You are reminded every time you move you have too much stuff! It piles up in closets, storage units, under your bed and inside your garage. Dealing with all that clutter is bad for your mental health. The psychological weight of hoarder level clutter and mess is easy to understand, but it can effect you even if you’re not navigating piles of stuff in your house.
At a certain point in your life you should stop accumulating stuff and start dealing with the stuff you have already accumulated. In stead of leaving an enormous chore for the future you can make it a thoughtful project now while you are still in control.
You can simplify your existence, it’s all about taking control.
Rethink your relationship, not just a burst of decluttering and getting rid of old things, but the imposition of a permanent new way of organizing your life.It is less about cleaning out your garage and more about how you want to approach acquiring and disposing of possessions going forward. The sense of being in charge of your life and having some say in how everything is dalt with even after after you’re gone is empowering.
Here is how to get started:
Start with easy stuff. Leave the emotionally heavy stuff and start with the easy stuff like clothes that no longer fit or never wear. Then move on to stuff that has been hidden away in storage you forgot you even own it! Slowly move on to more meaningful things
Take your time The whole point is that you’re preparing for the future that hasn’t come yet.There is no need to make this an intense ordeal. Just getting into the habit of taking stock of all the stuff you’ve gathered around you will have an impact on your emotional health.
Consider options. One key to this is not just stuffing things into garbage, you are being thoughtful. Consider what can donated, what can be gifted and what can be trashed and what can be sold for a profit. Give to someone who would benefit.
Go minimalist The goal here is "as little as possible".
Keep only what you absolutely need. That’s the dish set you never use, shoes you never wear, it all goes. Keep only what you need.
Remember to declutter digitally. Social media accounts, online photos, email accounts. You dont have to remove these if you actually use them and gain something positive from them. Be sure to keep a list of logins to delete and manage those accounts for family who may need to access them one day.
Consider who benefits. Ask yourself will anyone else benefit from anything I have that will make them happy. There will be things that only have significance to you. Those are candidate for the cleanout only if you are ready to part with them. If an object won’t improve anyone’s life then no point it keeping it for them to deal with oneday.
Remember this about control, deciding what the rest of your life and the time that follows will look like. It is an act of kindness for anyone later down the road who has to deal with your stuff, now or in the future including you.