5 Tiny Ways To Make Letting Go Easier

In the past, I’ve talked about some BIG ways to make letting go easier. Things like getting connected to your personal “why”, making a proactive plan to help get your mind and emotions on board, and working on a perspective shift.

Today, I want to share 5 tiny, tangible ways to make letting go easier when decluttering your things. These are things you can implement in your home today to make some immediate changes! 

#1. Heat Mapping

It may not be that often you hear someone going on and on about how fun and easy decluttering is but I genuinely find heat mapping to be both those things. I love the idea of having visual feedback and data that tells you what to get rid of. That’s why this is my #1 way to make letting go easier!

How to do it!

Heat mapping is so simple to do and can be repeated in any area of your home. Simply start with all of your items in one grouping, then, every time you use one of them set it off to the side in a new grouping. At the end of a chosen time, anything that went unused or unworn can be let go of. Ta-da! It is that easy. It really highlights what’s being used from what hasn’t been reached for. 

For example, gather all your facial products in your medicine cabinet to one side or one shelf. As you use products you’ll move them to a new shelf or the opposite side of the cabinet. At the end of the month (week, or season), go back in and see what you’ve used! It’s all data 🙂

Like I said before, this is great visual feedback for items you don’t use or aren’t reaching for. It’s hard to rationalize not getting rid of something that you know (for a fact) you aren’t using.

Rinse and repeat! Give it a try in your spice rack, medicine cabinet, or with cleaning supplies! 

Tweak It To Make Letting Go Easier

Don’t be afraid to change it up in order to make letting go easier in different areas. Take your closet as another example. Instead of creating a new grouping, you can simply flip the hanger around after you’ve worn something. Just like that, you can see the clothes you don’t reach for and aren’t wearing. 

Heat mapping will relieve you from having to remember the last time you used something or from trying to rationalize keeping things you aren’t using. Plus, it’s already in a pile for you to discard, making it physically easier to let go of!

#2. Use The Parts To Make Something New

A couple of years back I spoke at a widow’s retreat and was really inspired by these women’s creativity and thoughtfulness when it came to their loved one’s belongings. 

It’s hard to move on and get rid of a loved one’s favorite items, whether it be their favorite shirt, pillow case, or piece of jewelry. 

Instead of keeping everything just to let it sit in the closet, they would take snippets of different clothing items, pillowcases, or favorite blankets and use the patches to make teddy bears or quilts. They would even take jewelry, medals, or trinkets and decorate picture frames, flower pots, or make other art with them.

I think this is an awesome way to make a pile of unused things into something meaningful and less space-consuming. These new collages of their items get to be somewhere visible for you to enjoy and remember while also helping you declutter. It makes letting go easier because you’re still keeping what was important- the memories. You’re simply finding a new way to remember and enjoy those things.

#3. Rearrange 

Another interesting way to make letting go easier is to move things around or rearrange. When things stay in one place for a long time you get used to seeing the space that way. Nothing looks out of place.  Our brains tend to mark the status quo as being unimportant information (nothing to see here!).

The Flip Side

When you rearrange or move things around the light hits items differently, shadows fall on new areas and the space feels new. You might even find yourself moving around the space differently and noticing items you didn’t before.

You’ll more easily be able to pick out those items that had been lost in the background before and might realize they don’t belong anymore. You’ll likely even find items you thought you lost or forgot you had. Now, you can move it more front and center or realize you don’t need it anymore. 

When you get comfortable with where things are you don’t question them. Rearranging will lead to you questioning items that have been around too long and are ready to be decluttered. It may seem simple but it is so effective. That is why it made the cut for tiny ways to make letting go easier.

#4. Create A Picture Book

This one is great for things like:

• Kids artwork
• Letters
• Vows
• Photos

These items tend to pile up in a box somewhere out of sight, taking up space and collecting dust even though they are things you love. What you can do to preserve those memories is scan them/take a photo and print the digital copy into a book! 

Boom💥! No memories lost and more free space gained!

Kids’ art and school projects can be really bulky, messy, and just difficult to organize and store without sticking them in a box somewhere. When you can scan them or take a photo and then print it in a book, it only takes up half or a quarter of a single page. You’ll end up saving so much space! That is a box full of stuff taking up maybe half an inch of space on your bookshelf.

There are tons of websites and places that will do this. A couple I can think of off the tip of my head are Shutterfly, Walgreens, and Google Photos, but there are MANY more out there. 

#5. Memorialize / Digitize

This way to make letting go easier is for those items that are sentimental or important but you just don’t want them in your space. Don’t feel bad, you’re not alone. It could be that it isn’t your style, it takes up too much space, or you just don’t use it.

Memorializing is a way to extract that memory or emotion from items and instead allow them to live on via an event, digital version, or shared post.

A good example of this could be a tea set passed down to you. Instead of simply taking a photo of the tea set by itself, you could invite everyone over with a connection to that tea set. And throw one last tea party! Share memories, take pictures or videos, and have a good time. 

Now, you can feel happy knowing that the tea set got a quality send-off and you’ve made new memories around it in the process :). It’s possible that the teapot would’ve never been used otherwise.

It doesn’t have to be a big last hurrah. It might look more like taking a picture of the item and sharing the memories on social media in a tribute post or a message to your family.

This ability to share memories and emotions with those who are connected to them helps to remove any shame or guilt that can come up when getting rid of a loved one’s belongings or sentimental items. 

Rather than discarding it unceremoniously, you’re acknowledging its significance with others. Sometimes that written dialogue will even help you hold onto that memory even more than the item itself.

It’s Okay To Make Letting Go Easier

I hope these tiny ways to make letting go easier are helpful to you. Taking these steps can help you to move past any emotional guilt or shame that can make decluttering sometimes feel impossible. If you want one more way to make letting go easier I have a checklist with everything you need to get started!