Gretchen Rubin of The Happiness Project has a few decluttering tips we thought were very helpful. How do decide what to keep and what to toss, recycle, or give away? Check out her ideas below:
Ms. Rubin offered these tips in a guest post on Zenhabits recently. When considering any object in your home, ask yourself the following questions to help you decide what to keep and what to get rid of:
1 Does this thing work?
2 Would I replace it if it were broken or lost?
3 Does it seem potentially useful—but never actually gets used?
4 Was I saving it?
5 Does it serve its purpose well?
6 Has it been replaced by a better model?
7 Is it nicely put away in an out-of-the-way place?
8 Does this memento actually prompt any memories?
9 Have I ever used this thing?
• Read More: 9 Quick Tips to Identify Clutter at Zenhabits
(Image: The Selby via Apartment Therapy. Originally published 2010-10-13)
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Weird, I'm actually reading her book AND I'm packing for our Sep 1 move, what a welcome article! :)
... and for (8), are the memories positive or negative?Do I really need/want to be reminded of the negative ones?!
I found a book called 'Get rid of 50 things' great for my over-cluttered ca 300ft apartment - it addresses physical clutter as well as other things in life that may not be working for us (e.g. attitudes).
The writer brings up the point, it's not about throwing everything way - at times we may want to keep sentimental things that may not be 'useful', but to to think about what type of emotions are attached to them, and do we want to be reminded of them.