Decluttering Tip: Get Yourself a Bullshit Box
It’s inevitable throughout life, you collect odds and ends or pieces of things that you don’t know what to do with, but are also afraid to throw away.
Having a dedicated box to just throw random bullshit in has been life-changing.
It’s basically the same thing as ADHD piles but in a box so it’s contained. Normally, I would shove this into weird corners or leave it on the floor or dresser.
A bullshit box lets you contain your chaos.
It’s basically a box full of things I don’t know what to do with yet and don’t have the executive function or space to figure out.
It keeps my room free of clutter and helps me plan my space.
Eventually, one of a few things happens:
I throw enough repeat or similar bullshit in the same box that I realize I need a dedicated space for it. So when I start to see 3 to 4 of the same kind of items I know it needs its own dedicated storage.
It sits in the box for a while, and I never figure out what to use it for or that I don’t need it so then I feel comfortable giving it to goodwill or trashing it.
You eventually find all the missing parts of a single set so you can take it out of the bullshit box because it’s now an identifiable item.
Whatever emotional attachment I had to the item eventually dissipates or strengthens and then I know that I need to make space for it or throw it out. This is especially true with gifts People have given me.
I prefer using a box versus a drawer or something because the box allows you to just throw things in there when your executive function is low and since it’s open you can always see it. And when you are ready to throw it out or take it to Goodwill it’s already packed up.
I discovered this method the last time I moved when I realized I had so much stuff that I was not even using but I had shoved in various places in my house. When I had to move into my new space I wanted to plan where everything went so it didn’t look messy. So basically if I wasn’t using it regularly, I didn’t have a set, or I didn’t have a dedicated space for it yet or it wasn’t enough to justify its own storage I just left it in the box I moved it in.
I eventually ended up with about nine bullshit boxes full of extra appliance parts, single use kitchen tools I never use, single socks, clothing I’ve had in my closet forever, incomplete sets of items etc.
I took eight boxes to Goodwill and kept one final box which became my bullshit box.
The final box I whittled down overtime from a large box to a small container. Everything that is in a drawer or in an open space has a purpose and a place and is something I use regularly.
Now, if I buy anything else I have to think about whether I have space for it before I purchase it.
If anyone gives me anything and I don’t know what to do with it I throw it in the bullshit box.
I basically eliminated clutter this way.