8 Characteristics of People Who are Good at Decluttering

Over the years, I've had the privilege of hearing countless stories from people who have found a better life by owning less stuff. That's my story, and it could be yours. After seeing many people succeed and some struggle, I want to help. There are so many benefits to minimalism, and I just want everybody to experience them. So, I made a list of characteristics I've seen that are helpful to people who are successful at decluttering. Now, I don't offer this list as either you have these characteristics or you don't. Instead, I offer a list of areas we could potentially try to lean into if we need to. Most of us will still need some time to minimize our homes and lives. But those who reach the finish line, I think, do these things well. Number one, they know what they value. People who are good at decluttering have a clear sense of their values. In fact, studies confirm this directly. It can be thought of like this. When we know deep down there are more important things to pursue and define our lives than physical possessions, it becomes easier to discard them. When we know what we want our home and our life to look like, every decision becomes easier. The second characteristic is this. They are decisive. Research also shows that people who struggle with clutter tend to hesitate in decision-making. This is something we can picture and why Christina Scalise once said, Clutter is the physical manifestation of unmade decisions fueled by procrastination. But how do we become more decisive? First, we tell ourselves that we can. And second, we look for opportunities and exercises to get better. Number three, they focus on what they are gaining, not what they are losing. Many people frame decluttering as loss. What they are giving up or letting go of. But minimalism isn't about what we lose. It's about what we gain by intentionally owning less. And the more we can focus on that aspect of the decluttering journey, the quicker progress we want and can see. A fourth characteristic is they understand human tendencies and their own. Good declutterers have an honest awareness of the forces working against them. They may not be able to articulate them by name, but the more we understand the common human behaviors that lead to clutter in the first place, the easier it becomes to recognize their influence on our thinking. I'm talking about general human behaviors like the endowment effect, the Diderot effect, loss aversion, the scarcity effect. Google any of those phrases if you aren't familiar with them. But people who are good at decluttering also recognize the unique obstacles in their own mind and heart that resulted in the accumulation of excess in the first place. Fear, worry, greed, jealousy, envy, even our family of origin or the cultural expectations around us. It can be a painful journey to learn these things about ourselves, but it is always helpful to do so. A fifth characteristic of people who are good at decluttering is they recognize the weight of clutter and their excess possessions. People who get good at decluttering can feel the weight of clutter on their lives. They can see or at least sense that physical possessions aren't static, but they are active and that they require our attention. They take up physical space and mental space. Clutter adds stress, anxiety, fatigue, distraction, weight. People who are good at decluttering have made that connection. Sometimes that realization is what prompts the start of the journey in the first place, but it is also this recognition that keeps us moving forward. Number six, they make a plan. Alan Lakin once said, failing to plan is planning to fail. And this is true when it comes to minimalism. When it comes to decluttering, lots of people think it will be easy. I'll just get rid of everything I don't need, they think to themselves. And while that is the goal, that is not a plan. Without a plan, just like any personal development project, lifelong tendencies quickly take over and slow us down. So if this is a step that you want help in, I'll recommend my book, The Minimalist Home. It'll walk you room by room through decluttering your home. Number seven, they find pride in the change that they are making. Decluttering requires as much mental energy as it does physical energy. And not just in deciding what to keep and what to remove, but some of the mental energy required to minimize possessions is felt in facing the sheer amount of stuff that has accumulated in our homes and all the money and time wasted on it. And those realities can quickly turn to regret. But people who make progress in their decluttering don't let regret over the past slow their movement into the future. Rather than feeling regret over past decisions, which can't be changed anyway, they choose to find pride in the new person they are becoming. And finally, the eighth characteristic of people who are good at decluttering, they ask for help when they need it. Decluttering can feel like it should be a solo project, but it rarely is. The most effective declutterers are willing to call in a trusted friend, read a book, subscribe to a YouTube channel, or even hire some help if required. We ask for help in lots of ways and for lots of different things. Decluttering can also be one of those things. An outside voice brings new energy and new momentum, new strength, new resolve, and best of all, a fresh perspective. So if any of the areas in this video are slowing you down in the minimizing process, I hope that just hearing about them will spark new thoughts and new ideas, but more importantly, that it will spark action in the right direction. Ultimately, I want everyone to experience the benefits of owning less. You can do it, and you'll love it.