Everybody has their own special brand of clutter.  It may be paper, memorabilia, travel-sized toiletries, a chronically cluttered foyer, an irrational grip on worn out old clothing, or anything in between.  

For me, it seems to be the thing that never gets put away.  

If you’ve watched my One Thing In, One Thing Out video and are committed to letting go of as much as you bring in, boy have I got a link for you.  Give Back Box is an organization that allows you to pack your empty cardboard boxes with donations to send in to your nearest participating Goodwill store - for FREE.

Here in Montgomery County, Maryland we’ve enjoyed unlimited free shredding for years with an organization that recently shut its doors.  We’re left to hold our shredding until a random community shred even pops up, shred it ourselves, or pay a fee. 

You know you’re in Washington when practically all of your clients have a stash of newspapers with headlines from presidential elections.  I saw a surge in these after President Obama was elected, though the collections weren’t at all limited to him.

Leo Babauta recently shared a quote in his post A Simple Declutter Habit: Leave No Trace from Zen monk Shunryu Suzuki:

“When you do something you should burn yourself completely, like a good bonfire, 
eaving no trace of yourself.”

This makes me think of the no trace camping signs I see when hiking in the backcountry...  

The title of this New York Times article says it all: New Rule: All Purchases Subject to a 7-Day Mental Quarantine. Writer and financial planer Carl Richards says:

"I recommend a stuff quarantine of seven days, particularly if we’re talking about anything that costs more than $50. Anything that you’re considering ought to sit in your head for at least a week…"