Clear Out Your Old Life: A Reset
Designed by Bearmore
Inspired by Fumio SasakiWhen the room is full of who you used to be.
Come out lighter and clearer, with a room that no longer looks like the old version of you. An almost three hour Burst to help you to sort what to keep, what to let go, clean the space, and then write about what matters to you.
The runsheet
Decide on one intention
Intention settingBefore you touch a thing, decide what the session is for. Sasaki's test is whether you could talk about a possession with real enthusiasm to a friend. Name the version of your life you want the room to mirror, then work toward it.
5 min activityBearmore’s thoughts on doing intention setting before decluttering (mindful)
This can work well because intention setting may create a clearer mental state, and decluttering gives you a practical way to act from that clarity.
Conscious decluttering
Decluttering (mindful)Sasaki says start with the obvious junk, then keep only what you are truly enthusiastic about. For what you cannot yet part with, he suggests photographing it so you keep the memory and release the object. Scale it to one drawer if it feels like a lot.
45 min activityBearmore’s thoughts on doing decluttering (mindful) before gratitude
This can help because reflecting on gratitude after decluttering can deepen appreciation for both what you kept and what you let go of.
Start with gratitude
GratitudeSasaki writes about parting with items with a sense of gratitude, thanking the giver, the former owner, or the object itself for its use. He found that gratitude grows in the gaps things leave behind. Pause over the harder pieces before they go.
10 min activityBearmore’s thoughts on doing gratitude before tidying & cleaning (mindful)
There's a useful connection here because any positive energy can make cleaning feel more pleasant, though moderately.
Cleaning the room
Tidying & cleaning (mindful)Once the things are gone, Sasaki cleans as a matter of course, wiping surfaces and leaving them spotless. He describes appreciating the calm of an empty, ordered space. Take the surfaces you just cleared and leave them properly clean.
30 min activityBearmore’s thoughts on doing tidying & cleaning (mindful) before journaling
This can be a good pairing because a tidied space cuts visual distractions, which may make the writing feel more focused.
Journal on what matters
JournalingAfter getting rid of his television, Sasaki says he reads or writes instead. He frames minimalism as a way to find what is genuinely important to you. Write down what you want to keep room for now the old clutter is gone.
15 min activityBearmore’s thoughts on doing journaling before reading (mindful)
This can be a good pairing because the reflective state from writing can carry into mindful reading and a patient engagement.
Read without distractions
Reading (mindful)With the TV gone, reading is one of the things Sasaki turned to in the space that opened up. He describes the luxury of unhurried time once the clutter stops weighing on him. Close the reset by sitting in your new and fresh room with a book.
30 min activityTime well spent.
2h 31m spent doing something good for yourself.
The breakdown
Burst evaluation
Wellbeing focus
About this Burst
Fumio Sasaki is a Japanese author and former magazine editor who lived in a small Tokyo apartment. In 'Goodbye, Things' (2017) he describes cutting his possessions to about five percent of what he once owned, framing himself not as a guru but as an ordinary, once-stressed person who stopped comparing himself to others. His follow-up, 'Hello, Habits', looks at how habits form.