Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to take a picture of anything you're
Speaker 1: having trouble letting go of. Often that's all you need
Speaker 1: to do to honor the memory without keeping the object itself.
Speaker 1: Today's tip comes from Marie Condo and Scott Sunensheine's new
Speaker 1: book Joy at Work. The two authors talk about how
Speaker 1: to declutter your desk and declutter your calendar in order
Speaker 1: to achieve satisfaction. Condo, of course, has gained fame for
Speaker 1: encouraging people to declutter their homes. Don't decide what to
Speaker 1: get rid of, She often says, keep only that which
Speaker 1: sparks joy. Of course, this is easier said than done.
Speaker 1: We all have things we hold on too because they
Speaker 1: remind us of something important in our lives. For instance,
Speaker 1: I've held on to the outfit I wore on my
Speaker 1: first national TV interview. It represented achieving a professional goal
Speaker 1: of mine, getting to share one of my books with
Speaker 1: such a large audience. The ruffles on the shirt have
Speaker 1: actually fallen apart in the intervening decade, so I could
Speaker 1: never actually wear the outfit yet there it sat in
Speaker 1: my closet. Condo and Sunenshein suggest an intermediate solution. Take
Speaker 1: a picture of the object you're fond of. Often that
Speaker 1: works to hold onto the memory. Then you can feel
Speaker 1: free to let the object itself go. It turns out
Speaker 1: that this really works. In one study, they Highlight researchers
Speaker 1: advertised a donation drive using different posters. One urged students
Speaker 1: to collect and donate their sentimental stuff. The other told
Speaker 1: them to first take a photo of the sentimental stuff
Speaker 1: and then donate it. The second poster, which urged the photo,
Speaker 1: generated fifteen percent more donations. So while cleaning out my
Speaker 1: closet these past few months, I decided to do just that. Yes,
Speaker 1: I kept some sentimental stuff I can't quite part with
Speaker 1: an old white coat of mine that represents some trips
Speaker 1: I took with the boyfriend who later became my husband.
Speaker 1: But for the rest I took a photo and then
Speaker 1: felt free to chuck it in the pile. And I
Speaker 1: haven't felt any urge to pull these items out. I
Speaker 1: know the memory is there, I don't need the article
Speaker 1: itself taking up space. You might want to try this too,
Speaker 1: if you're having trouble letting go. Just take a picture.
Speaker 1: Then you're not really letting go. You can still look
Speaker 1: at the object whenever you want, but you just might
Speaker 1: make space for something new in the meantime. This is Laura.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
Speaker 1: our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.
Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.
Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the number four, then
Speaker 1: breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me an
Speaker 1: email at Before Breakfast Podcast at i heeart media dot
Speaker 1: com that before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio. For
Speaker 1: more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the i heart
Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
Speaker 1: favorite shows.