It’s hard to get too far into a conversation about decluttering without also talking about Marie Kondo and the term ‘spark joy’.
The idea of only keeping things that spark joy is fantastic, and I think it’s a good reminder to pay attention to your own interests in things and how that changes as life goes on. Even souvenirs that may have meant a lot at the time of purchase may not mean as much over time. It is great to keep the joy question at the forefront of your brain while thinking about what to get rid of, but it’s not the only thing!
A big problem with decluttering and using feelings while doing so is that it creates too many feelings. Feelings like excitement over finding your stuff, love in your memories, guilt over the past or about getting rid of treasures, sadness, possibly even anger. All of the feelings lead to being overwhelmed and can significantly delay or stop all your progress!
A new way to think about your stuff as you declutter is whether that item provides function!
Does this item add function or value to my life?
Things like extra toothbrushes. They don’t ‘spark’ a whole lot of joy, I mean, I do love the feeling of clean teeth, but it doesn’t spark joy to have a few extras. They do, however, provide function and value because I may have been able to buy them on sale!
How about things like tools or extra screws and nails – not a totally joy sparking type of thing, but functional? Yes, indeed.
Sometimes, we keep things despite them bringing us joy because they are simply items that add function to our lives and homes. They often are not fancy things, just things we need. Things like knives and forks or potato peelers. Maybe it’s a lawn mower or extra yard waste bags. They don’t bring us joy per se, but they are needed and functional items for most of us.
The reality is that asking yourself if something sparks joy in order to decide whether or not to keep the item is not enough. For those items that are extra items in your life, it may serve you well as a question for making decisions. Asking yourself if something adds function to your life might be more all encompassing of each item. I gotta say, most of my 12-15 mugs spark joy, but are they ALL functional or add some amount of value to my life…nope!
You can also end up in a trap with thinking functionally about your stuff. Almost every item in the world could add function to life… The key is to determine if it adds function to YOUR life. If you have a couple of really great snow shovels, but you don’t actually get winter, the shovel doesn’t really provide function to YOUR life. It is indeed a functional item, and some people might even keep it for years regardless, but if it’s not functional to be used or used up in your home, it’s not worth holding on to! The same goes for furniture. Sure, you may have a dresser in your room, and it may even have stuff in it, BUT, how often do you actually use it or the stuff in it? Maybe a smaller piece of furniture would be even more functional, and this piece is just not adding enough function or ease of use to your current life!
Overall, it’s great to think about your stuff in terms of sparking joy and how much you actually love the item! But, don’t make that your only means of making your decisions. When it comes to decluttering, get down to the nitty gritty, get down to the core.
If you truly want to declutter your space, ask yourself about the function and value that each item adds to your life.
I reiterate, I may have ten purses that I absolutely love, they all spark joy, and I got rid of my extra five that didn’t spark joy. It’s functional to have maybe as many as a few purses – different occasions warrant different styles or colours. The function and ease of only having a few purses instead of ten is likely way more valuable to me than keeping the ten that really spark joy.
It’s great to include your feelings of joy when going through the stuff in your home but don’t overlook function and ease of use. Decluttering is not just getting rid of your stuff. It’s more about making space for the things that mean the most to you and add the most to your life. Think function first, and then use joy as the tie breaker!
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