For people who freeze when it comes to decluttering, one organizing strategy is gaining attention online: the "maybe box."
These "maybe boxes" are meant to hold items owners can't decide whether to trash or keep. By giving those belongings 30 days to prove their usefulness, households may reduce the stress of getting rid of things, free up space, and avoid wasting money on duplicate purchases of items they already own but forgot about.
Here's what to know
In a Good Housekeeping report, lifestyle journalist Laura Millar described the box rule as a system in which hard-to-decide items are put in a box, sealed, and left alone for a set period before you make a final call.
Millar explained that decluttering your home can be surprisingly emotional, with some items spurring strong feelings even after they've outlived their usefulness. When faced with these emotions, many people forgo spring cleaning altogether. The maybe box can help people keep moving forward with decluttering when they might otherwise get stuck.
To break down the concept, Millar interviewed Lynda Reider, who founded Cut the Clutter RVA. Reider told Millar that, "The box rule is a simple way to make decluttering feel a little less permanent. If you come across items you're struggling to make a decision about, instead of forcing yourself to immediately keep or get rid of them, you put them in a box, close it up, and set it aside for 30 days."
After the month passes, if the items never crossed your mind, it's a decent sign you can donate, recycle, or trash them.
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One practical step Reider emphasized was labeling the box with a date. Without that, she warned, per Good Housekeeping, "your 30-day experiment can very easily turn into a box you discover in the garage three years from now and think, 'What in the world is in here?'"
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