Therapist explains why viral “poop rule” helps people declutter
This rule could especially help people with ADHD.
It’s the end of the year, which means many are prepping for the New Year in between festive holiday activities.
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The New Year means resolutions, resetting and preparing for a “fresh start”.
We all know the saying, ‘New Year, New Me.'
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Just because it’s a new year, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel, change everything about your life or apply pressure to yourself with resolutions.
It’s always beneficial to strive for self-improvement and a better life, but sometimes we need that extra motivation to get started.
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A few years ago, a viral Netflix series changed people’s lives with one simple technique.
Marie Kondo, an organising consultant, author and presenter, is the host of ‘Tidying Up with Marie Kondo’.
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The 2019 reality show saw Kondo assisting people by clearing out the clutter and choosing joy in a series of inspiring home makeovers.
She taught the clients and viewers her now-viral tidying technique, used for decluttering and organising: “Does this spark joy?”
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This was used to help people get rid of items by asking if the item they want to keep sparks joy. If it doesn’t, it gets thrown out.
This inspired thousands, but now it’s being compared to a newer, seemingly better technique.
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ADHD content creator Becka Karle, known as @adhdorganized on TikTok, first shared this rule, and her video quickly garnered 175,000 views on TikTok before gaining traction on other social media platforms.
It’s called the “poop rule”.
In an interview with HuffPost, Karle said a therapist told her about this rule to help manage her attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms.
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At the time, Karle was downsizing her home and struggling to go through and purge the items she had accumulated over the years.
Difficulty staying organised is a common challenge among people with ADHD.
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The comically named rule is simple: when trying to decide whether to keep or discard an item, pick it up and ask yourself this question.
If the object had poop on it, would you wash it off or throw it away?
And really visualise it.
Like an old toiletry or something would be gross, right? So my therapist was like, ‘Would you wash poop off that?’ And I was like, ‘Absolutely not. It would be all in the cracks, you know?’ And she was like, ‘Exactly. Now, what about a shirt that you wear to work a lot?’ And I’m like, ‘Honestly, I probably would wash it.’
Karle said this worked for her because it was highly visual, and it kept her accountable.
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In the comments on her video, many resonated with this and even said how it was more effective than Kondo’s technique, saying, “So...Marie Kondo’s ‘Does this spark joy?’ made more visceral? Love it.”
Many are finding this method to be more effective, but it is especially transformative for those who have ADHD.
the marie kondo “does this spark joy?” method of decluttering never worked for me, but an adhd tiktoker just changed my entire life by introducing “the poop rule: if this object had poop on it, would you wash it off, or throw it away?”
— Cooper 🌞 (@cooperownbey) August 23, 2024
Krista Carvin, a Canadian therapist specialising in adult ADHD, explains why this might be.
I am always on the lookout for memorable and easy-to-implement tips that can potentially help my clients. I think that for the right ADHDer, the poop rule has just the right amount of humor to help this tip be a memorable one.
Why this rule works
People with ADHD may struggle with organisation and maintaining their home due to something called executive dysfunction, which is a core symptom of the condition.
Executive function skills help you:
- do things like remember to complete certain tasks and the steps necessary to get them done.
- to keep track of information and items needed to do tasks.
- to plan and prioritise while also responding to changes in demands.
- to manage your attention, time and emotions while executing a task without losing interest or motivation.
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Carvin explains that if you have a hard time with executive dysfunction, organising and tidying your home can be hard to do, “especially without getting distracted, tired or bored.”
However, Carvin did say that she would only recommend this rule as a decluttering tip for the right client with the right sense of humour because it does help to simplify the complex decision-making process around decluttering that ADHDers might struggle with.
The strategy addresses the decision to keep an item or not in a clever, concrete and clear way that could work well for the right client.
You also don’t need to have an ADHD diagnosis to benefit from the poop rule.
Whatever works for you, you can employ to help make those tricky decisions about which items are important enough to hold onto and which ones you’d be better off donating or getting rid of during your next “spring” clean.
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