Use the “five Second Rule” to Get Organized Faster
Once you choose a method for decluttering your home, the real work begins. Almost every popular method requires you to group your items into three or four categories: keep, throw away, donate, and possibly sell. Getting every item into the correct pile isn’t as easy as the step-by-step rules make it seem, but there’s a trick called the five-second rule that you can use to keep the process efficient.
What is the five second rule?
The Five Second Rule is a widely adapted technique from organizational coach Mel Robbins, who promotes it in his books . According to Robbins, you should make important decisions in less than five seconds, essentially counting down five, four, three, two, one . Your brain will know that at the end of the countdown it will have to make a choice; there’s a sense of urgency about it. This will push you to make quick and effective decisions. I do this all the time, like when I have to rip off a bandage or open a cookie jar (which really scares me). There’s something about a countdown that encourages you to do something you don’t want to do or have been contemplating.
How does the five second rule apply to tidying up?
Adapting the five-second rule for decluttering is an important tip that ‘s often seen in minimalist spaces online . You can use it to encourage yourself to start cleaning if you’re feeling overwhelmed, but it’s most often used when you’re having internal debates about whether something should be kept or thrown away.
The less time you give yourself to choose, the better off you will be. You can rationalize storing something if you give yourself enough time to do it, but the goal of decluttering is to minimize the amount of stuff you have and organize the things you have left, not to come up with a bunch of excuses for why you can’t. reduce size. When you pick something up while tidying up, you usually instinctively know if you really need it. If you hold it and look at it for too long, it doesn’t negate what you already know is true, but it does give you time to come up with reasons why it should be kept. Commit to sorting everything you touch into a “keep” or “throw away” pile as soon as you pick it up, and in no more than five seconds, using a countdown if you have to do so in a pinch .
For anything that really makes you struggle and can’t be sorted out so easily in five seconds, follow the minimalists’ 20/20 rule by asking yourself if the thing you’re arguing about can be replaced for under $20 and in under 20 minutes . in the unlikely event that you ever need it again. If you answer yes to these questions, throw it away.
By learning to act quickly and decisively in such cases, you will develop the habit of parting with things easily and not attributing false sentimentality or necessity to things that simply have nothing to hold on to.