The Maybe Box

Dear friends,

Have you ever looked at your room or house and thought, “There’s gotta be stuff in here that I don’t need anymore” but you’re not sure what it is?

Because I have.

My parents taught me a little trick for situations like that! When I was little they would make me clean my room, as parents do. I wasn’t as much of a minimalist when I was little and found it very hard and frustrating to throw things away. Instead of forcing me to get rid of things that I still wasn’t sure about, they used the Maybe Box.

It works like this:

1. I would have a box to put the items in that I was thinking about getting rid of but wasn’t sure about yet. (The “maybe” items.)
2. This box would be hidden away in the garage.
3. Over the course of the next month I could ask for items in the box that I needed, and my parents would get them out for me. At the end of the month if there were still things in the box, they would be donated.

This was a perfect system because I got to keep the things that I ended up needing, and after a month I had usually forgotten what other things were in the box so I didn’t miss them when they were gone. (Even though as a grown person I am more likely to remember what I put in the Maybe Box weeks later, the same principle applies.)

The Maybe Box is like a “getting rid of things trial run.” This works particularly well for people who want to slim down their belongings but aren’t quite able to pull the trigger on getting rid of things. It can be hard, it’s true, but this is a good middle step. Give the Maybe Box a try and you might be surprised how much you don’t mind living without!

Best of luck with your Maybe Box endeavors!

Sincerely,

Kayla