Death Cleaning
2025-04-26 18:14
Every now and then I get in the groove of cleaning my crap up around the house, with the mindset of death cleaning. The idea of death cleaning, argueably originating from Sweden and Scandinavian cultures, called "döstädning", "where you work on eliminating unnecessary items from your home, so loved ones won't be burdened with the task after you pass". I like to broaden the definition a bit, to include aiding in decluttering for myself and doing some good for the environment. I don't need to be close to death. Maybe I'm just talking about Spring cleaning, but I like death cleaning because it does help to think about others as I clean - How much of a pain in the arse is all this going to be for someone else to deal with? usually results in a more thorough job. It prepares me for unexpected visitors, or having to find something quickly. I know exactly where all my shit is. There's definitely some minimalism feels to it too. I don't make a big event of it either, definitely no considerations to the seasons, more just regular small goes at it.
When I'm thinking about cleaning for me, I'm reminded of a quote from David Allen (I think), of Getting Things Done (GTD) fame:
When in doubt, clean a drawer.
From memory, the doubt bit is about doubt of what to do next. Want to be productive, but not sure what to do? Clean a drawer! It's not crazy productive, but it is something. I usually start with my "everything drawer" - we've all got one. Mines in the kitchen, a big sliding drawer that holds rubber bands, batteries, head torches, wallet, passport, swipe cards, envelopes, keys, string, other crafty pieces, pins, seeds, you name it. Other things creep in too. I have yoghurt and ice-cream containers separating the bits, but sometimes they overflow, old batteries making it in with new, string entangled with rubber bands, seeds falling out of their packets. Just removing the containers and cleaning the dust and crumbs off the bottom of the drawer is sometimes satisfying enough. I always find something in there that I can throw away, repurpose or move to somewhere more appropriate. This activity helps clean the decks or that first step in a weekly review of getting clear, before you can tackle more important things. It's also a bit of a gateway drug, leading to bigger things... the oven, windows, floors, garage, remembering a project that needs to happen...
Regarding the environment, it may be small, but when throwing things out I build a box of things to donate to the op shop, whilst throwing out stuff in disrepair, or deconstructing for future parts stored in the garage (or everything drawer). The process helps me form better future purchasing decisions, but also the visit to the op shop may result in second-hand replacements. I usually time clothing and shoe cleanups when I buy new clothes or shoes. Generally I'll buy one / remove two or three, because I tend to hold onto these things way longer than I should have. That also means most of these don't make it to the op shop.
Bathroom drawers are a good one to keep in check - Check use-by dates on packaging, separate things with containers. Keeping toilets, showers and basins clean is easier to do when it's regular so I try and do this often.
Digital clutter is a bit tricky. I have a few devices, with a lot of complicated folder structuring. I'm the nerd of the family, so I'll probably have to put a bit of effort into simplifying things if I intend on letting anyone in. In terms of dying, I haven't done anything in this space to hand over anything worth handing over. As far as I know, no-one will be able to enter any of my devices, other than an external hard drive. I'm not sure if there is anything of value. Maybe photos. Tom Klaver has a 5,000 photo rule I like the sound of (he also mentions Swedish Death Cleaning). In a way, I do a "12 photo rule", where I send out a calendar each year with 12 photos I took that I think are worthy sharing with the fam. Here's the 2025 calendar, and some from further back. But they're generally just my most epic landscape photos from runs I do. A large, but not full, representation of my life. My website, hosted on Neocities.org will remain up until neocities decide to scrap it. But I've only done that for the last 12 months. There's 38 years of life I had prior to the website that I have not journaled or documented. I quite like Robin Rendle's piece on this. I need to do more thinking on this. Anything self-hosted (gmi.zkbro.com and notes.zkbro.com) will just disappear once unplugged. I'm ok with that. I do wonder if Dana has put any thought in this space, given her digital junk drawer, and myriad of other web spaces.
Still, back to the broader topic at hand, I need to pass on some passwords and instructions on how to wipe or salvage such things. I tidy my folders every so often, but I could do a better job. I find if I use the PARA method for my core folders, it will help as a starting block. Anything in the Projects, Areas, and Reference folders should be easy to figure out if they're important or not. The Archive folder can probably be ignored as that's where all my decluttering has made it already.
I should align some of my digital folder cleansing with the World Backup Day. It was recently held on March 31. I could probably align it to the Black Friday sales as well, as that is when I review my cloud storage and look for good better deals.
I use Bitwarden password manager for all of my passwords and services I use (or don't). Every now and then I'll go in, scan the list, delete accounts I don't use any more, and remove them from Bitwarden. This would probably be a pretty useful tool in case of death. I have a spreadsheet with all my past and current subscriptions too. I keep that updated irregularly.
I tend to donate physical books once I've read them, and keep only the good ones I want for reference. Some fiction I keep for re-reading, but not much.
I've probably jabberred on about cleaning enough. Short story is, I don't mind doing it, it helps me, it helps others, it helps the environment.