When’s the last time you actually used the item, whether it’s clothing, an appliance, dishes, etc? Some things only have a special purpose (holiday decorations, seasonal clothing), but if the item has no special purpose and you haven’t used it in the past 5 years and holds no sentimental value, you should toss or donate it.
A note on sentimental value: If you are tying sentimental value to EVERYTHING or dozens of things of the same type (I don’t mean a collection, I’m talking like “My dad died 10 years ago and instead of keeping 1 or 2 shirts he really liked, I’m keeping his entire wardrobe in 10 crappy old carboard boxes in my living room and they’re all full of clothes moths now, but I won’t throw them away because they have sentimental value to me” kind of behavior), this is an unhealthy coping mechanism that you should address with yourself or with help from a therapist.
Once you have your stuff narrowed down, find a place for each item, and then that’s where that thing lives. The place they live must be reasonable and logical. Clean clothes live in the closet/dresser, they do not live on the floor, draped across furniture, or in the hamper after you’ve washed/dried them.
Appliances live in one spot on your kitchen counter, or in a cabinet/cupboard. Books live on the bookshelf unless you’re actively reading them. Knick knacks live on the shelf, not the floor or in a box on the floor because you plan to some day put them on the shelf and just haven’t gotten around to it. If you’re not gonna put them on the shelf within the next month, box that shit up and put the box in a closet/garage/attic, etc. Storage is an acceptable place for a thing to live, provided you have the room and you’re not just accumulating crap and storing it like a squirrel with nuts that are then forgotten about a month later.
FOOD GETS STORED IN THE KITCHEN. Do not store the half-eaten box of crackers on your nightstand or on the floor next to the couch. Do you want ants? That’s how you get ants.
The food one is very good.
Break your project down into bite size goals. With rewards.
Start with cleaning the bathroom. Take a nice long bath after.
Focus on the rubbish in your bedroom, go for a small walk to the variety store. (Consider having a monster drink)
When you come home focus on loose clothing on the floor. Put them in the wash.
Carry on this routine. If you trust yourself not to be too distracted play some old DVDs in the background.
Carry on with this pattern, doesn’t need to be all in the same day.
Did you do the dishes yet?
Break your project down into bite size goals.
Start with cleaning the bathroom.
Spend a few weeks camping or hostelling. Then you’ll see how many of your possessions you really need.
What sorts of clutter items do you have?
Only keep things that are functional, attractive or sentimental. I like the poop plan for things that are on the edge of these.
Use the Poop Method
“If this object had poop on it, would I wash it off, or throw it away?”
That explains my hand-me-down family poop knife.
oh dear god… there are two poop knifes in the world?!
More proof that poop knives are real things!
Thank you for helping me settle a marital dispute that has been running for 10 years. 🙂
I know a guy that had one in his house as a child. True story!
I had one growing up on a farm. We had to cut the large turds up so the septic system could handle them.
Register poopmethod.com, put static text on it and some ads, you’ll make millions with the productivity people.
On it, might as well “write” and publish an ebook on Amazon!
Ohhh, POOP!
People Order Our Patties!
Guess I’m not brushing my teeth anymore.
Stares uncomfortably at wooden cutting board.
just give it a good wipe down of food quality mineral oil every so often
what, the poop??
Well that’s a super-cool website!
If you haven’t used it in a year, get rid of it.
Came here to say this!
Reduce and reuse. Recycling is the last resort.
Donate to thrift stores. sell on eBay, Craigslist, marketplace, swap meets, yard sales, etc. Give to friends and neighbors.
Keep what you need, keep what makes you happy. Judge what you actually need to keep. I got rid of so many things before moving, some I am happy I did and some I regret. But since I regret it, I know that I may find that same item again and to keep an eye for it. At least I can always get those items again, so getting rid of it wasn’t that bad.
Get rid of stuff you don’t need.
Yes, you might save 20 bucks in five years by saving it, but you’d have to pay loads more than 20 bucks to store that thing somewhere.
Also that “sparks joy”-lady has a point.
- Don’t buy crap
- Don’t keep crap (recycle, don’t trash them)
- Stop wishing of buying more crap.
Any impression this incredibly wise list of advice could be based on personal experience (and on multiple failures at following them) would be correct. My life changed and the clutter vanished the day I stopped wanting to buy always more stuff and decided to only keep what was… worth keeping aka actually of any use/importance.
What do I do if most of my clutter is previously purchased crap that I don’t know how to responsibly dispose of? The recycling facilities in my area are awful. I literally have bags/boxes of shit that I feel too bad to throw in the waste.
I sometimes order stuff off of temu or wish. You know, those situations where “crap quality product” is what you’re actually after.
But I have a rule of never ordering before a week has passed. If I still need or want the item after a week, the purchase can be justified, but I have to pick an item I already have to get rid of first.
One piece of crap in means one piece of crap out.
Things I’ve bought like this: Phone holder for my night stand (a simple one that allowed me to keep my phone in portrait mode. I WFH with my bed as my “office”).
Maunesium (the kids were curious once I mentioned that metal can burn). Moisture detection stickers (they turned out pretty good, actually. I use them at work all the time).But I have a rule of never ordering before a week has passed
This a great way, I used to do that at the beginning but I don’t need to anymore… I simply don’t want to buy anything anymore unless I really need it.
Regarding phone holders: I made mine out of… cardboard, recycled from the phone packaging. Contrary to what many people think cardboard can be real sturdy (and is very easy to work with) ;)
lol
It’s very simple.
Any time you set something down, keep this thought in the back of your mind: If you can put it down, you can put it away.
Shop Sign-> Don’t put it down; Put it away.
Set aside a cardboard box for stuff you haven’t used in years but you’d hate to throw away because it’s still useful. When the box fills up, drop it off at the thrift store and get another box
If you haven’t touched it in a year, get rid of it. Exceptions of course for sentimental items or things like legal documents.
I now put dates on everything (sharpie or paint pen) in an inconspicuous place so I know how long I’ve had something.
Do the same with containers - get a date when I open it to use something. If I come across a container (say USB cables) that hasn’t been opened in 2 years, maybe I don’t need that stuff.
Occasionally get drunk and break things. When sober throw Away broken things.
