How To Declutter When It’s Hard To Let Things Go

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This post will help you navigate the mental blockades you often face that make it difficult to declutter your home.

Decluttering isn’t easy, especially for those of us who assign sentimental value to stuff we really don’t need. If you have a bad habit of holding onto things that aren’t serving you, you’re not alone. Living with less sounds wonderful, but the path to getting there is stressful for a lot of us. And it’s easier said than done.

We decide stuff is important simply because it’s floated around the house for the past X amount of years… And therefore needs to stay for such and such BS reasons we tell ourselves.

You’ve probably experienced those “this could be useful someday…” or “What if I eventually need this and it’s gone..?” or “But Allison gave this to me, I couldn’t possibly get rid of it!” Intrusive thoughts that make it difficult to focus and make progress.

Decluttering can just be…Overwhelming.

It tends to surface many uncomfortable emotions, making us just want to handle it another day... But let’s be honest, how many times have we moved clutter from point A to B and back again?

I’ve been there, done that. It took me a long time to have the mental strength to let go of things that weren’t serving me, or bringing me happiness anymore.

I want to help you confront the mental barriers that are making you feel controlled by your clutter. And that’s what this blog post is all about!

Decluttering isn’t getting rid of everything you own. It’s making space for what is truly important!

Let’s get started!

5 Things To Ask Yourself When Decluttering Stuff

When you come across items that make you feel anxious in any way…Ask yourself these 5 questions.

Is it adding any real value to my life?
Will I use it enough in the future to justify keeping it?
If I was at the store, would I buy this today?
Could someone else use this more than me?
Will I even remember this thing once it’s gone?

If you answer “no” to all or most of them…It’s probably time to get rid of it. Put it in the box, and don’t look back. Nine times out of ten, you won’t even remember you gave it up!

Things that have helped me cope with the process of decluttering

1. Telling myself that someone else might love it more than me

Sometimes people will gift me things I knew I would never use from the moment I received it. I’ll be the first one to say that I had the HARDEST time parting with gifts people gave me, even though I knew these things were just causing me more stress to keep them around.

If you’re struggling with this, just remind yourself that the person’s gift was meant as a thoughtful offering of love. The person who gave you the gift would not want you to hang onto it if they knew It wasn’t serving you well, and causing you this much stress! Yes they probably spent money on it, but it’s the thought that counts.

If it’s a perfectly good thing, don’t throw it away! Donate it or bring it to a thrift store instead. Just because it doesn’t serve you, doesn’t mean it won’t serve someone else.

Realizing this freed me from the guilt of feeling obligated to hold onto gifts I didn’t want anymore. You can do good for yourself and others when you declutter!

2. Calling my mom to talk it out

I tend to be sentimental about things, and it can really paralyze my ability to function when trying to declutter my life. The problem is that I will assign too much meaning to physical objects, Instead of realizing it’s the memory that’s actually special.

When I would work myself into an anxious frenzy about decluttering something, I would call my mom. I would tell her about my dilemma and complicated feelings about decluttering whatever it was, and why I felt guilty about getting rid of it. My mom served as a voice of reason to balance out my anxious thoughts, as she often does anyway.

Sometimes you might just need a little pep talk from someone you love to have the strength to let go of things. They can sympathize with why it’s sentimental to you, while also giving you the encouragement you need to part with it.

3. Allowing myself to be okay with my mistakes

Sometimes I would buy something impulsively thinking it would bring me joy, just to realize that it was only good for collecting dust. I would force myself to hang onto things because I had spent my hard-earned money on them, and couldn’t bring myself to realize I had been wasteful.

The truth was though… Hanging onto it was NOT going to bring my money back.

Once I came to terms with this, It helped me to see that there was really no good reason why I should hang onto something not serving me, just because I’d spent money on it.

When this happens, allow yourself to see it as a lesson and try to be more mindful and intentional about how you spend your money in the future. You’re not going to get everything right, and that’s okay. Life is about making mistakes and learning from them!

4. Driving it to the thrift store immediately

I found that once I had collected an entire box of clutter, I’d sometimes feel tempted to go through it once more, “just in case”…Eventually I realized that it was just best to just bring the box of clutter straight to the thrift store or the trash.

If you struggle with the same problem…Don’t allow yourself to second guess about the stuff you’re getting rid of. You have made incredible progress and you don’t want to backpedal and have to go through the same process of decluttering the SAME stuff again.

5. Realizing that the benefits of decluttering far outweighed the reasons not to

Now that I’ve lived in both cluttered and clutter-free spaces… I can tell you with certainty that living decluttered is amazing and worth the mental gymnastics it takes to get there.

I experience more happiness, productivity, focus, and peace. And less stress, mess and mental distress.

At the end of the day, living in a state of clutter is NOT worth hanging onto all the things I wanted to keep “just in case”.

Final Thoughts

Decluttering is not as easy feat but it is well worth the reward! You will get better at this in time, and you don’t have to live a life where you feel controlled by your stuff! You just need to set boundaries with your things and constantly be evaluating what is serving you, and what is not.

Remember that decluttering is about making space for the things that are important to you, so you can be surrounded by joy and not stress!