If you haven’t used it in the last six months, get rid of it

When you decide your home has more stuff in it than you can organize, you know it’s time to get rid of some of the clutter. But as you go through it all, you find yourself rationalizing how you need to keep each piece. That one cost a lot. This one could come in handy. They don’t make that one anymore.

None of these are reasons to keep stuff you don’t use. They sound sensible, but they’re not, and here’s why

It could come in handy. Sure it could – for someone. But if you haven’t used it in the last six months, maybe that someone isn’t you. Give it away to a friend. Take it to the office, set it in a community space like the breakfast table, and put a “Take Me” note on it. Give it to a charity or sell it in a yard sale.

It cost a lot. It’s painful to get rid of stuff you once paid dearly for. It means you wasted money or got taken in by a gimmick. But keeping the item isn’t going to turn a bad buy into a good one. It just means this mistake you made (and we all make them) is owning you longer than it should. Learn from it and move on. (You can always try to sell it if it still has value for someone else.)

They don’t make it anymore. And if you haven’t used it in six months, maybe now you know why.

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Posted in Organization on January 29, 2008