This Decluttering Hack Involves Just One Question

Have you ever found yourself overwhelmed with household clutter, only to get even more overwhelmed at the thought of tackling it? Where to start, what to keep, which items to get rid of, and what do you do with the rest – there are so many decisions. Trying to make too many choices at once can lead to decision fatigue, one of the many reasons why decluttering is so stressful. Fortunately, we found a hack that simplifies everything, and it involves asking yourself just one question: assuming money is no object, what items would you replace if you lost everything in a fire?

This hack comes from Reddit user NotAGoodUsernameSays on the r/declutter community, and it begins with considering this scenario: "Imagine you've lost absolutely everything in a fire. Insurance has paid you the current replacement cost for all those items so you can buy everything over again. What things do you buy again, and which do you not replace?" Putting yourself in this situation (figuratively, of course) brings a clear focus to the process. It eliminates some of your decisions right away, like what to get rid of, since the fire has done that for you. By sharpening your focus and easing the decision fatigue, this practice can become one of the best strategies for decluttering your home.

Thinking about decluttering in light of the fire scenario helps you to reframe the use and value of the items you own. If you didn't have to make the decision to get rid of anything –- because the fire did it for you –- are there things you might simply leave in the ashes that maybe you were struggling to part ways with on your own? This practice also helps highlight things that are irreplaceable or that you'd truly miss if they were gone.

As we see it play out on the Reddit forum, this hack has helped many people evaluate their belongings. One Reddit user, Nikipierson, says, "I've been using the fire scenario in my decluttering, like if it was lost in a fire, would I miss it? Would I be happy if it were spared? What would I try to grab if I could?" Another Reddit user, Lepetitcoeur, says this process has helped them realize that they could live without 80% of the items they have in their home. Maybe this hack won't turn you into a full-fledged minimalist, but it can be the decluttering method that makes the process go much more smoothly.