Useless Junk: Get Rid of It

Are you too afraid to get rid of things because they hold too many emotional memories for you? It is a common human trait, putting too much value on objects. We subconsciously link our sense of self to those objects, and so throwing them away would meaning throwing part of ourself away.

Or alternatively, you could just say that a lot of people are lazy, and stuff just builds up over time because we can’t be bothered to throw it away. I’m just the same. I’ve got piles of paper up on the top shelf in my bedroom, which I really need to go through some time and just throw most of it out, only keep the really essential stuff.

Think of it like this:

• Do you use it?
• Are you likely to use it again?
• Is it useful in any way?
• Does it have strong sentimental value (for example, photos of friends and family)?

If the answer to all these questions is No, then just get rid of it before you become attached to it.

I’ll give you an example…

I tend to buy a lot of my books from charity shops. It’s a cheap way of picking up different books that otherwise I perhaps wouldn’t have thought of reading. And it’s a way for people to let their own books be re-read by other people. And some money gets given to charity too. Everybody wins.

Recently I realised I had a large number of DVD’s sitting around on my shelf. They were mostly comedy DVD’s. I’d watched them all a number of times in the past, but hadn’t watched any of them recently. I grabbed them all and filled three carrier bags with them, and then took them to a charity shop.

If they’re just sitting on my shelf, there no use to anyone. They’re just sitting there, collecting dust. Now somebody else can enjoy them. There will some people who will be delighted to find some of those DVD’s cheap in a charity shop. I don’t miss them.