Your Brain Won't Let You Declutter—Here's Why
Neuroscience can make decluttering easier
Neuroscientist Emily Falk explains why parting with old belongings feels so hard: the brain regions that judge value overlap with those that define our sense of self, so we overvalue what's ours and dread the pain of loss. She describes struggling to toss her own high school notebooks and shows how understanding these mechanisms can help us align decisions with our goals.
It isn't irrational to have trouble letting objects go. The parts of our brain that help us decide what is valuable overlap with the parts that keep track of what feels like us.
- dekhn
I maintain a nostalgia budget. That is, I allow myself to keep a certain amount or mass or volume of items that are valuable to me (old photos, T-shirts, mementos from my family). This has made it far easier to get rid of things (especially things where I could just go buy another if I truly needed it).
- profsummergig
> "Ask yourself 'would I buy this today?'"
How would I buy a notebook filled with my thoughts from 20 years ago, today?
- brudgers
ask, “Would I buy this today?”
A related approach I use with 'gear' is "can I buy another one if I really want one again?" (because I have a bit of GAS).
Of course I am economically privileged for being able approach the problem that way. Not everyone is.