Use the Poop Method
“If this object had poop on it, would I wash it, or throw it away?”
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!
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!
Ohhh, POOP!
People Order Our Patties!
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?!
Get rid of stuff you don’t need.
Yes, you might save 20 bucks in five years by saving that plastic widget, but you’d have to pay loads more than 20 bucks to store that thing somewhere.
Also that “sparks joy”-lady has a point.
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.
best tip - stop buying shit you don’t need and throw\give shit away you don’t use.
Invite a judgemental friend or relative over for dinner. Best way to force you to clean and declutter your space.
Abdication is both quick and brutal.
Honestly inviting anyone over is motivation for me to clean. In my own space, there’s stuff everywhere, but when someone’s coming my standards for personal cleanliness and organization shoot up dramatically.
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
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.
Only keep things that are functional, attractive or sentimental. I like the poop plan for things that are on the edge of these.
Spend a few weeks camping or hostelling. Then you’ll see how many of your possessions you really need.
Moving to another continent with just two suitcases
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.
Genius
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.
Exact opposite here. Missed almost none of it and wondered why I had wasted so much money buying 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!
I disregarded decades worth of stuff when I move abroad. So thankful for it. I need very little, and I hate anything I don’t need.
If you haven’t used it in a year, get rid of it.
Came here to say this!
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.
Buy a small box (should be about the size of a cat; not too big and not too small) you can put in a place where you’ll see it frequently but it’s not in the way.
This box is your “physical inbox”. Any clutter you find or anything in your space that is out of place or doesn’t have a good ‘home’ goes in this box.
Once a week (or more often if you’d like), go through the inbox and resolve or find a new proper home for each item (even if get home is the trash).
I don’t use a box but I do the same thing. I call it a junk pile. If it topples over or I have nothing else to do, then I just start working on the junk pile. That means cleaning it or adding to it. Sure that one spot will never be clean but now at least the rest of the house is.
Vital to get into the habit of only putting clutter in that spot, though. Having a physical inbox is useless if you still put junk everywhere else (unless you are really good at scanning the rest of the areas to declutter to the inbox).
