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Hello, I'm Takenomu.
Today I want to talk about decluttering becauselately it's been accelerating for me.
And I don't mean I cleaned my room once and feltproud.
I mean, it feels like I've entered a phase wheremy brain keeps saying,
We can go lighter.
We can go lighter.
We can go lighter.
I've always liked decluttering.
Even years ago, I was never the person who wantedto keep every box, every cable, every receipt justin case.
I've always felt that there's a weird kind offreedom in letting things go.
But what's different now is the speed and thereason.
Before, decluttering was mostly a physical thing.
My room looks better.
My desk feels cleaner.
I can find stuff faster.
It was practical.
It was visual.
But now, I'm starting to realize something.
Decluttering is not just about the room.
It's about my mind.
I genuinely feel that when I reduce the number ofthings I own, my working memory increases.
Like my brain has more free RAM.
I know it sounds like a tech metaphor.
But it fits perfectly.
When you have too many apps running in thebackground, your device doesn't always crash.
It just becomes slower, warmer, more fragile, andmore annoying.
And I think the same thing happens to the brain.
Because every item you own isn't only an object.
It's a small open loop.
Where is it?
Do I still need it?
Is it in good condition?
Should I fix it?
Should I replace it?
Do I have accessories for it?
Do I have duplicates?
Does it still match my current life?
Even if you don't actively think about thesequestions, your brain kind of knows they exist.
And I think lately, I've become more sensitive tothat invisible weight.
So my decluttering is speeding up.
And it's almost like I'm doing mental maintenancethrough physical action.
Let me start with a simple example.
Watches.
I used to think watches were a good thing tocollect.
Not a huge collection, but like 2, 3, maybe 4.
Because it's easy to justify.
One for work, one casual, one more formal, onesporty.
And each one has a story, right?
You can imagine different versions of yourselfwearing different watches.
But at some point, something clicked.
I realized the actual experience of wearing awatch is basically the same.
And the differences that felt important in my headwere not important in real life.
So now I have one watch.
And honestly, it's enough.
But what really surprised me was this.
My happiness didn't drop at all.
Like, I didn't feel less stylish.
I didn't feel less prepared.
I didn't feel poorer.
I didn't feel limited.
If anything, I felt a little more relaxed.
Because now I don't have to decide.
I don't have to maintain multiple items.
I don't have to store them.
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I don't have to think about them.
And that's when I realized something important.
A lot of the benefit of decluttering is not abouthaving less.
It's about making fewer decisions.
Because decision making is expensive.
Even tiny decisions.
Even, which watch should I wear today?
Even, where did I put that thing?
Even, should I keep this?
All of that costs mental energy.
It's like spending coins you don't see.
And then, there's another category I'm working on.
Sunglasses.
This is a harder one.
Because I have a few sunglasses.
Not a crazy number, but enough that I've startedto feel like,
OK, this is unnecessary.
And sunglasses are the perfect example of how thebrain creates reasons.
This one is good for driving.
This one looks better with certain outfits.
This one is more sporty.
This one is more expensive, so I should keep it.
This one is cheap, so I can treat it rough.
And none of these reasons are wrong.
But when you line them up, you notice something.
They're mostly storytelling.
And I'm not saying sunglasses are bad.
I'm saying my brain doesn't need five versions ofthe same concept.
So, I'm in the process of reducing them.
Not rushing.
Just slowly asking the same question again andagain.
Do I use this? Do I love this?
Does this actually improve my life?
Or does it just add complexity?
And here's a big point I want to talk about today.
When you remove things, you expect to feel less.
But most of the time, you feel the same.
That's kind of shocking, right?
Because in our minds, we think stuff is connectedto happiness.
More options equals more freedom.
More items equals more comfort.
More backup plans equals more safety.
But in reality, happiness is strangely stable.
Once your basic needs are covered,
the number of possessions doesn't have a strongimpact on your daily mood.
At least that's what I'm noticing in my own life.
If you have one good jacket instead of three, yourbody stays warm.
If you have one watch instead of five, time stillpasses.
If you have one pair of sunglasses instead offour, the sun still looks the same.
The bigger difference is in your mind.
Your mind becomes quieter.
And I think that's what I'm chasing lately.
Quiet.
Not silence, like living in a cave.
But quiet, like fewer unnecessary signals,
fewer notifications, fewer decisions, fewer openloops.
Now, let me talk about minimalism as a trend.
I feel like the minimalist boom is kind of over afew years ago.
Minimalism was everywhere.
It was on YouTube, Instagram, blogs.
I own 30 things.
I live with one bag.
It became a lifestyle identity.
It became content.
And I'm not judging it. It helped a lot of people.
But trends eventually cooled down.
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People move on to the next thing.
And now minimalism feels less trendy.
The hype is quieter.
But here's the interesting part.
Even if the trend is over, the practice is stillpowerful.
Because minimalism isn't only about aesthetics.
It's not only about being extreme.
It's not only about showing off an empty room.
For me, minimalism has turned into something else.
A tool for organizing my mind.
Like I'm not trying to be a minimalist person.
I'm not trying to make my life look minimalist.
I'm not trying to impress anyone.
It's more like a personal hobby, a private boom.
Because the more I declutter, the more I feel likeI'm clearing mental space.
And mental space is valuable.
Especially when life is busy, when work is heavy.
When you're always thinking about the next task,the next message, the next responsibility.
I'll be honest. Sometimes I feel mentally tired.
Even if I didn't do something physicallyexhausting.
And I think that's a modern kind of peri, a brainfatigue.
Too much input, too many tabs, and declutteringhelps.
So let me share a few things that help me declutter faster without becoming extreme.
1. I stopped treating maybe as a yes.
If something is a maybe, it usually means I don'treally want it.
I'm just afraid of letting it go.
2. I started measuring value by usage, not byprice.
Expensive things can still be useless.
Cheap things can be super valuable.
The question is, do I use it?
Does it improve my daily life?
3. I started focusing on categories that createhidden stress.
For me, it's small items.
Accessories, gadgets, random stored things, duplicates.
These are the ones that create the most mentalnoise
because they are messy and hard to track.
4. I started thinking about maintenance.
Every object needs maintenance, even if it's tiny.
Storage, cleaning, organizing, repairing,updating, replacing.
The maintenance cost is often bigger than thepurchase cost.
And when I started seeing objects as maintenance,not as ownership,
decluttering became easier.
And I want to say something that might sound alittle too honest.
I think a lot of us buy things because we like theperson we imagine we'll become when we own them.
We buy fitness gear and imagine we'll be thathealthy person.
We buy books and imagine we'll be that smart andcalm person.
We buy accessories and imagine we'll be thatstylish, confident person.
But sometimes the object becomes a substitute forthe identity.
And then the object becomes clutter.
So decluttering is also a reality check.
Who am I actually? What do I actually do? What doI actually use?
And if my real life is different from the fantasyversion, that's okay.
But I don't need to store the fantasy in mycloset.
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Now, I want to connect this back to happiness.
For me, owning fewer things doesn't make medramatically happier.
And that's the point.
My happiness stays almost the same, but my mentalload changes.
My attention changes.
My ability to focus changes.
It's like happiness doesn't go up by 50%,
but the background stress goes down by 30%.
And that feels like a win.
Because when background stress goes down,
you suddenly have more energy for things thatactually matter.
Conversations, work, creativity, rest, even boredom.
And maybe that's the biggest hidden benefit ofdecluttering.
It creates space for life.
So if you're listening and you've been feelingmentally heavy lately,
maybe try a small experiment.
Don't aim for perfection.
Don't try to become a minimalist influencer.
Just pick one category.
Watches, sunglasses, cables, old clothes, apps onyour phone, whatever.
And remove a little bit.
Then pay attention, how does your brain feel?
Do you feel slightly calmer?
Do you feel slightly lighter?
Do you feel like you can think a little moreclearly?
If yes, then minimalism doesn't need to be atrend.
It can just be a tool.
A quiet tool for mental cleanup.
Alright, that's it for today.
Thanks for listening and I'll talk to you nexttime.
