The decision overwhelm or decision fatigue of decluttering may be standing in the way of you and a simpler life. It’s not easy to declutter a home full of stuff, let alone make all the decisions that come along with it.
The decision fatigue of decluttering includes answering questions like:
- Should I declutter this or not?
- What if I need it someday?
- Will I sell it or donate it?
- If I get rid of it, will I regret my decision?
- Do I lose money if I let it go?
- Will I hurt someone’s feelings if I let this go?
When we overthink these questions, the decision fatigue of decluttering sets in and slows our progress towards a simpler life. At some point, we stop making decluttering decisions all together and the clutter continues to build up and hold us back.
The Benefits of Decluttering Your Home
Before you let the decision fatigue of decluttering get in your way, consider the benefits of decluttering your home. Decluttering can lead to more simplicity in your life. Not only do you create more space in your home, but you create more space on your calendar and in your heart too. When you aren’t distracted by clutter, you can think more clearly and understand what you really want and need in your life.
Constantly accumulating and consuming things in hopes of more success and happiness leaves us feeling unfulfilled and overwhelmed. It’s no wonder we struggle to make decisions about what to declutter when the clutter itself pulls our focus from what actually matters and makes it impossible to be present and make a simple decision.
Clean countertops and tidy drawers are appealing but perhaps the biggest benefit of decluttering is stress reduction and better health. The clutter in our lives can make us feel bad and compromise our mental and physical wellbeing. All those times we think, “Well, it’s not hurting anyone,” it is! Clutter is hurting us.
Stress from clutter may be in the way of your healing and overall well-being.
The stress of clutter can make you sick physically and/or mentally. Just having all that extra stuff to deal with is too much with everything else we have on our plates. Motherly’s Article, It’s Science: Clutter Can Actually Give You Anxiety explains the science of cortisol: “
How stress from clutter makes us sick
When a messy room or too much stuff makes you anxious, there are health risks to consider. When you experience anxiety, levels of the stress hormone cortisol rise. Stress can affect our physical and mental health negatively and it can result in:
- Disrupted sleep
- Increase in blood pressure, blood sugars and heart rate
- Decreased immune function
- Depression and/or Anxiety or both
Even when clutter isn’t the only thing that stresses you out, it still contributes the stress you carry (and it’s a stressor that is within our control). When you are carrying too much stress, it demands all of your energy and attention.
As someone who lives with multiple sclerosis, I am willing to remove almost anything if it means my health will continue to improve. That includes clutter.
5 Practical Ways to Remove the Decision Fatigue of Decluttering
Studies show we make an average of 35,000 decisions a day. Throw some heart-wrenching decluttering into the mix and that number only goes up. This is how I recommend removing the decision fatigue of decluttering.
1. Understand why decluttering now is important to you.
You may have decluttered before. Maybe it went well, maybe it didn’t. Forget about it. Focus on now. Why is living with less clutter important to you now? Write about it, talk about it and do whatever it takes to figure this out. Maybe it’s important because you want or need to downsize, or you have a move coming up. It might be important because you feel overwhelmed with all of your stuff and you want to feel better. Perhaps you’ve decide that enough is enough. When things get challenging, remember why decluttering is important to you now.
2. Bypass the decision fatigue of decluttering altogether.
If you are flexible on time, you have the option of bypassing the decision fatigue of decluttering altogether. Instead of figuring out the best place to donate your items or where to sell them, and what to keep instead of decluttering, hide it all. Box up anything that is a “maybe” or that you aren’t sure about. Get all of the clutter out of sight, even if you think you might need it “just in case.” Put it in boxes and bags and hide them all. Do not overthink this or label the boxes. In 60 days, if you don’t miss or remember what you decluttered, give it all away.
3. Use the 20/20 rule to declutter faster.
The 20/20 rule for decluttering says you should let go of an item if you can replace it for less than $20 and in less than 20 minutes. To be clear, it doesn’t mean you should replace it just because you can but for the smaller items that you think you probably don’t need but can’t let go of the “just in case” argument, use the 20/20 rule. The reality is that you will never need to replace most of these things but knowing that you can for less than $20 in under 20 minutes makes it easier to let go without a lot of heartache.
4. Create rules to remove all of the decluttering decisions.
I wrote about some of my personal “rules” so I don’t have to make so many decisions in the “less” section of my book, Gentle. One of them worked when I did the majority of my decluttering. We’ll sell anything worth $50 or more, and everything else gets donated. With that one rule, we eliminated hundreds of decisions. Your rules might be different but create them in advance to ease the pain of decision fatigue.
5. Take a picture of the sentimental stuff.
Decluttering sentimental stuff may feel more challenging but be honest about how you enjoy it now. Are you actively enjoying or using your sentimental clutter or is it stuffed in a box in the garage, closet or under your bed? If you are worried about losing a memory, take a picture of it. I remember taking so many pictures when I got rid of my sentimental clutter. That was many years ago, and I’ve never looked at the pictures once. Still, taking the pictures helped me say, “Goodbye.”
Decluttering might feel hard sometimes but remember that it makes everything easier on the other side. These articles will help with anything you are struggling with when it comes to decluttering. Keep coming back to why this is important to you, join a Declutter Hour if you need inspiration and accountability and keep cheering yourself on and celebrating your progress.
