“Owning less is far more beneficial than organizing more.” – Twitter / Facebook
We are a culture drowning in our possessions. We take in more and more (holiday, birthdays, sales, needs), but rarely find opportunity to discard of it. As a result, our homes fill up with more and more stuff. And because we believe the best solution is to find organizational tools to manage all of it, we seek out bigger containers or more efficient organizational tips and tricks. But simply organizing our stuff (without removing it) is always only a temporary solution. By definition, organizing possessions is an action that must be repeated over and over and over again.
At its heart, organizing is simply rearranging. And though we may find storage solutions today, we are quickly forced to find new ones as early as tomorrow. Additionally, organizing our stuff (without removing it) has some other major shortcomings that are rarely considered:
- It doesn’t benefit anyone else. The possessions we rarely use sit on shelves in our basements, attics, and garages… even while some of our closest friends desperately need them.
- It doesn’t solve our debt problems. It never addresses the underlying issue that we just buy too much stuff. In fact, many times, the act of rearranging our stuff even costs us more as we purchase containers, storage units, or larger homes to house it.
- It doesn’t turn back our desire for more. The simple act of organizing our things into boxes, plastic bins, or extra closets doesn’t turn back our desire to purchase more things. The culture-driven inclination to find happiness in our possessions is rarely thwarted in any way through the process.
- It doesn’t force us to evaluate our lives. While rearranging our stuff may cause us to look at each of our possessions, it does not force us to evaluate them—especially if we are just putting them in boxes and closing the lids. On the other hand, removing possessions from our home forces questions of passion, values, and what’s truly most important to us.
- It accomplishes little in paving the way for other changes. Organizing may provide a temporary lift to our attitude. It clears a room and subsequently clears our mind, but rarely paves the way for healthy, major lifestyle changes. Our house is too small, our income is too little, and we still can’t find enough time in the day. We may have rearranged our stuff… but not our lives.
On the other hand, the act of removing possessions from our home accomplishes many of those purposes. It is not a temporary solution that must be repeated. It is an action of permanence—once an item has been removed, it is removed completely. Whether we re-sell our possessions, donate them to charity, or give them to a friend, they are immediately put to use by those who need them.
Removing possessions begins to turn back our desire for more as we find freedom, happiness, and abundance in owning less. And removing ourselves from the all-consuming desire to own more creates opportunity for significant life change to take place.
As you seek to get your home (and life) organized, challenge yourself to remove the unneeded things in your home. Rid yourself of the extra weight in a permanent manner. Carry a trash bag from room-to-room. See how big of a donation pile you can make. Or help eliminate debt by selling them. It doesn’t matter so much how you remove them, as long as you do. For it is far better to de-own than declutter.
After reading most of these comments, I’m going to work on decluttering a room.
And I have taken pictures of things so I could get rid of them..
thanks for the comments everyone
We are trying to live with one car instead of two. More walking and public transportation. Scheduling better. Hopefully, we will save money and use less gas and make less pollution.
Just recently I DE-OWNED: approximately 20-25 bags and/or boxes of items such as clothes, linens, craft items, books, videos, cd’s, papers, figurines, collections, pictures and odds and ends that I hadn’t touched since I brought them home…
I also DE-OWNED: eight large pieces of furniture and seven small pieces of furniture…
I have gone through every area of my apartment and disected the contents and rid myself of what was not needed or would be used sometime within the next six months…
There is now nothing under my bed, only a couple of boxes of craft projects under my dresser and my sewing projects are now in the bottom drawer of my dresser instead of in boxes under my bed since I cleaned out my dresser of unused clothing…I am able to see the floor of both of my closets and the ceiling which was not possible before the clean out…My closets are now emply of unused clothing and what is left has more room…
My one three shelf bookcase now holds my music cd’s, a few favorite movies, most used books and about 12 candles…Before I two shelves of movies with probably 50 or more on the floor in front of the bookcase…My books were on two shelves of a three shelf bookcase and 1 1/2 of the case was candles…Gone,gone,gone…
I cleaned out my bathroom undersink cabinet and the undersink cabinet in the kitchen of items I did not use…
This was something that I had felt very strongly in my spirit that I needed to do and so I just did it without questioning since I know that YHVH would never lead me wrong…
Since I started this the middle of August I have talked with several people who have been feeling they need to do the same thing…
It seems that there are a lot of people being guided to bring there life into a place where they are more in control of their time, energy and their focus on life…
You have a good thing here…Keep it going…
My life recently transformed in a big way as I adeptly fit my most important possessions into my 2004 Subaru Forrester and relocated some 800 miles away from my home town. Everything – clothing, photographs, precious keepsakes and my only furniture piece — a 1920’s library table given to me as a teenager. I sold, gave away and donated furniture, household items and what I thought I’d never want to give away — my 20+ year collection of oriental and other decorative vases. But I did it, and do not have any regrets. None!
Throughout my process of ‘de-owning’ various possessions, it occurred to me that I was simply allowing others to begin the joy of ownership as I had for many years the beautiful antique pieces I so treasured. I felt happy to see how excited others were to do so. Yes, this may seem an extreme measure to most, but I was simply ready to re-invent myself and start anew….at the tender age of 57. My three children – now in their 20’s – supported me wholeheartedly, as did my family, and this made the process easier and far less painful then perhaps it would have been. Also, my conviction in making such a drastic decision did not waver which means I remained clear-headed throughout this cleansing process and did so without the burdensome filter of emotional attachment. There is something fundamentally empowering about releasing from the emotional weight of all that I thought defined me. It is just ‘stuff’ in the end. Who said “You never see a U-Haul following a hearst.”? Wow. That’s a visual!
So, when I begin to build my new, cozy nest, I know I will maintain this minimalist attitude because I understand more than ever how much more there is in life, and at the end of the day, I will still feel whole and authentic and happy with only those precious items which I believe do truly define me. Oscar Wilde said it best….”Life is too important to be taken seriously.”
Thanks, Joshua, for offering your inspiring stories. Now I can relate more than ever.
Just wondering to which part of the country/world you moved…sounds like a dream freya
Je ѕuis tout à fait d’accord avec vous
First off,great article written by this author-Bravo!
For me,I’m at the other end of this spectrum.Since I am now unemployed,and newly married (bad combo)I am constantly on the search for anyone who is looking to discard any or all of their items they no longer need or want.In the past,when I was employed I used to do this as a ” side hustle” to make some extra money,I’d go to garage sales or I’d simple come across stuff that people were throwing out to the curb,clean them up and resell them.For people who do this for a living,there is big money in this business.
I didn’t exactly come here to ” advertise” myself,but why not ” throw” myself out there. I’m in NY on the Queens border to be precise,if any of you here reading this are looking to rid yourselves of any items I would certainly take them off your hands.I don’t own a brick and mortar store or anything like that,its just me,one guy who will personally come and take whatever you would like to get rid of.
If you would rather make some money off the items you have,I suggest;a yardsale,listing your items on free sites like craigslist or like the author noted,donate them to charity.
Anyway,my name is Shawn and if interested and in the Ny area and want to simply just downsize and get rid of items asap you can email me @ [email protected]
Oh also,another idea is that you could put your items in certain stores that offer ‘consignment’ meaning they take on your items,and if they sell any of them,they get a piece of the profit.In most consignment situations it’s a 60/40 split,with you getting 60% and they getting 40%.
Thanks
Shawn
Oh Shawn. How I wish you were in the South of the UK.
I have piles and piles of stuff, bin liners galore, and a loft and garage fit to bursting.
We are moving house and after almost 40 years in our house it’s high time it all went.
I’ve donated every single thing so far to local charity shops and I’ve no desire to make any money out of my tat!
Good luck and I’m sure that you will come across people, like me, who will donate their unwanted items.
Hi Ann, I am based in South Buckinghamshire in UK and I am a member of Apdo (The Association of Professional Declutters and Organisers) here in the UK. I’m not sure whereabouts in the South you are, but there is a map on our great website that enables you to look for someone who could help you by area http://www.apdo-uk.co.uk. If you are fairly close to Souths Bucks, then please do also look at my website as I would love to be able to help you downsize. http://tinasorganisation.co.uk. Good luck and best wishes. Tina
Shawn, Why are you asking for things? I find it offensive that a stranger is asking for free things to make a profit out of them.
Helen,
why you are upset with Shawns post?
If one have to much and being happy to get rid of some stuff he not longer need or want, why not give it to somebody, who can make his living, or even a few dollars out of it? I can’t see, why this should be offensive.
I completely agree with Kerstin! It amazes me how so many people want the world to know that they are offended about things. If something offends me then I read or go do something else. Everyone is entitled to free speech in my opinion. The world would be a very boring and sterile place if we all listened to the same music, dressed the same way, looked the same and appreciated exactly the same things. It is quite stimulating to pause and consider a different perspective, well… for most people. :-)
Exactly, nothing offensive about flipping furniture and household items for money. Walking my dog on ‘trash day’ is sometimes profitable. I might see something to keep or take and put in my next garage sale. Hey, it was headed to the landfill right? Flea Market flip is one of my favorite shows. To the author, I came across your site when trying to convince my husband to get rid of instead of keeping items on our move back to Florida. Now we are paying for a second POD for things we are not missing if you know what I mean. Paying more money to keep more stuff that we don’t need… not to mention the extra plastic bins we had to buy.
Signed,
Stressed
Helen, why? I think it’s great and I only wish he was in Australia as I have lots to give. I’ve never sold any item, I’d rather give them away. If Shawn can use them for his house or to reinvent and sell good luck to him. Hope it goes well Shawn.
I think it is great when someone else can profit in any way from things I no longer have use for. I usually just give things to a local charity that has a second hand store, but sometimes when go to recycling/waste management I will bring a box of stuff to leave on the tables for others to take if they want. I am always surprised to see that within seconds of my putting a box down there are one or two people going through it. I just think of a friend of mine who as a young bride had two sets of dishes and thought ‘why?’ so she boxed up one set and left it outside her apartment door knowing “someone will take it” and sure enough – the next morning it was gone. That was 30 years ago, long before I ever heard of minimalism. There’s a lesson there – I think.
By the way, I’m nowhere near being decluttered – I’m working on it. Slowly but surely.
Helen, I myself am very broke. My husband is in the army and I work full time at a dog day care. We sell some things we find on the curb. Other things that I just need to get out of the house I give to people who want them. If someone is looking to get rid of something, why is it offensive for someone to ask for it to help them out financially? Not having enough pride to ask for help to support his wife is a very, very good quality in a man. Try to be more supportive.
Shawn is perfect for the person who is so controlling that they neither want to throw out an item nor have the item go to an annonymous person through a thrift store.
One of the problems that I see is that if we donate to Goodwill or a thrift store like that is exactly the same as what he is doing…resell the items. Goodwill takes free things and turns them for profit. What’s the difference?
Helen, Helen! Too uptight! Shawn was very open about his intentions, and utterly polite. You – not so much. Be nice!
Well I cant get rid of other peoples stuff so I have decided to box it up tag it and forget it. If they remember it and want it fine but I am refusing after this time of touch and organizing everyones stuff to stop. Not to sound witchy but I am tired I want to be a minalmalist. Here’s to making me happy which in turngives me more time to be happy with other people and not unhappy with their stuff.
When I stopped organizing my partner’s stuff and put his stuff out of my space, I got a lot of my own stuff done.
Minimalist – n- min-uh-mul-list,
One who has no desire to succeed or advance and will do as little as possible with few or no goals in life.
SYNONYMS – homeless, lazy, unmotivated
Clown – n – kloun,
One who does not know his ass from his elbow.
SYNONYMS – troll, jackass, ignoramus
Actually sir, a lot of minimalists are richer than you are. Steve Jobs, Robert Pattinson just to name a few. And you my friend, are sitting in front of your computer calling minimalists lazy, homeless and unmotivated. I suggest you do some evaluation on what YOU have accomplished because I assume they are not that great. Since you have the audacity to question such a wonderful lifestyle that is God-given. Anyways, hope you are having a fine day drowning in your useless possessions :)
You’re so silly.
That is not very thought through. I speak from personal experience. I decided to simplify my life, sold my house, moved into a smaller home with less things. Now I come home from work and I feel more relaxed in my space. This has nothing to do with being lazy or unmotivated. I work 40-60 hours per week because I like to work not because I have to. I hope for you that you can stop judging people and just be happy. Minimalism is a personal choice. I don’t mind you having everything you want- I just don’t want all these things anymore.
Well-said and spot-on. Our society focuses too much on ‘things’. I would rather fill my life with experiences and memories. I’m making this my goal!
Debt for experiences and memories is a lot less onerous. Utterly without conscious intent I spent my 20 and 30 taking on a “mortgage” for a lifestyle that included travel, parties, getting to know so many people and getting a stellar education. I worked in human services and made no where near enough to live on in the Bay area so I did shared housing until I was 40. I would advise any young person to do the same. I work in industry now and make an excellent living, which I have used to pay off the mortgage for my real life learning and I couldn’t be more pleased with my approach. Soon I will be unjobbing altogether and reducing my needs to focus my life on writing and special education. I was never fooled by the corporate shenanigans at my later-life workplace. I would have been if I had taken the “recommended” route.
Wish school would teach us these practical ways of living the different stages of life.
This was an amazing post. I am always rearranging and organizing. I thought about buying less and it would limit my mental stress of a cluttered household and it did for a while. But somehow it’s not enough. I just read your post and it made more sense to me then the hundreds of articles I’ve read on decluttering and organizing. Sure I some threw away some stuff and such but after reading your post, I am truly enlightened and sense the feeling of freedom from my possessions and them owning me. You know what they say, “the things we own, end up owning us”. Thank you for putting your thoughts out into the world. I know by taking your advice and putting it into action will reduce all cleaning and organizing and I will gain much more time for my family and fulfilling my passions passions!
That’s such an interesting reply.
I myself am such a collector of many things I love flea markets and fill my home with possessions albeit inexpensive.
However I’ve also always felt I am owned by them or that I am too attached to material things.
It’s a hard habit to change .
Kgough, who are these people using your home ad a storage facility? Don’t just stop more things from coming in, reverse the process. I say give these disrespectful individuals a deadline to remove their possessions or they will be donated or discarded -THEN FOLLOW THROUGH! This is tough love, Sweetie. Take control of your home and your life. Some people may not like it, but they have to deal with it. The good news is that you have the power here. Grab it and live the minimalist life life you desire. I’m rooting for you!
p.s. this was a great article.
Great article! I tend to be a minimalist in some things but certainly need to look at all areas in my life. I enjoy the picture in my minds-eye where I am looking at all of my possessions on the lawn and, as people walk by, I hand them things that they could use. Instead of them being in my closet or cupboards, they are being used by others. Used by others, not kept where they are unused.
people that hoard or are as they prefer to be consumers, dont have any desire to own less. they will buy more with what ever it takes. they are deep rooted from prvious lives, ancestors. I have a hard time living with one. if there is a help for this type of behavor, please email me. why dont the people that need the help read these articles
I’m a paper hoarder.
I watched ‘Hoarders’ and ‘Obsessed’ this spring and that helped me make a 180.
But then again, I’m not a ‘I’m not as bad as them or like them’ kind of person. After watching and LISTENING TO HOW THE PEOPLE FELT and the input from the therapists, I understood that my thought process is exactly the same. I’m glad to report I’m down to 1 box of unorganized papers instead of a truckload. I never knew how much stress I had was self-inflicted. Any other helpful words are welcome.
Marta how did you get rid of papers? I save to sort, and boxes move with me but low priority so still clogging.
I also would be happy to give things to people who need — what is hard for me is putting in trash what could still be used by me someday or someone else. Tricky to connect items with those who need without putting most possessions on eBay and wait for a bid? Other ideas?
what is especially a burden are other people fixing to offload their junk. i don’t want it, or them to ever darken our door, ever again. Peopls are inconsiderate, they think if you’ve a shed it’s a free storage facility. Where’s my shotgun!
Just dumping things doesn’t benefit anyone.
Organising your stuff is the first step of decluttering. You’ll find all those things you have in duplicate. You’ll find those things you didn’t know you have, and didn’t use for ages. You find old dreams of making things, or fixing things; dreams of going somewhere, memories of happiness.
I spent the whole day yesterday to organize my papers – bills and bank records. The recycling ton got a fill. And the bag for the shredder in the office. (safer than just tearing bills up)
And the bag for the scanner. (some day there will be someone who claims you owe them money, then it’s nice to have a record of that receipt from years back) Insurance companies are notorious for that.
After the scanner the shredder will be fed.
(a former boss was keen on dumping old documents that were messing up his nice cabinet. And then he had to explain to the customer where the documents were he was sent earlier…)
If you are going to scan and then shred the hard copy (excuse the capitals):
BACK IT UP FIRST!!!
Also, if there is an original signature on something, KEEP THE HARD COPY.
I can’t emphasize this enough! I just started regular back-ups when my hard drive died. And I am SO GLAD I did.
Hard copy signatures are not necessary. Electronic copies are more than sufficient even on legal documents in the UK and US.
I have been having so much fun getting rid of more and more. I thought I was minimalist already and then I started reading these articles.
My home has no storage except bedroom closets that we use for clothes and linens. To combat this problem we put our bed up on risers to house a trunk and 5 or six other boxes.
I want the underneath of my bed to be 100% empty with no bed skirt so that you can see under and it looks like beautifully open space. So I am going in and re-evaluating each piece, more than half of it is my husbands and he has agreed to go in and condense.
My favorite kitchen realization so far has been….
I previously owned
10 mugs
6 wine glasses
6 water glasses
REALIZATION: I only need 6 mugs! You can drink any liquid from a mug!! ( I have 3 people in my home and am accounting for 3 guests)
I gave my excess to a friend in need.
*My closet…40 hangers! So Awesome, I love it. It is so easy to find something to wear. I have not worn the same thing twice in a month and still have a few things I haven’t worn yet, which makes me think I could get by with even less. (When i wear something I cycle it to the back of this closet, this way, I can find out if there is something I kept that I am not wearing.) I no longer own those “just for fun” pieces. (bashfully admits:except for 1 or 2 I hid in the back of the closet). I hang my few summer Items instead of storing them b/c I don’t have storage space and those things don’t count in the 40. They will trade places with sweaters when it gets warmer. Most of my clothes cross seasons by adding a light sweater and a warm jacket on top and leggings or tights with boots with my skirts in colder months.
Yes I’m just realizing that I don’t necessarily need a different wardrobe for each season but can wear my summer skirts and tops in winter by simply layering and wearing tights underneath. I also don’t like stuff stored under the bed and since our bed is a low futon it isn’t possible anyway. Oh how i wish I could only use our cups instead of glasses for all drinks but then some people in the family think that’s weird! It is amazing that even though we may think we are quite minimal we can actually get by quite well with ALOT less!
For the first time, I have nothing under the bed (I’m 43!). So my point is—I know the feeling.
Do you think that the huge houses being built today are a result of people having just too much stuff?
George Carlin certainly did. :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLoge6QzcGY
Freecycle.org may be an answer to some of your de-cluttering needs. Check the website to see if it is active in your area. If not start it. People post needs, wants, haves to this site. They are given freely and to those who can use them. If you have a need for an item (s) then send a posting. Someone out there is bound to have it just sitting around waiting to be given away. Very successful here in lower Michigan. Its a blessings both ways.
Reading this article brought back so many good memories! I remember how freeing and fulfilling it was to have ‘the great book purge of 2012’. I was looking for a book for a friend, knew that I had a copy, and discovered (oh, the horror!) that I had TRIPLE stacked some of my shelves. (books, behind books, behind more books!) No wonder I couldn’t find it!
I pulled every single book of the shelves (all 6 bookcases, floor to ceiling, 3-foot wide) and started thinking about every single book.
The process I used was “would someone else benefit from having this information/story?” I cleaned every shelf, started stacking (keep, donate, maybe) and then started carting books outside to put on a table with a ‘free books’ sign. I ended up putting over 500 books outside for passers-by to peruse and pick up, and still managed to mostly fill my shelves with what I wanted to keep.
The word got out “Lei Lani is giving away some of her books”, and by the end of the first day, the stack outside was down to maybe 10 books.
It still makes me smile to think that all of those treasured books have found new homes, with people who will read them, and hopefully pass them on when their stacks get too high.
I love this! Great job :-)
Thanks for your inspiring comment. I have decided to de-own a few thousand books. Not because I don’t want the books. But because I feel they rob me of my freedom. I can’t move. I forever clean and organize. They have taken over my house and my guest house. There is not much room for anything else. It will break my heart to let them go. But I think the freedom that will come with it will be worth it. It’s been a mental process so far. I think I’m about ready to clean house and guest house.
I donated books to the library. That way I can borrow them back if I want to read them and The community benefits from them too. Good luck :)
We donate books to libraries and charity auctions too.
Agatha
I wonder if you got rid of those thousands of books you were going to start on. I have the same problem and found your words very encouraging.
We gave away 7 banker boxes of book to our local library, mostly novels we’ve read and we’re not going to read again. The library uses them for a fundraising book sale which I work at. It gave me joy to see our books come thru the checkout line, know someone else will enjoy those books too.
Where I live, I go to the county library system’s web site to check and see if they carry a book or movie I am thinking of getting rid of. If they do, I know I can safely get rid of mine– I can always borrow it back if I want. And have I ever borrowed any back? Never. But it is good to know that if I wanted to, I could.
That’s so cool!
I also donate books to our library. They have a book sale twice a year to raise funds for the library.
what a great idea lei lani!
Thank you for this. de-owning not just decluttering is speaking to me as I simpliy my life. It is my new mantra, thank you! My home is not cluttered, my clutter is tucked away usually. But I have so much stuff. I am inspired and feel the need to de-own not just declutter.
I only have one room in house. I try to organize and de-clutter my room, like inside my drawers, I have little tupperware containers to organize everything and save space.
But I have so many small “things” that don’t fit into any category and I have no idea where to put them. I just get frustrated and throw them all into a bag and hide it. I can’t bring myself to toss things that might be useful later (bottle openers, crochet needles, mailing supplies).
How do I make myself get rid of these things!!
Ren
The minimalists.com suggest chucking that bag of stuff-it’s the “just in case” stuff that is really using “just in case” as an excuse to hold onto stuff. Check out their site too, I use this one and theirs for real inspiration and challenge.
Denise
Don’t sweat the small stuff. Have a junk drawer or box in each room. Keep the little things at least in the room that the little thing is related to in that junk drawer or box.
Make a junk drawer, preferably in the kitchen.
Great post. Our family is planning a move overseas and as we have to sell our house we need to clear out our “stuff”.
How liberating it has been. 500+ books = gone. A wardrobe of clothes = gone. Half the kids toys = straight to the op shop.
So so freeing.
My husband notices how much less stress there is as it’s easier to clean when you don’t have to pick up 50 items prior to doing it!
I wish I had this mindset prior to buying all the crap. Oh for wisdom in my early twenties.
i’m 22 and implementing all this stuff, funny, i wish i discovered it in my teens…(T.T) So much money wasted, and only crap to show for it!
I live in ‘small town’ Montana. Someone in our community has created 2 very useful Facebook pages: ‘small town’ classified, and ‘small town’ buy nothing (for info, go to http://www.buynothingproject.com). With these 2 pages, we can either sell or give away whatever we want. It is working extremely well and has brought people together. I think you could imagine the same thing in a big city neighborhood for example.
We live on a small island that has a similar idea – a Bring & Buy Facebook page where you can sell or give away your unwanted items. Can come in very handy on an island with few stores – your unwanted stuff can be exactly what someone else needs and couldn’t get (getting stuff shipped here can an expensive headache!)
I have been de-owning for over a year now via eBay. I have had 330+ auctions as made an average of $10 per auction. It is not a huge sum, however is is satisfying our grocery bill (teenagers! :)
The benefit is for the first time in our 22 years of marriage I can visualize where things are in the house. Awareness of stuff is key. Time will continue to help me consolidate our possessions into cash!
Thanks for the inspiring de-owning article. I can tell you how many shoebox containers I have purchased over the years!
Thanks again Joshua!! I have been following you site for about six months and can now see such a difference in not just de-cluttering but de-owing!! Wow what a difference. I can see how much time I wasted organizing and re-organizing ‘stuff’ but now when I tackle a room or a cupboard so much of it just leaves and is donated… and what a good feeling!! If I find a storage container in a closet or the garage I empty it and only keep what I really want… so I now have an empty storage container. Then I use that and I go to another room and fill that storage container up again (and only keep what I really need) and then empty that one again and put the unwanted things into bags or boxes to be donated. So I always an empty storage contained on the go to put things in that are leaving so then I am not overwhelmed on what to do with an item as it goes right into the container… out of sight out of mind… so far it is working for me!! Thanks for the encouragment always!! :)
Hmmm…nice article…except to me, I’ve always associated decluttering with de-owing…one in the same meaning…
I have been trying to de clutter also– what has scared me is that in our city there have been several fires where persons have been hurt because firefighters were not able to help them fast enough because of clutter.
Completely agree! I have been following your blog for a long time and you posts have helped me a lot on pursuing my goal. :)
Thanks Joshua!
I completely agree with this! It’s funny that I ran across this article at this time in my life because I have started to purge things………..not just de-clutter. I’ve been de-cluttering for years, but this time I’m cleaning and if I haven’t used it in awhile and don’t plan to, it’s getting trashed, donated or sold. I’m finished with stuff. And I feel reborn!!!
Misalnya, oatmeal, sandwich roti gandum, whole wheat pasta dan kacang-kacangan.
Great list, I cannot wait to share with my readers!
I’ve been going through your material after listening to the slow your home podcast and just have to say it’s fantastic.
The organizing vs de-owning is a great idea and it seems similar to people who want to exercise more but don’t watch their calories! Start at the source to have the most impact.
I agree, no matter how much organizing containers we buy, if we do not get rid of most of the stuff in our homes everything will become one big pile of mess. What I do is to make garage sales. Now I am moving to another house and I am going to make a big garage sale which will include my furniture too. I think that it is a good way to get rid of useless stuff.
I love this. I have an autoimmune disease that saps my energy. For me the energy of sorting, evaluating, and transporting the items out of my life is onerous. I will sort and evaluate, my henning sits in my garage while I debate Craigslist, Freecycle, or thrift store. My house feels constipated. Haha. On the other hand, cleaning, putting thing away, sorting, organizing, ad nauseum, takes energy too. I day dream of tossing it all and traveling the USA in a motor home containing all the possessions we need or living in a condo with my young family with a pool and play park attached or what life would be like as a single person with all my possessions in a knapsack on my back. I’ll have to keep dreaming as my 1700 sq.ft. house, crawlspace, garage, and shed are full.
I can find some days I can just do a box at a time. Doesn’t zap my energy. In fact it is energizing to me. I take a box…go thru…somethings go in donate tote, some in trash a a few things to keep, I’ve reduced by a third.
I am amazed by the wisdom that this post emanates. I have recently embarked on my own journey towards living a more minimalist lifestyle. Prior to being introduced to the idea of living in a more minimal manner, I was always reorganizing the same stuff. I hardly looked at half the stuff, but I felt that I needed to hold onto it. Once I realized that a lot of the stuff that I own doesn’t get used, I began freeing myself of it. I am just beginning this journey, so I am thankful for the inspiration that your post has provided me. I will continue to reference it in the future!
I read this blog at the back end of last year and have returned to it many times since. Your recent helpful guide to starting blogging arrived in my Facebook newsfeed at a serendipitous moment (I was actually in the process) and I’ve now had the chance to reference this post in this weeks blog (http://mindfulminimalism.co.uk/2015/06/23/it-always-seems-impossible-until-its-done/). I love it when things come full circle.
Thanks Joshua
Just got done decluttering and getting rid of things in my storage room…many things leftt, I enjoy changing decor for the seasons so I have organized those things…I know some day I will part with those things also, but for now its organized. Having too much is impossible to keep organized.. NEXT PROJECT is the basement.
Twice in my life I have lost most of my possessions, yet slowly through the years I accumulated more stuff. It is kind of funny and sad that when we are children we have room for all of our possessions in a single room, but once we are adults, we have so much that we fill our houses, sheds, garages, and rental storage units, with things we will most likely never need. I am in the process of cleaning things out and giving things away. We usually have a garage sale every summer, which also helps out.
I have been in the de-clutter mode for a long time. But it seems the more I get rid of, the more I find I have. It’s frustrating. But I’m persisting and it does feel good when you see something leave your house and it isn’t coming back!!
And I am a flipper too. I’ll find stuff at a thrift store or share shed and bring it home and flip it for more than I paid for it. For example, on Facebook buy sell trade in my city, I found a lovely burl coffee table a guy was selling for $25. I knew darn well it was worth more than that. So I picked it up and re-sold it for $100. Flipping can be fun if you know what you’re doing and what to look for.
Right now I am getting ready to donate to an auction that will benefit the dog mushers in Alaska who lost everything to the forest fires there. I have over 50 items ready to list on the auction page as soon as they say go. It’s a win win for me. I de-clutter my house and the mushers benefit from the money from my donations. I have the winner of the auction pay the postage and so although I don’t see any money, it doesn’t cost me anything either.
I love becoming a minimalist!! What a great way of life!!
The first step to getting stuff out of my house is to define what is the stuff that goes, what is stuff that stays, what is important stuff and what is treasure. Stuff that stays and important stuff is subject to change. It changes with time. My 2008 tax returns, paid Bill receipts and bank statements won’t be important next year, but they could be this year.
Without organization first things could get tossed or given away that are still necessary in some way. If it’s paperwork you can’t recreate, you’re up a creek. If it something you can run to the store and buy again you are wasting finances and that isn’t what minimalism is all about either. And I don’t believe if you have the space, anybody has ever said you need to give up all your treasure stuff.
I don’t have much treasure stuff that I would carry our out if I was evacuated for a forest fire, (and I have been), or political unrest in a foreign country, (and I have been), but I know what those treasures are, they have been identified, and I know how long it would take me to get them in a bag with my underwear so they wouldn’t break, as my husband and out ran out the door with the dog.
On to the basement… One box at a time…car is almost full of stuff leaving and hope to have two more boxes by note fall.
I like the general theme of this, but I feel that it’s a bit simplistic. As a Professional Organizer, I help people purge items first, then organize the remainder. The American culture is based on consumerism. So, while getting rid of things does produce a very cathartic feeling, it’s not realistic to expect people to just get rid of things without accepting that new thing will replace the things they got rid of. That’s just how it works here. I’ve even requested that clients not purchase anything new while we are going through the decluttering/organizing process, but they are never able to stick to that. Also, most people feel that if they have the space, they need to fill it with something. In my work, I stress the opposite and let them know it’s ok to have empty space, but again, they are never able to live with that. So although living a minimalist lifestyle is preferable, it’s not realistic for the majority of people. Therefore, it’s important to keep what they have organized so that they can focus on other areas of their life as well.
This is all learned behaviour. And to change, one has to begin somewhere. I respectfully disagree with your post–it is possible to change, and we can teach our children to be less consumeristic, so the cycle does not begin anew.
Thanks for sharing this post. A good approach and had to implement it recently. I nearly threw half of my stuff from closets when I moved to a new flat after living 20 years in the same flat.
Being unemployed helped me do what I had always wanted to do if I didn’t have to go to work. I wanted to fix the house in a way so that I could use it the way I wanted to use it instead of how I thought it ‘should’ be used. Organizing/categorizing led to decluttering and decluttering led to de-owning. It’s only going through this (not done yet) have I realized how much stress I’ve needlessly had that I didn’t know I had.
Yes, yes, yes! I constantly get the urge to go through and see what we can get rid of from our house. When my husband and I got married a few years ago, we started out in a 476 square-foot apartment. That helped us not accumulate “stuff”! Now we live in a bigger space, but I have tried to hardly add anything new in! I’m excited to pick up some new tips on your blog.
– donate your stuff to these who are in need of it
– sell your stuff in eBay or car boot sales, flee markets, garage
sales if it’s
you, who is in need of money
– re-use your stuff with a completely new usage… it’s called
“up-cycling” and changes cheese grinders into kitchen lamps,
wooden wine boxes in coffee tables and so on!
YES. Buying a bunch or containers and organizing all your stuff into them is right up there with renting a storage container/warehouse and stuffing all of your junk into it. Once you put all of that stuff away, it tends to become “out of sight, out of mind”. Both tactics are basically useless as far as actually dealing with your ‘things’. In 95% of cases, a person doesn’t need more space or more organizers, they need less stuff!
This is a good article for me as I declutter. A plus to owning a smaller home is having to de-own things more often, which in return makes less to organize and less to clean!
Thank you for the great article and inspiration. I am minimalizing my final room and the hardest — the office/ work room. I’m curious to know what the “Becoming Mimimalist” community thinks about printers. Are they still a relevant item? What do others do who have given up their printer already?