The ‘didn’t know’ decluttering rule backfired on me, but I have no regrets
Following the ‘didn’t know’ decluttering rule backfired on me when I threw out something I later realised I needed. But the thing is, I don’t have any regrets about my decision and will keep following this rule again and again.
The item in question had been floating around my desk for days. When I finally tidied up, I considered putting this thing somewhere until I figured out what it belonged to. Unable to even come up with somewhere to keep it temporarily, I decided to throw it away.
According to the 'didn't know' rule, if you didn't know you had something, you should get rid of it. iStock
It turned out the item was the bobbin cover on my sewing machine and you shouldn’t sew without it. Not only would it be awkward, it would fill the bobbin compartment with dust and fabric fibres that could potentially damage the machine. It never occurred to me this piece of plastic went there.
Once I realised my mistake I paid $30, plus postage, for a new one. But even having to fork out money to replace something I could have easily just kept didn’t bother me and I would follow the ‘didn’t know’ rule all over again.
The method comes from authors Joshua Fields Milburn and Ryan Nicodemus, who are collectively known as The Minimalists.
“We have so many things, every American has 3000 items in their home on average, of course there are some things that you forgot you owned,” Milburn said on The Minimalists podcast.
“[People say] ‘I didn’t even know we still had that, I didn’t even know we ever had this’… Well, that’s functionally like not owning it, and if I didn’t know I owned something that is the perfect time for me to give myself permission to let that thing go.”
Nicodemus explained owning things we didn’t know we had often happens because of buying things just in case we need or want it one day.
In my situation, it was that the item makes no sense out of context, so I didn’t know I had it or what it was.
Basically, I’d taken the bobbin cover off the sewing machine to thread the bobbin. For some reason, I didn’t quite get to the task at that time and clutter ended up all over my desk, resulting in this piece of plastic floating around the room as I moved it from spot to spot.
Eventually, I threw it away because I didn’t want to hold on to something while I waited to figure out what it was. Seeing it sitting in various places while I tried to tidy and prevent clutter building up again just annoyed me.
This is the new bobbin cover; as you can see, it doesn't look like anything obvious away from the sewing machine. Rachael Gavin
This is what it looks like when it's where it is supposed to be. Rachael Gavin
I also don’t want to be weighed down by random bits and pieces that have been kept just in case, so throwing out the bobbin cover before I knew what it was felt like practicing a good clutter habit.
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Instead of beating myself up for throwing away something I actually needed, I simply bought it again and invested in a second desk just for sewing. This essentially keeps sewing clutter in one area, so I at least know the category an item belongs to if I can’t work out what it is and where it goes.
So instead of regretting a decluttering rule that makes a lot of sense and can work very well, I dealt with the clutter problem that led to the bobbin case being far from its home.
And next time I’m tidying and come across something I didn’t know I had or what it’s supposed to do, I will still get rid of it.
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