Definition
Discarding unnecessary items can make you more productive and improve your mood.
How to Do It
Proactively put things in their place and throw away things you do not need. Make it a point to put something away every chance you get.
The popular KonMarie method [4] involves taking inventory, organising and discarding.
- Identify an area you’d like to declutter
- Lay out all items in that area
- Organize by category
- Keep only what is needed or ‘sparks joy’
Benefits
- May Improve productivity [1],[2]
- May improve mood and facilitate happiness[3]
Time Commitment
10 - 45 min
Why it works
- Decluttering makes it easier to tidy and some people work more accurately in tidy environments.
- Decluttering also makes it easier to find things you need, freeing up time to be productive.
- Some have suggested that organising items into categories is what we find most satisfying about decluttering.
Suggested Frequency
Can be done a little bit daily or on a bigger scale weekly
Supporting Studies and Articles
Side Effects
- The only adverse effect of decluttering is the possibility of discarding an item you actually need.
- Getting too crazy over decluttering can create an OCD so be careful to not be a perfectionist. Just put things away when you can.
Gurus/Celebrities/Doing it
Marie Kondo
Jimmy Kimmel
Charlize Theron
Jennifer Garner
Category Health/ Productivity/ Mood:
Productivity, Mood
Notes
Bigger decluttering jobs may take longer than 1-2 hours. In this case, you should manage the process to fit around your schedule. You do not need to complete the decluttering in one session.
