How to Declutter When You Have a Hard Time Letting Go

Decluttering frees up space and lets you accomplish many things more easily. It won’t take as long to finish chores like cleaning, paying bills or washing laundry. Still, it isn’t always simple to let go. Sentimental or once-valuable belongings can make it seem overwhelming, especially if you have a lot of them.

1. Getting Started

As you begin sorting items, decide what you should keep instead of picking things to give up. Start by discarding belongings you can easily let go. They might be broken tools, foods you wish you’d never tried or shirts that haven’t fit since high school.

As it gets harder, you’ll need to convince yourself to give up certain items and move on. Remember that they’ve served their purposes. Think about how these belongings may help someone else. For instance, another person might read your dusty, forgotten book for the first time and really enjoy it.

If you spent money on something, don’t let that stop you. Money comes and goes. Nothing lasts or stays useful forever. Did a friend give it to you? No one should expect you to keep a gift perpetually. The giver might even prefer it go to someone who actually wants it.

2. Major Benefits

Remember your reasons for decluttering and visualize the benefits. Think about having a neater, more organized home and being able to invite people inside. Less stuff could improve your health as well. Decluttering may relieve stress, anxiety and depression.

3. Feeling Grateful

Gratitude can help you let go of superfluous items, especially if you stop comparing yourself to others. Most people experience difficulties in life and lack certain things they’d like to have. Nonetheless, you can probably find plenty of reasons to feel grateful. Try writing a list of them.

• Family and friends
• Health, nutrition
• Nature and animals
• Skills, knowledge
• Enjoyable activities
• Useful belongings

4. The Hardest Part

You’ll probably struggle to give up unneeded things that have sentimental value. It’s fine to keep a few of them in a special place. At the same time, don’t let them become burdensome. You don’t have an obligation to store your grandfather’s entire model train collection in the bedroom closet.

Time can help you part with sentimental items. Although you might not believe this right now, you could find it much easier after a few weeks or months have passed. Don’t forget to contact any family members who might want these belongings.

5. Preserving Memories

Before you give away sentimental items, take pictures and print them. Write about any related memories. Consider keeping one item out of a big collection or a small piece of something larger, such as one knob from a defunct radio you’ve had since childhood.

We hope this advice will help you overcome even the hardest decluttering tasks. Always keep this in mind: You won’t lose the memories linked to a belonging you let go, especially if you use photos or a journal to remind yourself of them.