MORE vs less: Know Your Decluttering Purpose

Day 22 – Where are you going with your declutter mission? In other words, WHY are you doing this?

When you identify why you want to let go of your stuff, it’s more likely that you will protect your decluttered space. When you approach decluttering with the purpose of creating a calmer space, less stressful work-week, or a healthier, happier life, you won’t be easily derailed by the allure of more stuff. ~ By Courtney Carver

 

One of the things I love about my cell phone is that it has access to GPS. Since I am direction challenged, having this tool is a necessity. When you use GPS, Siri periodically gives course directions and reroutes. But in order to do this, she has to know where you are going.

This is true for us as well as we are on our decluttering journey. Where are you going?; or in other words, what is your why? What do you hope to gain by decluttering your space? Knowing this answer will help when the decluttering gets hard. And it will get hard.

Are you decluttering so that you can . . . 

• Find your library books?
• Have company over without advance notice?
• Park your car in the garage?
• Be worry free if someone opens the door to your closets?

Those are great side benefits of decluttering. But are they a strong enough motivator or purpose to decluter? I don’t think so.

When I started really getting serious about putting my house in order, it was because I was fed up with the disorder. But more than that, I was tired of the disorder standing in the way of everything I wanted for my life. I was determined to create the environment I wanted for my family and the ambiance I needed in order to focus my attention on what mattered to me.

I was tired of shuffling clutter from one room to the next. I was tired of organizing and reorganizing stuff. I was tired of wasting time on stuff. I had a bigger vision for my life. Honestly clutter felt like a ball-and-chain around my ankle. I wanted to make more room for worthwhile things that are intangible, not just more stuff I had to manage. ~ Melissa Michaels, Make Room For What You Love: Your Essential Guide to Organizing and Simplifying

To determine your purpose, answer the following questions . . .

• What kind of environment do you want at home? What emotions do you want to experience at home?
• What matters most to you for your home?
• What is clutter preventing you from doing in your life? In your home?
• What worthwhile, intangible things do you want to pursue in your life? In your home?

“The endgame is how this new way [of decluttered] living makes you feel, how it allows you to operate, and what it inspires you to do next.” ~ Fay Wolf, New Order: A Decluttering Handbook For Creative Folks (and everyone else)

Your Turn . . . What is your purpose for decluttering? As you answered the above questions, were any of your answers a surprise?

Day 22 –  31 Minutes of Decluttering = Back in my work office. Man, oh, man, do the papers ever PILE up.

Related Resources . . .

•  5 Ways Decluttering Can Change Your Life By Tess Whitehurst
• How to Engage in Purposeful Decluttering By Courtney Carver
• Identifying Not Just Goals, But Legacy Goals Makes Junk Tossing Easier By Fruitful Words

Go here for the landing page with all the posts for MORE vs less: 31 Days of Decluttering. #write31days  . . . I am joining 100’s of bloggers who are determined to write every day in October on one topic. To read more about #Write31Days, go here.

Join me in this experiment of MORE vs less. If you’d like, you can join our private Facebook group that is encouraging one another in this task.