The Rule of Three

About this episode

Avery Cundill discusses the Rule of Three for effective decluttering and is joined by Sarah Burke to explore micro decluttering strategies.

I walk you through one of my foundational systems for getting organized: The Rule of Three. I explain why decluttering is a marathon, not a sprint, and how chasing a “done” to‑do list is unrealistic. Instead, I focus on building systems that make every new project manageable. I introduce the Rule of Three : Creating a garbage pile, a donate pile, and a keep pile, and I add a crucial fourth ingredient—time. Without a proper block of time, even the best system will leave you frustrated. I share how I like using different colored garbage bags for each category so everything stays visually clear and easy to manage, and I stress the importance of emptying a space completely before organizing it. Later in the episode, I’m joined by  Sarah Burke from the Women in Media Podcast Network . Sarah lives in a Toronto condo and lives with ADHD, so we explore how micro decluttering—tiny, focused projects and functional zones—can make decluttering feel possible instead of overwhelming. I wrap up by assigning light homework: go buy three different colored boxes of garbage bags so you’re ready to use the Rule of Three anywhere in…

People in this episode

Guest: Sarah Burke

Topics covered

• decluttering
• organization
• time management
• ADHD
• micro decluttering

Keywords

• garbage pile
• donate pile
• keep pile
• colored garbage bags
• functional zones

Mentioned in this episode

Products: colored garbage bags

Places: Toronto

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