Start With the Easy Stuff

This is part of Stewie's Guide to Ruthlessly Declutter Your Clothes Today.

When I started decluttering my clothes, my wife asked, “Why are you keeping that old dress shirt?” This shirt, stuffed in the back of my closet, was two sizes too big (because I’d lost weight). Worse yet, it had pit stains and yellowing around the collar.

I didn’t have a good reason beyond, “What if I need it? What if my other ones wear out, and what if an EMP goes off and society collapses and there are no more white shirts anywhere?”

Sounds ridiculous, right? Well, my little brain loves imagining various catastrophic scenarios that’ll never actually happen. It’s like that quote:

Once I realized I was keeping this old shirt for silly “what if” reasons, I dropped it in the trash. I quickly went through my closet and dresser, asking, “Will I ever wear this again?” And I got rid of most of my clothes.

Afterward, I felt like there was room to breathe. My closet was no longer stuffed, and my dresser was no longer overflowing with clothes I’d never wear. Sure, there were still sentimental items to sort through, but most of the clutter was gone.

So, when you begin decluttering clothes, start with the easy stuff.

Here are the four questions I ask myself:

1. Is this worn out?
2. Is this not my style?
3. Will this never fit me?
4. Am I not excited to wear this?

Let’s look at the easy stuff Stewie decluttered based on these four questions

1. Is this worn out?

I found loads of worn-out clothes, including

• Old dress shirts
• Collared shirts with missing buttons or torn pockets
• A pair of pajama pants that my wife had made but were falling apart
• Jeans with holes in the left knee (my jeans always get holes in the same place)

I dropped all of these in the trash. And for good measure, I also threw out all of my underwear/undershirts and bought new ones.

2. Is this not my style?

I ended up donating:

• Polo shirts I didn’t like
• Gray slacks purchased for a wedding
• A red sweater purchased for family pictures
• A nice gray jacket from work that I’d never wear

And I gave my teanage son a nice red hoodie I never wear. It’s a bit big, but he will grow into it.

3. Will this never fit me?

I donated:

• Pajama pants that never fit well
• Cargo shorts & knit shorts that were too big
• Cargo pants that would always look too baggy because of my skinny legs
• Long-sleeved shirts that looked nice but were too long and could not be worn untucked

4. Am I not excited to wear this?

I donated:

• Hideous neckties
• Gloves I didn’t love
• Itchy scarves & knit hats
• T-shirts from previous tech companies. (I don’t want to be a walking advertisement!)

One of those T-shirts was super soft, so my son took it, which I was totally fine with.

So there you have it. That’s the process I went through to start with the easy stuff.

But what about you? What’s the easy stuff you could declutter right now?

Next steps…

• Read the rest of Stewie's Guide to Ruthlessly Declutter Your Clothes Today
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