- use it, clean it, put it away
- box and label
- big things get used once a month
- medium things get used biweekly
- small things get used weekly
- tiny things get used every six months
- if it’s not being used outside of that, it’s on a list to get donated
Only keep things that are functional, attractive or sentimental. I like the poop plan for things that are on the edge of these.
Occasionally get drunk and break things. When sober throw Away broken things.
lol
If you haven’t used it in a year, get rid of it.
Came here to say this!
Use the Poop Method
“If this object had poop on it, would I wash it off, or throw it away?”
Ohhh, POOP!
People Order Our Patties!
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!
That explains my hand-me-down family poop knife.
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.
oh dear god… there are two poop knifes in the world?!
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!
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.
step one, if I get rid of this will someone else want it? Do I still want it.
get a good box, like an apple box or a fruit box
keep it someplace and put the first thing you LIKE but yeah maybe its just clutter, into it
treat all the things as something that you want, something you like but could live without, trash
once that box fills up, give it to a non-profit charity for donation
once that box fills up, give it to a non-profit charity for donation
Wrong, seal up that box and start on the next box. Stacking the new one on top of the previous box.
hey hey encourage this guy slowly, they already have issues with hoarding
- 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) ;)
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.
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.
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.
Old stuff goes on the local buy&sell or eBay if it’s worth enough used. Otherwise it’s on the front boulevard with a spray painted FREE sign next to whatever I want gone. It’s very rare whatever I dump out there isn’t taken within minutes. Don’t hoard.
Shit tons of shelves and cabinets. Get stuff off the surfaces you use all the time, or would if it wasn’t covered in shit. Now you can dust the home and vacuum easily too!
No impulse purchases. Do you really want it, let alone need it? Discipline.
Get a filing cabinet if you don’t have one already for a job you do. Just a two drawer is enough.
I’ve thus far avoided feeling the need to host my own garage or yard sale, but that might be a good place to start if it’s feasible.
Don’t invite clutter, as in stop buying so many things. If you can’t break that habit then it will just get back to where it was.
If you are keeping something, is the total possible savings by keeping it around worth the lost space that could be used for something else? If it was gone would it be easier to clean? Is wasting time managing it existing in your space worth it?
Keep some keepsakes around, just keep it manageable. One or two tubs is plenty if you only go through them once a decade or less. Yeah, you might save some money by keeping an old toy around for grandkids, but there will also be newer toys and odds are they won’t want old stuff enough to keep boxes of them around. Maybe keep a few of your favorites so you can share stories.
Unless you really enjoy changing decorations constantly only a couple backups of regular things are needed at most. You don’t need a dozen sets of bedding. You don’t need a full backup set of silverware.
I don’t need the inner workings of the last three generations of PC builds, but I keep telling myself that I will use them for playing around with Linux and they only take up a small tub so I am OK it since I got rid of three tubs of the kiddos childhood toys she never really played with. Kept a tub of the ones she liked in case she has kids and wants to pass them on. One tub of a thing is fine if there aren’t too many total tubs.
Note:tub is my unit of measurement since having these discussions with family are hard to have without something to represent volume.
Think really hard before you ditch something. I got rid of a ton of stuff when I moved abroad and I regret far too much of it.
Having moved like 50 times, and lost a few households of things I want back I endorse this message.
Don’t do decluttering because it’s a fad if you’re not the type of person it suits. I work with hundreds of tools and it turns out they are essential in the course of my regular projects. Decluttering is always an experience in stupidity for me.
That said, I don’t tend to buy useless crap because I hate retail environments both online and offline. Scrap is my go to because material costs tend to exceed my budget.
Don’t hate your scrap resources for no good reason! Hate it because it’s low quality or something. Most things I clear are due to it being someone else’s wheelhouse or requiring funds I don’t normally have (at which point plans would change). Time in motion and other studies!
Exact opposite here. Missed almost none of it and wondered why I had wasted so much money buying it.
