Comments on: Tough questions for your things

By: Organizing Your Way | Surfin’ the Net: 4/12-4/18

Organizing Your Way | Surfin’ the Net: 4/12-4/18 — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 11:34:43 +0000

[...] shares tips for managing your RSS feeds, as well as an old Unclutterer post with some tough questions to ask yourself about stuff. This is a great list of practical questions to help readers live an uncluttered [...]

By: Open Loops 2/3/2009: Articles I Think Worth Passing Along | SimpleProductivityBlog.com

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 11:01:13 +0000

[...] “Tough questions for your things” is my starting place. The bottom half of the list, used for things I already possess, gives [...]

By: Tough Questions to Help You Declutter [Clutter]

Tough Questions to Help You Declutter [Clutter] — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 14:34:04 +0000

[...] the suitcase test and how to form an attack plan for a cluttered messy home.Photo by Diego Cupolo. Tough Questions for Your Things [...]

By: PaytonPlace » Tough Questions to Help You Declutter

PaytonPlace » Tough Questions to Help You Declutter — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 07:21:58 +0000

[...] the suitcase test and how to form an attack plan for a cluttered messy home.Photo by Diego Cupolo. Tough Questions for Your Things [...]

By: Come evitare la fuffa « Info, robo ed elettrozupolgec

Come evitare la fuffa « Info, robo ed elettrozupolgec — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 19:11:15 +0000

[...] (Via (Unclutterer) [...]

By: rubykon.de » Blog Archive » noch 34 stunden zeit

rubykon.de » Blog Archive » noch 34 stunden zeit — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 14:11:43 +0000

[...] Dann hilft vielleicht der unclutterer. [...]

By: McColley.net » Blog Archive » Tough Questions to Help You Declutter [Clutter]

Sun, 28 Dec 2008 23:29:54 +0000

[...] the suitcase test and how to form an attack plan for a cluttered messy home.Photo by Diego Cupolo. Tough Questions for Your Things [...]

By: jen

jen — Tue, 29 May 2007 16:27:40 +0000

Two questions, developed when building a wedding registry:

When will we use it?

Where will it live when we’re not using it?

This helped a little, but the clutter in our home makes me itch — I acknowledge and fight my packrat tendencies, but I married a sentimental, artistic collector. I’m hoping the tips on this site will help.

By: Bonnie

Bonnie — Fri, 25 May 2007 17:14:23 +0000

I use a similar approach when buying clothes. If I don’t absolutely love it on me, I don’t buy it. This approach greatly reduces the amount of ‘new non-worn’ clothes that can accumulate in my closet. Admittedly, this is toughest to follow when an item is on sale at 60% off.

By: Kim

Kim — Fri, 18 May 2007 22:05:51 +0000

I've whittled myself down to one question: Would I keep this in my tiny house? I might never live in one, but for imaginary simple living, it works!

By: Amanda Kerik

Amanda Kerik — Sat, 12 May 2007 12:04:38 +0000

I would like to add that there are lots of ways to get your stuff out of your house but keep them out of the landfill.
Garage sales if you have a lot of stuff, donate them to charity, and my personal favourite – list it on freecycle. Or you could put it on ebay. If there’s a lot of “curb shoppers” (people who pick up stuff and take it home), just put it out on a non-rainy night.
With so many options it seems downright stupid to trash stuff, eh?

By: christa

christa — Wed, 09 May 2007 18:41:57 +0000

This is a great list, but sometimes leads to decision paralysis. too much research is sometimes a bad thing.

By: Phil Bowman

Phil Bowman — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 14:20:58 +0000

I wish I could live by William Morris’ axiom -

“Have nothing in your house which you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful”

By: Matthew Cornell

Matthew Cornell — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 19:49:44 +0000

Thanks for the list – quite nice. I also like the Gorshin pic!

By: elise

elise — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 10:23:14 +0000

When common sense eludes you, these lists are genius!

For even more fun, I use a cute little “sharpie” to cross off, mark up, found phone #s…a good “companion list” is “To Do” to remember all your plans for the newly discarded.

Tak—— e.

By: damova

damova — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 01:03:18 +0000

Great list. I wish I were as disciplined as you.

What do you do with gifts that do not pass your tests? Do you refuse them? Give them away? Train your friends and family about appropriate gifts? Keep them for a certain respectable time period, then chuck them? This is a dilemma for me. The giver is hurt if I give it back because of its wrongness. I feel guilty discarding or freecycling it. But I hate its presence in my home.

By: Cynthia Friedlob, The Thoughtful Consumer

Cynthia Friedlob, The Thoughtful Consumer — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 06:07:56 +0000

My eighty-four-year-old mother figured out her own criteria many years ago: “If I can’t use it and it doesn’t make my heart sing when I look at it, why would I want it?” Sometimes you just can’t beat a mom’s wisdom!

By: Jeri Dansky

Jeri Dansky — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 01:59:06 +0000

Nice list! I've referenced it, and added some more suggestions, here: http://jdorganizer.blogspot.com/2007/04/questions-to-help-eliminate-clutter.html