6 reasons why decluttering isn't always a good idea
Miscellaneous / / April 03, 2023
A burning desire to get rid of everything unnecessary can lead to regrets and new purchases.
The idea that there should be nothing superfluous at home has been gaining momentum in recent years. Minimalists advise to be more rational about purchases and to throw away everything superfluous with a firm hand. At the same time, there are many concepts on how to find this “superfluous”. Someone suggests getting rid of everything that does not bring joy, someone - from what has never been used over the past year.
In theory, the idea of leaving home only happy things that are constantly used sounds great. In practice, it is not always good. And that's why.
1. Some things need to be kept
Marie Kondo, one of the most well-known home tidying experts, advises periodically throwing away documents. Perhaps the law of Japan, where she comes from, allows this. But in many countries it is better to keep papers and receipts. Even if they don't bring any joy.
First of all, this is due to the fact that the statute of limitations is mainly
is three years. So if you want to defend yourself in court or someone decides to call you to account, it is better to have documents to prove your point of view. But there is a nuance: often the statute of limitations is considered from the moment the victim learns about the violation of his rights. When this will happen is difficult to predict. So it's better not to throw anything away.If it seems to you that keeping documents means being unnecessarily reinsured, just ask your friends of retirement age. Some of them are forced to look up forty-year-old archives to prove that they worked for five years in their youth. If this is not done, the pension may do not appoint. At the same time, it often turns out that the archive burned down, the settlement no longer exists, and so on.
Keeping documents is important.
One day, perhaps we will step into the world of a beautiful digital future. But now it is hardly worth relying on the fact that the state will save all your data without loss. It is better to keep a few folders at home that you will never need than to get into trouble because you did not have half of the printed A4 sheet on time.
2. Some may come in handy less than once a year
The idea of getting rid of things that you do not use for a long time is generally a good one. But the hand does not reach some of them, not because you do not need them.
Imagine: you have a great down jacket for frosts Or a warm wool sweater. But the winter was not frosty, and you all the time passed in lighter things. In fact, you have not used these clothes for a year. But that doesn't mean you won't need it in the future. And finding new suitable high-quality models is not so easy.
3. Some things are not used for a long time, and then they are urgently needed.
Proponents of the one-year principle often make this argument: if you need something, you can always buy it.
Let's say you have an excellent plunger, and there were no blockages for a long time. Well, you can throw it away. But if the water stops flowing from baths, you are unlikely to wave your hand and think: I will order a plunger on the marketplace, it will arrive in three days. No, you need it right now.
So really, anything can be bought. But there is not always time and money for this. And if a thing is not very large and may be urgently needed, it is better to have it than not to have it.
4. Good things can be sold in the future
Perhaps almost every person who browses free classifieds sites not purposefully, but for fun, experienced something like this: “Oh, my grandmother had the same lamp. How much are they asking for it?" What is rubbish for you may be a desirable item for someone else.
Of course, this does not mean that everything should be kept junkinherited from relatives. But something is worth evaluating in terms of investment attractiveness and, perhaps, hiding for the future.
5. Some things gain emotional value over the years.
Let's say your grandmother gives you a crystal salad bowl. And you have an interior in the style of minimalism and plates of clear geometric shapes, you don’t need this at all. But how to refuse a loved one! And then you take it out for the New Year - that it just stands in the closet. And the next holiday. And let it not fit into your interior, but every time you look at it, you remember feasts at my grandmother's, and so it becomes warm inside. And now, on the morning of January 1, your children come to the refrigerator and take out this particular salad bowl from it, because the food seems tastier in it.
Don't underestimate the power of emotional attachment. Some things we do not need, do not fit anywhere, look tasteless from our point of view. But, having lost them, we can be desperately bored. Even if it seemed to us before that they did not cause any feelings in us.
6. Decluttering is not always friendly with ecology and economy
Throw away everything that you don’t need right now and don’t like it, and then, if necessary, buy again - see the catch here? And it is that you already had these things - good and working. But you are invited to get rid of them, and then spend money on them again. And again. At the same time, your “trash” goes to landfills and decomposes there for years.
Minimalism in the possession of things is presented as a very eco-friendly concept. But it works when you don't overbuy. If you have to increase the volume of purchases due to the desire to keep at home only what is often used, somewhere the idea has taken a wrong turn.
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