How To Declutter Your Life To Be Free

Life is unpredictable, and you never know what will happen next. During New Year’s eve 2024, I decided it was time to declutter my life. But this time it was time to go all out. I realised I was finally ready to let go of my possessions in the pursuit of personal freedom.

The pandemic

The pandemic begun in 2020, just after I moved back to Stockholm to find a place of my own. Ironically enough, I wanted to move to a big city because I wanted a more social life where I could live more openly. Small town ignorance was too anxiety-inducing for me.

I was going to stay with relatives for a few weeks, rest and then find a place. I barely got to settle in before the pandemic hit. Everyone had to learn a new, restricted way of life, and the isolation didn’t do anyone any good. At least not mentally or emotionally.

Humans don’t do well in isolation. Even if you’re introverted, you do still need positive human interactions every now and again. I didn’t know anyone here other than my relatives, and we were not close enough to do well in isolation together.

I couldn’t really get to know anyone my age with all of the pandemic restrictions. Without a license and working from home, I was even more alone. Even so, the Universe got bored and I ended up catching covid. I actually don’t remember much from that time. I think my brain decided to protect me.

Emotional spending

When you can’t interact with others, or go anywhere without risking your health, you end up focusing on one of the few things you can do. I decided to write the books I’d wanted to write for a long time, and use the time I had to learn everything I could about living a self-sufficient life. And to learn those things, there were certain tools I would need. I bought those tools and more in an effort to change something in my life for the better. To change what little I could, and try to make myself feel like I still had control over something in my life.

I learned how to grow most of my own food, raise and propagate perennials and how to harvest my own rain water.

I started making my own flour, my non-dairy products, raise several sourdoughs and bake my own bread and much more. Then I started foraging and learned how to preserve everything I grew and foraged. I learned how to make my own pantry staples, cleaning products, hygiene products, herbal medicines and clothes.

If I needed something, I figured out how to make it. In those years I ended up creating hundreds of vegan recipes and I wrote my first guide and cookbook – The Pantry. It was self-published in December of 2023.

The job market drying up

Gradually, the pandemic began to affect my line of work as well. There were fewer jobs and they were alarmingly far apart. The jobs also started paying less and the demands from the agencies got higher. They wanted us to do more work with tighter deadlines for less money. What a fantastic deal, eh?

With less money coming in, I had to start turning some of my possessions into money. Over the years, my possessions had unknowingly become like emotional crutches. They had kept me moderately grounded and I found myself panicking just by imagining being without them. They had been a poor substitute for an actual fulfilling life, but a substitute all the same.

Realising how attached I had become, I knew I had to start decluttering. I did not want to rely on something external and unpredictable for my happiness. I wanted to have everything I needed to feel safe and happy within myself, so it could never be lost or taken from me.

Emptying my storage unit

For years I have used storage units to store my possessions, trying to cling to the hope that the housing shortage would end. It was my main expense and every year the rent went up.

During the last days of 2024, I was informed that the storage unit company would increase their prices yet again, and I simply couldn’t afford that. I realised I had to let the storage unit go. And I knew that without one, I would likely have to get rid of the majority of the things I had stored in there.

I reached out to the storage company and told them I was leaving. In January, I received help emptying the storage unit. Before the month was through, I had donated several boxes worth of things to charity. I went through everything from the storage unit as well as everything I had in my room. By doing so, I ended up going through all of my remaining possessions from childhood to present day.

Now there’s only a desk, a TV and a handful of other possessions left to sell. If I can’t sell them, I may donate them to charity.

I imagine I will end up decluttering even more things even after I consider myself to be done. If I learn there’s a market for something I possess, I will likely sell it. Right now I don’t want to own a lot of things, and I need the money more. I want to travel later this year, and travelling isn’t free.

Digital declutter

I have gone through and decluttered both my Google Drives and my external hard drive. It took me a few days to go through, declutter and organise the thousands of files I had stored. Downloading the compressed folders from Google Drive to the hard drive took days.

Given that technology is fickle, I decided to save everything on my external hard drive as well as on my OneDrive. I thought I had been going through my files regularly, but there was still so much to clear.

I ended up simplifying my life further and acquired a regular button phone to replace my old smartphone. It was a second hand phone – an expiring model – and they had just installed a new battery. Due to some mistakes made during the shipping, I ended up getting it for free.

The biggest change was having to teach myself Japanese emojis as the phone doesn’t support regular ones. I only have to charge the phone once a week, which is great. And I can call, text, listen to my own saved music and the radio, so I am happy with my decision.

Work declutter

I ended up selling my company and I went back to school. Right now I am taking several online courses. I have gained four diplomas thus far and I have a few more courses to go.

What I have decided to keep

Most of my essentials fit inside my suitcases. I have one large suitcase where I can fit my futon, pillows and weight blanket.

I have a mini suitcase with things I may end up selling later on. In my two medium-sized suitcases I keep my yarn, fabric, tools and designs. On top of one of them I keep my sewing machine.

I have a backpack for my sheets and clothes. For work, I have my Apple Tv, an eye-friendly screen and an iPad.

I have two small bathroom shelves from Ikea that actually work very well as bookshelves. I have one for my books and tarot cards. In the other one I keep my art supplies, chargers, reading glasses and notepads. Everything in those shelves fit inside the suitcases. Though I will likely declutter more of the things I keep there.

I will use up all of my materials, turn them into designs and sell most of them. I have made a lot of jewellery pieces this month that will soon be available in the shop.

Self-sufficiency is still very important to me, so there are certain things I still need and want to keep. My perennial garden that will feed me for the next thirty years. My onggi where I ferment and keep soy sauce, bean paste and gochujang. I will also hang on to my kettle and my dehydrator. For the time being I will keep my food processor and sandwich maker, but I am not sure for how long.

I have two carts where I store my utensils, cast iron pans, staple foods and canned goods.

What is essential?

If we listened to society, the answer would be “everything”. That’s just consumerism talking. There are very few things that are actually essential in life. Mostly we hang on to things for the sake of others. Either we want to be seen a certain way or we hang on to certain possessions because someone told us we must and we believed them. Many believe there is a checklist for what adults have to own, but there is no such thing. No one is obligated to own anything.

Sometimes we hang on to a gift because we feel obligated to, even though we don’t use it or want to keep it. We let guilt decide. Certain things we hang on to out of fear. What if we need it in the future?

I have found that when we think something is essential, that just means that we need to dig deeper and figure out why we feel that way. More often than not, it isn’t actually essential. We have just convinced ourselves that it is. Usually it represents something else. A person, a memory, a dream, or even a fear. When we figure out what makes us cling to something and feel it is essential, it is not uncommon that the attachment fades.

What’s next?

I will continue to declutter other aspects of my life. Mental clutter, memories, pursuits, dreams, goals, fears, people etc.

I hope is that the last few things will be sold next week. Two bags will be collected by a selling site tomorrow and they will sell the content within for me.

The larger items such as the desk end up taking up a lot of room, so I really want them gone.

There are a few older pantry items and canned goods that I will do my best to finish this month. There may be some food in the freezer that I need to finish as well. I want to declutter the pantry and make it more minimal. Staples and homemade seasoning only.

I have already done an inventory and checked dates on my supplements, meds and toiletries, but there are still a few open products that I would like to finish to free up more space.

However, the main goal this month is to bring out my sewing machine and use up my materials. I also need to use up some of the yarn and most of my jewellery supplies.

Conclusion:

There are times in life when we will have little to no control. Excess possessions will not make us lighter; they will bring us down. It is important to regularly evaluate and declutter all areas of our lives. Mindfulness is a very important part if life and without it, we will not be able to have good mental health.

It has been years since the pandemic ended, but people have not recovered. Most of us are still trying to figure out how to act and interact with others. It has also been several years since I caught and recovered from covid, and I still haven’t regained my energy.

The last five years have been beyond difficult. But through the suffering and struggles, I got to know myself and what I need out of life. And more importantly, I realised that I can only be myself, and the life that society expects me to pursue is not the life I can or want to live.

Release and let go

Letting go of most of what I own, and acknowledging the reasoning behind my initial unwillingness to let go, has been so cathartic. For the first time in many years, I am starting to feel hope. I feel like I will soon be able to breathe with ease and do what I want in life. I think more difficult and major changes await me in the near future, but I am here for it. Not without fear, perhaps, but without doubt.

When you have experienced a moment or several moments when you would rather end things than stay where you are, change is essential for your survival. However painful it may be, staying alive matters more than the momentary discomfort of starting anew and letting go.

When did you last declutter your life?