Whether you are just beginning your minimalist journey or are simply looking for ways to simplify your home, choosing the right decluttering techniques makes all the difference.
In this post, I’ll be sharing 2 proven ways to declutter your possessions. These decluttering techniques are what I come back to again and again whenever I urge for clarity and simplicity.
Along my minimalist journey, I have tried and tested all sorts of decluttering techniques, but only two of them stuck. And they stuck because they were clear and straightforward methods I could come back to at any given moments of my life (regardless of the type of housing I was living in or the amount of possessions I had). If you’ve already learned about decluttering, you’ve probably heard of them before, but I’d like to share them by adding my view on why they are probably the best methods out there.
The KonMari Method
The KonMari Method is a decluttering method invented by Marie Kondo. It is one of the most well-known decluttering methods that exists today. The key point of this method is to hold every single item you own close to your heart and feel whether it sparks joy. This method is unique in the sense that it is ultra-subjective: there is no objective guideline you need to follow to decide whether to declutter or keep your stuff. And that is exactly why this method became such a popular method, because it gives you complete freedom to choose how to craft your life by meticulously reflecting on how you want your possessions to serve your life.
So, let’s dive into how you apply this method.
- Picture your ideal life (define your end goal)
This first step is the most important part of this method. Before starting the decluttering process, you should picture what your ideal life would look like after completing the decluttering. It is important that you do this in detail. So instead of saying “I want my house to look tidy”, you could, for example, imagine yourself waking up early in the morning, drinking tea in a specific tea cup, and journaling in a quality notebook on a desk made of solid oak. Be as specific as you can on how you want your days to look like, and how you want to feel. Use this feeling in your ideal life as a reference when going through the following steps. - Declutter clothing
Gather all clothing in one place, pick up each item and place it close to you heart, and ask yourself whether it sparks joy. If it does, keep it. If it doesn’t, thank the item and let it go.
Do this for shoes and bags as well.
*By the way, when something “sparks joy”, it makes you feel slightly lighter, cheerful, brighter, optimistic, or positive. If something does not spark joy, it makes you feel heavier, you start to think, or create reasons why you should keep something. In reality, this is not a black-and-white feeling but more of a spectrum from definitely-not-sparking-joy to extremely-sparking-joy. The more you practice feeling whether something sparks joy, the better you will get. - Declutter books
Gather all books in one place, pick up each book without opening it, and ask yourself whether it sparks joy. If it does, keep it. If it doesn’t, thank the book and let it go. - Declutter papers
Gather all papers (contracts, receipts, and anything written on paper that is not books nor sentimental items). Supposing you’ll discard everything except for those you must absolutely keep, categorise it into 1) documents you must absolutely keep but don’t need to read often (e.g. contracts), 2) documents you want to read once in a while (e.g. recipes, course materials, etc.), and 3) everything else (to discard).
* I personally add another category, which is 4) digitalize. I digitalize everything in this category in the end and discard the physical paper. - Declutter komonos
Komono is a Japanese word meaning small miscellaneous items, but in this method, it stands for everything except clothing, book, papers, and sentimental items. There are subcategories for komonos in the official method:
– CDs and DVDs
– skincare items
– makeup products
– jewelry
– valuables (e.g. credit cards, identity cards)
– digital gadgets
– stationary and sewing goods
– consumable products (medication, tissue paper, laundry soap, cleaning products etc.)
– kitchen utensils, food
– others (e.g. things for hobby)
Gather stuff for each category, take each item and ask yourself whether it sparks joy. If it does, keep it. If it doesn’t, let it go. - Declutter sentimental items
Sentimental items includes things that have personal values because it is attached to your past events. Photo is a typical example, but it can also be a T-shirt if you want to keep it more for the sake of a memory than for its function as clothing.
Sentimental items are usually the hardest part of decluttering, because many of these items are irreplaceable. But if you have followed the order and trained yourself with items in other categories, it may be easier than you think to distinguish whether they spark joy or you are ready to let it go.
Why I like this method
I first tried this method back in 2017 while trying to declutter all the stuff I left at my parent’s home. I was astonished by how accurate her explanations were in the book. For example, she says that once you only keep items that sparks joy, you don’t need any additional storage except for the closets already built into your home. This is exactly what happened, although I started with a room filled with stuff.
Another example is how she says that once you start decluttering, you will start to find coins and cash in your clutter. This turned out to be true as well. I started finding bills in between used notebooks and coins in random drawers. They ended up being worth about the monthly salary I was earning at that time!
In the beginning, I was very sceptical of how subjective this method is, but when I followed her instructions precisely, I did end up with a very neat room only filled with what I wanted to keep.
Since then, I’ve applied her method every time I needed a big change, like before moving, changing jobs, or changing the country I live in. The method never failed to reduce the amount of items to just the right amount and help me gain clarity.
Put everything in a box and only take out what you use
I first learned about this method while watching the movie My Stuff (2013). The filmmaker puts everything he owns into a storage room and allows himself to take out only one item per day.
I have never applied the method in the exact same ways, but adapted the core concept in various versions.
How you can use this method:
- Put all clothing in a suitcase, and take out only those you wear on that day. After a month (or a year), discard what is left in the suitcase.
- Place all the books in your bookshelf the other way, so that the labels are hidden. When you take out and read the book, place it the other way so that the label is shown. After a month (or a year), donate all books whose labels are not shown.
- When you are travelling and feel like you have too much stuff, get a large tote bag, and place items you have used during your trip in this tote bag. Keep what you did not use in your suitcase /backpack. By the end of the trip, you know which items you haven’t used. Next time you travel, don’t pack these items.
Why I like this method
This is a practical method when I want to reduce the amount of stuff I bring along during my travel. Although I am already quite a light traveler (I’ve lived out of a carry-on suitcase for a year, or a 25L backpack for a month of travelling in India), I like analysing what I can further minimise.
I also use this method when I want to declutter as if I have moved into a new apartment and starting from a clean slate. It allows me to experience extreme minimalism and reflect upon what I really need, without having to actually discard my belongings.
Decluttering is not complicated, especially when you follow the right method. The important thing is to start. Once you repeat several rounds of decluttering, you will start to gain a much more intentional attitude towards your belongings, which will eventually spill over to living a more intentional life.
Leave a Reply