There can be many reasons why you find decluttering hard and struggle to even begin. Despite having made up your mind to purge your stuff, you can’t seem to take the first step because there’s always something bothering you. Be it the enormity of the task or the lack of time at your disposal, decluttering comes with its own set of struggles that need to be addressed to make your home livable.
Despite doing my best to stay disciplined on my decluttering journey, I still go through phases when I can’t bring myself to declutter. There are times when I deliberately delay the task to avoid going through the emotional and mental flows that come with letting go of stuff. And sometimes, I put it off because I don’t want to come across as a wasteful person.
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Over the years, as I learned to embrace minimalism, I also happened to realize how important it is to figure out why I had been struggling to declutter. Not only did it help me address the problem in hand but also motivated me to take the very first step towards my decluttering goals.
If you are struggling to declutter your living space right now, here’s a list of the reasons why this could have been happening:
1. Your House Has Too Much Clutter
More the clutter, bigger the struggle. When you know that your house is cluttered beyond your ability to declutter, you are bound to find yourself struggling. The huge pile of unwanted and duplicate items has the power to discourage you to such an extent that you start doubting your capability to declutter it.
But here’s a blessing in disguise. Acknowledging the amount of clutter in your home is the only way to move past the problem. So just believe in yourself and start getting rid of anything that isn’t adding value to your life.
2. You Don’t Have Enough Time
Or you just don’t find decluttering to be worth your time. Maybe your life is too busy to find any time to purge your home, or you’re just choosing to believe that your free hours can be spent doing something more important.
In order to beat the perception of ‘not having enough time’, it’s important that you convince yourself that you will always have enough time for things that truly matter. And for that to happen, you need to start looking at decluttering as a need rather than a chore.
Here are a few things you can do to manage your time so that you don’t have to keep putting off the task of decluttering:
- Wake up 10 minutes early in the morning.
- Declutter as you watch television
- Ask your spouse to lend a helping hand to get more tasks accomplished in the limited time
- Sleep 10 minutes later in the night
- Declutter in the short windows you get during the day. Maybe when the kids are napping or during the work breaks.
3. You Don’t Know How To Deal With The Clutter Pile
Now you may have all the time and motivation to declutter your home, but you can’t bring yourself to do it because you are yet to figure out a way to deal with the decluttered items. Rather than going through the hassle of donating, selling, recycling or trashing unneeded stuff, you simply choose not to declutter your home. If that constitutes your decluttering struggles, here’s a post that can help you through it.
4. You Have Health Related Issues
If you have health-related issues that are preventing you from decluttering your living space, take a step back and relax. You don’t need to be harsh on yourself for not being able to accomplish what you want to. Call in a friend to help or divide the tasks into small, achievable projects that can be completed at your comfort.
5. You Don’t Want To Come Across As Wasteful
Decluttering requires you to get rid of stuff which can sometimes make you believe that you are being wasteful. After all, you spent thousands of dollars to accumulate stuff that was once serving a purpose in your home. But let me tell you that getting rid of things that don’t add value to your life doesn’t make you a wasteful person. You are in fact doing yourself a favor by letting go of the baggage that’s stopping you from appreciating the things that truly have a purpose sitting in your home.
6. You Believe That More Is Good
If you are someone who places their identity in what all stuff they own, it might be hard for you to declutter. Maybe you’ve grown on the belief that less stuff means ‘boring’ and that a minimalist home isn’t welcoming enough to invite any guests.
In order to fight this belief, you must understand that decluttering doesn’t mean that you need to tear your walls down of every décor item and donate all your clothes. It simply means that you let go of what’s stopping you from living your best life, even if it costed you a lot of money and has sentimental value attached to it. If it’s taking up that valuable space in your home without giving anything in return, it needs to go.
7. You Don’t Know Where To Start
More often than not, your biggest struggle when trying to declutter your home is not knowing where to begin. Maybe your house has too much clutter, and as much as you want to declutter it, you have no idea how to start doing it.
The solution to this struggle is simple. Just start somewhere. Even if it’s as small a task as decluttering the junk drawer in your kitchen or doing a quick clutter pick-up in your living room. Small tasks won’t make you feel overwhelmed but will surely give you a head-start towards the bigger decluttering projects.
Now that you know about the many reasons why you might have been struggling to declutter your home, it’s time to move past the roadblock, pick your decluttering tools and get going!