One of the major reasons why most people struggle to declutter is the fear that crops up in their mind every time they have to get rid of something. These fears, despite being nothing more than a mental block, make you hold on to unwanted things that don’t add any value to your life.
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Given how beneficial it is to declutter your home and keep it clean and organized, you must let go of the fears that are stopping you from achieving it. Clutter contributes to stress in your life and it’s not worth holding on to just because there are fears stopping you from getting rid of it. Be it the overwhelm caused by the enormity of the task in hand or the heavy price paid for buying the items, no reason is good enough to stop you from releasing the stress that comes with clutter.
No matter how big the fear is, it can be overcome with ease if you have the desire to make your home more liveable. If you’re still trying to figure out whether the thought of decluttering activates your fears, go through the list below to get your answer:
1. Decluttering Is Too Much Work
It’s common to find yourself in a state of overwhelm looking at the mess living in your home. You feel that it would be too much work to sort through the pile of clutter that you’ve accumulated in the last few years. And it seems easier to just let it be than spending hours or days trying to deal with it.
The good thing is that you can easily overcome this fear by breaking down the entire decluttering project into small, manageable tasks. Understand that you don’t have to declutter your entire home in one go or even across the span of a few days. It’s okay if you declutter it little by little, accomplishing one task at a time. If the idea of decluttering too much at once makes you feel overwhelmed, just sort through one drawer or cupboard at a time and call it a day.
2. What If I Need To Replace It?
Another reason why many of us refrain from getting rid of unneeded or duplicate items is because we fear that we might need the item in future and replacing it with a new one will be costly. Even though you might have not used those dozens of hair clips in the last 5 years, getting rid of them sounds like a big deal because you’re afraid you might end up needing them in future.
While that’s a genuine concern, you must know that keeping clutter is costlier than replacing it. Think about the time, energy, space and money that goes into keeping an item that isn’t serving a purpose in your home. Is it worth holding on to it without a reason?
3. Fear Of Being Wasteful
As you progress through your home, you’ll come across items that have been kept only because they were costly. You will find pieces of jewellery that haven’t been worn in ages but are hard to get rid of because they were expensive. You’ll come across pieces of clothing, footwear and many duplicate items that have been stored away in the underbed box only because you don’t want to be wasteful by getting rid of them.
This fear, although genuine, can leave your house cluttered with stuff that will never be useful. In order to overcome it, declutter with the view of earning some cash by selling these costly items. You can organize a garage sale or drop some of these items at a thrift store to make money.
4. Fear Of Losing The Memories
Sentimental items are the hardest to let go of because they have memories attached to them. Getting rid of nostalgic items makes you fearful of losing the memories. But if these items are taking too much space in your home and mind, maybe it’s time to declutter a few of them.
The best way to overcome the fear of losing the memories attached to these sentimental items is by preserving them in the form of photos. Take pictures of sentimental items to make it easier to revisit the memories in future. Moreover, try limiting the space for these items to make sure that you only stick to the ones that are most special and get rid of the rest.
5. Fear Caused By ‘What Ifs’
Many of us like to hold on to clothes of different sizes because we fear we might gain or lose weight in future. The ‘just in case’ scenarios make us fearful of letting go of certain items of clothing because we hope to fit in the clothes in future even if they aren’t serving any purpose today.
If you want to overcome this fear of decluttering your closet, pack all your ‘just in case’ clothes in a box and put it under the bed or in a hidden corner of your home. Wait for at least 6 months to figure out if any of these clothing items turn out to be useful during this period. The clothes that did become useful can be kept in the closet but the ones that didn’t see the light of the day should go straight into the Donation box.
6. Fear Of Suffering A Financial Setback In Future
The uncertainty of the future often makes you keep items even if they aren’t adding value to your life. You want to be secure in case you are to suffer a financial setback in future. You don’t want to go through a situation where you are unable to replace an item because of scarcity of resources, and hence you hold on to duplicates and extra stuff.
While this fear is genuine, you can overcome it by saving up in the form of money rather than material things. If you have excess stuff in your home, sell it off at a thrift store and put the money you’ve earned in your savings account. Not only will it keep your future secure but will also help cut the clutter in your home.
More often than not, the biggest reason why people feel scared to declutter is that they don’t know where to start. So, the next time when you feel anxious by the mere thought of decluttering your home, just pick your decluttering tools and start somewhere. Even if it’s as small a task as decluttering the junk drawer or the knick-knacks or just the dining room.