Episode 44: 7 Things That Are More Exhausting Than Decluttering

Life On Purpose with Erica Layne

Every now and then, when someone hears that I wrote a book on minimalism, they’ll say, “Ugh, I want to declutter, but it’s so exhausting! I usually give up before I get very far.”

I get that.

Decluttering means making a thousand tiny decisions, taking a thousand steps around your house, and hauling dozens of bags and boxes to your car. The process—especially if you have a lot of clutter to clear—can be physically and mentally draining.

Of course, there are things you can do to make it more fun and sustainable (think: putting on great music and lighting a great-smelling candle, decluttering with a friend, doing a decluttering challenge, etc.) but YES, at the end of a day spent decluttering, your body is going to feel it.

All of that said, what if you focused on something totally different while you were decluttering?

What if instead of thinking about how hard and how tiring it is, you redirected your brain to thinking about all of the things that are way more exhausting than decluttering?