When it Comes to Decluttering, Forget Marie Kondo
Follow my one-step program to declutter your life.
Many of us are being engulfed by our stuff/junk. The pandemic has made things worse as we can’t get away from our junk as easily as we could before. But, Larry, what can we do, you ask? Well, don’t waste your time by taking the effort the Marie Kondo system takes. I took upwards of a minute looking at her site and came to the conclusion there’s a much easier way. But first, some things to keep in mind before you make the big move to declutter your life.
What’s the difference between stuff and junk? I’m glad you asked. Stuff is neat things you want to hang on to. Junk is the garbage your spouse insists on keeping. It’s always hard to negotiate the dismissal of your spouse's junk. If you push too hard, yes your spouse will take her her junk away. She will also take half of your stuff in the divorce settlement.
With that cautionary note out of the way, one of the things I noticed about Marie’s method was she had a fancy way of folding clothes. That’s not going to get it for us. Getting somebody to fold clothes in our family is tough enough, forget taking an advanced course to learn how to do it.
Marie also advises getting rid of things that don’t spark joy in your life. After hearing that, my wife threatened to divorce me but decided the effort was too great. Lots of things in my home don’t spark joy in me. Unfortunately, most of them belong to my wife. How can you get around that scenario?
Well, you could catch your spouse gone and get rid of a bunch of their stuff. That may be quick and effective, but on the oft chance they notice something missing, as they say in the banking industry, there will be a substantial penalty for early withdrawal.
Just as an aside, my wife and I spent some time managing a self-storage place. On one occasion, some units were broken into. One of the renters tried to make a claim on the insurance, telling us some valuable stuff from his unit had been stolen. We asked him what, and he had no idea. I suspect many of us are in the same boat. A lot of the stuff we have stored could be stolen, and we wouldn’t miss or couldn’t identify it.
In trying to get rid of your spouse’s stuff, you can try reasoning with them. For example, a typical storage unit costs $100 per month or more. Is the stuff stored in the unit worth $1200? Can you even name what’s in the unit? Could $1200 be better spent? In most cases, the answers to those questions would indicate it would be better to sell the stuff, or give it away or throw it away. Junk is a subtle thief that keeps on robbing you of money and space.
Unfortunately, there is often an emotional attachment to stuff in storage. How can that be broken?
What’s worked for me is selling our home and going to a smaller one. In selling, we have, on occasion, told the buyers, we’re taking what we want and leaving the rest for you to deal with. The fact we were carrying part of the note was helpful in that regard.
On another occasion, we just got a huge dumpster and threw stuff into it. We didn’t have time for a ceremonial goodbye.
If you haven’t used something in the last year, chances are, you don’t need it. If you don’t know you have something, to begin with, storing it is probably a losing proposition.
I would say, just set your place on fire and collect the insurance, but that's dangerous and illegal.
So, once you’ve decluttered, how can you be sure the whole thing won’t happen again? You may need professional help. And not from a room organizer.