How To Declutter Your House
How To Declutter
Today is part 9 in a 10 part blog series, where I’m sharing ten ideas from Portable Faith.
I’ve shared excerpts from eight exercises so far (What If Your Church Burned Down?, Community Stations, Would You Let Your Families Intermix, Walk a Mile In Their Shoes, What We Say In Public, Truth About Money, A Monopoly on Empathy and What Can We Control?).
Declutter Your House
Some people believe that when you own more possessions than you need or can use, you are stealing from those who need them. Another way of saying this is that when God gives us more than we need, God is appointing us to distribute the excess to those in need.
Something to reflect on or discuss as a group:
What are some reasons that we may accumulate more than we need? Check the reasons below that apply to you. Write in additional reasons not listed that may be unique to your situation. Discuss which reasons are most logical vs. which reasons may be illogical.
Reasons for accumulating too much:
– “I might need this later.”
– “It makes me feel good about my status or success to own all of this.”
– “I like having variety and being able to make choices.”
– “This reminds me of a good memory. I can’t bear to part with this.”
– “I keep this because I think it somehow prepares me or protects me.”
– “This item is a reminder of my success. I keep it to prove to myself or others that my life is interesting or my career is successful.”
– “People just keep giving me stuff, and I don’t get rid of it.”
– “I’m a compulsive shopper.”
– Other: _______________________________________________
Now discuss this:
What are the reasons it might be freeing to reduce the amount of possessions we own? Circle any reasons that are compelling or inviting to you. Write in additional reasons not listed that may be unique to your situation. Discuss which reason is most attractive for reducing the amount of possessions you own.
Reasons for reducing the amount of possessions:
– “I don’t enjoy having to maintain these items” (e.g., washing, drying, ironing, folding, and so on).
– “I don’t have room to store everything I own, so my house feels cluttered.”
– “The more toys we have, the more toys my kids leave out on the floor.”
– “I don’t use these.”
– “I have to make monthly payments or purchase insurance to own this.”
– “Other people may need these.”
– “Owning these items of value makes me feel vulnerable that someone might try to steal them.”
– Other: __________________________________
Choose one or more of the following decluttering experiments to participate in this week:
– For two days, add up the amount of time you spend caring for or picking up possessions. Make a list of other things you could do with that time if you were able to cut the maintenance time in half.
– Walk around your house, and make a list of all the things you do not want or use, including the estimated value you might get if you sold them. Then total the value of your entire list (the amount you might receive if you sold all of it). Make a list of ways you might use that money for good, for yourself, your family, or someone in need.
– Pack a suitcase with all the clothing or entertainment items you need to live one week of your life. Then force yourself to get dressed and practice hobbies using only items in that suitcase for two weeks. It is okay to wash the clothes and reuse them. Does paring down your choices simplify your life or morning processes?
– Walk around your house, and place stickers on anything you haven’t used in one month. Leave the stickers on the items. Over the next month, determine to use the items you have if you enjoy them. If you still have not used the items at the end of a month, resolve to throw away, donate, or sell everything you have demonstrated you don’t use.
– Consider donating the same amount or a percentage of the amount to a worthy cause if you spend money on things you consider luxuries–a massage, a manicure, or an item at a high-priced store. In this way, you live with greater awareness that not everyone has the ability to purchase the things you do, and you express care for those who lack.
– Buy an outfit at a secondhand store, and incorporate it into your wardrobe.
– Sell clothes at a consignment store or a garage sale or on eBay, and give away the profits or at least a portion of the profits.
What do you think? Is this exercise useful to the typical American? What about the typical person of faith in America? What kind of groups do you think this might be helpful for? And do you think these “first steps” are simple enough that people might actually try them (and not just read along)?
Todd May 28, 2013 (1:57 pm)
I think this would be a useful “take home” tool in the midst of a series on Stewardship. I especially like the “sticker” suggestion. I find that in my house I have stuff that is still in boxes from the last move I made over two years ago…but often think I will use it later.
One way to help bring this all together might be to use this as a church and then bring all the extra items and do a yard sale with the proceeds going to a mission of choice for that church.
Sarah June 3, 2013 (11:45 am)
@Todd, I love the idea of bringing all the items together and either having a sale or starting a pantry. Nice.
Benji May 28, 2013 (4:12 pm)
I love anything to do with getting rid of “stuff”. I think the best context for this is out of stewardship series or a series on service (community, world, etc) giving people a chance to release their stuff for use around the world.
I too love the sticker exercise.
One practice one of my relatives in Michigan does is whenever they buy something, they wait to buy it until they can afford to buy two of the same thing and pass one on to someone or organization who needs it. (Yes, even cars!)
Sarah June 3, 2013 (11:47 am)
@Benji, love your relative’s principles. When that can be accomplished, it leads to more freedom and less stress. Several sections in this book would support that. :)
Michele May 28, 2013 (11:06 pm)
I love thsi idea in theory, but it takes time…and that’s what I’m short of. I think my first retirement years will be spent doing just that , but right now it’s a big “jenga” and if I pull out one thing…it will collapse! Plus..I have the rarest things and I really want to have a museum! They are like artistic expressions of friends…to me. So I get the concept, but it feels heavy to me and one more thing to feel like I should do that I don’t have time for. So for now, I would have to skip this. Plus…you are really leaning toward a certain personality type that would think this is just great and everyone should do it…and for others …it’s a round peg in a square hole. It kind of feels like a shaming/guilt thing for people who are into “clean desks” and in my experience they tend to feel they are “right” and that’s the way everyone should be. There’s a whole artistic , kitschy, creative world out there that feels this is just reinforcining that mind set.
Sarah June 3, 2013 (11:49 am)
I hear you @Michele. I’m totally into haptic if that’s your thing. There are creative categories in my life where I can be a total mess. The idea for me is not saying, “your rooms have to be organized like this” or even organized at all, the idea is saying–creative or not-creative–I’m not going to hold onto things others might NEED if I have more than I even use.
danielle Williams May 29, 2013 (6:38 am)
This is a good idea. In try to do this a few times a year. I usually just give it away to people. I figure if someone can use it than why not bless them.
I agree with the comment above about how to steward your items, and not tone driven by items. Sometimes i know we can get caught up with just having things. I know growing up we didn’t have a whole lot, so it taught me to be thankful for what you have.
If we could get people to do this and maybe do a local give away for no price i think it would be great for the area. i know a person has to change their view on how they look at items that they have. All of those things can be gone tomorrow. Enjoy them but don’t be afraid to clean out and get rid of stuff.
Sarah June 3, 2013 (11:50 am)
Like the simplicity and balance in what you’re saying, Danielle. Enjoy them. But hold them openly. :)
Rick Nier May 29, 2013 (9:10 pm)
Decluttering is a great idea for every family, even just to have the conversation about how we view our possessions. If I were to add to the excuse list, i would sound like this.
We have so much stuff because we taught our kids to take care of their toys and not play rough. So, very few things get broken.
The problem we have, is that even once things are left ignored for months or longer, suggesting their removal sparks a revival of interest.
I may use this exercise first with my family.
Sarah June 3, 2013 (11:52 am)
Ha. I hear you, Rick. I try to give our kids the opportunity to decide for themselves what to clean out. We’ve successfully gotten Justus through the process once where he decided to give away several dozen toys — enough to fill a bin. I want it to feel like his decision, not a mandate, so it encourages real generosity. But there may sometimes be need for intervention. :) Meanwhile we’re saving some of his other castoffs for our younger one, who will use them before we send them off to a new home.
Doug Bradshaw May 30, 2013 (9:41 am)
Decluttering is a great idea. When I see how much I have I am amazed at my ability to “treasure” my stuff. I keep things that are of little value because I cant part with them. I find myself justifying my actions by thinking that I may need these things some day.
The bigger moment for me is to realize that all my stuff demands my time and attention. I have seen this play out in a lot of lives. The moment a family buys a place on the lake they have made the choice to spend a certain amount of time there. While this is not wrong, the time has to come from somewhere.
Everyone who wants to follow God could benefit from an inventory and a decluttering exercise.
Sarah June 3, 2013 (11:53 am)
Yes! Doug, I talk about that demand for time and attention in this book and the one that is coming out in October. That’s an enormous part of it for me. I agree.
Wes June 2, 2013 (6:06 pm)
Honestly, this has been the hardest exercise so far for me to comment on. I think my first question is like, “What does decluttering have to do with helping/serving others?”
To answer your specific questions: Yes, I think these exercises would be beneficial for typical Americans. Yes, I think it would be beneficial for people of faith (although what would be more effective would be to visit other people/countries who have less/don’t have). They are simple enough that people may try them, but I also think people are not likely to try them unless they had a reason behind it.
Perhaps I’m missing the whole point. For, “stuff”–whether it’s having, hoarding, giving, or decluttering–needs to NOT be the focus. Whether we have stuff, and then spend all our time thinking about/maintaining/protecting it OR focus on trying to rid ourselves of it/excess of it, the stuff needs to be secondary.
A new thought I encountered while staying with my missionary family in the heart of Africa–where “stuff” is hard to come by–was “If you have the space for it, then why NOT keep it?” as opposed to the (perhaps, typically American) “If I don’t use it, why have it?”
I’ve moved three times in the past 3 years, and, for the first two, I got rid of half of my stuff each move (which means I now have less than 1/4 of what I did 3 years ago). Some things were hard to part with. The mental trick to play, though, was, “IF this thing is REALLY that important to me, I can always get another one later.” (You find out some things are/were not that important.) Also, though I was sad for myself to part with some stuff, I gave some other people some really good deals on things they wanted, so I could think about their happiness instead of my nostalgia. Also, what I found was that the value, to me, of what I kept, GREW–so that, now that I no longer have all the boxes of negatives of these photos I love, the photos themselves are that much more valuable. You LIKE the THING now more, because you don’t have a back-up.
Sarah June 3, 2013 (11:57 am)
Wes, the book does address some of this as well. I hear your question, but for me, I’m not advocating living in uttter simplicity. I’m advocating freeing your time if possessions consume too much of it and in sharing out of your excess when there are those in need. No one can determine for someone else what possessions are healthy or useful to hold onto. I’m just hoping it will lead people to examine whether they can free themselves to live more fully and also give to those in need.
Melinda June 2, 2013 (10:19 pm)
Another great exercise! This could be done even from the pulpit! I think about this subject often! We have too much stuff! It clutters our lives & takes away our freedoms of being debt free, spending quality time with family etc. No, I don’t think it is bad that God blesses you with things orfinfinancial blessings, but we do need to be conscientious about using it for God’s Glory!
I think this is a very down to earth exercise that would set up a great conversation in a small group!
I hope this info helps!
Sarah June 3, 2013 (11:58 am)
I agree. It’s okay to eat a nice, big meal. But if you go back for seconds and thirds while the person sitting next to you is malnourished and without food…that’s the principle/contrast I’m trying to look at in my world.
Ray Hollenbach June 3, 2013 (1:09 pm)
I completely love the idea of donating the same amount spent on “luxuries” to some other cause. The appeal to me is that requires the participant to define “luxury” or surplus, and then–based on their own definition–it requires action. Too often the appeals to “live simply” are based upon guilt or someone else’s criteria for what is necessary. The strength of a self-imposed “luxury tax” is that it engages me in reviewing and deciding these values. I think most people tend to rise to values they have helped develop. The most important ownership is not of things, but of the values that reflect God’s values. Until they are *my* values, they will not produce lasting change.