The Declutter Decision Tree
One rule you apply to every item, the question behind the thing you can't put down, and a real deadline for the maybe pile.
The maybe pile is where things go to live forever.
You start well. Two bags to the op shop, genuine momentum, and then you pick up one thing and stand there holding it for 4 minutes.
That item isn't the problem. Decision fatigue is. You're making 200 individual judgement calls with no rule to apply, so by item 40 you're keeping things you don't want because keeping is the option that requires nothing from you.
I do a room at a time with the rule written on my phone. It turns 200 decisions into one decision I made at the start.
The prompts
1. Start here
Builds one rule so you stop deciding item by item.
I'm decluttering [room or category]. Ask me the 4 questions that would tell you whether I should keep something, then turn them into a single rule I can apply to every item without thinking.
2. Go deeper
For the thing you've been holding for 4 minutes.
I'm holding [item] and I can't decide. Ask me what I'm actually afraid of losing here, then tell me what you think is going on.
3. Bonus
Gives the maybe pile an expiry date.
Give me the rule for my maybe pile: how long it sits, where it goes, and what happens to it if I haven't touched it by then.
Bonus: Make it yours
Tell Claude if you grew up without much. The keeping instinct usually has a reason and the rule works better when it accounts for it.
Do this today: build the rule before you open a single cupboard. 10 minutes of rule beats 3 hours of agonising.
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Claude
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