If you’ve ever had to clean out the home of a loved one after they passed, you’ll know how challenging it is to sort through a lifetime of belongings while grieving their loss.  The idea of Swedish death cleaning is to go through our possessions before we die, so it isn’t such a burden for those we leave behind.

Proactive clearing out of possessions

In the book The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, the author Margareta Magnusson encourages us to start thinking about death cleaning early so we can enjoy life without being hindered by belongings we no longer need.  Decluttering and organizing our physical possessions and digital files can make everyday life run more smoothly and save our loved ones from having to make decisions about what to keep or discard.

Paring down belongings can help reduce stress levels and better identify the things that truly bring us joy.  Sorting through digital files like music, photos and computer hard drives is also part of the decluttering process, including writing down passwords for loved ones to access after death.

Involving others

Involving others is an important concept in Swedish death cleaning.  It can be a way to begin a conversation with loved ones about death, and how we want to be remembered after death.  Magnusson suggests that we consider what belongings friends and family will want once we’ve died and begin the process of giving away items to people who could use them now.

In the end, the death cleaning process can be a rewarding way of surrounding ourselves with the items that are most meaningful, while making it easier for those we leave behind.