4 Ways The 90/90 Rule Can Help You Declutter Like A Pro
Are you feeling unsure where to start when it comes to decluttering and deciding what to keep and get rid of?
If so, you’re not alone!
Deciding what should stay in your home and what truly needs to be decluttered isn’t as hard as you might think.
Using this helpful method will help you take away the guesswork and allow you to follow a system to remove your clutter with ease!
Here are 4 Ways the 90/90 rule can help you declutter!
What is The 90/90 Rule?
The 90/90 rule states that if you haven’t used an item in 90 days and don’t plan to use it in the next 90 days, you should most likely declutter it.
This rule isn’t perfect, but puts your stuff into perspective and can reveal how much you actually need or use your stuff.
Now there are some exceptions like:
- Seasonal items/clothes
- Decor
- Tools
- Miscellaneous items that you need yearly or barely use
Here’s a practical example of the 90/90 rule used to declutter your closet:
4 Ways The 90/90 Rule Can Help You Declutter Like A Pro
1. Eliminates Decision Fatigue
There’s nothing worse than getting stuck and making long decisions when it comes to decluttering.
It’s mentally draining enough, but going back and forth in your head deciding what to keep is no fun!
With the 90/90 rule, you’re taking the guesswork out of your decluttering process and giving yourself a clear repeatable formula that provides you with the criteria to make quicker and better decisions with your stuff.
2. Helps You Determine What’s Essential
When you know for certain you will use something, you understand that it has purpose in your life.
You may not have used something in while, but if you know 90 days from that time you’ll for sure use said item, then it’s essential to you.
On the other hand, if you have something in question that you haven’t used in 90 days and clearly won’t be using in the next 90 days, this item may not be as essential to you as you may have thought.
It’s very revealing when you put this method into practice because you’ll find many items you’ve kept because you that you enjoyed them or needed them, but it turns out you haven’t used them or plan to any time soon…
This is different for things that give you joy and happiness, but other than that some things you’ll find that you thought you needed, but rarely ever touch.
These are the type of things you want to part ways with because it does you no good if it’s just collecting dust and making your home a mess.
3. Gives You Structure And Guidelines
If you’re feeling lost when decluttering and don’t exactly know how to go about it, this rule is great because it gives you a solid framework to follow.
Instead of having unclear boundaries and parameters around what you own and what makes it worth keeping, you can now factually justify what you should keep or give away based on use and future plans.
4. Helps You Focus On What You Want To Keep
Even though the name of the game is getting rid of things when it comes to decluttering, considering what to keep is just as important.
This is because what you keep is what you truly value and enjoy/need.
We recommend focusing on what to keep first, as this allows you to remove the excess second rather than trying to determine everything to get rid of straight away.
By prioritizing the use of items 90 days in the past and future, you really start to understand the main things that bring you the most value.
These are things that you constantly use and enjoy…
Thus these should be 100% prioritized and this rule reinforces the fact that you truly enjoy these particular items.
Now you may not need this rule to identify your essentials and it’s perfectly fine to pick them out and set them aside first without even using the rule…
However, the 90/90 rule gives you confidence in things you should keep instead of having negative doubts about what you stay or go.
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