Puzzle

Image by Willi Heidelbach from Pixabay

This is part of my series on Decluttering Mental Models.

This will sound stupid to many readers, but I crave completeness. If I own the first item in a series, I’ll want to buy the rest of them. As a result, I buy stuff I don’t need. Or even want.

For example, I own the first three books in The Stormlight Archive and want to grab the fourth (in hardcover, obviously!). This seems silly since I haven’t read the first three. But that doesn’t matter—I want a complete set. The author has 10 books planned, and my little brain will want books 5 - 10 as soon as they’re published. (This is really dumb, I know.)

A friend of mine has the same problem with board games. Whenever a sequel game comes out or an expansion pack is released, he feels compelled to buy them. He knows this about himself, but that does little to stop the compulsion.

When I first learned that I crave completeness, I fought against it. I told myself, “You’re being ridiculous. You didn’t love the first book, so don’t buy the next 5!” But it didn’t work. I kept buying.

These days, I use a strategy that works: I don’t buy the first item unless I’m prepared to buy all of them. For example, I want the illustrated edition of the first Harry Potter. But if I get it, I’ll pick up books 2, 3, and 4. And I’ll grab 5, 6, and 7 as soon as they’re published. I’m not ready to fork over the cash for seven illustrated editions, so I’m holding off on the first one. I’m saving my money instead of frittering it away on books I don’t need.

At least for now.

More Decluttering Mental Models:

Top 10 Favorites

  1. How I answer the question: “What if I need this later?”
  2. “The Container strategy” will simplify your decluttering
  3. Selling clothes is for suckers (unless you earn $15/hour)
  4. Wait 48 hours before buying stuff
  5. 21 questions to ask before you buy
  6. The radical way to measure wealth, part 1 and part 2
  7. We’re trained to be dissatisfied with what we have (and how to fix this)
  8. Clear clutter by zoning your home
  9. How screen time kills your motivation to declutter
  10. Dear car dealers: I don't want a "free" T-shirt with your logo

Get started

  1. Clear clutter by zoning your home
  2. How I answer the question: “What if I need this later?”
  3. “The Container strategy” will simplify your decluttering
  4. Hold each item and ask, “Does this spark joy?”
  5. When the “Does this Spark Joy?” fails you, ask these 6 questions
  6. Create your “Discard by Feb. 2022” box
  7. Decluttering yearbooks? Ask these 8 questions first

Shopping

  1. 21 questions to ask before you buy
  2. Wait 48 hours before buying stuff - version 1 and version 2
  3. How a grocery shopping list saves me time, money, and pounds

Manage your clothes

  1. Selling clothes is for suckers (unless you can earn $15/hour)
  2. Dear Dude with too many T-shirts: no one wants to buy them—just recycle/trash them
  3. Don't be like my friend Giorgio with his 400 Hawaiian shirts
  4. None of my clothes "spark joy"—so what do i get rid of?

Happiness & satisfaction

  1. Limit pleasurable things so they don’t lose their novelty
  2. We’re trained to be dissatisfied with what we have (and how to fix this)
  3. Craving never stops and my potato chip addiction
  4. Reminder: happiness levels stay consistent

Get motivated

  1. Want to boost your motivation to declutter? Immerse yourself in decluttering videos, podcasts, & books!
  2. How screen time kills your motivation to declutter
  3. Imagine your ideal home… Imagine all the clutter is gone…
  4. Feeling unmotivated? Declutter with a 5-minute time box

Manage your money

  1. The radical way to measure wealth, part 1 and part 2
  2. Save money by controlling aspirational identities
  3. I wasted so much money starting projects (and how I fixed it)

Manage consumption spirals

  1. How consumption spirals work
  2. Buying a house led to an enormous consumption spiral
  3. How craving completeness drives my consumption

Shift your Paradigm

  1. Change your environment, change your consumption
  2. 3 thought experiments to adopt a decluttering mindset
  3. Your home is not a storage unit for other people's crap!
  4. Before you buy stuff, do this little mental exercise
  5. Less space, less stuff
  6. That’s right, you and I pay for the privilege of seeing viagra ads
  7. Your home is an expensive container for your stuff. What’s your cost per sqft?

Manage your emotions

  1. Can you tolerate boredom?
  2. Fill the void with a long term goal

Control the Clutter

  1. Dear car dealers: I don't want a "free" T-shirt with your logo