“You can always declutter a little bit at a time, but do you really want to be decluttering for the rest of your life?” —Zoë Kim
84% of Americans worry that their homes aren’t organized or clean enough. And 55% of those say it’s a big cause of stress in their lives.
That means 46.2% of Americans report that their physical possessions are a big cause of stress in their lives. Even more, some studies report that 40% of homeowners are afraid to even face the clutter in their homes.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
The stress brought into our lives from the overaccumulation (and perpetual maintenance) of physical possessions is a stressor of our own doing. We are never forced to own more than we need—we choose it.
On the bright side, that means this is a stress we can choose to remove whenever we want. We just need to decide to do it. Unfortunately, it seems, many of us are not making that choice.
That may be for any number of reasons. But I think one of the most prevalent reasons is simply because we don’t see minimalism as a priority. Instead, we think to ourselves, “Oh, it would be nice to own less, but it’s not that important to get done.”
But the longer we wait to make minimizing a priority, the longer we put off all the benefits that come with it. Owning less isn’t just a nice idea—it’s a better way to live. And it’s something you can experience today.
If you’ve been thinking about minimalism, now’s the time to take action. No more putting it off, kicking it down the road, or waiting for a better time to get started.
Because the rewards are waiting for you—just on the other side of letting go.
To help, here are 10 reasons to make minimizing your possessions a priority in your life:
1. Your peace is waiting.
Clutter is visual noise and a visual distraction. But it is more than that—it is also a mental weight. Every item we own takes up physical space in our home AND mental space in our mind. Every physical possession adds stress onto our lives.
And in a world with ever-increasing levels of anxiety and stress, your personal peace needs to be a priority. You can find more of it by making minimalism a priority in your home.
2. Your freedom is waiting.
Everything we own must be cleaned, managed, maintained, and stored. And the more we have, the more our lives get tied down to it. As Chuck Palahniuk wrote, “The things you own end up owning you.”
On the other hand, the less you own, the freer you become. Freed for relationships, freed to travel, freed to contribute, freed to pursue your passions—freedom to pursue whatever you choose as important. Don’t wait any longer to discover that freedom. You can have it today.
3. Your time is waiting.
Time is one of your most valuable resources. And once spent, it can never be replaced. Unfortunately, the average person spends two hours per day buying things and taking care of the things we own. Your possessions are literally stealing your time. And every day we hold onto things we don’t need is another two hours of our life wasted on things that don’t matter.
When you minimize, you gain back your time—your mornings, your weekends, your evenings—and can spend it on what matters most.
4. Your bank account is waiting.
Owning less leads to buying less. And buying less means more money available. Whether you desire to pay off debt, start saving, or give more generously, you’ll find it becomes easier (finally) once you make minimalism a priority.
5. Your confidence is waiting.
An amazing thing happens when we minimize our possessions. First, we begin to take back control of our life because intentionality in this one area of life tends to spark intentionality in other areas. And this act of taking back control will spark newfound purpose and confidence in life.
Second, we are reminded of an important truth: Our life value is not tied to the things that we own. And once we see the emptiness of trying to prove our worth by the things that we own, we begin to notice the areas in life that will actually deliver confidence and self-worth.
Minimizing possessions is about more than decluttering. It is about rearranging our life around pursuits that bring meaning, purpose, and fulfillment. And when we do, we find confidence in the decisions we are making and the life we are living. That realization shouldn’t wait any longer.
6. Your growth is waiting.
Removing the unneeded clutter from our homes forces us to ask deep questions: What do I value? What brings purpose? Why have I been holding onto this? What role does money play in my life?
Those aren’t easy questions—but they’re important because they lead to growth.
7. Your next chapter is waiting.
Our homes often become museums of the past—filled with stuff we needed for a previous season of life or attachments to the seasons we struggle to release. But you can never take hold of the new while clinging tightly to the old. Minimizing possessions helps us keep the possessions we need for the person we want to become, not the things for the person we were.
8. Your family is waiting.
Clutter affects everyone in the home. It affects how we parent, how we relate to one another, and the space we call home for the family that we love.
When we prioritize minimizing possessions and remove those we no longer need, we find it brings us closer to our spouse, helps us parent with better intention, and models an example for our kids to follow.
(And if your spouse has been asking you to make this change for a while, that should be a sign that this priority might be more important than you think).
9. Your life is waiting.
Life is not found in the abundance of possessions. As a matter of fact, not only do excess possessions not bring us happiness and life, they often distract us from it.
Why should minimizing possessions be a priority in your life? Because the life you want to live is buried underneath everything you own. And once you remove the clutter, you’ll discover life anew.
10. Your joy is waiting.
Joy isn’t something you’ll ever buy off a shelf or store in a box in your basement. It is found in finding something bigger than yourself and your stuff. Our clutter is a cheap substitute. Make owning less a priority in your life today and pursue real, lasting joy instead.
You don’t need to declutter your whole home in one weekend. But you do need to make it a priority in order to begin. And the sooner you start, the sooner you’ll experience the freedom that comes from owning less.
Your future is waiting—and it begins by letting go of something today.
