Forget Marie Kondo — the "poop rule" is the new decluttering technique taking over the internet, and it's a gloriously chaotic way of rethinking how you decide what stays and what goes from your home.
The hard truth is, it's easier to keep things we've bought than it is to throw them away. That's why I've found it hard to part with old clothes or those random charging cables for long-forgotten tech. The question of "what if?" is a mental block that will keep you clinging onto clutter long after it's served its purpose.
So when I recently discovered a TikTok trend called the "poop rule", I was intrigued for obvious reasons. I've tried every decluttering hack in the book, but this is a totally new way of visualizing your clutter, and it's a game-changer.
Before you click away in disgust, it's not quite what you think it is. And if trying 5 easy steps to decluttering your home hasn't worked out for you, this might just be the hypothetically "stinky" answer.
What is the poop rule?
It appears the poop rule has gone viral across social media recently, but what does it mean? Well, we can thank content creator Amanda Johnson for explaining it, telling The Washington Post: 'The poop rule is simple: while decluttering, ask yourself, 'If something was covered in poop, would I still keep it?' It's a fun, no-nonsense way to decide what really adds value to your life.'
And it really is as simple as that. If you take an item in your home, like a piece of clothing, and imagine that it got covered in poop. Would you bother to save it? If the answer is no then it can be assumed that you don't care that much about it.
It's a concept that became popularized by TikToker Becka Karle, known as @adhdorganized, who posted about it after her therapist shared the technique with her. And now, it turns out, a lot of people are looking at their belongings and thinking about poop – and it's working.
Why does it work?
The poop rule works because it immediately removes the stress away from the process. It turns decluttering into a fun game and with a simple hypothetical question, you can determine if you really want to keep something, or you're doing it 'just in case'.
I'm a huge fan of the poop rule – and that's something I never thought I'd say. But when I try to talk to people about it, I need to explain it quickly. Once past the 'oh, that's not actually gross' response, I find it easy to convince my friends and family that it's not dissimilar in style to the KonMari method or Swedish death cleaning, both of which I've tried.
Swedish death cleaning, as the best example, is imagining that you've passed away and your loved ones need to clear through your home and belongings. If there's something in your home you wouldn't want to pass on, then don't keep it.
Sure, thinking about your own mortality isn't a great way to spend your day, but it certainly helped reframe my mind. And, the poop rule does the same. If for some reason it got covered in poop, maybe it's best just gotten rid of.
In action, you don't want to use the poop rule on everything in your home because quite honestly, the idea of cleaning poop off my sofa would be more about not wanting to take on such a big task rather than having anything to do with my actual sofa.
If you're just starting out, try it on items in your home that you have a multitude of. If you realize that something as simple as poop would make you throw away half your pens, for example, then you're using it perfectly.
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