Are you on the verge of moving from one home to another?

Are you wondering if this could be an excellent time to declutter and pare down your possessions?

The decluttering consultant in me would say enthusiastically, “Yes! Any time is a good time to do that!”

But the (former) psychotherapist part of me says, “No! Probably not. Wait until you’ve moved and you’re settled.”

What’s up with these completely opposite opinions, all in one body-mind—MINE?

Like many things in life, there are two perspectives, and they’re both valid.

I would never want to discourage anyone from stopping the instinct to tidy. It’s such a beneficial thing to do for your overall happiness! In fact, I’ve written a whole blog about it: Ten Surprising Reasons to Tidy Your Home.

To set yourself up for success, you need to be realistic about the timing of your decluttering project. There are some excellent reasons why there may be better times to take this on than decluttering before a move.

When you’re moving, you’re usually dealing with multiple losses.

Even if the move has a lot going for it, and even if you’re only moving to another part of town, there’s usually some degree of loss involved. This is even more true when you’re moving out of town or out of state.

Have you ever noticed that when you know you’re going to move, you start to see all the things you took for granted about a place and suddenly realize you really liked it? It makes it harder to leave!

It will spill into your decluttering process if you’re already in that “you don’t-know-what-you-got-’til-it’s-gone” frame of mind. Without realizing it, it will color your feelings about what to keep that, under ordinary circumstances, would be a no-brainer.

Moves usually involve a lot of goodbyes. Saying goodbye to neighbors, co-workers, or friends is a loss.

And even the loss of familiarity—that comfy feeling of knowing your way around, knowing where to shop for groceries, knowing good places for a cup of coffee—that’s a loss.

Depending on your situation, there could be more or fewer of those losses going on for you. But they are worth taking into account.

You could think of these as “emotional loads” that you may not even realize you’re carrying. They may not seem like a big deal, but they do affect how it would be for you to do something like tidying, which involves a certain amount of letting go in its own way.

You likely have a lot of other things demanding your attention.

Moves involve a lot of practical details, apart from the emotional stuff I just described. I mean, a lot!

You have to make decisions about how to make a move actually happen. Do you hire a mover, or do you do it yourself? Who do you hire? Who can help you? Where do you find boxes to pack stuff in? Do you have to change utility companies? You’ll definitely have to submit an address change to all kinds of places, which involves a lot of doing. You have to figure out when you’ll leave your job if that’s part of the move. You may have to look for a new job. The list goes on and on.

It’s harder to have a vision for your decluttering process when you’re not in the home where the stuff you keep will live.

The KonMari Method is holistic in that it’s not just about discarding things. It’s about creating a vision for your home and how you will feel while living in it and holding that vision as you sort through your possessions. If you’re away from the space, it may be hard to do that.

It’s also about storing things in a way that is pleasing to you. This is vital to creating the space you love and having your things put away in a way that sparks joy. If you’re not in your space, it may be hard to picture what your storage situation will be.

“What’s the solution? I really want to declutter!”

If you really want to tidy before moving, one possible solution would be to start way in advance of your move. Before all those details start piling up, before you, the reality of saying goodbye to the place and people hits. Before you’ve even found your new home.

My sister did this. She and her husband were looking for a home in another city. It was taking a while. She used the time to go through the tidying process. When the move actually happened, she had less stuff and no decisions to make about what to keep and what to discard. She knew she was taking only things that she wanted or needed.

The prospect of the move motivated her, but she didn’t have most of those burdens hanging over her that often go with it. She was able to focus fully on the process. Interestingly, the right house came along right when she finished!

Moves can happen quickly, though. Sometimes you don’t have the luxury of time that my sister had.

In that case, I suggest you wait until you’ve made a move and gotten settled. You could think of this as a way of being gentle with yourself. This is not the time to add more to your already full plate.

Acknowledge yourself for your life-enhancing intention, and promise that when you have more bandwidth after you’ve settled from the move, you will make the time to declutter your things.

Waiting until you are less pulled by the demands of a move sets you up for success when going through the life-changing of decluttering your home. It will be well worth the wait!