DISQUS

Regan · 2 years ago

Dear Paul Graham,
You don't know me, but I implore you to remove this post. You see, my fiance loves your blog and thinks you're a really smart guy. I'd go so far as to say that he looks up to you. Now, we're getting married in December and he's been close to throwing a temper tantrum on more than one occasion since we (I) started registering, as he can't understand why we need "stuff." He's been using that word. "Stuff." Please take down this post. Or write a recant. For the sake of me and the monogrammed napkins and shiny toaster I picked out.
Fondly,
Regan Fletcher

Dave Cassel · 2 years ago

Regan,

I don't know whether your message was in desperation or in humor, but for some reason I found it the funniest thing I've read in a while. Maybe because a good friend of mine is in the throws of registering.

Paul, congratulations on changing the world, one shiny toaster at a time. :)

Dave.

Gord Brown · 2 years ago

Here is something I wrote about "stuff" a while back:

I'm becoming overwhelmed by stuff. I have too much stuff, and I don't know where it all came from.

I admit I'm responsible for some of it. I convince myself that I really need that PCMCIA-to-USB bridge, that life will not be complete without the portable MP3 player, and that dignity demands a combination printer/scanner/photocopier. Books cause trouble. They cry out to me as I walk past the bookstore. I try to ignore them: block them out as if they were asking for spare change, just walk by with my eyes to the front. But after hours, when the employees have left, they sneak off the shelves and phone me, telling me how wretched their existence is at the bookstore, begging me to give them a home. I usually succumb. And the CDs I haven't bought yet? I won't even try to describe the shit they pull.

I'm convinced that there's more going on, though. There's more stuff here than that. I think stuff sneaks in when my back is turned, in little bands of 5 or 6. It arranges itself artfully in the corners, so I'll think it's been there all along. But I'm on to its ploys.

It's time to get ruthless. Time to pin stuff against the wall with a choke-hold, and demand answers. "How many times have I used you in the last year? Don't try to lie!" Time to close my ears to the pleading and the subtle manipulation. Time to make a clean sweep.

I'll be happier then. I'm certain of it. I can feel the burden lifting already.

Babs · 2 years ago

Teadybears in shops are easily as bad as books and CDs but the very worst thing is fabric. Fabric tells you that you are superseamstress and that you could make much more fab clothes, handbags, bedspreads, cushion covers etc if you just buy the 17m of fabric and, as they're all just £1.50 a metre, they're also a great bargain. They make your creative urges run wild.. They make you feel a like a fabric goddess and earthmother all in one. This explains why I have a whole room full of fabric, some of which I've owned for more than 30 years, still waiting to become a garment or soft furnishings and why I still have to rush out two days before a party to buy something to wear.

Ritesh M · 2 years ago

About CD's, I say dump them all and switch to a complete digital life. Convert them all to mp3s and start buying new stuff from iTunes or other online stores. Sure, its not the same - no shiny album covers and the extras, but think of the space you will save! :)

Gord Brown · 2 years ago

Thanks for the comment... in fact, I've already done that. Too bad books can't be converted so easily!

Cheers...

Pierre Lourens · 2 years ago

Most libraries have an electronic filing system at your disposal... :-P

Naptastic · 2 years ago

Ogg Vorbis, please! No MP3s and yucky Fraunhofer licensing schemes for me!

Victor Engmark · 2 years ago

FLAC for me - No lossy compression, and fully open source. My whole CD collection (30 or so) fit on two DVDs!

Andre · 2 years ago

yeah, do that if you don't care about nasty DRM schemes, about not being able to choose which bitrate you want your music encoded on, and so one... I do buy music online, but only when it's cheaper. I'll take a cd's over a digital album anytime (then I'll rip the cd, but I'll still have "the covers and the extras", and I won't loose the songs if my hard drive dies.

neagrigore · 2 years ago

I find the post inspiring. Great text. Here in Romania there is somehow a similar situation. After years of being deprived of the basic life conditions, during the communist era, people are still striving to accumulate large amounts of futile stuff [i dunno if it is grammar correct], only on the simple basis that did not have the opportunity to get to those things years ago. This is how, after 17 years from the Revolution of '89 they are still frantically filling those hypermarket baskets with lot of unnecessary products just for the sake of it. I think that the same think happened in Russia during the nineties, where the opposition tried to demonstrate to the russians that things were not going in the right direction, but it was hard for the people to believe them, as long as the shops were full.

Robert Stehwien · 2 years ago

There is a great book on the subject called "It's All Too Much" by Peter Walsh. Books are (or can be) clutter too. I've been trying to get rid of my boxes of random junk (some unopened for 12 years and have moved thousands of miles). A good portion of my junk is books.

Mr. Walsh has a good and often repeated saying in the book "you only have the space you have". He states (and I agree) that you should keep nothing in storage, so for books you only keep the books that fit on your shelves. When a new book comes in an old one leaves.

Most stuff in my books is out of date or can be found at the library. I hope to reduce my junk down to only the precious often read/referenced books.

Paul Stamatiou · 2 years ago

Likewise, I can completely identify with you. I told myself I would only bring up clothes and my laptop to college this year but now my closets are filled, I'm running out of shelf space for my o'reilly books, and it's a mess in general. When I graduate and move to SF, one thing is for sure - this stuff will not be coming with me.

Reinout van Rees · 2 years ago

If you still have it at the moment you are one week away from moving... chances are you're still going to take it with you. Right?

So don't put off the Big Purge till that last week when you're probably too hurried to purge. Purge now.

jaggederest · 2 years ago

I found, in my recent move from LA to PDX, that having to lift it all and carry it down and up two flights of stairs was wonderfully clarifying. Anything not worth the effort went.

Pedro · 2 years ago

Very interesting, Paul!
I've lived in Asia, Europe and South America and nowhere it’s as bad as in US.
A typical American family garage is unbelievable.

But in the end, you are not free from the stuff-mania either.
How many of those 1000s of books are you likely to read again? Most novels you most likely will NEVER read again.
Your relationship with your books is exactly the same as the “people x stuff” relationship you describe.
You like looking at your library. You like the sense of “owning all that knowledge”.
I bet you also keep that CODE you are so proud of even though it’s not useful to you anymore.

Everyone has different stuff. Your stuff is science, philosophy and technology. Other people like bottles, stamps and random souvenirs accumulated in the 100 cities around the world.

Seriously, think about it Paul. You ARE a stuff owner too.

Will · 2 years ago

True, he is a stuff owner but it's obvious he truly derives pleasure from owning tons of books. That's the whole point -- only buy stuff that you really want.

Leah · 2 years ago

having moved cross-country and around the world more than once, i have done several rounds of purging. this last time i moved, it took a few months before i had enough bookshelves for all of my books. even tho the boxes of books had been in storage and not cluttering up my living space, you would not beleive how much better i felt once they were out of boxes and onto shelves. in some ways, having the right books is like having the right artwork.

john · 2 years ago

I am so anti-stuff that there are many books I'd like to read, but won't buy simply because I don't want the physical object lying around. People say they don't like "electronic" books but if they gave them a real honest go, I think the demand for electronic books would really take off.

haz · 2 years ago

I translated the essay into Bulgarian language.
The url is http://hazelnutsbg.blogspot.com/2007/10/stuff-b....
Good stuff:)

JMatt · 2 years ago

As a side effect doesn't this article imply that certain "stuff" is worth having and keeping. For instance, a good pen, a new computer that you use all the time, a good car that you drive everyday or jeans that you wear often and fit well.

I agree that books are an exception to this rule. But aren't there other things that also fit in the books category?

paulgraham · 2 years ago

Yes, it does. Some stuff is great. I may write about that next.

vruz · 2 years ago

like drawings or paintings.
it could be an aquarel by Dali.

but it does not necessarily have to be by a famous or genius author.
maybe more like the drawing my 4 year old niece drew for me, writing my name for the first time in her life.

in my own very personal scale of valuable stuff, it's up there with monet and michaelangelo.

Seth · 2 years ago

I do enjoy these coherent thoughts that seem to pop out of your mind in such a detailed and readable form.

There also seems to be a lot of resonance in the comments here.

I have a slightly different experience of stuff, having been only child of a solo parent in a relatively poor count (New Zealand). I'm also a 25 year old that has lived in 27 houses (many flats, switching between parents etc).

I have none of these problems and my purchase decisions seem to be quite different from many of my friends (I tend to hang out with the more affluent suburb-descended types these days).

Whenever I buy something, I buy it because of an idea and I research both the idea and the purchase before doing it. I haven't had the need to throw anything away for a while and moving my stuff takes 3 trips in my little van. This includes everything except big white-ware and gear for 5 outdoor sports.

I have money to buy stuff, but I tend to spend it on more experiential past-times, and only really replace stuff that is broken.

I think the hint of historical evidence presented by Paul, the timing of that evidence, the major difference in the way we use our time during the period since the 70s, the difference that leads all these people posting responses to have intense opinions, and the major difference between me and my mates, (puff puff, long sentence) is TV.

That device where you always want to know what happens next but have no ability to pro-actively seek it out. If you stop watching TV for a year and a day, have a few mushroom or acid trips in that time, then go and watch TV again and compare the experiences I think you'll be pretty freaked out. It's completely nuts how TV is done. ;-)

The difference for the people commenting here could be that they may be moving towards an interactive, yet easily accessible entertainment and communication medium - computers. And you get the best results from more active participation with computers.
Even the simple act of writing this (and trying to put it in a form that parses for the few people who do read it) is incredibly beneficial for me in comparison to learning about this concept Paul has put forward through a current affairs program.

Although I do already have a fairly mature view on this stuff so all I'm really accomplishing is a bit of intellectual masturbation - hey, everyone does it eh? ;-)

Sandro · 2 years ago

One word: wife.

Ritu · 2 years ago

Haha...that's pretty funny. But, not all wives are "stuff-lovers". You should share this article with your wife and she will be able to understand your point better instead of you just saying to her "honey, we have enough stuff". My husband and I are huge fans of simplyfying our lives. He shared this article with me and going forward, we will be able to make smart buying decisions, drawing from what we learnt from this article. Also, its fun to talk to your spouse about such articles :)

Valery Balikoev · 2 years ago

Maybe Sandro means "wife" also like stuff in terms of this essay.

Juan David · 2 years ago

I love reading, but I hate books, how many books do you really need?. I have 200 books, I want to leave out my books, but I am not able to do it because I remember the money that I spent and I am not rich. I agree with Paul Graham, stuff is a problem. there is a Julio Cortazar history: When someone gifts you a expensive clock, you have to say: Someone gifts the clock with you. Thanks Paul Graham, you inspire people. I've learned a lot with your site. Excuse my english

Sean · 2 years ago

I can really relate to this. I have a bunch of boxes filled with the sports memorabilia I collected when I was twelve. I recently moved all the way from Los Angeles to San Francisco and took my collection with me. The boxes fill up nearly half the closet in my studio apartment. I have no use for the collection but I find it hard to part with because I imagine it's so valuable. But how valuable can it be when noone on ebay wants it either?

ook · 2 years ago

okay

vruz · 2 years ago

guess we're in agreement then
:-)

lkozma · 2 years ago

When stuff still mattered it was mostly unique. Taylor-made clothes, a pullover knit by grandma, self-made furniture, mostly everything around the house made by ourselves, or by people we knew. It was normal to feel attached to them, as each item showed craftsmanship, and was impossible to replicate.
The problem today is not that stuff is mass-produced, but that we still feel attached to it in the same way as we used to with the stuff that really deserved it.

Jamie Quint · 2 years ago

This article illustrates this stuff problem in figures.

http://www.motherjones.com/news/exhibit/2007/07...

yarone · 2 years ago

Paul - keep writing!!!!!

If anyone is interested in learning more about the tricks involved in selling stuff...

- Read Paco Underhill's work - "Why We Buy - The Science of Shopping" is a good start.

- Watch Barry Schwartz's talk at Google: "The Paradox of Choice - Why More is Less." Extends a bit upon Paul's opinions about the value of stuff and simplicity.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6127548...
(you can skip ahead to about 3 minutes - that's when it really starts)

Heather · 2 years ago

Thanks for the clarity... reminds me of a rule I used to have when I was younger/poorer and wanted things in catalogs. I'd think to myself, "would I take this if it was free?". Usually I wouldn't, and I would know I didn't truly want it.

Imran Ali · 2 years ago

Nicely put Paul :) When I started out in the dotcom industry, I saw a lotta my colleagues and I become wealthy very rapidly.

Every day someone would come back from lunch with some shiny new toy. Sadly, a couple years later when the bubble burst, many of the same people were scrobbling around to service their possessions and debts as they lost their jobs.

I learned close up that I never wanted to be in that position - I wanted to feel free enough that I could leave most of my material possessions behind if I needed to.

I recently moved house, taking the opportunity to declutter my life - all I now own is a wardrobe of clothing, my Mac Book, some CDs, DVDs, an iPod, my cellphone and my books :)

--

Something else worth observing is the availability of credit and booming home equity in the US and UK. Here, the UK is one of the world's most personally endebted society's - credit cards and remortgages are fuelling an unprecedented consumer boom. People are literally able to purchase anything they want. The advent of almost friction-free eBay-esque markets also means, we all find it easier to dispose of our possessions in order to finance our next great buy...

Andrew Marr's recent documentary essay on the 'History of Modern Britain' concluded that throughout the post-WW2 era Britain (the Cold War, Thatcherism, union issues, socialism) has gradually displaced political life with shopping!

Sam Aaron · 2 years ago

This is something that my Mum has been trying to teach me for years. Her house always seems so relatively bare, yet refreshing.

I've started to use my local freecycle network (http://uk.freecycle.org/) to start to give stuff away. It's an almost cathartic experience, and feels good to see your stuff go to a potentially better home than a landfill site.

jamesaguilar · 2 years ago

Sometimes I think that the internet is the same way. The more of it I read, the more of it I realize I probably shouldn't have wasted my time on. This article is a notable exception.

Frank Leahy · 2 years ago

Still the most read entry on the blog I kept while we were in the UK for two years is about this very issue:

While I can’t tell Gareth much about rental costs in Brighton, I can tell him about how we got our stuff from San Francisco to Cornwall.

But before I do that, I want Gareth, and anyone else reading this, to ask themselves this simple question: “Do we really need all the things we’re thinking of shipping with us?”

http://cornwall.backtalk.com/articles/moving-to...

Jason · 2 years ago

My wife and I have a simple rule (acquired by living in a very small apartment): If we want to bring a new object into the house, we must dispose of three times its volume. Works wonders on resisting the accumulation of stuff.

davedash · 2 years ago

My purchasing rule is generally can I use it now. This doesn't always work, but it usually can. I live in the city of Minneapolis, so most places where I need to buy things are near me.

When I buy something I always ask, how is this going to integrate into my life today.

This keeps food from going bad, and from me asking myself, "why did I buy this?"

I still find myself surrounded by clutter in my closetless 1911 house.

Chris Cade · 2 years ago

I know all too well what you mean. My wife and I have been going through this as well over the last year when we decided to move two states away.

First we gave away everything we didn't want to store while we staying at my parents' place while we tried to sell.

Then when it didn't sell, we gave away everything we didn't want to store and then re-move when we actually did move.

Then when we had a baby, we gave away a bunch of stuff that was taking up space.

Then before we actually moved, we gave away even more stuff.

By the time we arrived in our new home, we probably have 1/3 or even 1/4 of the stuff we used to.

It was too much effort to move the entertainment unit and TV two states away, and the couch was old anyway. We rarely ate at the kitchen table, so we made sure to keep the two recliners and the coffee table that we did eat at.

Even looking after the move, it still feels like we have 'too much stuff' in a closet where we put all the stuff we didn't want to unpack because we'll be moving to our final home soon.

There is also something incredibly freeing about giving things away. We gave a ton of stuff away on Freecycle, and the stories made it all worth it. A disabled vet finding a loveseat that reclines perfectly and not so much that he can't use it because of his injuries, or the people who just had a newborn but had lost a job and needed some of our no longer used baby stuff...

Not only do we feel a lot less taxed (like you say - it takes effort to take all that junk into our awareness), but we feel gratitude for being able to help out others with the stuff we no longer have use for.

Aaron Lerner · 2 years ago

A great place to recycle/donate old CDs is www.DiscsForDogs.org, where 100% of the proceeds goes directly to the SPCA.

Sue Klulow · 2 years ago

Great idea!! Thanx

Sunny · 2 years ago

Americans do have that problem with stuff. It was not like this for the former Soviet Union people and for the people from the ex-socialist countries from Central and Eastern Europe. On the other side of the Iron Curtain, we were desperate for stuff because there was hardly any in the stores. It is so natural for you to have a TV, for us, it was a dream of generations! I've spent half my life without even having a telephone at home! (I'm turning 30 today).

But this has changed. Now, we get all the old cars from Western Europe to fill our roads, unfitted for so much traffic. Now, we get all the unnecessary stuff that someone is throwing away for half the price of new one! We have big chains of stores for second hand clothes, second hand washing machines and second hand cars. I buy second hand stuff; because I say myself it's more ecological to use something twice. We've even put second hand parquet that was taken out from another house on the floors! And the clothes I wear are in average worn for 10 years, the record being held by a blouse of my mother's which is 32-years old! I finally gave that one away with destination for a home for elderly poor people, but I gave it away not because it was bad, but because I couldn't take it in my one suitcase for the next move.

I have been moving around Europe 3-4 times for the last 9 years. Every time I arrived with one suitcase of luggage. The rest of the stuff was given away to people that needed it. I know now what the most necessary stuff is to start with and to keep on living with it. We didn't even have a bed for a year an a half! We would sleep on the floor, and then roll the bed into a chest to have space during the day. The kids started also leaping out of their bunk beds and sleeping on the floor, because they saw us doing it. But still we needed a frying pan and a set of spoons, forks and knives. Some dishes were needed too. A washing machine was essential also, although we had lived without one for a year.

And returning to the blouse that is older than me, the fact is that once upon a time they used to make clothes and shoes and furniture and cars which would last longer. Now, I can only wear one pair of shoes for a maximum of 2-3 seasons, it eventually rips away in pieces. Producers are making things that last less in order to make us buy their product as soon as possible again! China stuff is the best example - it is cheap and it does not last long. No question why China's economy is boosting!

Stuff is a complicated matter. You need some of it and you just like some of it!
The best advice is to stay reasonable about what you really need and once in a while you might afford yourself to buy something that you just like. Just for the sake of its beauty only, not for the sake of its usefulness. The world would be a much uglier place if there were not crazy artist to create things which are totally useless!

Darren · 2 years ago

For stuff that has value to someone, but not to me right now, I've found a great way to store it. eBay.

Storing stuff on eBay is easy. You photograph the item, start an auction, receive some money, and ship the item to the auction winner. They'll even pay you for the postage.

One day in the future, you discover you have a need for the item again. You get on eBay, search for the item, and buy it back. This time you pay for the postage.

The whole time your item is in 'eBay storage', you have the use of the money. You can invest it, buy other stuff with it, or whatever. If you're lucky, by the time you go to buy the item back, it's worth even less than when you sold it so you come out ahead. Or a new model is available for the same price as your old one, so you get a 'free' upgrade.

And if you find that you never need that item again, you get to keep the money!

titaniumtommy · 2 years ago

My wife and I live in a 1000 sq ft townhouse with her parents and it's a pretty tight squeeze. We moved in last year with tons of stuff and have been clearing out as much as we can (except for books, oddly enough) and selling it all online or at yard sales every now and then.

As a matter of fact, just yesterday, I ripped up my server setup and decided to sell my old 19" crt screen since it ate up so much space. My server now has no screen and is logged in remotely exclusively. I'm also getting rid of my two xboxes and the games (the Wii is our main gaming machine with a side of PS2 for Katamari). We've decided to axe all physical media as well. No more DVDs, VHS, audio CDs or anything else that is physical. I've started ripping the DVDs we own onto our RAID and will convert them to DIVX when we feel like watching them. Also, we're going to rely on the library system for our cravings for new media. It's a great deal less convenient than Netflix or something, but it's free.

I remember watching a segment on Oprah about people who are overzealous packrats. I think my mom may actually have a mild case of this disease. She will buy things just because they are on sale at the store. Luckily their house isn't filled up like some of the stuff I saw on Oprah, but I can see what a lifetime of coveting material things can do to you. My wife and I cleaned out my parent's house the last time we visited and brought back several suitcases filled with junk that we're going ebay and sell off at yard sales.

So from the last year, we decided that we're going to sleep over any purchase (including small things) and only shop with specific lists for things we need. We've actually been very good about it, hopefully this will increase our detachment to physical goods permanently and allow us to live a clutter free life when we buy our first house.

Dena Shunra · 2 years ago

In other words, scarcity leads to desirability, desirability leads to production, and production obviates scarcity.

Now, observer how time and money take on a similar cycle: my children would find stuff useless, but time/attention as valuable as stuff used to be.

They're not interested in money; as they grow older, they are very likely to opt for less money in their careers as long as they can maximize the time that they call their own.

I wonder what the scarce commodity will be in the generation following that.

jo · 2 years ago

best thing I've read on this topic! What touched home to me was " I felt poor, and stuff seemed valuable, so almost instinctively I accumulated it." While I'm not a hoarder, the less money I have the more I seem to accumulate. Even if it is a pile of used books or some stuff from the dollar store, it makes me feel like I have something, but then I look around & I don't have much of anything of value. Why? Besides other choices I've made in my life, because I was my money on crap for these needy moments.

I hope this article will motivate me to change my ways, even a little bit

Paul McLellan · 2 years ago

This reminds me of the cynic's description of a bargain: something you don't want at a price you can afford

yeara · 2 years ago

Funny thing. I just came back from five months of traveling, and my stuff was packed away since January. Why, then, is it so hard to throw out my star wars potatoes heads, presents from my sister I never used and have intentions of doing so and t-shirts which no longer fit me now that I opened up those boxes?

As for books - i get most of the books i read from amazon and book whole-sellers. Stopped going to the library when i finished high school - i was spoiled by the librarians there.

We have annual science fiction conventions here. Once a year I go through my books and weed out anything which is not a keeper. Most of the new stuff i read during the year is removed. Anything which I am not going to read again or like very much is dumped into a box and taken to the convention's book exchange. I get back $100-200 each time, which is recycled for buying more books. Process is repeated yearly.

I like keeping my library under 200 books. More books than that and I feel the books are trophies, rather than a collection of books i love.

Eric · 2 years ago

I think this is also why I hate the mall and why driving in the rain is probably the most exhausting activity that I know.

Mark Siffer · 2 years ago

In order to determine if you need a purchase, all you need to do is answer the recursive question, "can I delay this purchase for one week? If not, I will purchase it. Otherwise, I will delay the purchase and I will ask myself this same question in a week." Notice toilet paper becomes an obvious purchase eventually while other useless things never seem to advance.

Frank Schophuizen · 2 years ago

Having stuff is not only for use, it is also for joy. Art is an example of stuff that is useful because it increases joy. But some people are emotionally attached to stuff not because of its usefulness (e.g. owning a teapot without ever drinking tea out of it) but because of the joy of having it.

Those "having" stuff does not take away energy from the living space of the owner, it creates energy for them.

I argue that 90% of the books owned by people are almost never read or looked into, just sitting there on the shelf or attic collecting dust. So, if there is something wasteful to collect then it is books.
If we consider wearing clothers all the time before buying them, we should also consider reading books every time again before buying them. But I disagree with this approach.

To take it one step further, should we keep friends only because they are of use to us? Or should we keep friends because we enjoy their company.

paulgraham · 2 years ago

I count enjoying something as using it.

Pierre Lourens · 2 years ago

I don't think material "things" can be compared to friends. You don't "keep" friends locked away in an attic the same way you might stow those old knick knacks and useless crap.

Ninotchka · 2 years ago

and, more to the point, you don't have to dust your friends.

Rachele Rosi-Kessel · 2 years ago

Stuff is one of those things I love to accumulate and also love to get rid of. That's the key. If you love to shop at thrift stores and yard sales and much as you like to donate or sell, then the stuff isn't as much of a big deal.

Problem comes if you're married to someone who doesn't want to get rid of stuff. It doesn't matter that I found the stuff in the trash for free and it really doesn't fit in our house. Once it's there, it's much harder to get rid of now than when I was single.

Great incentives to get rid of stuff include the following: Moving far away with only a small car to transport your stuff (which I did), spending an extended period in another country (which I also did), a fire, flood or earthquake, needing to clean out a room for a new baby, or selling your house and needing it to look larger for a new buyer.

Although getting rid of stuff produces a sense of freedom and even euphoria. Getting rid of stuff on a regular basis also means you are free to get more stuff! Once you realize that there's always more stuff to get, getting rid of it is really easy.

Chris · 2 years ago

Hmm... I think you've had a personal epiphany. Although I think you're missing the whole picture.

I personally find myself going through expansion and contraction phases. For example, I'm in the process of accumulating lots of books on various programming languages (expansion), with the intention of reading them and identifying which is suitable for a startup effort.

And it's coming to a stage where I'm now starting to eliminate ones that don't make the cut (contraction).

I think this is similar with stuff. When you're young, you're still trying to find yourself in terms of what you want to do, achieve... and you try a whole heap of things to gain exposure. Then you refine until you have something you think you can stick to.

I guess books are one of your passions (as are mine too). For contrast, if you've watched the film "The Devil Wears Prada", I suppose for a character like Miranda Priestly (played by Meryl Streep), her passion would be fashion & clothes, which is no sin if she identified with fashion and enjoyed the pursuit of redefining fashion. Most people liken this to being in the zone, or flow.

But talking about stuff, what would you do if you didn't have stuff? Be a miser and save more money? Stuff can also be useful for remembrance & context. They can remind you of things, especially objects of sentimental value. Sure they take up space, but stuff does enrich lives to a certain extent.

Personally, I think it's a balance issue. I remember collecting lots of music (those were the Napster days) for no particular reason. I would be downloading and listening to music so much it controlled my life for the better part of 6 months.

One day, I realised that it was a waste of time and deleted everything. Then, after a few months without music, I realised I was missing out on something I really enjoyed, and I started buying music again.

Anyhow, I know you're addressing a very important and pervasive problem in society today. I just hope people don't take it to extremes and end up blaming you for it.

BTW, your articles are becoming more business or anthropology-like. Will we ever get to see alpha-geek Paul in your articles again?

Chris

Daniel Ha · 2 years ago

There are a lot of true gains from having stuff. I think what Paul was writing about is just stuff for stuff's sake. If some stuff actually brings you value, such as music or books, then of course those are worthwhile. The bad stuff is the things that are accumulated just so we have them. Things we hang onto, purchase on sale, or collect "just in case."

Jim Munro · 2 years ago

Another thing to add is that people live in a huge amount of space these days compared to 100 years ago. Visit a historic home and you'll find that the bedrooms are like today's closet.

My wife and I have found that living in a 950 sq ft apartment has done wonders for figuring out what we NEED as opposed to what we WANT. We are at the point that if we buy something new we have to give up something it will replace.

Another solution to I use to avoid overshopping is to pick up something I want in the store, carry it around awhile while looking at other things (no shopping carts please) and more often than not I'll decide I don't want it any more (since I've already "got it"), the initial materialistic thrill is gone and now I can use the thinking portion of my brain to decide if it really is something I need to have. It doesn't always work, but it often does.

Or go shopping with a compulsive spender. After seeing their cart full of stuff they don't need will disgust you so much you'll put everything back. ;)

David Perron · 2 years ago

"The things you own end up owning you." Tyler Durden

Shawn Tuttle · 2 years ago

Seems to me that part of the problem with stuff is that we are very short-sighted in the acquisition phase. Just think: if while you stood in the store with object in hand, what flashed across your mind immediately after, "hey, cool!" was a detailed movie of how that item was going to quickly fall out of favor in your life of new things, and then how much energy it sucked up sitting around your place collecting dust, and then the hassle of finally coming to the decision that you have too much stuff and then having to take the time and energy to do a big space purge and pack stuff off to the thrift store... the real cost of the item in terms of your time and energy would be evident.

Then the question becomes, what's more important: my life or this thing?

Pablo López · 2 years ago

Hi Paul,

Excellent article. I share your point of view about stuff, especially the energy-consuming process of living/working in cluttered spaces and the liberation you feel when getting rid of stuff.

I've talked about your essay to some friends of mine, but unfortunately not all of them understand English and I think this essay should be spread as widely as possible.

I haven't found any other way of contacting you throughout your website, so I just wanted to let you know I've translated it into Spanish, it is available on my blog here, just in case you want to make a link for other Spanish readers:

http://betawriting.blogspot.com/2007/08/cosas-p...

Best regards,

Pablo.

PeggyNC · 2 years ago

What an excellent piece of insight!! Thank you so very much for sharing it... I have printed it out and posted it right by my computer. Since I am disabled, this is where I do most of my shopping. I especially like the thought 'Is this going to make my life noticeably better?'

Louis G · 2 years ago

Hi Paul,

The problem someone noted in the comments is that your essay appears to have three pages because the "page 1|2|3" is displayed at BOTH the end of the essay (that doesn't have a ""The End") AND to the right of the "Add Comment" label for your comment box (as well as a second time at the end of the comments).

Thus, it's not clear at all that this paging is for the comments -- NOT your essay.

My suggestion; ONLY display the Page 1|2|n at the END of the comments you display on the page with your essay. Logically, that's the point at which time your readers will NEED to go to the next page of comments; no need to clutter their thought stream before that point.

Best wishes,

Louis G.

Daniel Ha · 2 years ago

That's our fault, and we definitely agree. It'll be fixed soon.

lf · 2 years ago

Seconded

Web 2.0 Asia · 2 years ago

Yeah, we've all gotta remember this important thing: When you die, you won't carry anything. Leaving too much stuff behind will only make your loved ones work harder to get rid of them.

Nagarjun · 2 years ago

Couldn't agree more, Paul. I have got a personal story about stuff to share. Earlier this year I wanted to start training for a half-marathon. Not having run seriously previously, I began thinking about the stuff that I "need" and made a list. (a) gym membership (b) track suit(s) (c) two pairs of shoes and socks (d) stop watch, on and on and on. Now, the list of stuff started to get so bloody long, that one morning I decided not to buy any of it. To cut a long story short, I am now on the verge of being able to run a half-marathon. And I run barefoot in a public park with nothing more than an old t-shirt and a pair of shorts. Avoiding all that "stuff" has led to one of the most spiritual experiences of my life.

Kevin · 2 years ago

How about the library? They have lots of books for free that only take up space in your life for as long as they are checked out. It seems to me that of all of the book lovers I know, it is rare (less than once a year) that they pick up most of their books. Yet, they feel like they somehow "need" to have books around all the time. I say, "Down with books, up with libraries!" Clear out the bookshelves and stop worrying about all of those books and where to put them. Also, books are made from trees so if you are sharing books from a library with thousands of people, that is a heck of a lot fewer trees!

Adam · 2 years ago

Yeah, but libraries never have the books you need when you need them, especially popular books like ones from O'reilly on arcane programming languages that everyone in town wants to learn. The one or two copies are usually always out or missing....BookSwim.com anyone?

Ritesh M · 2 years ago

While everything else you said sounds very logical, the 'exception' about books doesn't quite fit in. Why are books any different? Infact, its worse to own a lot of books since you can almost always get them from your local library. Just own the few rare special ones.

Ken · 2 years ago

I can't speak for Paul, but many-to-most of the books I own can't be found at my local library, and not just because my local library isn't that great.

Some are no longer in print (like Paul's book!), some were never published in this country, and some are about very specific subjects that libraries don't often have books about. Many were bought used, not because it was cheaper, but because it was the only copy I could find.

writetoalok · 2 years ago

Interesting! If I were to offer you crisp typographic quality digital scans of your books, would you prefer them instead?

Will a cheap and wonderful digital book reader change your answer?

What would you consider a digital reader *should* have before you make the move from book to e-book? (Please don't tell me just the smell of old paper)

Lisa · 2 years ago

For me, the ability to flip through and the general visual quality of paper are very important. It's easy enough to read an essay on a screen, or even short stories, but screens in general just aren't comfortable for extended reading. Maybe by reducing the brightness or glare, this could be improved.

Also, I'd like to be able to take my digital book readers out into the sunlight and still be able to read clearly.

Ken · 2 years ago

I must confess I own at least a few books which are also available online for free.

If I had a display with book-like resolution and Starfire-like size, that would go a long way. But they're also lacking in interaction. This week I opened a 1000-page book to the exact page I wanted. It was partially luck, of course, but I knew where in the book I wanted to be; e-books seem to be great at jumping you to a chapter, or bookmarking an exact page, but not very good at letting you build muscle memory for the whole book.

I can't loan an e-book to a friend who doesn't own a computer. Time will eventually solve that, I suppose. I wouldn't want to take a shiny new computer to the toilet with me, but eventually somebody will make an indestructible e-book reader for tossing around the house.

H2O · 2 years ago

couldn't agree more, Ken... I've onced lend my ''Messy'' by Sandra Felton to a friend, and never got it back....
Though she's still actively writing, but the version will never be the same...
Well, i've got it 2nd hand....and not cheap actually...

~Haslin Jasman~

Kirk Israel · 2 years ago

Hmm. I wonder if books are that different.
Though they stack neatly on a shelf, unlike "random objects"
(Which ties in well with the "builds a mental model" theory, that if it's neatly on a shelf, you're more able to "chunk" it and consider it as a "full bookshelf" instead of "book a, book b, book c" etc. That said, I'm still skeptical about that theory, I think human attention tends to be more focused than that, that even cluttered surroundings can "fade out"... but a cluttered environment is more likely to throw random distractions at you.)

Do other media count get a pass as well? Video Games? DVDs?
(personally, I think at least one factor in the success of DVDs is how nice they look on a bookshelf)

Having just bought yet more bookshelves, I'm wondering. My (loosely applied) criteria is that a book must be at least one of the following:
1. be something I'd actively recommend to someone else
2. have a reasonable expectation of reading again, or at least refer to a specific bit of
3. is by a favorite author, so it gets a pass

It's definitely harder to get rid of a just-read book... even after thinking that it needs a bit of head time to ripen. If you were to quickly discard books, you'd start to wonder why you weren't just getting them from the library... though a satisfactory answer to that might be "buying books is voting with my dollars".

Michael Terry · 2 years ago

No freaking kidding. Luckily, I realized this awhile ago. I pretty much just need a computer, a TV, and a gym membership to be happy. I don't have any money. If I had money, I'd buy lots of stuff and hire someone to keep it organized. But having stuff just isn't worth my time right now.

Brandon Valentine · 2 years ago

The matter of stuff is getting a lot of airtime lately. I recommend anyone looking to purge the excess stuff from their life visit Merlin Mann's War on Clutter series for 43folders:
http://www.43folders.com/2007/07/02/war-on-clut...

Jennifer · 2 years ago

This article couldn't have come at a better time. After moving from a big house in Georgia where houses are cheap to a smaller townhouse in D.C. where housing is so expensive we have to rent, we have a garage full of "stuff" that we've been meaning to do something with for over a year. The landlord told us to clean out the garage - it's a fire hazard. I never thought my stuff could get so out of hand, but here I am - practically a candidate for one of those exposes on hording on the Discovery channel.
But I'm not the worst offender in the house. We moved my mother-in-law in with us. She has been very poor most of her life. She lived in a house so full of stuff that there was nowhere to sit. It seriously could have been an Oprah story. She was so overwhelmed that on the weekend we came to pick her up with the moving truck, she hadn't packed a thing. We had to pack her essentials for her and sell the rest to a junkman for a lump sum or take it to a dump (where, hilariously, it came back hours later in the back of a neighbor's truck. "Look what I found at the dump!") Even now, she fills every space we give her with stuff from the thrift store or stuff from a sale at the drugstore or the craft store. Shopping makes her happy, and her stuff makes her feel secure. But having to deal with the stuff makes the rest of us miserable!

Alexis Li · 2 years ago

I count services and stuff by £/time. The pub costs ~£3/hour. Warcrack costs me £10/month. My PC costs me £300/year. When I've written off the value, I feel free to get rid of it somehow.

I do have stuff [that I don't frequently use], but it's mostly all in one box. I keep it for when I want a nostalgia hit, or because when I need that thing, I'll need it immediately. Like condoms.

I consider books some of the worst offenders by volume. I don't buy books. Maybe I should just give more away. I throw away CD cases and generally only buy DVDs after I've seen them. I own them to lend, it's crazy to buy a DVD just to lend it to someone but if I already have it... ;)

John Morad · 2 years ago

Hi Paul,
I totally agree with you, especially poor people in US, they love to have more stuff, more in south US though.

But in EU it's hard to find this behaviour, I'm Greek and lived in US several years for study. My girlfriend from US and her mother all the time jut buying old crappy stuff :-) your article reminded me of her :-)

That being said, recently I bought new monitor 22", I was avoiding using it all the time, so it will not get bad :-)

Great article like always :-)

Michael · 2 years ago

Thanks for another interesting essay!
Last month I declared my 2 cars as stuff and sold them. Now I am left with public transportation and a new Mountain bike. This is GREAT! No discussions with expensive workshops any more. No waste of time to find a parking (I live in the center of a big city in south germany), easy parking everywhere with a bike instead ;o). I don't have to spend my evenings to read books any more. I do it in the subway. And riding the bike to work is real fun.
So I highly recommend to go further than just the obvious with the definition of stuff.

Jeroen Leenarts · 2 years ago

Never realy have any problems with "stuff".

Every once in a while I get myself a big box. Things I don't use go into that box. That box goes into storage and replaces the previous box. The previous box gets dumped, sold or given away. Only once did it happen to me that I actually needed something from "the box".

Another rule I use when shopping is a simple one. See something? Write it down, wait a week to think about it, then buy it if you still think you need it. This goes for all non consumables. Why the hell would I need a new TV, stereo, console, computer, cell-phone and what-not when I have a flawlessly functioning specimen in my pocket/at home?

The think to watch out for is the must-buy frenzy. That's when you start wasting money. And all merchants know this. They will try to push your buttons to get you in that state of mind.

Paul Johnson · 2 years ago

Here in the UK there was a reality TV programme called "Life Laundry" for people with too much stuff. Each week they took someone's stuff into a big space (often outdoors if the weather was good) and then made them justify everything they took back.

Matt Jaynes · 2 years ago

"And unless you're extremely organized, a house full of stuff can be very depressing. A cluttered room saps one's spirits. One reason, obviously, is that there's less room for people in a room full of stuff. But there's more going on than that. I think humans constantly scan their environment to build a mental model of what's around them. And the harder a scene is to parse, the less energy you have left for conscious thoughts. A cluttered room is literally exhausting."

Wow, this is a great example and so relevant to a point I was trying to get across when recently interviewing at one of the YC companies (super smart and talented guys by the way). I was trying to explain the pain and suffering caused by messy bloated code, but I was mostly met with blank stares and questions about why that was such a problem. They just didn't seem to understand what I was talking about. Later it became apparent to me that they didn't understand because they were too young to have ever had a coding job that required them to work in a 'ball of mud' coding situation. Fortunately they had been saved from that pain. Unfortunately, I've been in that situation a few times, and now I'm learning that when I interview I need to really investigate the coding practices of the team before I make a decision to work there.

One of the startups I worked for let the code turn into a huge mess so that doing anything with it ended up taking orders of magnitude longer than it should have. Fix a simple bug? Good luck. Add a new feature? May god be with you. Incredibly depressing. Fortunately for the founders, the company was acquired before things ground completely to a halt. But right after the acquisition, everyone that could leave did and what remained of the acquired startup essentially fizzled out. It's funny because during the due diligence of the acquisition, the company buying us never seemed interested in looking at the state of the code base. That was a mistake on their part worth tens of millions.

drnic · 2 years ago

First comments, next an RSS feed perhaps? :)

Thank you so much for being an essayist - your articles are joyful and insightful.

Joe Grossberg · 2 years ago

Dr Nic:

There are two RSS feeds. Aaron Swartz's official scraped one and my unofficial one, with summaries: http://www.joegrossberg.com/feeds/paulgraham_fe...

Just short of 20,000 subscribers, according to Feedburner.

drnic · 2 years ago

Yep, I subscribe to one of them. I was just fleshing out Paul's blogification strategy for him :)

drnic · 2 years ago

I just realised why "comments" have been turned on for an article about "stuff". Perhaps "comments" are the "stuff" of the internet: they seem to be valuable but are increasingly a burden :)

EtherGhost · 2 years ago

The problem is that some stuff you just have to hold on to or else it will never come your way again (or so it feels).

I live in Japan and love collecting manga, dvds, games and many other paraphernalia. However since there's so much coming out, old stuff becomes extremely hard to find, so I collect what I can.

Still, Mr. Graham is right about the psychological effects of a cluttered room, and I can't collect much anyways because my room is, well, Japanese. It would be great if some organization collected all this stuff for me instead and then rented it, like a library or museum. Then, all my stuff-related worries would go away.

Chris · 2 years ago

Several years ago I moved with my wife from my Cambridge, MA apartment to a 30' sailboat for one fun sailing season (the warmer 1/2 of the year in New England where that was a relatively fun thing to do) and in so doing we shed 90% of our possessions. A couple nice pieces of furniture went into storage, our CD's were transferred to bulk caselogic carriers (this was shortly before mp3 became the obvious music format of choice), the 20% of our wardrobes we actively used went onto the boat along with one laptop and one guitar... and that was it. I can't describe the sense of cleansing and weight-shedding and relief. Any time you get a chance to revisit your possessions, be ruthless in determining what makes the cut, and err on the side of giving it all away. Less really is more.

Jeff Barson · 2 years ago

Stuff is the bane of my existence. My wife wants more horse stuff. I want less.

If I could figure out how to get rid of all this stuff on my desk it would be a start.

Matthew Lock · 2 years ago

"Because the people whose job is to sell you stuff are really, really good at it. The average 25 year old is no match for companies that have spent years figuring out how to get you to spend money on stuff."

This is false. Companies are actually terrible at persuading you to buy their products. A response rate of 1% to an advert would be considered astounding. Consider click through rates in online advertising for example.

Daniel Ha · 2 years ago

I don't know. Many I found are quite effective.

Justin Grant · 2 years ago

And 1% of billions is ?

Sam · 2 years ago

What are you comparing them to? Obviously there are theoretical limitations to the effectiveness of advertisement, but I think companies are capable of getting pretty damn close.

Matthew Lock · 2 years ago

My point was that 25 year olds are indeed a match for companies. 99 out of 100 25 year olds will ignore the advert.

Ben Yates · 2 years ago

But if you see 500 adverts a day...

matthew · 2 years ago

Yes, but with an emphasis on the definite article. The average 25 year old sees far more than a paltry 100 advertisements a day.

staunch · 2 years ago

For any given company the response rate may be extremely low. The response rate for an individual being sold is 100%. We all buy stuff we don't need.

user · 2 years ago

hmm

Romulo A. Ceccon · 2 years ago

Companies persuade you by shaping our culture for kinds of stuff, not through individual advertisements of specific products. That's why, today, you want cars and cell phones.

Matthew Lock · 2 years ago

So people don't want cars to get around, and cell phones to call each other?

Romulo A. Ceccon · 2 years ago

That's not the point. 20 or 30 years ago nobody wanted a cell phone. When it came out it was a pricey stuff, which only a fraction of people in the world could afford. Because having a cell phone became just 'cool', more and more people decided to buy one. Today you almost need it.

The power of advertisements is not in how big the individual response rate is, but in how persuaded people help persuade others.

Dimka · 2 years ago

That is important, but I actually actively trying to extend it to most of the books as well. Only some books are valuable, and I tossing books is hard psychologically. Also "stuff" concept expends to the digital world. People keep way too many files, like most of the digital photos - and it takes time to sort through that mostly crap.
Thank you, it is a important essay (as always)

Ritesh M · 2 years ago

About digital world clutter: I think google realized this long time back and most of their products are geared towards solving this problem of ours - by search. I think it works.

Usquebaugh · 2 years ago

Whether you want to admit it or not, you have reached a new 'Zen' level :-)

I've got the same problem, I can't get rid of my books, I even have a sony ereader. Now just need to digitize my collection.

For me I've always liked traveling light, so I have a simple rule. I have to move all my stuff myself.

KH · 2 years ago

My apartment is extremely cluttered. I always feel stress. I have psoriasis. I can't think creatively. I think all these are connected.

Thanks for giving courage to discard all the stuffs that I've accumulated. I already felt lighter and happier.

BTW, I agree with JoelOnSoftware that you shouldn't put the comment inline in your blog. Probably a link to reddit is more than enough.

Piet Hein · 2 years ago

THE TYRANNY OF THINGS

I am trying to rule
over ten thousand things
which I thought
belonged to me.
All of a sudden
a doubt take wings:
Do they...
or could it be..?

A hardhanded hunch
in my mind's ear rings
from whence
such suspicions may stem:
that if you posses
more than just eight things
then y o u
are possessed by t h e m

Mike Gale · 2 years ago

The physical stuff is one thing the mental clutter is another.

In this blog age there is a lot of publishing. It's seductive, it's often about something that really interests. Something that no reporter for the mass market print you read is even aware of.

Then there's the kicker. A lot of it is pumped out in a coffee break. Some bloggers feel obliged to publish daily, weekly whatever. Result, a lot of it takes your time, but wastes your time. It takes time to assimilate, it occupies brain activity, maybe it won't go away but goes round and round in your head... It can be real clutter.

For some it's worse than physical "stuff".

DaveP · 2 years ago

Boy did this one hit home Paul. I've sort of known it for a while. I can even dump books, use freecyle.com, but I'm basically a hoarder and collector of stuff.

I'm hoping your next one in this thread will be tactics and strategies for freeing ones self from stuff.

Thanks. I think!

Andrew Gwozdziewycz · 2 years ago

I can't help but wonder if this is an abstract way of asking people to look at what their startup is making and ask, "Am I going to wear this all the time?"

Of course it could go the other way too. You could be asking companies to ask the same thing. Perhaps it'll save things like Dodgeball in the future.

Kalpesh · 2 years ago

As we grow from generation to generation, we accumulate things not because we need it. Our greed has increased than the actual need.

I take my mom, sister to buy things for me. I am a conservative buyer. In India, people buy things, use it for sometime & give it off for free to relatives, who cannot afford to buy new things every year. So, there is some value realization.

The tech. products are a different commodity. People buy it, something new comes up, they want to buy that as well

How many of us use all the cellphone/pda features that we have?

Credit cards add fuel to the fire. If we were limited to buy things based on our earnings/savings, it wouldn't be so much of spending & hence accumulation.

Thanks

Honza Nemecek · 2 years ago

Dear Paul, I appreciate your essays but this one seems to me as a blind shot.

Think of any stuff you have and say: "Wow, its mine!". Have you ever experienced that feeling? Certainly yes. Did you like that feeling? Yes, definitely. Especially when talking about nice boats, houses, cars etc.

I like stuff even if I don't really need it. It is hard to imagine my life in an empty room while feeding brain with just conscious thoughts.

Look at your stuff and say proudly "Wow, its mine.".

Ken Hart · 2 years ago

It isn't wrong to feel some pride when you make a major purchase like a boat, house, or car. Just be sure to closely examine the why you are proud. I think you'll find that the pride comes from having the ability to purchase these things, not the actual purchase. And where does that ability come from? Create value. That's what should make you really proud: you've created value in the world.

Colette Lamm · 2 years ago

Many of the things said in the article on "Stuff" were intriguing. As a Professional Organizer, I find that books do fall under the same category of stuff people accumulate.

Books are seldom used more than once and are often left untouched. They collect dust which isn't healthy and add a lot of weight to a move.Psychologically, a sitting book can eat away at a person who had intended to read it/study it making them feel guilty and lowering their self-esteem.

I have not met many people in my life who have read a non-reference book more than once. A huge percentage of books go untouched entirely. We have the dream of reading them some day.

Books in some fields are outdated the moment they are published. With the advent of the Internet and the availability it brings to information, we no longer need to keep as much stuff as reference. The Internet brings up-to-date information to our finger tips the moment we need it without adding clutter to our home.

Think recipes, for example, for decades people have been collecting recipe books. Recipe books are often bought on impulse, sometimes go out of style, and many old ones are no longer considered healthy. The Internet can be overwhelming, but it provides a wealth of recipes.Imagine the space available if one's recipe collection was thinned down to family recipes and selected favorites from the books.

While books are treasured by some and a status symbol for others, for many they are equally "stuff" adding to clutter in the home.

Colette Lamm · 2 years ago

For those struggling to part with books, focus more on the future than on the existing collection. Once we have spent money, it is hard to "waste it". So, instead, remind yourself next time you want to buy a book, to think about whether you really need it and what will your need be for it down the line. Consider treating books stores like libraries, one does not need to walk out with a book.

Here is a strategy that you can use...

1) Changing your buying habit in the future will help keep the collection from growing.

2) Begin to weed out the items from the collection that you are not attached to, will never read, or have no use for. Start with a quick glance at the shelf, anything you see that you can quickly pull out, do so. Skip anything that causes you to ponder.

3) For the tougher books, give yourself some time to think about whether you really need them. Ask for help, discuss your thoughts with someone else and see what they think.

4) When you are ready, consider the idea that you could be helping someone else by providing the resources they need which are no longer needed by you. Donate the books to Friends of the Library, Craigslist, or FreeCycle.

Gord Brown · 2 years ago

For me, books fall into a few categories:

1) Not worth reading (unfortunately, sometimes you have to read them to learn this).
2) Worth reading once.
3) Worth reading more than once.
4) Reference works.
5) Worth reading once, but also significant in some unspecified way.

I discard books in the first two categories, and keep books in the other three. For me, a great many books are in category 3: worth reading more than once. Unlike you (apparently), I regularly re-read non-reference books. Would you buy a CD of Beethoven's 9th Symphony, and only listen to it once? I re-read books because I love the flow of ideas, and of words... no less than I love the flow of notes in a timeless piece of music.

Category 5 is special... I'll probably never re-read David Hume's "A Treatise of Human Nature", but I'll keep the book because it was so enlightening, and I think that deserves special treatment.

On the other end of the scale, I almost never buy computer books (though that's my field of study) because as you say, they're usually out of date by the time they reach the market.

jfno · 2 years ago

Last time I moved, I threw away (gave, sold, trashed) anything I was not using. I was still left with some boxes of stuff, so when I unpacked one I again parted with stuff, I was not going to use. I even gave more than half of my books. Any book I was not seeing me fondly recommending to someone, I gave to charity. It was great, but after a year I started piling stuff again.

Wade Franklin · 2 years ago

I have been getting rid of my stuff for years, and now my house is very nearly empty, except for books, computers, tools, and a few essential items of furniture. The less stuff I own, the happier I am. And just like you said, I now buy nothing (other than books) unless it's something that I can and will use on a regular, if not daily basis.

Marc · 2 years ago

Pure genius! One of the most dreadful tasks of a pack-rat is relocation. I recently helped a buddy of mine move. It was a painful experience because he had soooo much stuff... and he's only 25.

I emailed this article to him! ;-)

James Brook · 2 years ago

Very good article, I agree entirely.

My bro in law tells a funny story of buying the complete set of Friends on VHS at a car boot sale (yard sale). Most of the videos weren’t opened. The reason for sale was the seller was going to get the DVD versions for Christmas!

She couldn't see the problem with the process.

Keep up the good articles!

Cheers

Brian · 2 years ago

On the topic of stuff, I recommend a short story by Frederick Pohl: "The Midas Plague"

He saw what is described here perfectly. In 1953.

Jay · 2 years ago

Paul,

Wow!!!
You know,the fact is, all of us knew this all along. That the real cost of another bargain priced white shirt makes it not worth having it.
That, unlike another pair of unneeded sneakers in the room, a (good) book (stacked properly) rejuvenates...

Could not articulate as well as you have done here. Well done.

Mark Allison · 2 years ago

All you have to do when doing a purge is ask one question: Is this item functional or beautiful? If it's neither, get rid of it. I think this came from William Morris.

Yo! · 2 years ago

Thank God! Someone at last said something about aesthetic value. Yes, we can drown in stuff, so we breathe easier if we can drain off the excess; but some things we keep entirely because they refresh the spirit, in ways no amount of remembering or borrowing can do. And for the creative owner, each beautiful thing is also a benchmark for measuring one's own achievements, and a goad to do as well. For writers, books can fall into that category; I've kept my collection of Ray Bradbury's work for decades, because just *seeing* it on the shelf brings back the utter perfection of "Dark They Were, And Golden-Eyed" - and all the others. Similarly, I can't dispose of Ursula Kroeber Le Guin's work, eg "The Left Hand of Darkness" and "Always Coming Home". These are as beautiful, and as worthy, as a little ceramic pot I have thrown and decorated by Martin Boyd.

Tyler · 2 years ago

Wow! It's like you read my mind and then put it on a piece of paper...or the web. I've been actively shedding all of my stuff lately. It's quite amazing how much I'm getting for some of it on ebay. I'll let it become someone else's burden now. Like you, I simply accumulate books now. But this still bothers me. I want to shed all my books and get them in ebook form so all I own is a computer and some clothes. Ah, peace of mind.

ab · 2 years ago

> A cluttered room saps one's spirits.
Other than a girlfriend, only cluttered stuff can make a room look lively.

Sevesteen · 2 years ago

I've got too much stuff, but partly because my living space has been effectively expanding for years in the same house. It has been (short term) easier to just fill another corner. We are going to give up at least half of that space soon, and one of the good things about it is it will force us to delete most of our useless crap. I'm fairly sure there are some boxes in the basement that have been there untouched for 15 years.

Andy Brice · 2 years ago

If you've got too much stuff, don't put it in a landfill, freecycle it:

http://successfulsoftware.net/2007/07/26/freecy...

Marc Meyer · 2 years ago

In california we keep our $50k+ cars outside (where it doesn't rain), so we can keep old paint, old papers, old toys, and other old stuff in our garages, for which we also pay hundreds of thousands of dollars.

This is why the self-storage industry is so profitable. According to http://www.bizstats.com/corpnetincome.htm, net income as a percentage of revenue is 19.7%, which is only second to "lessors of nonfinancial intangible assets," a category I'd love to hear explained.

emmanuel · 2 years ago

Ah, if only Californian garages were stuff-free, people could use the space to... create startups! And YC would be making more money! I caught you, greedy Graham^^!

Brian Chapados · 2 years ago

One way to solve your book storage problem would be to:

1. Buy yourself a semi-automatic book scanner system from: http://atiz.com/

2. Buy an Iliad: http://www.irextechnologies.com/products/iliad

3. [Optional] Maybe pay someone to keep watch over the machine and switch the books.

paulgraham · 2 years ago

I *like* physical books.

writetoalok · 2 years ago

Me too, but I seem to move around every 6 months or have too little room or money for it.

So, I console my self with the wonders of e-books:
* Search efficiently.
* Have many bookmarks, notes, cross references and yet keep your slate (book) _clean_.
* Carry with you on your iPod everywhere.
* See in any magnification you want.
* Extremely compact, (can you carry more than 10-15 books at a time?)
* Easy to copy, paste from for annotations or for running program snippets.
* __Cheaper__ !!
* Much easier to loan to your friend. (Don't do this without copyright)

vruz · 2 years ago

A famous writer of my country used to say that since he started using a PC and the internet, he always tries to be precise when he refers to "texts" (electronic or otherwise) to tell them from the ones that are only delivered in a "book" medium. I think more of books and ebooks as instances of the text. You may love a book, or the text, or both, but they're not necesarily the same thing.

mr_luc · 2 years ago

Great article.

I don't like the comment insinuating that books are 'stuff'. Maybe for some people. I have thousands of books, and I don't have one that isn't falling apart, because I'm getting value out of them.

Way ahead of you, though. I'm spending 9 months this year living in a fishing village in coastal South America, with two changes of clothes, a suitcase full of books, and a laptop. I've moved all of my Stateside possessions into long-term storage.

Including my surfboard -- I can buy one in Ecuador for less than it would cost me to bring mine.

Nick Pulido · 2 years ago

INteresting comments system.

John Sequeira · 2 years ago

I think Schwartz's "The Paradox of Choice" really does a good job with this theme. (Subtitle: why more is less)

It fascinated me because it undercuts the naive assumptions in the technological progress+cheap stuff = happiness equation that we base too many of our decisions on.

Anyway, here's a concise youtube synopsis by the book author that covers the essential concept.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO6XEQIsCoM

The book repeats it's central idea a bit, but it's one of those that's worth repeating.

See also the concept of "hedonic thermostat" - another gem from the book. I love that name.

growabrain · 2 years ago

I feel the same way, but I've been changing my thinking about books too: What shall I do with the many 1000's of books that I own? How many more times will I pack them in boxes & unpack in new, future homes? I read most everything on the internet now anyway.
In the end, I'll have nothing

Kragen Sitaker · 2 years ago

How do I view this essay on a single page? I do most of my web reading offline.

paulgraham · 2 years ago

I don't understand what you mean. It is on a single page.

vinu · 2 years ago

have you read the book perfect mess - makes you think about clutter and stuff - something you might find useful. for example penicillin wouldn't have been discovered if there was 'no stuff' around! ;-)

anton · 2 years ago

> once you've accumulated a certain amount of stuff,
> it starts to own you

Exactly. I agree that we harm ourselves by being too attracted to things.

BTW, I noticed that besides of material stuff I have lot of stuff on my hard drive: all the programs I wrote some time, docs, music, books. There were problems with my hard drive recently and I got worried: "I need to backup it all. What if I lost it?".

I do not agree that books are different from staff. Neither books nor music I think I like nor something else should dominate over me.

Paddy · 2 years ago

I moved around the country so far with 5 boxes of books and 2 boxes of clothes. Its pretty hard for me to keep this way and avoid bloating of "stuff". Its far easier to succumb to those who "sell" stuff much like the energy-entropy equation :)

Marcia · 2 years ago

Thanks, Paul, for your thought provoking article. I came from a home where my parents could personally remember the great depression. My parents were also very good at being thrifty and handy. My father was one of the most organized people I’ve ever known. (It used to drive me nuts!) Some might say that he was a hoarder because of his background, but it never seemed like we had too much because he organized everything so well. He always kept things far beyond their lifetimes, not just because he hated to throw them away, but because he would break them down into components and then use the pieces to make or fix other things. People came to him all the time because he could fix anything. The need to purchase anything new was always seriously questioned and very limited. He was known to salvage items that he found, however, which always made Mom a little crazy.

We were a middle-class family without much disposable income, but I don’t remember suffering much because we couldn’t buy things. Because my mother was a talented seamstress and was adept at crafts, and my father could fix, build or repair anything, they were able to put aside the money they saved by doing almost everything themselves so we could take several trips each year. We usually had to camp out on those trips, but we traveled over most of the country together and I will be forever grateful for that.

I am now a professional organizer and I know the value of clutter-clearing and limiting of possessions, but I also think we are lacking the ability to truly be as frugal as my parents were. I think that is partly because in our more modern world everything is disposable. It is either too difficult to fix by ourselves, or the quality is too poor to bother. I just try to strike a happy medium. If I really love something that means a lot to me, I try to preserve it and keep it up so I can enjoy it as long as possible. I also try to find the best way to organize what I do have so that I don’t clutter my space. Finally, I try to apply the one in-one out philosophy wherever I can to limit new acquisitions.

Thanks for the opportunity to reflect.

Brandie Kajino · 2 years ago

What a wonderful article. I spent time abroad as an exchange student in Japan many years ago. It's amazing when you have to move every few months, how "stuff" needs to be boiled down to the essentials. It's really about the importance we place on our stuff that bogs us down.
Thanks for your insights!

Jeff Frese · 2 years ago

Paul,
You should blow your house up and start a fight club.

Roian Egnor · 2 years ago

Moving is definitely a great way to prevent stuff accumulation, because you have to decide if that half a pair of socks is really worth the price of shipping it. My family moved so often that the first time I spent more than 3 years in one physical space was in graduate school. We didn't have a lot of stuff, but the stuff we had was what defined home (a big red/orange bedouin rug, mostly). Now I'm married to someone whose room in the house he grew up in a) still belongs to his parents and b) still has his cub scout merit badges on the walls. Strangely, we also avoided stuff accumulation until we had a kid. Now we have massive stuff accumulation, but at least part of it is related to maybe needing it for the next kid...

Robbin · 2 years ago

Paul,
I really enjoyed your perspective on stuff. And in as much as your journey is your own individual one so are our feelings on stuff. For each of us there is a grouping of stuff that are the books of our lives. To each of us they are what are worth hanging onto. If we can begin to think in terms of relationship rather than disposing in our lives we would choose differently. But even in elementary school parents try to match up their children for a one day marriage it is at this point we begin to teach that people are disposable just keep tossing aside what does not work for you. Why then are we surised when stuff seems to have no value.

Thanks,
Robbin (Professional Organizer)

Eric (the fruitbat) Hennigan · 2 years ago

Bah! I sleep on the floor because I don't want to own a mattress. I've plenty of money for one, I just don't want it. I also don't have a couch. But I have 4 bookshelves full of books (mostly textbooks) and 3 desks cluttered with papers. It's easy to live frugally, just don't purchase anything you don't absolutely need.

My problem is virtual stuff. I have too much virtual stuff. I'm literally addicted to downloading. I recently bought myself another terabyte to add to my computer. I may not pay for all these movies that I almost never watch, but they still take up my mental energy. Finding, organizing, and cataloging all this virtual stuff is a real-world chore.

Knut Wolf · 2 years ago

> the same thing happened with food .. As food got cheaper .. We've now reached that point with stuff .. stuff has become a burden.

The same applies to music recordings: earlier one had a few records and considered them treasures. Now as music can be downloaded unlimited (though illegal) it becomes both a burden (how to manage all those gigs of mp3's) and worthless (if you are looking for one song, just download all the artist's albums).

Jose Hevia · 2 years ago

Hello,

I completely agree with you.

I used to think:This could be useful for making X and finished with plenty of uncompleted things, I got rid of all of them, except for the books!!!, and university notes.

Now I prefer going to buy materials when I need them.

I'm making a machine for digitalising books and notes that is going to change the world also. :-D

I use this site for emotional support,really.

Joseph · 2 years ago

Dear Paul Graham,

You are rad.

Sincerely,
Joseph Cornelius Delapor

rictic · 2 years ago

It's funny that you're posting this as I'm moving my own stuff across the country and spending a good bit of my time helping no less than five friends move.

Having lived happily out of a suitcase and a laptop for the past two months, I'm coming along to this way of thinking. I just hope I have the courage to give most of it away.

David magda · 2 years ago

Books are stuff as well. I would suggest getting in the habit of using the library.

I used to purchase several books at once, go through over a period of six months, then start again. I now have very little shelf space left (but of course I don't throw out or donate anything). Luckily I realized this when I started getting DVDs, so I only have about a dozen or so movies that I really enjoy.

Even things such as reference books aren't as necessary as they used to be--unless you need to look something up when your Internet connection is down.

Pito Salas · 2 years ago

Haha: http://www.salas.com/2007/08/03/stuff/

skp · 2 years ago

I strive for Living out of a Suitcase,
I guess thats how God would have intended it ...

rohit · 2 years ago

Hey Paul,
I'm fitting this here as theres no other place to write stuff or comment on other essays. Have been reading ur essays for sometime now, they're gr8 man im suure thers a lot of thought process behind them since there's great clarity of thought and ecclectic and above all they make things look 'Simple' which i think is juss awsome especially since the things that u try to simplify are seemingly complex and random processes to startup folks like us.Must say The power of marginals is a gr8 piece of artistic work.

The Pageman · 2 years ago

I think it was Andy Warhol that pointed out that when you buy a Coke - you're getting the same Coke that the President is getting - you just can't get a "better Coke" than anyone else - so unless you're collecting something like a Van Gogh painting, most of the stuff that we accumulate is basically the same thing that everybody has. Thanks for this post. I'm going to have to clear a room full of stuff and make it usable again.

CC · 2 years ago

I agree totally. Are our lives so empty that we must fill them with stuff? Advertisers have managed to convince us that whatever they're selling at the moment will make everything better.

Also, think about quality and craftsmanship. There was a time when furniture was so solid and well made that it stayed in families for generation after generation. People thought about the long-term when spending their money, and so they valued things that lasted.

Today, with the Bob's Discount Furniture Stores of our modern world, things are dirt-cheap and disposable. Don't like the upholstery any more? No problem. Throw it out on the curb and get another one (with easy financing and no interest 'til 2008!).

In another 100 years, there will be no antiques from our era!

E.Hanson · 2 years ago

This type of thinking might be considered by some to be dangerous: After all, eliminating these types of purchases could wreck our economy. Then again, it would have to be assumed that such purchases really are the lifeblood of the economy and, if that's the case, then the only adverse effect will be that the average income won't be able to afford this "stuff". With less money would come less "need" for money.

A garage sale is a good way to see just how worthless the pursuit of "stuff" is. I look at a lot of what I put up for sale and realize that I had no use for it -- or at least only a very brief use for it. An entire driveway full of this stuff might fetch a few hundred dollars. Not bad for junk, but terrible considering that it cost thousands of dollars new and it's still all "perfectly good". What a waste.

This essay makes me want to empty the house right now. As depressing as a garage sale can be, it is very cleansing in two ways: It tidies up the house and it discourages me from making stupid purchases in the future.

vruz · 2 years ago

the newsfeeds aren't working right now...
do you outsource your newsfeeds ?
maybe the yahoo guys can lend you a hand with that

Slavo · 2 years ago

There is one single invention in the States that makes all Americans stuff slaves. It's called personal storage space for rent. The problem with cluttering is solved, give us a monthly fee and we keep your stuff away, in case you need to use it some day. Not that I've been to many places, but I haven't seen or heard about this anywhere else.
Another problem I think is that when you have tons of stuff, you become careless. You just forget how to treat something as valuable. And there are occasions when stuff may become valueble, e.g. a present from a grandfather.

On the side, Paul, if I were you I would put a limit on comments. There was an article somewhere saying that blog comments are evil. I'm somewhere in the middle, not an all-in supporter, but this post of mine is an exception. I would very very rarely reply to a post with above 50 comments. They kind of become worthless after a certain period, just bullshit.
Here is a reference:
http://joelonsoftware.com/items/2007/07/20.html
http://joelonsoftware.com/items/2007/07/20b.html
http://udrepper.livejournal.com/2005/07/03/

Daniel Ha · 2 years ago

Hi Slavo, Disqus is working to address the more unattractive bits of blog discussion. One of our focuses is granular control for the blog owner on who is able to comment. Is there anything you would like to see?

Mort · 2 years ago

The real cost of an item is the price you paid, plus the price of the space it takes. Depending on where you live, this might bring the cost of "bargains" way up.

Dave! · 2 years ago

Books were (are) my problem, actually, until I finally bought my own place. Moving box after box after box of books is more daunting than you might think. Good exercise, though.

I did, once, let a girlfriend convince me to get rid of a couple boxes of books. Never again. I've regretted it ever since, and she, of course, is out of the picture. Thankfully, my wife has the same book problem I have. :)

Janet I. · 2 years ago

I am 52 and hope to have my books read and given away by the time I check into the nursing home (hopefully in my 80's) except for maybe 10 or 12 and by that time there will be a more efficient method like audiobooks with an mp3 player with really big print on its buttons.

Derek Wong · 2 years ago

I just thought about this as I was cleaning up. However, I did not make it expanded to all of the "stuff" that society has. Instead, I thought about the worth of the stuff as it was being thrown away in Lovely Junk Or Useful Pain.

Still many of the points are true, and I think that we could all do better if we were to throw out a little bit more.

BillSaysThis · 2 years ago

My comments were a bit too long for a comment, so I posted to my own blog here: http://billsaysthis.com/content/singlepost.php?...

Benjamin Kudria · 2 years ago

Hear, hear!

As a member of the younger generation, I find that my peers are starting to embrace this a bit more. I guess as life starts to become more digital, the temptation to have less and less stuff become greater. The difference between physical stuff and online stuff? David Weinberger (Author of 'Everything Is Miscellaneous') clarifies this point: physical things have to go into a physical place, digital things do not. We can hide all our digital 'stuff' with one click, and then we don't have to think about it. Out of sight, out of mind.

David Allen (Getting Things Done) explains that not having to think about your tasks lets you have your 'mind like water' - I think it's everything, not just the things you have to do.

The feeling of letting go, throwing away, and forgetting is great. Just make sure you have a good external system to keep track of the things that *are* important!

Shem · 2 years ago

I quoted you on my website... www.fourteentwenty.com. I credited you as the author. I hope you don't mind, I just really like your article.

Thanks.

p.s. If there is a problem, I will remove the quote.

Michael · 2 years ago

Books are the most useless of stuff to accumulate. Every time you buy a book, ask yourself, "Am I going to read this all the time?" If your answer is no, go check it out from the library. Or donate it to your local library so others can reduce their own stuff.

Jenna · 2 years ago

I just recived this "stuff" as a forward, in my inbox. It really hit home. I have been struggling recently with my accumulation of "stuff". I am a seamstress and a crafts person, and an avid book reader. I agree with this article on "stuff" for me personally. I have a house full of "stuff" and it is beginning to stress me out. I find myself reorganizing my "stuff" all the time. I have too much "stuff". I have piles of fabric, craft supplies, books, knick-knacks, clothes I never wear, etc. I find it overwhelming and I have promised myself to rid myself of this habit of collecting "stuff". Now I understand that "stuff" means different things to different people, and my current reaction to my "stuff" in no means reflects that of others. However, for me, it's time to downsize. I have started by not accumulating anymore "stuff". This is, for me, an almost compulsive obsession and it's been difficult, as it is a habit that I need to stop. I had to go on a cash only basis for buying, this seems to help. Next, I donated over 1/2 of my clothes, then gave away some more to my niece. Wow, I have such an organized dresser/closet now and I do not miss anything! Now I am working on my craft room, this is overwhelming, but I know the end result will reduce the "stuff stress" in my life. I am about to move my craft room into a room 1/3rd its current size. I will only keep the necessary items, which I will sew/make into a finished product to sell or give as gifts. My biggest struggle will be with my collection of books (cook books, craft books, books on Angels, different Bibles, and a mix of other readings)....I am determined to keep only those near and dear to my heart, donate the rest, and then install shelves in each room, up top, like a boarder, to store the books I cannot bear to part with. I do read a lot, and I reread books, and reference them often. One day I will work on my book collection, independently, and see how I can reduce its size (currently over 1,500 books....yes, I know that is a lot of books!) I am not buying anymore books for now. I do not understand my need to own books, versus using the Public Library or the Internet. I really enjoyed this article, it really hit home for me, and I will save it on my computer to reread, if I feel the urge to buy anything that will add more "stuff" to my life. Additionally, I have moved cross country 5 years ago, and I will move again in 2-5 years, and I have vowed to myself that I will not move all this stuff again! Like everything we receive or read, one opinion does not equally serve all, but for me, this article really hit home, is applicable to my current "stuff" situation, and I am relieved to know there are others out there who are thinking about their overabundance of "stuff" like I am. Thanks for the article!

James McClean · 2 years ago

There are two types of people, spenders and savers.

Michael · 2 years ago

It's easy to put a dollar cost on owning stuff if you've ever had to rent a storage space because you had too much of it to fit in your house or apartment. Those boxes of old electronic parts I've been saving? They take up two square feet of floor space. They cost me $4 dollars per month, every month. When thinking about getting rid of somethin. it helps me to ask, "Do I want to pay rent to keep this around?"

StrangeLove · 2 years ago

I ran across this article at a fortuitous time. Next Saturday, my extended family is having a yard sale and I sent this article to them in the hopes of inspiring some simplicity in our lives.

Bruce · 2 years ago

I have recently decided to give away everything it does not take for me to function. I am cutting down my wardrobe, and all my possessions. I agree with the perceptions and observations made here. I want to be free to do and not to care for stuff.

Steve W. · 2 years ago

This is a spiritual approach to life as well. That is why monks have swear off ownership of anything when they become monks. I think it is called being ecclastic, I think. :)

Steve W. · 2 years ago

I was incorrect about the spelling. The word is ascetic.

Meme · 2 years ago

wow- good stuff you wrote here--- hugs and thanks

Philippe · 2 years ago

That was a really interesting article to read. It has motivated me to become less materialistic. Thanks

I think people just have too much stuff these days, it's humiliating. We need to go back to the basics and figure out what we need.

BarbM · 2 years ago

I get rid of my stuff at the yard sake and the flea market. I sell my books. I have no qualms about selling things to poor folks for fifty cents. It is still fifty cents I didn't have. My kids throw pennies on the ground. I pick up pennies, dimes, nicles whatever they drop. I thank God for his provision, and of late I have been finding a lot more money. I live by the Stuff In, Stuff Out Rule. It is working. The stuff I currently need comes to me at a good price or free as I send off the stuff I do not need.

milttrachtenburg · 2 years ago

Wonderful musings on stuff. My own cure for "stuff" occurred upon the death of my last living parent. At the age of 63, and an only child, I was required to clean out a lifetime of their stuff including some of the vestiges of my own long-forgotten childhood. I broke the stuff into two piles - "must save" and "gotta let go of." The "must save" pile ended up filling a small self-serve warehouse where it remained for over a year as the cost built up. Not a single piece was ever removed from said warehouse for use. Finally, seeing how much new stuff I couldn't buy because I was paying to store old stuff, I called Salvatiuon Army who hauled it away and turned it into somebody else's stuff, the profits going to help people so poor they ain't got no stuff!

It got me to thinking -- a dangerous occupation. What I thought about was the fact that my own son would have to take time from his frenetic life someday to get rid of all my stuff. "No!" I said. "Enough is enough." I went through my stuff with a fury and used the rule "unstuffed" people use: If it hasn't seen the light of day in two years, get rid of it ... with the exception of books, of course. I began filling bags with purchases made at dollar stores. All of it went. It was all impulse purchases of knick-knacks and frue-frue. Then all the old lamps, computers, typewriters, tables, toasters, phones and jimcracks were set aside. Another call to the Salvation Army got all that jazz out of my life. Last, I went through my clothes including the beautiful suede jacket that hasn't fit in 25 years and bagged it. I took that to the nearest clothing depository and ... all of a sudden, I had room in my house for new junk!

"No! I won't do it." Though empty space is its own worst enemy, I have not refilled it in three years. I am free of everything except what I need and a few decorations to prove I am alive and have some ability to leave traces behind.

It feels good. I don't miss any of it. I will still leave behind a son and granddaughter, the few books I wrote and the multitude I read. They are the best offerings from my life anyway, not the gargoyle collection from the dollar store.

Eric Rubio · 2 years ago

Paul, you mentioned that you eventually stopped accumulating stuff and now avoid it, but did you ever pare down your existing stuff (stuff in the boxes at your landlady's) to the essentials? If so, what was the experience like?

Sam · 2 years ago

Funny how Books attach themselves, isnt't it.
I used to collect books, too, but stopped one day, going through each and every book I did own, asking me: will I really, REALLY want to read this book again? If not, or if it was outdated (about .NET 1.0 for example) I gave it away.

And now if I buy I book I usually have two choices after reading it: either I did not like the book, in that case it's easy, I give or throw it away.
Or I did like the book, in that case I give it to friends/collegues/family to read and pass it around. No need to keep a book if it is not a current reference book.

Books do have weight, you'll notice when they get off your ankle :)

dootzky · 2 years ago

wow. cool.

i agree. :)
the only difference is - i've started throwing and selling my stuff few years ago, and i didn't understand WHY, i only knew i was overwhealmed with stuff :)

Connelly Barnes · 2 years ago

I like owning things that I use on a regular basis.

Connelly Barnes · 2 years ago

Also selling stuff to other people is rather unkind, as it just transfers the problem to someone else. Better to throw it away or burn it.

Richard Hollos · 2 years ago

I've always thought we had too much junk in our house. After reading this essay, I was inspired to take action. Today was stop-n-drop day where I live in Longmont, Colorado. My brother and I filled up our pickup twice with junk, and hauled it over to the city stop-n-drop. It's very liberating. We now have room to move around in our basement, and even room for a bookshelf and more books :)

Eran Shir · 2 years ago

Indeed,
In fact, I find it very useful to go, every once in a while, over a room in the house, and fill up bags with everything I don't remember when I last used. Yesterday, for example, a scanner and small printer got the sack.
Another strategy, if you have a spare spot/room in the house, is to put every week a bunch of stuff in this room, and if no one comes and looks for it for a while, it means it's time to throw it away.

Adam Byrtek · 2 years ago

Paul, thanks for reminding me this important truth I learned on my own a few years ago.

Heather · 2 years ago

Thank you for reminding me what is important and what is not. You make the task of cleaning out my closets much easier! Thank you!

Dave Schappell · 2 years ago

Bravo

My mind recently shifted a bit about stuff because of two things:
1) I started a company, and am stressing constantly about my declining net worth :-)
2) I read a book called "Stumbling on Happiness" by Daniel Gilbert -- I forget all of the lessons the book imparted, but I remember the fact that there's a huge disconnect between how much happiness objects give you as compared to what you think they will, before you buy them

Onward!

oign · 2 years ago

what a great essay! thank you! i feel i knew this before but you've just made it perfectly clear to see.

also remembered that chinese have a belief that rooms cluttered with stuff take 'chi' from a person who lives there.

once i had realized that there is no need to save webpages to my harddrive as all the information can be retrieved with internet search. so after that i started cluttering my del.icio.us account instead of harddrive)

thanks again)

Scott · 2 years ago

Yep, ditto. I have cables, PCI cards, computers, office supplies, and so on, all over the place. I don't know why it's so difficult to let something go -- I can't just throw stuff out and I'm too lazy to have a garage sale, so I give all of it to me cleaning lady. She stops by every two weeks and I always have some amount of stuff I don't want ready for her to take. The key is to work on the input side first -- get to the point where you don't buy things. Go on a one month no-purchase challenge. Then set aside the things you haven't used, and get rid of them.

I think books are ok to keep if you have the shelf space because I see them more as art. Even if I don't touch my Unix programming books anymore, their spines and the spines of all my other books look cool. I did just get rid of about 150 of them just last week, however...

Francisco · 2 years ago

I must say I agree. I enjoyed reading this article a lot.

Jonathan Krimer · 2 years ago

I think it is very sad that not only have we lost the value of 'things' and 'stuff', but that the actual (or real) cost has increased! What do I mean? The environmental cost now (or soon will) out-weighs the cost of purchasing it. If we could include the disposal cost of every item found in the china, I mean dollar store, and if we could calculate the cost of the dye, lead and chemicals that seep into the soil, we would reasses how 'cheap' it really is.

We SHOULD enact a consumption tax and eliminate income tax.
Jonathan

Tony Morgan · 2 years ago

The utility of my possessions increases the less possessions I have, and, naturally, I wish to maximise the sum of the utility of my possessions. Therefore, I try to throw something out if the change in utility of the sum of my possessions is greater than the utility of the object. The first quantity there is very difficult to measure mentally though, but it's still something I try to keep in mind.

Cam · 2 years ago

We've all heard sayings like "do you own your stuff, or does your stuff own you" before, but you've laid this principle out using straightforward logic that even the staunchest materialist couldn't deny. I think this is one of the most important essays on the web right now.

I'd only add one thing. You commented that before buying something, ask yourself "is this going to make my life noticeably better?". Before you do that, ask yourself "should I be lowering my expectation of *noticeably better*?"

Thank you Paul.

Eric Nichols · 2 years ago

I'm reminded of an old English Aristocratic saying. "We don't buy things, we HAVE them." My parents had quite a bit of stuff, but it was all MEANINGFUL stuff. Stuff all us kids wanted....grandma's Renaissance-inspired oil paintings, antique grandfather clocks, depression era HO gauge model trains, TONS (literally) of classic books, helicopter engineering books (Including a couple signed by Igor Sikorsky), etc. (Not to mention my own vast collection of ancient and not-too-ancient vacuum tubes)
STUFF can indeed be good, if it's the right stuff....the stuff thats HAD, not bought.

eric

Shawna Jewett · 2 years ago

Clutter does bother kids too. If my kids' toys aren't picked up and organized periodically, they stop playing with them. They get too overwhelmed when too much stuff is out.

ANNIE Lenoir · 2 years ago

Thanks for your insight into my life of "recretional, therapeutic" shopping at thrift stores. I think I shall give it up. I am tired of having to go through my "stuff" to re-donate it to the Goodwill. ANNIE

joe pierson · 2 years ago

Books are the worse kind of stuff, I don't know why I keep them. Maybe to prove to everyone else I read books? Don't know. I rarely ever read a book twice, even the ones I have enjoyed, let alone the bad ones(90%). I should give them away, but can't, I got a big problem:)

amna liaqat · 2 years ago

i want the essay of my first day at college

HCIdivision17 · 2 years ago

Great ideal. There is a strong design trend towards minimalism and open space. If there is anything, be sure the room falls apart without it. I'm just starting as a lowly grad student, and somehow I, too, have far too much stuff. I'm just starting to collect books, and I'm trying to collect crates for furniture (good old wood ones), so I can hide my mountains of papers and hold up my computer stuffs.

But has anyone else noticed that ceiling space is depressing. I feel like I clutter my room just so I don't ever look up. Someday I'll work out how to keep my books up there, instead of in my way on the floor. It is as though we collect stuff to fill that void - and we fail, since stuff spreads sideways too fast and there's just so much space up there (if only the Babel builders knew how high the sky went...)

Chetan · 2 years ago

Paul, I'm avid fan of your Essays, As always, this essay is also fabulous and has very intresting observations in it. In fact, I got inspired and started writing blog on my own website. my first blog is titled "Chasing Dream Job". I would appreciate if you can check it out. link is below

http://techscraps.com/tiki-index.php?page=Chasi...

John Rauser · 2 years ago

A friend of mine likes to say "Less stuff, smaller stuff." The order is important. First, try not to acquire any new stuff. If you find to do need something new, try to get a small one of whatever it is. I find this to be a remarkably useful mantra when shopping (or trying not to).

Doerte Mierau · 2 years ago

Excellent! Just giving lectures about the “convenience of the empty room”. The students have to decorate the room with only one of two pieces! Nowadays emptiness is kind of luxury (of intelligence). You have tot have brains, culture and style to come to the essence.
I am especially concerned about the pollution by producing useless stuff.

wowik · 2 years ago

Unfortunately the same problem applies to digital stuff. We download, accumulate and store so many things that we don't really need and whose value is less or equal zero.

And another advice for not getting abundant material stuff is to have a budget and keep track of your spendings, by doing so you would ten times think before buying anything and probably will prefer to save or invest this money.

wab · 2 years ago

I used to be a packrat, but I've been slowly getting rid of stuff for a few years now. Recently, I've been finding that the anti-stuff sentiment is growing more popular, which makes it harder for me to get rid of my stuff.

At first, I could sell it.

When nobody would buy it, I could still give it away.

Now, I sometimes have to pay to get rid of it.

In the future, trying to get rid of stuff will probably be illegal....

Tamas Jano · 2 years ago

That's everywhere, not just in the place you live in.
How many of you felt relieved when a complete reformat of your hard-drive brought back order and after an hour of frustration you even forgot what you were frustrated about? All the stuff had gone...wow!

JoMangee · 2 years ago

One of the reasons I for one hang onto stuff is that I might need it one day. With the advent of social hire sites (eg hirethings.co.nz) - where you can list your 'stuff' for others to borrow, hire or use, it becomes distributed storage - and you can always go find someone with that 270Mb 3.5" SyQuest EZ Drive that you wanted to keep but never used.

Dave Simpson · 2 years ago

A little something to help with house cleaning motivation (not that you necessarily need anymore!) - note what he says about books, though. K

Abhsi · 2 years ago

nice

a · 2 years ago

good stuff! :-)

k. benton · 2 years ago

Just happened across this and at the risk of re-open a 3-week-old thread, thought I'd chime in with, first, appreciation for the article, as well as a few thoughts of my own.

Addressing Mr. Graham's attitude that enjoyment of a thing necessitates use of that thing, it occurs to me that use is a less well defined term than you might think.

Art, of course, hasn't got a practical use, in the way that a knife or a couch or even a book has. The way you use art is to view it and appreciate it. But what then of objects that you can appreciate both artistically and practically. I have cookware that is both functional and beautiful, and I'm willing to spend more for objects that meet both criteria. So too for books, at least for me. I view books not as merely a physical representation of their content, but as objects unto themselves. I love the way books feel and smell and how different they are, like individual people. I love how picking one up can transport me to other times and places in my life, in a way that the content of the book might not.

Without going too deeply into it, such an attachment can be applied to greater or lesser degrees with all classes of object. If we are to minimize our stuff, it is therefore necessary not to simply limit acquisition, but to maximize it's positive effect, be it practical *or* aesthetic.


I also wanted to make a brief note regarding the ever growing problem of digital clutter, which is, if anything, more threatening than physical clutter. I have hundreds of gigs of stored data (mostly music)... quite literally tens of thousands of files. Of course, I couldn't possibly keep track of 100,000 books on my own, yet I'm faced with precisely this issue on my computer(s). The tools to solve this problem are yet in their infancy, while the scale of the problem increases. Disk space gets cheaper (1000 GB can be acquired for something like $200), bandwidth gets greater and content proliferates.

My physical clutter, while not negligible, causes me far, far less stress than digital. After all, my physical storage space is only so big (and I limit myself, at a minimum, by refusing to contemplate off-site storage), but I can perform the digital equivalent of building an addition 10 times the size of my apartment, for a pittance. This is a dangerous situation.

Abdul Qabiz · 2 years ago

Very nice essay, I have started feeling the burden after relocating to different cities in last two years. Though, I just own a few things I still find it burden.

My father always said " think before you buy, if you find something is really important and useful, buy it". That's exactly you say.

I controlled myself and got rid of this cloths buying habit, have not bought any in last one year :-).

Electronic gadgets are something, I am gonna give up.. I agree, total weight of books, I own, is more than the combined weight of all other things, I still don't feel like carrying them...

Thanks again..

-abdul

Cranreuch · 2 years ago

Two comments:

1. You're not a woman, are you? (Sexist? Of *course* it's sexist! It's about the sexes.) The effort my wife would have to exert to get rid of our fancy china is *way* more than the effort I'd have to exert to get rid of pretty much anything.

2. I don't buy the books exception. I mean - I *did* buy it, but not now. Books are as bad as the rest. (I'm not talking here about rare first editions and original manuscripts. But neither were you, I think, talking about Ming vases or carefully hunted-down missing coins or stamps)

Dave Feldman · 2 years ago

"If you haven't used something in a year get rid of it. There is one exception. Your wedding dress." I remember hearing this on the radio some years ago. It made a lot of sense then, and it still makes sense. It's just hard to be that strict and throw away a <your favorite type of stuff here>.... You might use it tomorrow.

NOTE: Recently, I've been told that many brides rent their dress. Maybe the exception can go away.

Michael Thelen · 2 years ago

Small comment about services vs 'stuff'. I think internally we learn that 'stuff' is more lasting than a consumable(or service) and therefore it has inherent value added to it. So for instance i'd rather buy a thing-a-ma-bob tool that I might only use once or twice in my shop, vs hiring someone to come do that task for me, because I will always have that thing and therefore I have more value. However your right, that 'thing' will always be eating away at me (if only through mentally tasking me with remembering that I own one of those.)

paulmorriss · 2 years ago

Moving my book collection to and from college at the start and end of every year cured me of books. Libraries are great. I hardly ever ever read a book twice.

What do you do with people who want to give you stuff for presents though?

jan · 2 years ago

Can you say "re-gift"? Just because someone gave you something doesn't mean you actually have to keep it.

Ben · 2 years ago

Holy hell, this is good. So, so true. Thank you.

Phil · 2 years ago

amen. i'm trying to cut down too. i leave some stuff at home while at college, and all i miss are the books (which i frequently reread). i struggle with some items that i use very rarely but seem necessary (a tux is cheaper to own than rent several times). an empty or emptier room that is well organized is very relaxing and calming. have what you *need*. plus a couple fun things. and that's it.

silly_sad · 2 years ago

once i got rid of few kilogramms of obsolete Shottky-Logic chips, not used for along time, the next day a friend called me if i have a pair of triggers or such for him to repair something !

The stuff in the attic seems useless but it is the buffer.
if you can not immediately access public store or buy something (for some reason),
or if your money turns to coloured paper due to a war or such, then only the stuff helps.

You think that stuff is not valuable because you used to BUY anything at anytime.

And this is because of two things:
1) money is valuable
2) supermarket is near you
Both may change in a moment. Think of that.

me · 2 years ago

totally agree, exdcept that books themselves are also stuff unless you actually re-read them. donate them to the library

Kurt Edwards · 2 years ago

A friend of mine once addressed the question quite succinctly: "A man should own only what fits in two backpacks - except for books and tools." If it doesn't fit in two backpacks, it will (eventually) own you. While neither of us strictly adhere to this, it does serve as an alternative benchmark: if I were going out to the woods for a week and had to survive only with what I carried on my back, would this make it into the first pack? If not, I don't *really* need it, and in a pinch I could just toss it in the trash or abandon it as I leave an apartment. The second pack has ended up reserved for financial and legal records - the urban equivalent of the first backpack.

Robin · 2 years ago

I agree with everything you said. I am now burdened with getting rid of rooms and rooms of stuff and I don't know how to do it because it is in storage and I have downsized to a small condo.

Hamish · 2 years ago

Stuff follows the principal of Parkinson's Law i.e "Stuff increases to fill the space available to it." Consequently, the more stuff you accumulate, the bigger the house you will need to hold it.

Neil · 2 years ago

Paul - many thanks for "Stuff"! I just saw an exibit by Andrea Zittel at the Vancouver Art Gallery where she presents a list entitled: "These things I know for sure". #15 is a nice way to summarize your remarks. Cheers.

1. It is a human trait to organize things into categories. Inventing categories creates an illusion that there is an overriding rationale in the way that the word works.

2. Surfaces that are "easy to clean" also show dirt more. In reality a surface that camouflages dirt is much more practical than one that is easy to clean.

3. Maintenance takes time and energy that can sometimes impede other forms or progress such as learning about new things.

4. All materials ultimately deteriorate and show signs of wear. It is therefore important to create designs that will look better after years of distress.

5. A perfect filling system can sometimes decrease efficiency. For instance, when letters and bills are filed away too quickly, it is easy to forget to respond to them.

6. Many "progressive" designs actually hark back towards a lost idea of nature or a more "original form."

7. Ambiguity in visual design ultimately leads to a greater variety of functions than designs that are functionally fixed.

8. No matter how many options there are, it is human nature to always narrow things down to two polar, yet inextricably linked choices.

9. The creation of rules is more creative than the destruction of them. Creation demands a higher level of reasoning and draws connections between cause and effect. The best rules are never stable or permanent, but evolve, naturally according to content or need.

10. What makes us feel liberated is not total freedom, but rather living in a set of limitations that we have created and prescribed for ourselves.

11. Things that we think are liberating can ultimately become restrictive, and things that we initially think are controlling can sometimes give us a sense of comfort and security.

12. Ideas seem to gestate best in a void--- when that void is filled, it is more difficult to access them. In our consumption-driven society, almost all voids are filled, blocking moments of greater clarity and creativity. Things that block voids are called "avoids."

13. Sometimes if you can't change a situation, you just have to change the way you think about the situation.

14. People are most happy when they are moving towards something not quite yet attained (I also wonder if this extends as well to the sensation of physical motion in space. I believe that I am happier when I am in a plane or car because I am moving towards an identifiable and attainable goal.)

15. What you own, owns you.

16. Personal truths are often perceived as universal truths. For instance it is easy to imagine that a system or design works well for oneself will work for everyone else.

-----Andrea Zittel

admin · 2 years ago

Amen! All very true. And there's nothing like moving from one continent to another to learn what you really *use* and what is just padding.
A life-changing view of money and what you spend it on is the book "Your Money or Your Life", see http://www.yourmoneyoryourlife.org/
and a great analysis of what shopping is all about - special for the girls - is at http://whywomenarestupid.com, click on the essay "Beauty, Makeup, Advertising and Fashion - a primer".

Dylan · 2 years ago

Good to see an article here about consumerism. We all know that excessive consumerism is bad for the environment, we all know it doesn't increase happiness in any meaningful way, but worse, it's actually a *drain* on economic growth. Most consumer goods are not used to create wealth in any meaningful way (owning a single car, a microwave, a washing machine and a computer will definitely make you more productive, but beyond that...?) so if the money was spent instead on investing in wealth-creation activities (startup companies etc.), the economy would be far better off. And as producing consumer goods becomes ever more automated, it will be provide ever less jobs, meaning that, as Paul suggests, spending money on "services" is far better for employment figures too. But we still have this strange notion that retail/consumer spending is a significant part of economic growth, and that recessions happen when people stop buying stuff. I'd like to see the evidence for that, because I'm not aware of any.
Excessive consumerism is just plain bad, on every front, and appears to be little more than a flaw in human nature - after all, we're not evolutionarily adapted to prosperity and cheap consumer goods.

steve smyth · 2 years ago

i have sent this to all the family can we make a better world, yes if only for us. it's a brilliant insight for us all to follow

chris · 2 years ago

Actually, the reason why houses in the 1800's (and before) didn't have closets, was because a closet was considered a room for tax purposes. Less rooms, less taxes

Douglas Woods · 2 years ago

Yes, in a way I guess most of us have too much stuff and clutter. The problem is that we can easily get attached to our stuff even when it is no longer of use or value to us, so this stuff hangs around and becomes clutter. It is hard to learn how to let go of stuff but it is a lesson we all need to learn.

Andy · 2 years ago

When e-book readers get better than real books we won't need to kill so many trees, and we'll have less stuff. And you could take all your books to Italy.

j-boy · 2 years ago

Very, very good points and description of our instilled drive accumulation. This brought a point to mind.

One supplement I might add is that 'stuff' doesn't have a zero value; it can extend far into the negative value. Part of the acquisition leading to accumulation problem for those with less resources ($) is that we're looking for some advantage and 'deals' pop up all of the time. Now that we have the stuff, there are costs to get rid of it in terms of effort or more money, such as that $500 car that only lasted 6 months and was rolled off to the side of the driveway.

anonymous · 2 years ago

While I agree that most of us have too much stuff. It also saddens me that everything these days is disposable. I believe that is why I am motivated to grab it from the trash....and hope to put it back into circulation.

oh and I think the few items that might have been in a closet, were in a "wardrobe".

Julie · 2 years ago

This is a fabulous essay. Thanks for sharing it. I'm a mother of three small children. One of my goals is to teach them the value of a stuff-free life.

Jared · 2 years ago

Regarding fragile fine china, there is a lovely alternative called Casual China (e.g. Denby stoneware). It's more expensive than fine china (at least at Macy's) but it will hold up to day to day use and better yet: we actually use it every day! We had to have plates to eat on (who doesn't?) so why not get something beautiful, durable, and USEFUL.

In the interest of avoiding buying more stuff, please don't go out and buy a set today unless you are like us and need your first set of dinnerware for a new household for decades into the future.

chantelle tibbs · 2 years ago

well, that being said looks like it's time to clean my room and throw a bunch of stuff out. thanks.

JDS · 2 years ago

I love this entry. It applies to me (and my wife) very well, and the ponderings within are ponderings I have been pondering myself a lot lately.

I do differ one significant way, however: BOOKS! I have discovered a fantastic way to not want to own or get more stuff in the form of books, and that is calle the Public Library. I had forgotten how much I loved the Library until I started taking my toddler there, and I find that in treating the Library as my own personal Library (which it is in many ways), I am able to not need a large volume of stuff in the form of books.

Obviously you differ.

If only there was a Library equivalent for old furniture, old electronics, nuts and bolts, clothing, shoes, well, for all the rest of my stuff.

cooldyood · 2 years ago

This is a great essay - I'm Indian and when I came to the US 5 years ago, among the first things I noticed was stuff. Also when my wife, who is American, visited India she noticed the lack of stuff pretty much instantly.

Most people from India (poorer countries probably?!) are immune to this problem, and as Paul said, this has everything to do with the sophistication of advertising/marketing. This is readily apparent in how quickly people in India are now accumulating stuff. I think this has a direct causal relationship with the Americanization going on there.

I have a couple of thoughts:

1) Let's assume that everyone on the planet could get rid their material needs by using some trick that worked for them. Do you think then we'll have enough jobs for everyone? I'm sure the answer is yes, but have trouble imagining what kind of jobs because they won't sure be manufacturing/retail jobs.

2) I think we agree that its much easier to fall into the trap of accumulating random stuff than to get out of it (is that true for you?). Does that say anything about us?

Johan Sundström · 2 years ago

I refer people so often to this essay that I decided to translate it into Swedish too:
http://intill.blogspot.com/2007/10/saker-av-pau...

tyler · 2 years ago

This is really helpful. Thank you. I'd like to encourage every American to read it, but that'd crash the American economy...

Benjamin · 2 years ago

Do you know, I logged on today with the sole intention of purchasing strange and exotic stuff unavailable to me in my local shops. I had no idea what kind of stuff I wanted, only that I wanted stuff. So into Google I typed 'stuff', and wound up here; a site encouraging me to question my need for stuff. Of course I was already aware that I needed absolutely no stuff whatsoever, yet still I felt the need itself knawing at me like a feral child bereft of all resposibility. Oh well.

Diane · 2 years ago

Oh, this is so true. Most of the time I feel like I'm living in a museum or a giant storeroom 'cause my husband cannot part with all the stuff. I feel like I have no room for the future because all my energy is being dragged down into the past

Panty.Shot · 2 years ago

I disagree with all of that.<

rob · 2 years ago

you are so right on the money......stuff.

Pam · 2 years ago

I love this article and I want to print it, but am feeling guilty as it will be added to my pile of "stuff"/papers that I am trying to file in a good spot so I can look to them one day...any suggestions?!

pqs · 2 years ago

so true! I recently moved to a new appartment and I threw so much stuff away! Maybe I'll throw more stuff away soon.

TheRammer · 2 years ago

Why are books different?

Ken · 2 years ago

Thank you. You made me think about how I think and feel, and I can feel the stuff getting less valuable...

Mike · 2 years ago

Thank you, whoever you are! I randomly stumbled across this essay on someone elses computer and just had to stop and read it. Quite invaluable. Seriously. Thank you.

Obscura · 2 years ago

This explains the success of Ebay. On the up side, I enjoy selling my stuff.

Tyler · 2 years ago

im a real packrat and now im considering to get rid some of my truly useless stuff

anonymous · 2 years ago

I believe that children who have children should not own "stuff" either. It detracts from the attentions one should devote to them, and their stuff detracts from their focus on you. Who really enjoys following their children around the house repeating constantly "don't touch that", "your hands are dirty stay away from that"? Stuff is also the reason for many a marital strain. My husband overvalues stuff and would sooner break a heart with his tongue than so much as put a fingerprint on his new Zune MP3 player.

anonymous · 2 years ago

When I said childre, I meant to write people...I suppose I should have proofread

AnneMarie · 2 years ago

This is a huge issue. I am also transitioning from my former life surrounded by "stuff..." knick knacks, doodads, garage sale finds, friends' castaways, etc, into a new, relaxed state of being and actually doing things rather than spending time organizing, shuffling, rearranging and cleaning various "stuff" that was around. This is an important lesson that it takes too many people too long to learn... Its not the "stuff" in your life that's important, but what you do with your life itself. Use your time to make others happy, to make friends, to see places, to read neat stuff, to read neat stuff that makes you want to go neat places...There is so much more to spend your energy on than the accumulation of "stuff" and we need to practice making our lives fuller and richer in other ways...

I applaud your writing. I am also an avid reader, so you make much sense to me.

Me · 2 years ago

Wow I randomly came across this for no apparent reason. It is so true. I was regrettably homeless for many years of my life living off what I needed and staying at places for very short periods of time. I carried a backpack with me which had everything I owned. After reading this blog I look around and think and I can't even fit everything I own in my car. So many nic nacs and extra what evers I can't even breath in here. I shall look into remedying my own discomforts now. Thanks for the advice :)

kim · 2 years ago

thank you for putting this out there! my mom is a major pack rat, and we have one room filled with things we don't know what to do with. recently I have begun helping her slowly get rid of the things that are unnecessary, and showing her this article will definitely help the process. Thank you very much! The importance of realizing how hard advertisers work on our minds is incredible, and I am happy that you have given examples of this. very cool.

Gary · 2 years ago

Simply one of the best essays on stuff I've read.

I love stuff like this. ;-)

Russel · 2 years ago

Chistmas time s full of stuff given from one to another. If you are sensible the the stuff you et one year you give to another (with love of course) the next year.
The low cost of stuff may just also related to the obesity issue. Low cost of fast foods may mean we just need to have it because it is cheap no matter what the value is? What do we do with it ? we store it on our bodies,and the cost of that storage is Heart attacks, and other health issues including early death.

pack rat · 1 year ago

Perfectly said. Thank you, this was put in a way that I can comprehend. I know I have a problem with clutter,Until now I hadn't realized exactly why it has been making me feel so crappy to have so much useless stuff. Again, THANK YOU! You told me what I needed to hear so that I can begin to fix my issue with unecessary mess.

googoo · 1 year ago

i know thats the way my dad is from stuff from the 70s

timmy · 1 year ago

wonderful article!

joe · 1 year ago

interesting

gaum · 1 year ago

I agree completely with your article Paul. I would add that stuff also costs you extra money and time – you have to clean and maintain it and may have to pay for extra storage, be it in a storage facility or a bigger home than you need, as you pointed out. I can't resist a 'bargain', but now always ask myself if I would have been willing to pay full price for it - if not, it's not a bargain - I'm only buying it because it's reduced in price and I don't necessarily need it. I calculate the value of something based on the use I get out of it, i.e. an inexpensive coat I wear only once has cost me more than an expensive one I wear all the time. I try to bear in mind William Morriss's advice, i.e. to only keep in your house things that you know to be useful or believe to be beautiful. By the way, do you know the name of the installation artist who destroyed all his personal belongings (about 7000 items?) at Selfridges in London a few years back?

Ben T · 1 year ago

Have you ever tried to move a lot of books?????

matt · 1 year ago

that is interesting

kida · 1 year ago

thats tru

n · 1 year ago

this is so funny, because i came across your essay as i was looking to figure out how i could sell all of my stuff!! ha. i have also bought many shoes, dresses, etc etc.. which have been sittin gin my closet for over a yr now. ever since i have been traveliing i prefer to carry the least amount possible.

ashley · 1 year ago

i like that word.stuff.

stak · 1 year ago

I find it kind of interesting that one of the things that most spiritual leaders have in common is their renouncing of worldly possessions. People these days still pay lip service to said leaders, but look the other way when it comes to following their example.

Eli · 1 year ago

I found out the same thing while preparing for a round the world trip. I moved out of my house back to one room at my parents. I put everything I could into storage and the truth is except for the cooking stuff I haven't missed any of it. It's been quite liberating to tell the truth. I've been lucky enough to see the ridiculous nature of stuff. Now I'd rather value people and time.

mels · 1 year ago

see, i also have a very good deal of stuff, but i move quite frequently (i'm in university), so i'm pretty sure i value it pretty highly, or else i wouldn't bother lugging it around from place to place all the freaking time. the stuff i keep, i keep because i do use it, infrequently. i also accumulate a lot of random crap, but i tend to get rid of it and then get more (i'm a scavenger) every so often. i have a lot of books and old magazines and random scraps of paper from many years ago. i suppose i'm too sentimental. the problem with people is that they leave.

i don't know what my point is, other than that i like your article.

yadadadada · 1 year ago

i like stuff alot!!!

yadadadada · 1 year ago

i like stuff alot!!!

yadadadada · 1 year ago

i like stuff alot!!!

Me · 1 year ago

Whats really disturbing is those pack-rat people who have so much stuff that every nook and cranny of their house is full. They literally have to make a maze through all their stuff to get around the house. In my opinion you have to have deep seated mental problems to be like that! Also, you must be very unsatisfied with your life when you take so much comfort from all that useless stuff!

Me · 1 year ago

oh yeah, of course some immature kids always have to post some mindless comments. How annoying! Get a life kids!

Cath · 1 year ago

I agree with your thoughts about how stuff controls us and our homes; and how clutter affects our moods.

You're wrong about books, though. Thousands of books are just as claustrophobic as any other stuff (I've cut down from 700+ to 400+ books, and it still exhausts me to live with them).

Steve · 1 year ago

Paul, you must have read Thoreau?!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_David_Thoreau

the echoes of Walden are almost too much to be coincidence..

Person #1 · 1 year ago

We have some gangas on here. ROFL

I thought this was a good read. It rings very true.

moi · 1 year ago

Well written - I needed to read this to gain perspective.

truth machine · 2 years ago

There's too much web commentary, especially about the obvious.

Carl · 2 years ago

The advertisements I don't mind, but I think you should route all would-be commenters to new.yc, or at least a separate page. It's a bit too distracting from the essay to suddenly see the clutter (stuff?) of other people's comments.

Sam · 2 years ago

I agree with Carl. I realize that the comments are partly for your own benefit, but every website I go to now (take Youtube) forces me to look at thousands of mundane comments that distract me from the content.

As for stuff, I rarely find the need to buy anything. The internet makes this easy - music, reading material, or whatever can usually be found online. Unfortunately it just turns into digital stuff. My desktop can become horribly cluttered without conscious effort on my part.

Giacomo Lacava · 2 years ago

How does a webpage "force" you to read anything? It's not like comments were blinking or flashing... If you don't like the comments, don't read them... is it so hard to exercise free will? :)

Sam · 2 years ago

I see what you mean, but my point is that it's distracting and doesn't add anything to the page.

rob · 2 years ago

Giacomo you don't know much about marketing and perception do you? ;o)

Lolliliz · 2 years ago

Paul,
I love to declutter my body, mind and heart! Flylady.net helps declutter my home. Exercises like Bikram Yoga, kayaking and bicycling declutter my mind and body. Forgiveness and gratitude declutters my heart. Every night I go to bed with a good book. I have stacks beside me within reach. But I only read what interests me that I can check out from my metro library system. That way after I read them, they go back into circulation. I do own books that I will never part with and every year will read then once again. Thanks for sharing your essays on clutter and wealth! I enjoy your style of communicating, so easily, subjects that are important to me today.