5 Findings That Will Change the Way You Tackle Clutter

Talk about the magic touch: In a 2008 study published in the journal Judgment and Decision Making, researchers confirmed that the longer we physically hold an item, the more we value it. Two groups of 42 test subjects bid on coffee mugs they'd held in their hands for either ten or 30 seconds; the group that had more physical contact with the objects bid significantly higher. The lesson? When cleaning house, it may be best to enlist a buddy to hold things up as you decide what stays and what goes. That way you can avoid forming new attachments to your junk—or rekindling old ones.