The Decluttering Technique That Misses The Entire Point

We all know you don't have to search far on the internet for various decluttering techniques. They're everywhere. While the need for Instagrammable and TikTok-worthy home aesthetics becomes more acute, so does the need to tidy up and declutter. However, the reasons behind why we hold on to stuff varies drastically from person to person, and everything from sentimentality, anxiety, and fear of letting go can hold us back from the many benefits of decluttering. It's no wonder we keep coming up with new methods to help tackle this ongoing problem, and there are plenty of good strategies for decluttering your home out there. However, the popular new reverse decluttering technique is going about tidying up your home all wrong.

Reverse decluttering alters the traditional course of organizing your belongings by encouraging you to keep items in your home instead of immediately tossing them. The idea is to start with identifying the stuff you love first in hopes that it will naturally encourage you to toss the rest. This can be a really attractive way to get started for those who struggle with letting go of anything, creating a positive reframing around decluttering. However, this technique might be doing more harm than good. Most people who really struggle with ridding themselves of unnecessary belongings typically need a stronger push to trash anything. Since they are usually already struggling with anxiety and indecision, the last thing they probably need is the permission that reverse decluttering offers.

If getting started with your decluttering dreams is a struggle for you, there are a few alternative techniques worth trying. The first is Marie Kondo's popular KonMari method, which has a very similar approach to tidying up as reverse decluttering does — encouraging you to simply ask, "Does this item spark joy?" The concept still encourages you to keep items that you love, but asks you to do it in a much more direct way. By holding your belongings up to scrutiny together, items that don't spark joy are much easier to identify.

Another technique you should consider is the no contact method, a smart decluttering technique that forces you to prove the value of items you are struggling to part with. This can be a great technique to try if you aren't ready for the more aggressive approaches. The process behind the no contact method is to isolate items you're unsure about tossing, and storing them in a box to keep out of sight. Then you set your own deadline to return to the items and reassess their value.

And for those who really need to tiptoe into the process, you can try soft decluttering, a no fuss method that encourages you to take your time, breaking up decluttering into much more manageable projects. No matter what technique you try, getting to the heart of why is an important step in tackling clutter, especially if you want to put a stop to unhelpful cycles of accumulation.