When you are decluttering, you often come across to a scene like “be or not to be”. You cannot decide whether you should keep it or get away with it.
For instance, “oh, this was expensive”, “this is a memory” or “I can still use this, mottainai”, etc. etc.
When you are helping someone, “I think she should throw away such a junk, but if I say so, she gets mad. What should I do?”
It happens all the time.
Then, make a “between box“. Yes, it’s a box between your decision to keep or to throw away.
You can name whatever you like, such as “holding box” or “thinking box”. I named it “between box” myself.
Good Points of “Between Box”
- No regrets
- Save decluttering time
No Regrets
When you cannot decide whether you keep it or not, put the thing into the “Between Box”. If you force yourself to throw away, you might regret later.
But on the other hand, say you keep everything you cannot decide, your life stays same being buried in things. It will be far from decluttering.
So, the box is a tip not to feel any regrets.
Save Decluttering Time
Another good point of the “between box” is that you can save your decluttering time.
If you stop one by one thinking and taking time to make your mind, decluttering will never end no matter how much time you have. Taking time means consuming of your physical and will power. You might end up “I don’t like decluttering. It makes me exhausted.” There is no good thing taking so much time.
So, why don’t you make a “Between Box”.
Rules for the “Between Box”
Although I recommend to make a Between Box, you have to keep rules. Otherwise, the things will overflow the box and the box itself will increase its number. Nothing solves.
- Keep just one Between Box
- Set a deadline
- Do not open until the deadline
Keep Just One Between Box
Don’t make the boxes one after another. Just make one and put only the things you cannot make decision about it. If you increase the boxes, you have to again sort and select. Such a repeated action will become a big burden to you.
So just ONE. That’s important.
Set a Deadline
The “Between Box” is not the box you can keep forever. When the deadline comes, you have to make up your mind whether to keep them for use or throw them away. If you haven’t used the thing even once by the deadline, you should throw it away. It will be easy for you to do so after holding a certain period of time.
The deadline is up to you; a week, a month or maybe until your daughter visits you next time. As to seasonal things like clothes, the deadline can be a year.
The best deadline for you is the timeframe you think you can make your decision.
Do Not Open Until the Deadline
When you have finished decluttering to some extent, you might feel like to check the “Between Box”. “What have I put in that box?”
But NO! Don’t open it needlessly.
Open it when you really need something inside. And that thing goes back to the “normal use”.
If you open it easily, the feeling of “I can still use this” will rise again, and you will fall back into the “decluttered” spiral again.
When the Deadline Comes・・・
When the deadline comes, make sure you part away with the things inside.
“To part away” doesn’t necessarily mean “to throw away”. You might need a courage to “throw away”, but if you have some alternatives, it will be much easier for you to part with your things.
How to part with things
There are a several ways to part with your things. Throwing away is not the only way.
・Go to a recycle shop
・Donate
・Sell at internet auction like Mercari and Yahoo Auction
・Give it away to someone who wants it
・Ask for a paid pick-up service
・Leave it to someone else
For more details, visit the article, “How and Where to Discard Things You Don’t Need Anymore“.
Did you find the best way for you?
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