How Decluttering Made Me a More Mindful Person

Control the Things Around You and You Control Your Life

I love controlling my time.

Every year, I give myself a nice little treat and buy myself a lovely Moleskine planner. I love writing out my plans for the day, the next week, the next month, and even the next year.

With my trusty planner, my life runs like clockwork.

Regrettably, this utopia does not apply to the things around me. I am a little embarrassed to put this out to the world but I was quite the hot mess.

From the outside, things look fine. I have no problem closing my closet doors. (Phew!) But god forbid if I even try to open them. I still shudder while thinking about the chaos that ensued when I confronted the mess inside my closet many months ago.

Truthfully, I find it difficult to stay organized sustainably.

The problem I had was that I make no conscious effort to keep things organized. I do my ritual spring clean at the start of the year and in the following months, my closet soon becomes cluttered again right under my watch.

This took a change when I was introduced to the book “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” by Marie Kondo. The KonMari method changed my perspective on decluttering.

I used to have a fixed mindset that decluttering strictly means that I have to throw away as many things as possible and become a minimalist. Except, decluttering is not about haphazardly sending things to the dumpster, it is about keeping the things that spark joy.

This requires consciously and strategically eliminating items that no longer serve their purpose.

The KonMari method tackles decluttering by categories instead of the location — clothes, books, papers, miscellaneous items, and lastly sentimental items.

While it is advised to go in that particular order, I did what I felt was my top priority — and coincidentally it is my clothes.

Clothes were the biggest deadweight I had. My wardrobe was bursting.

The first step in the KonMari method was to put every single item out in an open area. This small action helps to give an overview of how much junk I have consumed mindlessly. Before you even get to tackle folding clothes with Marie Kondo’s specialized methods, you have to lay everything out and at this point, you are most likely confronting your out-of-control consumerism habit.

I have to admit that felt cathartic. I can finally take a critical look at what I need and love. I am now more conscious of the things that I buy and keep. I don’t spend mindlessly anymore.

While I conquered many small wins in my quest to declutter, there were a few setbacks I had to face.

The hardest thing to let go of would have to be my books. I still keep my Enid Blyton series even though I have not read them since I was eight years old, but I just cannot let them go. They have watched me grow up. How can I dump them just like that? (I didn’t anyway!)

Despite my little annoyance the whole movement has against books, thanks to Marie Kondo’s method, decluttering is no longer a chore.

To me, decluttering is part of taking care of my mental and physical hygiene.

I am now more mindful of the little things I consume in life because they do add up. Besides, being surrounded by a tidy place is a powerful way to allow focus on things and people that truly matter.