9 Things No One Needs Anymore and Should Declutter

No one wants to be a lemming. But there’s a time for some well-placed social pressure, especially when there’s a habit you want to form or a way of being you wish to cultivate. In direct opposition to “keeping up with the Joneses,” here’s a de-cluttering list that will help you not have the things no one else has, either.

Hello Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Vudu, and iTunes. Thanks for letting me be entertained without taking up an iota of space in my house.

Okay, if you put on movies for the kids on road trips, you may need physical DVDs. But store them in a portfolio like this one and ditch the cases.

How does one even play these things anymore? Okay, yes, sometimes, again, in cars. Stick music stuck on CDs in the same case as your DVDs. For current music purchases, store it as you buy it — digitally.

Just say no. Who wants to take up real estate with papers that can be safely and easily stored in the cloud? Scan existing papers that you don’t need in physical form and shrink your paper library to the essentials. The best part is that once you go digital, you’ll actually be able to find the papers you need.

Between grocery delivery services and Amazon Subscribe & Save, there’s a diminishing need to shop (and store) in bulk.

There are exceptions; some people need paper calendars for the family or because that’s how their brain works. But digital calendars that sync across devices and have the capability to remind you of events or tasks are a modern-day convenience we probably already can’t imagine living without.

Gone is the need for physical mood boards and magazine clippings that fly everywhere. Eliminate the paper piles by digitizing (aka taking pictures and filing on Pinterest) all your design (and other) inspiration.

Whether they are to-do, shopping, or packing lists, digital lists are always with you if they’re on your phone, and, probably the best perk of all, they can be saved and re-used so you don’t have to re-invent the wheel next time you’re, say, packing for camping or shopping for Thanksgiving.

The darling of kitchen de-cluttering lists, if you have any of these still hanging around, recycle them.