How to Make Decluttering Decisions Much Easier

In a world brimming with how-to guides and step-by-step frameworks, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking success lies solely in following a particular method. This goes for any goal we have – from decluttering the house to cooking dinner without pulling our hair out.

While methods are helpful, they’re often tied to specific tasks or situations, like the KonMari method for decluttering or batch cooking your dinners. But what happens when a method doesn’t fit perfectly into your unique context?

Enter principles.

Principles are universal truths that provide guidance across any task or discipline. They are timeless, flexible, and offer a foundation for decision-making. Where methods show us how to act, principles remind us why we act. When applied thoughtfully, principles help us know the next right step without even needing a more rigid framework.

I did a recent episode of the podcast with 10 principles to guide your decluttering, but I’m going to share my favorite one here:

Don’t save the good wine.

If you’ve read my book or followed me for a while, you’ve heard me talk about this. When my mom was about to pass away from bladder cancer (I was 24), I asked her for one piece of advice she wanted me to remember most. 

She said (a bit flippantly…after all, that was a pretty ginormous question): “Don’t save the good wine. I have a few bottles I was saving for a special occasion, and now I’ll never know what they taste like.”

This one phrase – don’t save the good wine – has become my motto in life. But it’s also a great principle that can be applied to decluttering. 

Use the special dishes. Light the fancy candles. Enjoy the fancy lotion. Display the sentimental items. Wear your favorite sweater instead of worrying you’ll spill something on it!

Enjoying what you have now prevents items you love most from becoming unused clutter. And once you have the items you love in rotation and on display, you’ll naturally be able to pare down the less-loved things you don’t have room for (because now the things you love are taking up that space!). 

When methods fall short or feel too rigid, principles step in to guide us. They offer flexibility, adaptability, and a foundation for decision-making that transcends specific circumstances. By embracing these principles in decluttering, you’ll not only begin to see obvious answers to your choices, but you’ll also live with greater intention as a whole.

You can listen to the episode of Paring Down with all 10 principles to apply to decluttering HERE.

PS – This idea of methods vs. principles is something I read about in Greg McKeown’s book, Effortless, so I wanted to leave the link HERE in case you’re interested in more ideas like this! I always encourage looking for titles at your library or on Libby, as well!