on Duhs, because plenty of other things will require energy and emotion. Just stick them in the Donate Box.

Decluttering Question #1: If I Needed This Item, Where Would I Look for It First? No analysis, no angst, no deep thinking allowed. Just follow your instinct and take it there. If you don’t have an instinctive answer to give, ask question #2. Decluttering Question #2: If I Needed This Item, Would It Ever Occur to Me That I Already Had One? If not, it goes in the Donate Box.

Decide which hobbies get priority, starting with the craft/sport/ hobby you do most. Not that you like most, but that you do most. Not that you wish you did most, but that you actually do the most. And not even the one you spent the most money on, but the one you actively experience either external or internal motivation to do—and then actually do. It gets space in the container first. It gets priority.

Which hobby are you actually doing? That’s the one that deserves shelf space.

If your hobby is something you do consistently, it deserves space in your home. Find that space by asking yourself what you’re storing that doesn’t deserve space. Maybe you’re storing a collection of crystal bowls that you got for your wedding. If you have been married almost twenty years and you’ve never used those bowls, could you donate them and use that cabinet to store the supplies for the hobby you do on a regular basis?

Defining the space will help you identify the limits of the container you can use for storage, but even if you have no idea what you’ll do with this space once the clutter is gone, keep going.