Jim shared this idea with me a couple years ago, and I have to say it’s a pretty brilliant idea!

Do you ever find yourself wearing the same things over and over?  Do you ever find yourself looking in your closet, realizing that there’s a lot of things you DON’T wear?  But you can’t give them up?  Really….when was the last time you actually WORE that item that you can’t give up?

I was complaining one day about that issue, can’t remember if it was that Trevor had too many shirts, or that I had too many shirts, but Jim told me about this idea….and it worked very well.  I have to admit I didn’t stick to it for very long, but I’m thinking about trying it again.

Here it is…

When you go to your closet to pick out a shirt to wear….only look at the first 3 on the left and choose one of them.  The next day repeat, and repeat, and repeat.

Either you’ll find that you are always saying “no” to a particular shirt (maybe it’s time to toss it!)….or maybe you actually wear all of your clothes!

This sounds so easy it’s almost silly, but it really works!

My closet is simple…I have three rods and a shelving unit.  One rod has all my dress clothes, jackets and accessories.  Another rod hangs my pants and hoodies and ‘cozy’ wear.  And my third rod hangs all of my shirts.  I try to keep it fairly organized, with all my short-sleeves together and all my long-sleeves together….but that’s about as far as I go. 

When I get dressed in the morning, the hard part is choosing a shirt.  Pants are easy- always jeans.  Although lately my fleece pants have been in the spotlight!   But using Jim’s idea…all I have to decide is “short-sleeves or long-sleeves?”  Then grab the first three, pick one to wear, put the other two back.

When I did this last time, I ended up throwing a lot of items out.  I realized I was never choosing the shirt (it was too big, or too tight, or too uncomfortable, or simply didn’t look good).  Why keep it if you keep NOT choosing it? 

I also found myself excited when something popped up that I normally wouldn’t have chosen.  Something other than a plain old T-shirt in my case…something with buttons, or a pattern, or ruffles even!  Made me dress up a bit- and that’s a good thing!

“Pick one from the first three” makes getting dressed much easier….and helps you develop a relationship with your clothing.  Try it out!