So much of the decluttering advice out there asks you to make immediate decisions about what’s staying and what’s going, and expects you to put a lot of stuff in the “going” category. There’s certainly a good reason to try to do this quickly: the less time you spend pondering the fate of something, the less time you have to get sentimental or worry about the unlikely event that you’ll need it in the future. That said, some possessions are a real mystery, and you should take a little extra time to think about what to do with them. That’s where your “maybe box” comes in.

While all the different methods of organizing and decluttering have their own protocols, they all have something in common: you sort your stuff into three piles: keep, donate, throw away, and occasionally a fourth, which is sell. You usually do this with boxes, to make everything easier and to free up the space you’re working on at the same time.

Add another box next time: Adding a box labeled “maybe keep” gives you a chance to put a few items in a kind of purgatory while you contemplate their fate. At the same time, it frees up the space you’re working on and doesn’t stop you from continuing your decluttering efforts.

When you’re tidying, you should always work in small sections, focusing on a shelf, a drawer, or a specific space in a room so that you don’t get overwhelmed. When you do, you put items in their appropriate boxes and usually decide whether to keep them, throw them out, or donate them. However, when you pick up something that you’re thinking about, it slows you down immensely, because you’re thinking about it, its possible future uses, and its personal meaning to you. Instead, you throw it in the maybe box, which you’ll revisit later, so that you can stay focused and keep grinding on the space in front of you.