Decluttering other people’s stuff

Another major thing on the list of decluttering mistakes for overthinkers is also related to interpersonal relationships: when your partner seems to be holding on to those VHS cassettes, you might be tempted to throw them away yourself rather than letting them do it.

But it’s not your job to get rid of them, so you shouldn’t clutter your own mind with other people’s clutter if you know what I mean.

How do I avoid that?

When it comes to partners, you shouldn’t even bother touching their stuff; it’s theirs to deal with. Instead, you might want to encourage them to go through their own stuff and decide for themselves. It’s simpler and healthier.

Thinking that decluttering is a one-time job

When it comes to decluttering mistakes for overthinkers, I think we need to make an important difference: replacing your flooring could be a “once and done” project while cleaning the bathroom is completely different.

We continuously bring brand new stuff into our homes, and whether you realize it or not, the collection of stuff we build over time gets bigger and bigger. If you let way too much time pass between decluttering sessions, you might realize pretty soon that you have more stuff than you ever needed or even wanted to deal with.

How to stop believing that

You could just shift the way you perceive decluttering. If you see it as a giant, overwhelming job that you do because it is absolutely necessary to do so, then you need to change that. Instead, look at it as if it were a maintenance job you had to do in small doses on a regular basis.

This way, it won’t overwhelm you anymore. It will be a much-needed mental shift that will bring a ton of positive things into your life and will also make your job much easier.