Swedish death cleaning is the process of paring down your personal possessions in a thoughtful, intentional manner before your death, so your loved ones don’t have to. The term was popularized by the 2018 book “The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning,” written by Margareta Magnusson, and later by a reality TV show based on the book.
As Magnusson writes, “It does not necessarily have to do with your age or death, but often does.”
The idea behind Swedish death cleaning
Maybe you spring clean every year. Perhaps you’ve recently decluttered your basement before a garage sale.
This cleaning is different.
It’s a thorough accounting of every possession you own, one by one. Yes, this even means facing that one bin filled to the brim with family photos and the filing cabinet stuffed with paperwork dating back to 1992.
The goal stretches beyond tidying up. It requires challenging yourself to let go of many possessions, including those with strong emotional connections. This…
This article was written by Kurt Woock and originally published on www.nerdwallet.com