Summary
Decluttering became my primary 2024 New Year’s resolution in response to my messy living space. Being a sentimental person, I’ve had difficulty throwing away the stuff I have accumulated through the years. As an experiment in decluttering, I have combined the Japanese housekeeping technique with three screening questions. I started with the seemingly mundane yet dreadful-looking pen holder on my evening desk. And I was utterly amazed at the unexpected result: I’ve been hoarding a bunch of space-consuming and disposable items!
Contents
- Context of 2024 Decluttering Resolution
- Minimalism and Hoarding as Associated Concepts
- Japanese Housekeeping and Three Sorting Questions
- Mundane Yet Dreadful-looking Pen Holder
- Into an Organized Pen Holder
- Key Takeaway on Decluttering Journey
1. Context of 2024 Decluttering Resolution
Being swamped with the ever-growing volume of accumulated stuff, I listed decluttering as my top 2024 New Year’s resolution.
Unfortunately, I could not readily execute what I had energetically planned. As the days passed, such a New Year resolution became more of an unimplementable wish list. I was getting paralyzed by combined dilly-dallying and procrastination.
After reading many papers about time management and career planning, I reckoned that my living environment could have been organized by now. Paradoxically, the elegant – and sometimes conflicting – management theories I have learned make me feel more confused rather than guided. I have also started to get irate at myself.
Part of the struggle is I have become messier with my living space as I grew older. I have fallen into the bad habit of simply dumping my stuff all over the place. The cluttered things in my upper bed are an illustrative example (see Figure 1). Assorted papers are jumbled with my electronic gadgets and unsorted paraphernalia. It’s a disgusting sight, whichever way you look at it!
Therefore, I have written this blog with two purposes in mind. The first aim is to describe decluttering as my major 2024 New Year’s resolution in relation to minimalism, hoarding and Japanese housekeeping. The second purpose is to share my decluttering experiment, starting with the seemingly mundane pen holder on my evening desk. I wrap up with a bit of reflection about my decluttering journey, including my ‘little victory’ of maintaining, up to this day, an organized pen holder.
2. Minimalism and Hoarding as Associated Concepts
Decluttering is not a stand-alone endeavor, as it is often nested with many allied human behaviors or practices. I only touch briefly on two notions: (1) minimalism and (2) hoarding. Minimalism is not only a modern fad but is also among the key recommendations of life improvement coaches and productivity experts. James Clear – author of the 2018 Bestseller book titled: “Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones” – argues that: “Minimalism is about more than just possessions” (https://jamesclear.com/minimalism). Hence, minimalism isn’t just about owning less stuff.
Minimalism’s essence is about intentionality. Its adherents deliberately keep only what adds value and meaning to their lives, eliminating anything that clutters their physical space, mental focus, or schedule. This approach aims to free people from the burden of excess, allowing them to pursue what truly matters – experiences, creativity, or more time.
And this brings me to my other habit of hoarding. Through the years, I have accumulated and hoarded many stuff. This hoarding habit has put me at loggerheads with my wife (see Figure 2). Interestingly, I kept my doctoral dissertation printouts, notes, and questionnaires that I had brought all the way from Australia in March 2000 until termites ate them all in 2023!
I once read somewhere that hoarding is a form of mental illness. (OMG – I am a psychiatric case!). In particular, I love buying books on a variety of topics. In Japanese, a close friend told me I am guilty of tsundoku. (Cambridge dictionary refers to tsundoku as “the practice of buying a lot of books and keeping them in a pile because you intend to read them but have not done so yet” https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/tsundoku#google_vignette).
3. Japanese Housekeeping and Three Sorting Questions
Decluttering involves a series of associated steps. I use Japanese housekeeping as a framework here, which is intricately associated with Shinto (an indigenous Japanese religion) that has spanned centuries. Often referred to as the Japanese 5S system, derived from five Japanese words (seiri, seiton, seiso, seiketsu, and shitsuke), it is a structured approach to creating a clean, organized, and efficient workspace. The English translation is sorting, organizing, cleaning, standardizing, and sustaining a clean and clutter-free environment. Key principles include regular decluttering, maintaining a minimalist mindset, and prioritizing daily cleaning rituals. This philosophy combines aesthetics and fosters a sense of order in one’s living space.
I shall focus only on the first step, which is sorting. In the past, I simply used the principle of throwing away items that I doubted were useful. (The quote “When in doubt, throw it out.” is often attributed to Jeremy Jackson, an American actor and singer). As a screening question to sort, though, this was rather broad. Hence, the lack of specificity has not been very helpful to me as both a hoarder and an incorrigible sentimentalist.
In lieu, I have recently adopted Laura Price, founder and creative director at The Home Organisation, a golden rule for decluttering. Laura advises asking three questions about every item being sorted. These questions are: (1) Do you love it? (2) Do you want it? (3) Do you need it? If you can’t answer yes to at least one of these, she advises that it’s time for the item to go.
4. Mundane Yet Dreadful-looking Pen Holder
Unable to sleep one night, I told myself to undertake a little decluttering experiment that I may also transform into a blog. My inkling was to start with something manageable to avoid the overwhelming feeling. Hence, as my maiden experiment, I decided to sort first the seemingly unassuming pen holder in my room desk (see Figure 3). You can readily visualize that the writing stuff are randomly mixed up.
Unceremoniously, I poured out all the contents on the table. I first sorted all the content into two categories: (1) writing items and (2) other stuff. After sorting, I arrived at two remarkable discoveries. First, 12 writing items were no longer functional (see Figure 4). The 10 pens were inkless, while the 2 pencils had broken shafts. Since there were 36 writing items, these non-functional pens and pencils represent about one-third or 33% of the total writing materials.
Afterwards, I posed Laura Price’s three decluttering questions to myself in each writing paraphernalia: (1) Do I love it? (2) Do I want it? (3) Do I need it? The answer was a resounding no to all items. Hence, after taking photos for this blog, I brusquely dumped them into the rubbish bins.
The second realization was the pen holder contained stuff that did not belong there. Odd men out, so to speak. I refer to two lighters, two combs, and two threads (see Figure 5). Again, I asked myself the above-cited three decluttering questions. Given a ‘no’ answer to the two threads, I immediately threw them away. I still need the two lighters for candles. Thus, I went to the kitchen and put them in a container together with the matches. In the case of the two combs, which I still needed as backups, I just kept them inside my table’s drawer.
5. Into an Organized Pen Holder
After leisurely sorting until past midnight, I organized the writing materials into their logical groupings (see Figure 6). Aside from the slot for pentel pens and highlighters, I put together the following in the three remaining slots: (1) black pens; (2) pencils; and (3) blue, red, and colored pens. Up to this day, I have maintained such a pen holder with the same organization of all writing materials.
With the benefit of hindsight, the previous disorganized pen holder was a time waster. When I needed a pen in the past, there was a 33% probability that I would pick a dysfunctional one. Hence, I wasted precious seconds putting it back and rumbling through the entire bunch to find a functional pen.
6. Key Takeaway on Decluttering Journey
Admittedly, I am a long way from a full decluttering of my living space. Having now an organized pen holder, however, has helped me in my writing chores. Somehow, it has given me a sense of relief, if not a sense of order. Now, I know exactly where to get my writing paraphernalia at any point in time. And I am also assured that all the highlighters, pencils, pens, and pentel pens I would pick are fully functional!
Some 300 years ago, the great American polymath and the first postmaster general, Benjamin Franklin, crafted this quote: “A place for everything, everything in its place?” This ought to be the doctrine for the declutters. I shall keep this quote in mind as I continue with my 2024 decluttering journey of my living space.
An Afterthought for Readers:
Did you find this decluttering blog starting with a mundane yet dreadful-looking pen holder useful? Do you agree with my thesis that decluttering is not a stand-alone endeavor and is associated with minimalism, hoarding, and Japanese housekeeping? Therefore, the more prudent thing to do is to start decluttering first with easily sortable items.
I would appreciate it if you could also share your feedback on the blog. In this way, this website becomes interactive with the readers.
Copyright © 2024 by Michael D Pido
True indeed sir Mike,decluttering is important for us to let go of the unwanted stuffs
Great to hear from you, VP Marj! Can we also declutter what’s inside our restless hearts?
Love this blog post! This will be helpful for someone like me who wants to start decluttering. Thank you, Sir!
Hi Venice – Thanks for liking my blog and finding it useful at your end. Cheers!
I remember I read an article about decluttering and cleaning. One of the benefits is that when you have clean area, in workplace in particular, you have the control of everything and it brings you to focus.
Love this blog sir.
Thanks for your positive feedback to the blog, Andrew. The readers would surely ponder on your insight.
Hi, Sir Mike. It’s great to bump into you earlier today! The state of my upper bunk bed is, I think, worse than yours. Now, if only I can declutter it soon, I think the positive energy will flow freely.
A blessed Sunday to you, Engr. Ryan. It was a pleasure briefly chatting with you at SM.
Thanks a lot for sharing your perspective about decluttering. Am relieved to hear that your upper bunk bed is worse than mine! I hope the other readers will be encouraged to share their views about this topic. Cheers for now.
Excellent!
Timely reminder to declutter.
Oftentimes it’s challenging to sort and declutter when we get so attached to things we don’t need anymore.
Great to hear from you there in the US, Doc Fernand. Thank you so much for sharing your perspective. Cheers!
Thanks for giving me ideas to declutter 😂😂😂
Hi Schoolmate Lyn – Thanks for your feedback. I am glad you have found this blog helpful at your end. Cheers!
Kumpay, it challenged me to do the same, hehehe. I particularly loved the ‘pen holder’ portion, which is exactly what I need to do right away, having procrastinated decluttering my own working space, starting with it. Very good read and advice!
Hi Kumpay Jong – Thanks a lot for finding this blog useful at your end. Best wishes in your 2025 decluttering journey. Cheers!
Some said that a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, so I asked what does an empty desk a sign of? For me decluttering is associated with order and I guess that is my convenient way of saying yes easily to all 3 questions. My penholder would always have the same stuff as what you do because I maintained an open desk policy with my wife and children – so you just imagine the daily traffic happening there. When I declutter, I know those things belong somewhere or to someone- the sewing kit, earrings, comb. Decluttering and placing things in rightful places is something I now do on a regular basis, at least for my evening desk as a matter of necessity because I tend to lose small items easily, and having a small forest in my desk disrupts my composure. It is a result of aging. I love reading your blog, I love your drawing. I love your style of writing and I wish I have those talents. Thank you for making my day, good morning
Hi DCOP Mar – Thanks a lot for finding the time to read this blog and liking it. Your positive feedbacks are truly appreciated. Thank you also for sharing your thoughts and actual practices about decluttering. Am sure the readers are pondering on them.
This was such a relatable and insightful read! I really appreciate how you shared your struggles with decluttering in such an honest and even humorous way. The connection to minimalism, hoarding, and Japanese housekeeping made me reflect on my own habits too. Starting with something small like a pen holder was such a great approach—it really shows how little victories can lead to bigger changes. Your writing kept me engaged, and I’m now inspired to take a look at my own clutter. Looking forward to hearing more about your progress!
Hi Ann – Thanks a lot for reading the blog and sharing your perspective. You are correct that a micro or a small habit counts a lot.
I am now into shredding documents. I have a shredding machine to address my paper clutter. Once, I have shredded a piece of paper, it’s gone!
This blog about shredding it coming soon. Watch out for it!