132 - The Junk Drawer Series: Decluttering Instruction Manuals

Summary

In this episode, Heather Tingle tackles the common clutter of instruction manuals, exploring why we keep them and how to let go. She offers practical tips on assessing their value, reducing clutter, and managing related anxieties.

Chapters

00:00
Introduction to the Manual Clutter Challenge

00:29
Why Do We Keep Instruction Manuals?

01:21
The Anxiety Behind Keeping Manuals

02:14
Assessing the Value of Manuals in Your Home

03:09
Common Items with Manuals You Can Discard

04:33
When Manuals Are Too Redundant or Unnecessary

06:46
Using Online Resources and QR Codes

07:38
Deciding When to Keep or Discard Manuals

09:30
High-Value Complex Appliances Worth Keeping Manuals

10:49
Organizing Essential Manuals in a Small Folder

11:18
Understanding Consumer Rights and Warranties

12:14
When to Recycle or Keep Manuals for Resale

13:36
Final Tips and Reassurance for Decluttering Manuals

14:34
Encouragement and Final Thoughts

Transcript

Heather Tingle (00:00.974)
Hello, untanglers and welcome back to another episode of Decluttering Untangled with me, your host, Heather Tingle. So today we are back in the junk drawer. So this is part three, I think, of this series and I wanna go somewhere I know is going to be very familiar with a lot of you because it is stuff that I see all the time in clients' homes, instruction manuals, those little paper booklets.

sometimes actually quite big paper booklets, occasionally a CD-ROM, do we remember those? I am of that age, I absolutely do remember them. Generally when we find them, they are creased, dog-eared, slightly damp, going a bit moldy, got a couple of rings of cups of tea that have been on them, been in a plastic wallet shoved somewhere, never to be seen.

And they're generally in a million different languages. None of them are particularly helpful and the instructions don't make any sense. It's generally a lot of bump for not very much information, but they do go in our junk drawers quite often. So today I wanna go through them with you, working out what to keep and letting go of the rest. And hopefully by the end of this episode, you will feel less scared about tackling them and less guilty about getting rid of them. So why do we keep them?

I think before we get practical into it, I want to spend a little bit of time on the psychological theory. I think really because the main reason people hold on to instruction manuals and definitely why I did was not like laziness, it's anxiety. It's that, but what if part of our brain that imagines a million different scenarios. So what if it breaks? What if I need to reset it? What if there's an error code? What if I need to know what a certain button does?

and that manual feels like a kind of safety net, even when deep down, you know, you would never actually go and find it or you've never been able to find it, maybe. And then you've suddenly found it like, this is that thing that I may need at some point in the future. And I think especially if you are neurodivergent, it's a type of hyper vigilance about being prepared.

Heather Tingle (02:22.186)
and that is really strong because we like a plan, we like knowing, and if we don't know something, there's a real massive innate sense of panic with that. So keeping a manual feels like the proper thing to do. It feels like you're responsible. It feels like you're organised and you've got your stuff together. But I just want to kind of name that before we start.

throwing things in the recycling bins because I think it's really helpful to understand what's going on in your brain so that we can look at ways of really assessing how important something is and whether it should be kept or not, not just based on that panicky anxiety of a scenario that might never happen. So the manual isn't about the appliance itself, it's about the anxiety of not having information when you might need it. And that's really worth acknowledging and is absolutely valid.

thing to think about. But with that being said, let's have a look at what's actually in there. So I want you to do a little check, get as many manuals as you can find and pile them up and then have a look at what you've actually got because I can almost guarantee there's gonna be a manual in there for something really ridiculous. Something so simple that it kind of beggars belief. So a kettle, mean, yeah, there are really clever kettles these days, but really.

Like you put water in it, you press a button. If you're in America, this may not be for you, because I'm very aware electric kettles aren't really a thing, but in the UK, they are a staple. You can pick one up for like 15, 20 pounds and they boil a lot of water if you drink a lot of tea, like in my world, but let's face it, it's not really anything you need a manual on. You you put water in it, you turn it on, it turns itself off and you pour the hot water into your cup.

I've seen manuals, which is hilarious, for things like toilet brushes, cheese graters, like salad spinner type stuff, lots of kitchen equipment, which I find hilarious. Obviously I am not really okay with kitchen equipment because I don't really go in my kitchen very often except to use the kettle. I've seen all sorts of things, toasters, set of coat hangers, like serious, like these manuals exist, they're printed, they're shaped, they're packaged, they end up in your junk drawer.

Heather Tingle (04:49.452)
Really? Why? Like a cheese grater? Like you know how to use a cheese grater. A five-year-old could kind of know how to, no, not necessarily use a cheese grater. So is there anything in there that actually when you look at it, you would never need a manual to understand how to use?

then look at anything that if it was broken, would you replace it rather than repair it? So the minute my toaster goes, I am not going to try and figure out how to fix it. And I know that is a terrible thing for someone who's really cares about being eco-friendly, but I would never trust, I want to say I don't want to trust proper electrical items to be fixed.

if they are cheap enough that I can go tomorrow, no matter where I am in the month of payday to go and get another one. A basic lamp, a fan, that kind of thing. So where the manual is like more pages than the actual product deserves, recycling pile, you do not need it. And then have a look at how many manuals you've got in there for things that you now no longer own. Probably a lot.

If anything like my clients, there'll be tons of them, a printer that you gave away in 2019, the microwave that moved with, know, an ex partner or whatever, the coffee machine, someone bought you, or you're like, for me, it would be the cake pop machine that I ended up giving away, because I did my two weeks of making a million cake pops and then never touched it ever again. So what do you no longer have in your home that you still have the manual for? Let it go.

The manual, if it's still there, all it's doing is taking up space and it's making that drawer feel full and overwhelming for absolutely no reason. So let it go. Okay, next thing.

Heather Tingle (06:48.138)
If you no longer have it, let it go because, and I really love this, someone I know once called it a little paper ghost because it's not doing you any favors. If you've not got it anymore, these still own it. If not, let it go and recycle them, done. So for everything else that like survives those checks, especially the ghost check, which I love, and you definitely still own the item.

and it's something complex enough that the manual could theoretically be useful, I want to ask you two questions before you decide to keep it. Question number one, is this this manual already online? Now, if it's already online, you can always download it somewhere if you are worried about it not being online in the future. Lots of items these days have now got little QR codes that take you to the link to the item.

Most manufacturers these days put manuals on their website as a matter of course, even really old items. So you can usually find them in maybe 30 seconds doing a quick Google search. If the manual is online, the paper copy is kind of a duplicate. Space saving, no. Draw clogging, definitely. Could you let that go? And then question two, which I think is more important.

because I know this for me. If something went wrong with the item, would you actually look at the manual or would you just go online and Google it? So for example, recently I had an error code on my washing machine. Did I go to my home file where that manual is? No, I went stood in front of the washing machine.

and Googled the error code and then figured out what it was. It was the fact of not closing the door properly. It was very simple. So would you just Google it? Because be honest with yourself, in the last three years, five years, however many times, have you actually gone to the drawer, found the manual, opened it and used it to a problem? And that's if you knew where it was. If you didn't know where it was, would you have tried to find it? If you had the manual, would you actually have looked at it in the first place? Because for most people, the answer is probably no.

Heather Tingle (09:09.326)
It's more likely you're gonna Google it because when something goes wrong what we do we Google it we watch a 30 second video on YouTube we ask someone we do not think ah I'm gonna go and find that little booklet that's somewhere in my filing system and look it because to be honest most of the time it doesn't even tell you anyway it just tells you to ring their customer care or whatever so if your answer is actually I'm gonna be honest with myself and reality self would just Google it you don't need the paper version put it in the recycling bag

And then there is a very small category of manuals that are probably worth holding onto. And I wanna be really clear about what those look like. So you're not gonna end up keeping everything again out of anxiety. Really high value complex appliances. We're thinking boilers, heat pumps, washing machines that are complex and clever these days. Expensive coffee machines with a lot of different functions.

something where if something went wrong, the manual would actually help and you would go to it and the repair would be worth doing.

Anything that's genuinely not available online, older appliances, discontinued products, things where the manufacturer no longer exists is always helpful. If you can't find it with a quick search, the paper copy has value. Now I do want to talk about things like children's games, for example, with the exception of problem monopoly, because everybody always complains about the rules with that one. But for most kids games,

you are not increasing the resale value or you're not doing the next person a favor by keeping hold of the instructions for a regular game that most people can figure out how to play without the rules. Just chucking that one in for good measure. So anything where the manual contains your specific settings or configuration that's unique to you, if you've written notes in it or it's been customized in some way to your setup,

Heather Tingle (11:11.638)
Obviously that's worth keeping. For those, get a small folder. Now you can get really great little display books, which are basically plastic pockets together in a little binder. Or if that's, you you haven't got one, then a very small ring binder with plastic pockets inside it, and you can use it for that. You do not need a drawer full of random stuff of everything you've ever bought.

One folder, it's finite, it's intentional. One per household is absolutely enough for most people. And then I know because I'm going to get asked about this, because I do, warranties and receipts. So for big purchase items, I would definitely keep the receipt in there, any warranty documentation together with manual. If something goes wrong, everything's in one place. One thing worth knowing, and I want to be really clear, I am not a solicitor, a lawyer. This is not legal advice.

But in the UK, you've got statutory rights that can go way beyond what a warranty says. So if you got in with all the bump from your, for example, washing machine or clever Hoover or whatever, you got a warranty thing that you had to send off to activate the warranty, that is a load of rubbish in my eyes. All it's trying to do is to get your details so they can try and sell you extended warranty later on.

So do not feel that you have no rights. If something breaks down and you did not send off that piece of paper, it's okay. You still got consumer rights. So that piece of paper that's been there for three years and you feel that you need to keep hold of it even though you never actually sent it off, let it go. Unless that information has got, for example, unique barcode or serial number of that item, in which case keep it just for that. But you don't need to worry about that. You can let it go.

So even if the warranty period expired, it's worth knowing that you've got protections under consumer law and it's definitely worth a quick Google if you're in that situation. Or, and she hasn't asked me to say this, but I follow a lady called Helen Judney. She is called the complaining cow. She is hilarious by the way, but she really knows her stuff about UK consumer law. So go give her a follow. If the warranty period has definitely passed,

Heather Tingle (13:30.273)
and the receipt for something really low value, can go, you do not need a receipt from 2016 for a toaster. So everything that's leaving, paper recycling, hopefully straightforward, pop it in your recycling bin. If you've got any CDs or CD-ROMs with software on them, like I know that they still appear all the time, then they need a different exit. So you can put them in, them to your local tip for like small electricals, or you can approach people like.

craft groups or allotment societies because they may use them and recycle them for all sorts of things like bird scarers or they might make them like a pretty mosaic table, for example. So check out those. And obviously it is okay to put them in general waste if that is too difficult for you to exit. So there you go. That's instruction manuals and we've kind of touched a bit on warranties as well. So I hope what you take away from this is it's not just a practical bit.

because yeah, do go through and have a sort because it is genuinely satisfying. But permission to let go of the anxiety of not knowing that was keeping those manuals in the drawer. Honestly, most things are figure outable and you are not and do not need to know everything. That's why there are professionals that you can ask for support and help and, you know, wring up and say, I've got an error code on this washing machine. Is it actually wrecked or do I need to buy a new washing machine or can get it fixes it an easy thing?

You don't need to be an expert in everything. You don't need to have all the answers and you do not need to keep those ridiculous little pieces of paper that aren't going to do anything for you. You do not need a paper safety net for a cheese grater. Like you're going to be OK. You can figure that one out. So if you're working through the junk draw and if you're working through the junk draw series with me, yay, well done you. One category at a time. Be kind to yourself about the chaos that you're to find in there.

Everybody has a junk drawer, it's okay, even me. And remember that the drawer that got away from you, it will get better bit by bit. So until next time, remember you're not alone, be kind to yourself and keep on tangling.