One Perspective Shift to Help You Declutter Your Home 

Last week, I was reminded of a powerful perspective shift that can help you declutter your home.

My reminder came after reading text by digital creator Jarred Lopes. It went like this…

In about 50 years, you’ll be gone. They’ll sell your stuff at a garage sale. Or toss is it a dump. But, your kids will still be around—even your grandkids. They won’t remember your stuff. But they’ll remember you. Pursue the things that matter 200 years from now.

Read that again slowly—in a way that you can truly digest it.

Viscerally, this is common knowledge. The concept of the brevity of life and the transitory state of possessions is not novel.

But between living in a culture defined by rampant consumerism and being subject to 5,000—often alluring—advertisements a day, it’s easy to lose this big-picture perspective. 

In my experience, keeping your own mortality in mind is a vital part of decluttering your home. It naturally shifts your focus away from your stuff.  It increases your detachment, which facilitates letting go. 

And, it can revive your motivation to declutter any time your efforts begin to plateau. 

Shifting your focus away from stuff

To declutter your home, reframe the way you view your possessions. They, like our journey through life, are transitory, fleeting, temporary. Hold them lightly, with open hands, not clenched fists.

The bottom line is this: You can’t take your stuff with you. And chances are, when you get to the end of your life, you’re not going to wish you had more of it. Moments of connection, beauty, and generosity are the “things” worth collecting as we journey through life.

Consider Paul’s words in 1 Timothy 6:7: “For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.”

Or, St. Francis of Assisi’s words: “When you leave this earth, you can take with you nothing that you have received—only what you have given.” 

Remembering death and the transience of our possessions propels us to spend the time we have on earth less focused on our stuff and more focused on what truly matters.

Consider your legacy

In her book Slow: Simple Living for a Frantic World, Brooke McAlary explains how a simple writing prompt changed her view of possessions. And it’s one that, I believe, can also help you declutter your home. 

The prompt? Write your own three-sentence eulogy. The result? Amazing clarity on what really matters in life.

In her eulogy, McAlary describes herself as a quick to laugh, creative, loyal, spontaneous, a firm believer that we’re all responsible to leave the world a better place than we found it, and a mom who raised daughters with both “roots and wings.”

“I looked at my kids and husband and tried to imagine no longer being with them,” McAlary writes. “The thought was painful, and I felt guilty. But what I also realized as I struggled to get the words on paper is that a eulogy doesn’t leave any room for the unimportant things. The stuff we own, social media statistics, work success, having a nice home—I discovered that none of it really mattered.”

“The truth is none of us has any idea what the future holds,” she continues. “I (now) knew what the most important, eulogy-worthy parts of my life were—family, adventure, having a positive impact in the world—I realized I wasn’t living that life.”

My experience

I did this exercise in the early days of decluttering our home. While I wasn’t scared of death, I was scared of leaving too much of my life unlived. I was terrified of having a legacy of tedious existence—being known for doing, amassing, and striving, but never really living. 

Living a life incongruent with what I’d want in my eulogy which, I decided, included faith, family, presence, and adventure, evoked fear. I wanted to be remembered for beach trips where I ran through the waves barefoot and bedtime stories that ended in tears of laughter. For lingering on summer nights to gaze at stars and being present to the people I was blessed to be doing life with.

The things to hold close and to be remembered for, I realized, aren’t things at all.

Write your three-sentence eulogy

Try the exercise yourself to shift your perspective away from your stuff and increase your motivation to declutter your home. Craft your own three-sentence eulogy. Do your possessions make the list? Take time today to write it out and see.

What do you want to be remembered for? It is your…

Personality

Presence

Faith

Sense of adventure

A eulogy only leaves room for what’s most important. Center your life around these “things,” not your stuff.

In conclusion

Shifting your focus away from your stuff is a powerful way to declutter your home. And the best way I’ve found to realize this shift is by living with the end in mind. 

So, complete the writing prompt and craft a eulogy. 

Consider your legacy and course correct until your life aligns.

And, then, let remembering the brevity of life and fleeting nature of possessions continue to lead you… 

Here’s to living a life defined by detachment, a mind focused on what matters, and a home filled with less frivolous stuff.

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Julia Ubbenga is a freelance journalist. Her teachings on minimalism, simplicity, and intentional living have reached over 1M people worldwide through her blog. Julia also practices what she preaches in her Kansas City home. She resides with her husband and their four extremely lively young children. You can also find her on Facebook.

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