What is Clutter & Decluttering?

The philosophies of clearing out the excess

When talking with people and helping them to declutter, there is a common misunderstanding on what it means to have a clutter-free home, office or even mind. It is easy to mistake a tidy home for a decluttered home, but you can tidy clutter and you can organise clutter. This is why I recommend that people focus on decluttering first and then organising and tidying second, followed thirdly by maintaining. Think about it - if you don’t declutter first but simply maintain, you're just maintaining clutter.

What Is Clutter & Decluttering?

Clutter is anything physical, digital, emotional, or mental that does not serve a clear purpose, spark joy, or add value to your life or journey. Nor does it support your goals or your wellbeing. Instead, it distracts you from living with intention and focusing on what truly matters.

Decluttering, which is sometimes referred to as home editing, is the process of making conscious choices about what deserves to take up valuable space in your home or mind, and letting go of anything that doesn’t need to be there. You decide what adds value to your life and what doesn’t, removing the latter.

Clutter is the stuff or thoughts that take up space in our homes, offices, minds or hearts that doesn’t add value, whilst decluttering is the action of intentionally removing that stuff.

Philosophies Behind Decluttering

The ideas of minimalism, essentialism, and simple living are philosophies associated with decluttering, but they aren’t all the same. A helpful way that I explain these concepts is to think of simplicity as a coin with two sides:

• Minimalism helps us manage physical clutter, focusing on what we own, keep, and let go.

• Essentialism helps us manage mental and emotional clutter, prioritising how we spend our time, energy, and attention.

Both approaches promote living with greater clarity and intention, but they do so in different domains of life.

To paraphrase author Joshua Becker:

“Minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of anything that distracts us from it.”

Decluttering is the action; the philosophies of minimalism, essentialism and simple living guide that direction.

What Decluttering Isn't

It isn’t a one time event whereby we go through all our items once and that’s it. Life is constantly changing, we are constantly adapting and with that comes the need to reassess and rethink what is actually bringing value to our lives. What may have brought value at one season of our lives may not bring value during this season or even the next.

‘Less for the sake of less’ often gets mixed in with phrases like ‘less is more’ or ‘less is better’. This is where minimalism/essentialism gets a bad rap and I can see why. Yes, less is more and less is better are principles I would agree with, but they are not the same as less for the sake of less. Decluttering is not about living with nothing and being dull, but about creating space for creativity, what brings joy, value and peace in your life.

Decluttering isn’t just about physical items, it also includes digital clutter and emotional baggage we may be carrying. If decluttering your house makes it feel fresh, clean and peaceful, allowing you to organise what actually belongs there; then imagine what a decluttering of your mind could do.

Decluttering isn’t a one size fits all - what may be a reasonable number of items for one may not be the same for another. Likewise the method and approach to decluttering won’t be the same either; the Konmari method may work for one person whilst the Becker method may work better for another.

Questions to Reflect Upon

What does clutter look like in your life? Think about physical, digital and emotional.

What are you holding onto that no longer serves you, adds value, aligns with your goals, or brings you joy?

Let me know what areas of your life you’ve decluttered so far and how this has affected your outlook on clutter and what brings true value.