Creating Space in Your Life: What Decluttering Taught Me About Letting Go

Creating space in your life does not always start where you expect it to. Sometimes it starts with a pantry that has gotten completely out of control.

A few months ago, things were literally falling out when the pantry door was opened. Three of the same item had been purchased on separate grocery runs because nothing was visible in the chaos. And standing there in the middle of it, a bigger realization hit: the entire house was still organized for a family that no longer existed.

Kids who were once in elementary school are now in junior high. The toys, the snacks, the art supplies, the rhythms of daily life have all changed. But the home had not caught up. Six years of living had accumulated around a version of life that was long gone.

This episode of the In the EllaMents podcast started as a conversation about decluttering and turned into something much deeper. If you would rather listen.

 

Why Clutter Is Not Just an Aesthetic Problem

For some people, a messy counter is a minor annoyance. For others, it is a genuine functional problem. Clutter and disorganization make it impossible to focus until something is done about it. The inability to sit still, even when exhausted, because the house feels off — that is not a personality quirk. It is a real response to an environment that is working against you.

When a space is cluttered, the brain registers it as unfinished business. Every pile, every overflowing drawer, every corner that needs attention pulls a small piece of mental energy just by existing. That adds up. And for anyone working from home, running a business in the same space where they live, the cost of a chaotic environment is not just emotional. It shows up directly in the ability to focus, to think clearly, and to be present.

“What if the thing keeping you from functioning is not your ability to work harder, but the space you are actually living in? What if your environment is telling you something about who you are trying to be versus who you actually are?”

Creating space in your life is about more than aesthetics. It is about removing the friction between you and your ability to function.

 

The Closet Moment That Changed Everything

The biggest shift did not happen in the pantry. It happened in the closet.

Going through clothes brought up something unexpected: blazers, dress pants, and heels from a corporate marketing career that ended when working from home began. All of it collecting dust. The daily uniform now is leggings and a comfortable sweatshirt. The corporate version does not exist anymore, but the physical evidence of her was still taking up space.

There is a concept worth sitting with here. Holding onto clothes that do not fit or that are no longer worn means holding onto a previous version of yourself. The items are not just objects. They are a story about who you were, and keeping them means some part of you is still trying to be that person, or still grieving the loss of her, or still hoping to get back to her someday.

Letting go of those blazers was not just about clearing a closet. It was about giving permission to stop trying to be someone who no longer exists, and making room to find out who is here now.

 

The Marie Kondo Question That Actually Helps

Marie Kondo’s framework comes back to one simple question: does this spark joy? It sounds almost too simple, but the power is in what it is actually asking. Not does this have value, not did this cost money, not might I need this someday. Does it belong to the life you are living right now?

Holding up those jeans saved for a rainy day when the weight comes off, and feeling the quiet shame attached to them rather than joy — that is useful information. The item is not neutral. It carries a story, and if that story is about a version of yourself you are waiting to become rather than who you actually are today, it may be time to release it.

Applying this question category by category, room by room, changes what decluttering means. It stops being about organization and starts being about alignment. Do the things around you reflect the life you are actually living?

 

Creating Space in Your Life at a Sustainable Pace

Clearing an entire house in a single weekend is not realistic for most people, and attempting it often leads to an overwhelming pile in the middle of the living room and everything going back to where it started. The more sustainable approach is one closet, one room, one cupboard at a time, across multiple weekends, at a pace that does not add to the already full load.

This is the same principle that comes up across every topic on this blog and podcast. You do not have to do it all at once. Progress made slowly and consistently gets further than a dramatic overhaul that fizzles out by Sunday afternoon.

The Marie Kondo method actually builds this in by working category by category rather than room by room. Clothes, books, papers, miscellaneous items, sentimental things, each category gets its own focused attention. The goal is not a perfect home by a certain date. The goal is gradual, intentional alignment between your space and your actual life.

If the mental load of doing it all feels like too much right now, this post on giving yourself permission to let things go at your own pace is worth reading alongside this one.

You Don’t Have to Do It All (And You Were Never Supposed To) ->

 

The Daily Reset That Maintains the Space You Create

Decluttering solves the accumulation problem. A daily reset prevents it from coming back.

Ten to fifteen minutes in the morning and again in the evening is what makes the difference between a space that stays functional and one that gradually slides back into chaos. Morning reset after school drop-off: dishes from breakfast put away, counters cleared, anything that accumulated overnight dealt with before sitting down to work. Evening reset after dinner: dishes done, surfaces cleared, the couch pillows that seem to explode throughout the day put back where they belong.

This does not happen every single day. Real life does not allow for that. But on the days it does happen, the effect is immediate and noticeable. Waking up to a clear space means starting the workday with a clear head. Going to bed in a calm environment means sleeping better. Neither of those is a small thing when you are running a business and a household and trying to show up for your family.

The reset works best when it becomes a ritual rather than a chore. Coffee and music in the morning while straightening up. Getting the kids involved in the evening cleanup. Building it into the rhythm of the day rather than adding it as another item on an already long list.

 

What Creating Space in Your Life Actually Creates

What started as a pantry problem turned into something much bigger. A clearer pantry meant less frustration at dinnertime. A cleared kitchen counter meant better focus during the workday. A closet that only holds things that belong to who you are now meant actually enjoying getting dressed in the morning instead of feeling vaguely bad about a body or a life that does not match the clothes.

All of those small things added up to something that is hard to quantify but easy to feel: the ability to breathe. And when there is room to breathe, there is room to think, to be creative, to be patient with kids, to be present with family, to show up fully for work instead of being distracted by the low hum of environmental chaos.

Letting go of physical things creates actual mental and emotional space. It is not a metaphor. It is a real and measurable shift in how it feels to move through a day.

 

One Question to Start With

If your environment feels chaotic right now, or if you are holding onto things that represent old versions of yourself, you do not have to overhaul everything this weekend. You just have to start somewhere.

Pick one closet, one drawer, one corner. Hold each item and ask honestly: does this belong to who I am now, or is it a version of me I am holding onto? Let the answer guide what stays and what goes.

And once the space is cleared, give yourself the daily reset, even if it is just ten minutes, even if it does not happen every day. The space you create is worth protecting. And what you might find, on the other side of releasing what no longer fits, is not just a tidier home. It is a version of yourself that has a little more room to breathe, to work, and to grow into who you are actually becoming.

 

Want to Hear the Full Episode?

This post draws from a recent episode of the In the EllaMents podcast, where the full story gets told, including the pantry moment that started it all, the closet realization, and what the daily reset has actually looked like in practice.

Listen to the full episode wherever you get your podcasts.

In the EllaMents Podcast

About the Author

Written by Alishia Egenhoff, Founder of Social EllaMents Marketing — helping small business owners grow through clarity, strategy, and authentic digital advertising.