I’m trying to re-read and sort through my past dots — and with almost 4000 of them, it’s no small task. At first, I spent too much time trying to create just two piles: book-worthy and not. I struggled with so many of the entries trying to decide in which stack to place them.
Then, I re-did my methods and created three piles: yes, no, and maybe. This has made the task so much easier! There are obvious “yesses” and obvious “no’s” and everything else goes in the middle bin, allowing me to easily move on to the next one.
It’s the 10-20-70 rule and I think this process can apply to other things in life that need sorting. Cleaning out the closet: yes automatically goes back in, no is off to the donation center, and maybes remain in a box to see if you really miss them. Purging files can follow the same pattern. Packing a suitcase. Deciding what to keep when moving or preparing for an estate sale.
Don’t waste your energy making decisions about fine gradations during every sort. Do the easy delineations first, and then haggle over the remaining 20%.
