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When trying to decide the fate of a possession, ask yourself: Do I need it? Do I love it? Do I use it?
For any possession that passes this test, ask one additional question: Where does it belong?
Have you worn it five times or fewer? It’s the rare item that’s worth keeping, even if it’s almost never been worn.
Does it fill a need that no longer exists? This can be hard to admit, so press yourself.
My father once told me, “People are very reluctant to make a change, so when I started thinking that it might be time to switch jobs, I knew I probably should’ve switched jobs six months ago.” Along the same lines, people are reluctant to relinquish their possessions, so if I think that it might be time to discard an item, I probably should’ve done so already—especially if that thought occurs to me more than once. Now, if three times the thought has occurred to me, “I wonder if I should get rid of that,” I get rid of it.
because of the “endowment effect,” we value things more once we own them. Once that thing enters your home, it will be tough to get it out again.
Many things, if well used, move around. Clothes come out of their drawers, go to the laundry, return to their place. Books circulate around the house. Dishes come out of the cabinets, get dirty, get clean. For these kinds of possessions, staying in one place for a long time is a clue that they may be clutter.
When our environment is disorderly, it’s easier for our behavior to become disorderly.
IDENTIFY AN EXACT PLACE FOR EVERYTHING. Counterintuitively, it’s easier—and also more fun—to put things away in an exact place rather than a general place.
WHAT WE ASSUME WILL BE TEMPORARY OFTEN BECOMES PERMANENT; WHAT WE ASSUME IS PERMANENT OFTEN PROVES TEMPORARY. Begin the way you want to continue, because temporary often becomes permanent.
The things that we love tell us what we are. THOMAS MERTON
Feeling overwhelmed is a reason to try to maintain order, not to abandon order. Outer order contributes to inner calm.
Just because we’re busy doesn’t mean we’re being productive. Working is one of the most dangerous forms of procrastination.
A marathoner might decide to tackle clutter for thirty minutes each day, or to clear one shelf or drawer at a time, until all the clutter is gone. Sprinters prefer to work in bursts of intense effort, and they often welcome the pressure of a deadline.
The best guide to the future is the past. If you haven’t used that thing since you acquired it, it’s unlikely you’ll start now.
Easy, quick, regular habits make it possible to manage possessions before they accumulate into clutter. We often underestimate what we can do in short bits of time—if we follow habits that maintain order.
Whenever you have a few minutes of idle time, take a moment to evaluate some small area.
“Don’t wait to clean your apartment,” she said. “I thought I didn’t really like this place. But now that it’s in such good shape, I realize how nice it was all along.”
The vocabulary that we choose influences how we perceive a task.
ENJOY WHAT’S SPECIAL ABOUT YOUR SPACE. When choosing where to live, you were probably drawn to certain features of your home—the deck, the fireplace, the garden, the porch, the sunroom. Now that you actually live in that place, do you use that feature? If not, can you take some steps to make it easier to enjoy it?
