10 Benefits of Decluttering Before a Move

Imagine this: You’re standing in the middle of your living room, surrounded by stacks of boxes, packing tape, and a growing sense of overwhelm. The excitement of moving to a new home is palpable, but so is the stress and chaos that often accompanies it. Amidst the whirlwind of preparations, there’s one task that can significantly lighten the load: decluttering.

Taking the time to declutter before the big moving day not only helps streamline the packing process but also brings a host of benefits that can make your transition smoother and more enjoyable. Here are 10 compelling reasons why decluttering before a move is a wise decision:

Reduced Moving Costs

By decluttering before your move, you’ll have fewer items to pack and transport, ultimately leading to reduced moving expenses. Moving companies typically base their fees on the volume or weight of your belongings, so downsizing can help you save a significant amount of money.

Saves Time

Decluttering before a move saves you valuable time by eliminating the need to sort through unnecessary items while packing. With fewer belongings to organize and pack, you can complete the moving process more efficiently and devote your time to other essential tasks.

Helps You Stay Organized

Decluttering encourages organization by forcing you to assess each item and decide whether it’s worth keeping or not. This process ensures that only the items you truly need and love make it to your new home, leading to a more organized living environment.

Reduces Storage Space

Downsizing your belongings before a move means you’ll require less storage space in your new home. This not only saves you money on housing costs but also prevents overcrowding and promotes a more comfortable living space.

Prioritizes What is Important

Decluttering allows you to prioritize what’s truly important to you. By letting go of unnecessary possessions, you can focus on the things that bring you joy and fulfillment, both during the move and in your new home.

Boosts Mental Health

A clutter-free environment can have a positive impact on your mental health. Studies have shown that living in an organized and tidy space can reduce stress, increase productivity, and improve overall well-being.

Environmental Benefits

Decluttering before a move provides an opportunity to reduce waste and minimize your environmental footprint. By donating or recycling unwanted items, you can help conserve resources and reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills.

Streamlined Packing Process

With fewer items to pack, the packing process becomes much more straightforward and efficient. You’ll spend less time wrapping and boxing up belongings, allowing you to focus on other aspects of the move.

Maximized Space in New Home

Removing unnecessary clutter ensures that you make the most of the available space in your new home. This prevents clutter from accumulating and promotes a more spacious and organized living environment.

Less Stress

Perhaps most importantly, decluttering before a move reduces stress and anxiety associated with the relocation process. By simplifying your belongings and eliminating excess clutter, you can approach the move with a clearer mind and a lighter load.

5 Most popular decluttering methods

When it comes to decluttering, everyone has their own approach to tackling the task and creating a more organized living space. Here are some of the most popular methods that people use to simplify their belongings and bring order to their homes:

The KonMari Method

Developed by Marie Kondo, the KonMari Method encourages individuals to declutter by category rather than by room. It involves gathering all items within a specific category (such as clothing, books, or sentimental items), holding each item, and deciding whether it “sparks joy.” If an item does not bring joy, it is thanked for its service and discarded. This method emphasizes keeping only items that truly bring happiness.

The Swedish Death Cleaning Method

 This method, also known as “döstädning,” gained popularity with the book “The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning” by Margareta Magnusson. It involves decluttering and organizing possessions with the mindset of simplifying your life and leaving behind a tidy space for your loved ones to deal with after you pass away. The focus is on keeping only items that hold significant meaning or utility and letting go of unnecessary possessions.

The 12-12-12 Challenge

Often attributed to organization expert and author Joshua Becker, this method involves finding 12 items to throw away, 12 to donate, and 12 to be returned to their proper place each day. If you prefer a structured approach to decluttering and want to see immediate results, this method is definitely for you.

The Minimalist Game

Also known simply as the 30-Day Minimalism Game, is a decluttering challenge created by Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, known as “The Minimalists.” The game is designed to help participants gradually reduce the number of possessions they own over the course of a month. On the first day of the challenge, each participant must get rid of one item. On the second day, two items, and so on, until the end of the month. By the end of the 30 days, each participant will have decluttered a total of 465 items (1 + 2 + 3 + … + 30).

The 4-Box Method

This method involves labeling four boxes or bags with the following categories: Keep, Donate/Sell, Trash, and Relocate. As you go through each area of your home, you place items into one of these boxes based on whether you want to keep, discard, donate/sell, or relocate the item to another area of your home.

Let’s move!

If you ready to move don’t go solo: Roadway Moving’s experts can help you with offering a variety of services, from local to long distance moving, packing / unpacking to storage and more. With multiple moving hubs across US (New York, South Florida, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia) we can serve the majority of the States. Contact us today,  get a quote within minutes and choose Roadway: it’s a nicer way to move!