Why I was able to tidy up the mess I couldn't before.

I recently moved house. When I opened shelves that I don't normally use to prepare for the move, there were tons of books and bundles of notebooks and papers coming out of the back!! Many of them are about work, health or parenting, and all of them have been interesting or important to me when I acquired them.

But to box all this up again and transport it to the next dwelling and the next and the next...?

Then I thought. Let's declutter.

I weighed up the likelihood of future use, re-reading and importance of having the book or material with me, and decided whether to keep or discard each one.

Perhaps because I have a clearer idea of what I want to value in my life, I have made more progress in clearing out this time than in the past, and my bookshelves are much cleaner!

Also, the effect of having less stuff is that I feel more inclined to make use of what I have and start reading the unread books I have been hoarding.