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Decision Making when Decluttering

Writer's picture: Susan McCarthySusan McCarthy

Decluttering is all about making decisions. If you want an easier time clearing the clutter, use these tips and insights to bolster your decision-making capabilities.


Feet straddle a straight line just where it diverges into arrows pointed in two different directions.

One of my favorite definitions of clutter comes from professional organizer Barbara Hemphill who calls clutter “delayed decisions.” This makes decluttering a decision-making process.

What decisions do you need to make when clearing clutter?


Will I keep this?

  • Where will I store the things that I keep so I can find them when I need them?

  • Should I get rid of this?

  • If I get rid of this, how? Sell? (How?) Donate? (Where?) Give away? (To whom?)


No wonder decluttering is mentally exhausting


Decision Fatigue

Decision fatigue occurs the more decisions we make during the day. And even making choices about what you’ll wear or eat carves away at your ability to make decisions. 


Decluttering for hours on end or at the end of the day can make the process feel even more difficult because of decision fatigue. It’s not that you don’t know how to make decisions but that you’ve worn out your choice “muscle.”


Decision fatigue is a form of ego depletion (also known as willpower or self-control depletion). 

What wears down our willpower? 


  • The perceived difficulty of a task

  • The effort it takes to do a task.

  • Our negative feelings about a task.

  • How tired we feel.

  • Blood glucose levels. 


If our willpower and ability to make decisions wears down with the perceived difficulty of a task, the effort it takes to do the task, your feelings about it, how tired you feel, and your blood glucose levels, what can you do to strengthen your ability to choose what to do with your stuff while decluttering? 


  • Make your goal smaller so it doesn’t seem so difficult and draining. Instead of decluttering for four hours on Saturday, could you declutter for 30 minutes a day for a week? If that feels exhausting, could you clear clutter for 15 minutes a day?

  • Make the task more pleasant by listening to upbeat music, a motivating podcast, or an audiobook. Limit these “treats” to when you are decluttering.


Cover of the free downloadable guide to decision making and decluttering.

Make It Easier to Decide

Like any activity requiring your attention, clutter clearing will be easier if you are rested and not hungry or thirsty. Your physical comfort, and not feeling rushed, will make decluttering easier.

Another thing that can make clutter clearing less draining is to make decisions before you physically sort through your possessions. 


This can involve reviewing how you currently spend your time. You used to knit, scrapbook, woodwork, ski, but no longer. While you have fond memories of these activities, holding onto the materials and equipment associated with those past interests can take up space in your mind and your home. 


If you think that you might return to this hobby someday, this thought is draining your energy. The Zeigarnik Effect refers to the phenomenon where our thoughts focus more on incomplete tasks than completed ones. 


Be honest with yourself. Can you say you are “done” with a hobby or interest and free space in your mind and home?


Prepare Yourself to Declutter

Make sure that you have the supplies necessary for clutter clearing. 


  • Boxes that aren’t too big, so they won’t be heavy when full. 

  • Trash bags. So that you don’t mix up bags meant to be tossed with those meant to be donated, use different color trash bags. Or put things to be donated in clear bags. 

  • A recycling bin. (You can also fill paper grocery bags.)

  • Ziploc bags can help you sort and temporarily store small things that you are keeping.

  • A chisel tip permanent marker for labeling the purpose or destination of boxes. 


What to Consider When Clearing Clutter

The core questions to ask yourself about possessions is 


  • Do I use or display this?

  • Do I cherish this?


If something is useful but you don’t use it, you don’t need to keep it. It may be useful and used by someone else. 


If you use something once a year … or once every few years … you are still using it. However, if it takes up more space than you wish it did for a rarely used item, consider what else you could use or do if you didn’t own the item.


  • Could you borrow it from someone you know or rent it from a business?

  • Could you use something else as a substitute?


If you use something, in what room do you use it? Can you display or store the item in that room so it will be easier to use and to put away?


Cover to the free downloadable guide to decision making and decluttering.

Decisions about Letting Go of Items

Identify favorite charities. Will you donate to a charity that will take everything, or do you want to give items to smaller groups that put items in the hands of those in need?


Ask friends, family, coworkers, and neighbors for suggestions of charities they feel good about donating to. 


When you make this decision early on, it can be easier to let go of things because you know you can help others who will use them. 


Remember, you haven’t decluttered until the items leave your home. I’ve spoken with a lot of people who mention decluttering 5 or 10 years ago … but then admit to moving the items into their basement. 


You may want to donate to a local charity, but they only accept drop-offs on Saturday mornings between 10a and 1p … times when you’re busy with other activities. 

While it might not be your first choice, donate to a charity that will pick up at your home. Or one with a drop box in a parking lot near where you work or shop. 

These items will take up more space and mental energy while waiting for you to get them out of your home.


Dealing with Duplicates

As you declutter, you may discover duplicates of items. Some items may have been gifts. Others were purchased when you couldn’t remember you owned something … or you couldn’t locate it. 

Are these useful duplicates? 


If you’d store the items in the same location, and they serve the same purpose, you may be able to get rid of the duplicates. (But then, there will be things like cookie sheets, cake pans, and pens where you will use the duplicates.)


On the other hand, if you keep a pair of scissors in multiple rooms because you use scissors in each location, then these are useful. Yes, you may be able to get away with one pair of scissors but you then need to be mindful of returning it to the spot where you’ll go looking for it.


Making Decisions about Keepsakes

What about mementos and keepsakes? How do you make decisions about items related to your memories? 


Most decluttering advice tells you to leave sentimental items for the end of your decluttering process. At that point, you’ll be a more confident decision maker and you’ll be able to choose what to do with these items. 


However, if you can make a decision about an item, you don’t have to wait.


Are you keeping a memento because it brings you joy as it calls up memories? Or do you feel obliged to hold onto something because it’s connected to a place, event, or person who meant a lot to you.


You’ve likely heard that the memories are inside you, they aren’t contained in an item. That still doesn’t make it easy to get rid of something. 


  • Can you keep one item to represent a set or a collection of items?

  • Can you take photos that you’ll display in a photo book, digital frame, photo collage, or compiled in a poster. 

  • Can you create a shadowbox that will contain a few themed keepsakes?

  • Could you create a “shrine” on a shelf or end table that gather special items related to that person, event, or place?


Make Decisions at the Store

Another way to pre-decide what you’ll do with items is to make a decision before you buy something. We buy things with high hopes that they’ll improve our lives or make life easier.

Will you really use the item or are you hoping that if you own it that you’ll feel obligated to use it. Do you really want that type of mental and physical clutter? 


Cover of the free downloadable guide to decision making and decluttering.

Eliminate Duplicates

Do you use technology to take the place of physical items? 


  • You stream movies and never watch DVDs.

  • You stream music … or you’ve bought digital versions of favorite songs … as opposed to listening to CDs.

  • You have an old camera and equipment even though you only use your phone for snapping photos. 

  • You never refer to your cookbooks because you’d rather look at and compare recipes online. 

  • You read ebooks and haven’t bought a physical copy of a book for years.


While you may be used to seeing these physical items (and you think of the money you invested in them), are they really enhancing your life. 


Avoid Decisions You’ll Regret

Remember, choosing to declutter something isn’t about owning less for the sake of owning less. If you use something, enjoy owning it, and it makes you happy, you don’t have to get rid of it just because you feel like it’s the type of item you should declutter.


The strongest regrets I’ve heard from people who’ve decluttered are related to people who were forced into making quick decisions because of a move. Other regrets come from people who felt that they had to get rid of things during a period of anger or sadness in their life. 


Let Go of Obligations

Do you feel obligated to hold onto something because you haven’t “used it up” enough? I remember my father buying new towels and washcloths but deciding we wouldn’t use them until we’d worn out our current towels even more. 


Do you really need to use that pen you dislike but still has ink? Do you need to keep the stained shirt because you can still wear it under a sweater? Does owning an item that you don't use help you “get your money’s worth?”


Are you holding onto items that need to be fixed or altered so you can use them? How long have you gone without using this item? Sometimes, our actions make the decision for us, we just need to catch up and acknowledge that choice. 


Judging Your Decluttering Process

Have you ever found yourself wondering if you’ve decluttered enough? Maybe you’ve kept a lot of items on display or packed a drawer with Tetris-like precision? (Do you remember that game where you fit blocks into rows as snuggly as you could?)


Take some photos of the space - be it a room, closet, cabinet, drawer, or corner. Looking at a photo of a space can give you a different perspective on how a space is used. What might feel cozy may look crowded when you see the space in a photo. 


This objective view of the space can help you see what decisions you may want to make about the stuff that’s there. 


The Demands of Unfinished Tasks

When decluttering, do you find yourself moving a lot of items into a “maybe” pile? You may be thinking, “I might use this someday.”


The Zeigarnik Effect refers to the way unfinished tasks demand more attention than finished tasks. When you tell yourself that you “might” use something, you are telling your brain that you need to finish a task related to that item. 


Even if you aren’t consciously thinking about the item, it is taking up physical and mental space. Are you willing to give that attention and space to something you might use “someday?”


Cover of the downloadable guide on decision making and decluttering.

Honor Other’s Decisions

Maybe you’ve decided that someone you know will want something you have. Have you asked them if they want it? And if they said they didn’t want it, did you dismiss their answer?


Or maybe you decided that “someone” would want an item and that you’ll hold onto it until you find that perfect recipient. Do you really want this task occupying space in your subconscious? 


Will you really remember this item (and where it’s stored) when you find a potential recipient?


Decluttering Decisions Should Improve Your Life

As you declutter and make decisions about items, consider if you are maximizing the functionality and your enjoyment of the rooms in your home. 


While you shouldn’t feel that you have to declutter for the sake of decluttering, you also don’t need to hold onto things for the sake of having them in your home “just in case” you find a use for them.


If you truly find yourself struggling to make a decision about an item, bring the item to another room. When you see it there, out of context, you may have an easier time seeing if it belongs in your home and life. 


Deciding to Not Decide

One of the most popular ways to make a decision about an item is to remove your thoughts and feelings from the decision-making process.


By this I mean, you look at an item and question if you’ve used it in the past six months or if you plan on using it in the next six months. (Sometimes, a more stringent three month period is used.)


If you haven’t, then you’re supposed to get rid of it because you can objectively see that it has no place in your home.


But this process eliminates choice. You may find this a relief … or you may find yourself clinging to items even more. You could try this method to see if it would work for you.


Avoid Deciding for Others

When decluttering, make decisions about your possessions or the household items within your control (you do all the cooking, so no one else has say over pots, pans, and cooking utensils). 


Even if you know your spouse, partner, or child doesn’t use something, don’t make the decision for them. You wouldn’t want someone to do this for you.


Show the other person the benefits you are experiencing by decluttering your possessions and see if this encourages them.


Cover of the free downloadable guide to decluttering and decision making.

Final Thoughts

Still not certain whether to keep an item or let it go? Ask yourself, “If I didn’t already own this thing, would I buy it?” Knowing what you know about your use (or lack thereof), would you spend money on acquiring it?


And don’t waste your time organizing things that don’t get used. For decades, I wasted time storing things in bins, creating a perfect filing system, alphabetizing books, and putting magazines in order by date … but then I never referred to those things or made use of them. 


Yes, that was a well-organized file box filled with information I never looked at once I stuck it into a file folder. I wasted time and money because I didn’t want to see the items for what they were - clutter.


Woman with her hands over her face as she stands in front of her cluttered closet.


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