‘Sort your life out!’

—Stacey Solomon 

‘Have nothing in your home that you do not think is useful or believe to be beautiful’

— William Morris

As we inch closer and closer to Spring, my urge to declutter is growing. We have been blessed in London with 2 days of beautiful weather and it’s only when the Sun comes out that you can see your own home more clearly. Suddenly, cobweb and dirt covered windows are very visible and impede your view of the wonderful outdoors. In addition to the outdoor muck, I’m looking at my indoor possessions in this new light and they are…not always pleasing.

For as long as I can remember I have always been intentional about my possessions. I have never been a hoarder or had too much trouble getting rid of things. In fact, I previously gotten really interested in mininalism, following ‘The Minimalists’ and reading ‘Goodbye, Things’ by Fumio Sasaki. I have watched Marie Kondo’s Netflix specials and Stacey Solomon’s Sort Your Life Out on the BBC. Somehow, like many of us, I still have way too much stuff and becoming a parent has only intensified this feeling. 

When I was a resident doctor in hospital, my rotations would change frequently and I remember putting all my possessions in the back of my car one day and driving to a new town to unpack before starting work the next. I had a manageable amount of things. Fast-forward to now and my houseful of furniture and things (shared with my husband and child) would require a small truck to move to a new residence. 

How has this happened? Firstly, I let a lot of things into my life which I didn’t need and didn’t bring me much joy. Impulse purchases, gifts, freebies, things borne out of wants rather than needs have taken up residence in my home. Secondly, for a long time, I was exhausted from working hard, moving home and having a baby and I didn’t have the wherewithal to declutter and remove them. When you regularly move cities, towns or home, you regularly review your possessions and make sure to get rid of anything dragging you down. You know it is going to be a pain to pack and move so you only keep what you need. Once you stay somewhere for any meaningful length of time (more than a year)and get comfortable, the possessions seem to start piling up. I think there is also an element of lifestyle inflation here – the list of items you ‘need’ seems to grow with your ability to afford them. 

So, how and when to start to get rid? Why get rid? Let’s start with why. 

Letting go of things related to the past or which represent a future I never pursued stop me from living in the present. It prevents rumination, worry and guilt. 

Also,

Things require maintenance – cleaning, mending, moving from room to room. They require mental and physical exertion and can add to my stress levels if I can’t or don’t want to do these things. 

These two reasons are enough for me to want to get rid of things.

So what about how and when? After life events, like recently being ill, I get a sudden urge to clear out my things. I think it’s because I want to start afresh, and for my environment to reflect my wishes for the near future. I think this is a natural thing, like how, after a long Winter, Spring brings an urge to look forward to the year ahead and we clean and refresh everything. 

I personally like to go room by room in my house. In each room, I then focus on an area. I think about what I want this area to look like and then how much I would have to get rid of to achieve this. I might also move things around in the house. I throw a lot away and recycle it and donate where I can. I sometimes have become sentimentally attached to things but have started specially designated ‘memory boxes’ (especially for tiny baby things) to let myself hold on to a few special things guilt-free. I am already getting a little excited to show this box to my son (although I have no idea when that will be and how he will react!). 

The end effect and result is magnificent. I have only really finished one room (my bedroom). But it is beautiful and holds only what I want and need in this season of life. My mind and body feel lighter for this and I spend less time tidying, cleaning and ruminating. My space calms me and sleep comes more easily. I don’t really even remember the things I have thrown away. This can only be a good thing. 

My biggest problem is clothing. Where have all these clothes come from?! Many of them are gifts ill-suited to me or ill-fitting, impulse purchases. I don’t want anything ‘ill’ in my wardrobe. It also doesn’t help that I have an Indian and Western wardrobe, so essentially almost double the stuff. I don’t have answers for this yet. I have previously been to clothes swaps, donated to TRAID and implemented rule-based decision making on purchases (e.g.delaying purchases) but nothing has really stuck. Changing sizes so often in pregnancy didn’t help at all! I now have a whole pregnancy wardrobe (gifted things and some things I bought) which is just sitting there. What a waste! Let me know if you know anyone who might want this stuff or how I can make sure it can be put to use. Also, tell me if you have any helpful ways of minimising the size of your clothing collection, whilst obviously, looking great. 

I am still working on the wardrobe and probably will be forever more. Like dusting, decluttering is a job that is never done.