If you are decluttering your stuff, you might worry about getting rid of the wrong things, or things you might need someday. It might be frustrating to decide what to sell or keep or your stuff. If you need a list of things to get rid of when decluttering your stuff, try or . I always recommend starting with the easy stuff like:

• clothes that don’t fit your body or your lifestyle
• extras: think spatulas, wooden spoons and coffee cups
• knick knacks and odds and ends
• almost everything in your junk drawer
• books you’ve read and won’t read again

As you get to items that aren’t as easy, you may come up with excuses like, “I’ll keep this just in case.” or “I’ll keep this for my kids.” but what those excuses are telling you is that you aren’t quite ready to let go. That’s ok. Keep coming back to those items and for now, focus on seven things you never have to let go of. In fact, Holding on to these seven things will help you let go of the other stuff with more ease.

7 Things You’ll Regret Decluttering From Your Life

In looking back at the I’ve written, I’ll admit that I’ve focused almost exclusively on what you should let go of and not much on what you should hold on to when decluttering. Because decluttering takes time (sometime years), create the motivation and resilience you’ll need to keep going by holding on to the following seven things. While you may have to declutter in the future to maintain a clutter-free lifestyle, remember that if you are determined to stop the cycle of buying things only to declutter them later, this big decluttering effort is temporary.

1. Hold on to humor when decluttering your stuff.

Decluttering your stuff can feel stressful, especially if you take it too seriously. When you find a calendar from 1995, photos of people you don’t remember or a kitchen appliance you haven’t used in a decade, that’s kind of funny. You can laugh about the fact that it took you this long to let go. You can laugh and acknowledge that it’s hard to let go of your stuff. You’ll experience more ease when decluttering if you can find humor in your situation. target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> This strategy may help.

2. Remember your intention.

Always remember why you are letting go, why you are creating space and why you are simplifying your life. Letting go with this intention in mind will give you conviction when decluttering stuff, add clarity to your decisions and lightness to the process. Because decluttering takes time, your intentions may change. In the beginning you might want to declutter to create more space in your home. After some progress, you may notice (like we did) that you have empty rooms in your home and want to downsize and live in a smaller space. With your intention front and center you can think less about what you are letting go of and more about what’s on the other side of letting go.

3. Don’t let go of rest (or save it until you are exhausted).

Prioritize rest instead of saving it until you are exhausted, or finished decluttering or done doing just one more thing. In our modern-day society, we resist rest with all that we have in us. Work hard, play hard. Sleep when you are dead. Push through.
Go above and beyond. No pain, no gain. These are the messages we receive. Inevitably, after working hard, playing hard, pushing through, and pushing sleep off till death, we get rundown and sometimes even sick. Instead, be gentle, rest regularly and declutter at a pace that best serves the time and energy you have.

4. Hold on to a lot of grace.

Letting go can bring up feelings of guilt around overspending, buying things you didn’t need and feeling wasteful by letting it go. You might get or that your family isn’t as excited to declutter as you are. When struggles come up (and they will), allow for grace. Extend that grace to yourself and others over and over again.

5. Never get rid of simple pleasures.

There is no reason to stop enjoying your life while you are decluttering your stuff. Just like rest, simple pleasures are not something you want to save until the end. You deserve a simple pleasure every day. Prioritizing simple pleasures and other tiny moments that invite you to be present into your life allow you to enjoy your life every single day. When we withhold simple pleasures in the name of not getting enough done, or telling ourselves other ways we don’t deserve them, we suffer unnecessarily.  We may miss out on the inspiration and motivation a simple pleasure provides or get lost in our to-dos but as we’ve established, there will always be more to do. Let’s create more opportunities to enjoy, get present and show up for our lives.

6. Keep your boundaries.

Boundaries help you take care of yourself and they can help you when you are decluttering. Set boundaries for yourself so you don’t bring in clutter while you are decluttering. Experiment with boundaries around how many things to keep in certain categories. Use boundaries to protect your time and energy while you are devoting more of yourself to simplifying. When you think setting boundaries is too hard, .

7. Hold on to the benefits of simplicity.

As you are decluttering your stuff and simplifying your life, notice the benefits. When you do, you create more motivation to continue. Enjoy benefits like less decision fatigue, more generosity . Maybe these seven things weren’t what you were expecting. You may have been waiting for permission to hold on to journals and sentimental items, or clothes with tags still hanging on them, or things that were really cheap or really expensive, but the truth is … the only person who can make those decisions is you. You get to decide what matters most to you and what stuff you want to keep in your life. If you aren’t sure, one way to determine what matters most to you is to get rid of the things that don’t matter at all.