What is the Packing Party Decluttering Method?
Looking for minimalist decluttering tips and strategies? There are a lot of great techniques which can help you to make decisions about what to keep in your home and what to part with. One effective decluttering method you may have heard of is the “packing party” method developed by Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, […]
Looking for minimalist decluttering tips and strategies? There are a lot of great techniques which can help you to make decisions about what to keep in your home and what to part with.
One effective decluttering method you may have heard of is the “packing party” method developed by Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, a.k.a. “The Minimalists.”
What is the Party Packing method? The idea is simple. Think about a time in your life when you relocated, and had a lot to do when you arrived at your new house or apartment. Maybe you also expected to be moving again soon.
Chances are good a lot of your possessions stayed in boxes for months—and some may never have been unpacked at all before you moved again.
Maybe this gave you pause. Maybe you looked at those unpacked boxes and thought, “Why do I even have all this stuff? I’m obviously not using it.”
With the Party Packing method, you use that same principle to figure out what you are using and what could figuratively “stay in the box” indefinitely.
To use this technique, you need to get some cardboard boxes or plastic storage tubs. Let’s say you are decluttering your bedroom. The idea is to pack literally everything into the bins or boxes that you can, as if you were moving.
Now mark 90 days on your calendar. For the three months that follow, take items out of the boxes as you need them. After you use them, put them back where they belong (or somewhere better, if you are reorganizing).
Once the 90 days have elapsed, take whatever is still inside the boxes and donate it or sell it. A great way to get started is to invite a bunch of your friends to your house and hold a party where they can claim what they want (thus the name “Party Packing”). Everything else goes to thrift.
Does this method have any shortcomings? Well, for starters, it is a lot of work. It is a hassle to pack up all your stuff in boxes. Another drawback is that the 90-day period may not be sufficient for all of your stuff (i.e. seasonal items, knickknacks, etc.).
Finally, you may be tempted to pull things out of the box you never normally use and use them anyway just so you can keep them. Then again, if you do this, perhaps you should re-evaluate. Maybe that item is more valuable than you realized, and you should be using it more.
The Party Packing technique is not an easy decluttering method, but it can be a very powerful one—especially if you are really dedicated to downsizing swiftly and reorganizing as you go. Give it a try, maybe just starting with a particular closet or set of drawers and see where you get. You may be surprised by how much you can unload. Once all that unnecessary clutter is gone, you probably won’t miss it!
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