Date Everything -
This ambiguity leads to decision fatigue. Should you smell it? Taste it? Throw it away and risk wasting food? By dating everything, you outsource that decision to your past self. You convert a stressful guess into a simple binary fact: Before 04/2025? Toss. After? Keep. The kitchen is where the "date everything" rule pays for itself in 48 hours.
Surge protectors degrade over time. They do not last forever. Write the purchase date on the bottom. After 3-5 years, that surge protector is just an expensive extension cord. Replace it. date everything
Write the install date on your HVAC air filter with a marker. Replace it in 90 days. Write the install date on your smoke detector batteries. (Pro tip: When you change your clocks, check the date on the detector itself—smoke detectors expire after 10 years. Date the back when you buy it.) This ambiguity leads to decision fatigue
In a world obsessed with minimalism, decluttering, and "living in the moment," the concept of dating everything might sound tedious, obsessive, or even neurotic. After all, why scribble a tiny month and year on a box of baking soda when you can just toss it? Why write the date on the back of a family photo when it is saved in "the cloud"? Throw it away and risk wasting food
Welcome to the philosophy of "Date Everything." It isn't about living in the past; it is about securing your future. Before we dive into the practical checklists, let’s look at why humans crave dates. A date is an anchor. When you look at an object or a note without a date, your brain experiences a phenomenon known as "temporal ambiguity." You know you bought the ketchup sometime , but was it last month or last election cycle?
Why does one USB-C cable charge your laptop fast, and another takes six hours? Because one is old. When you buy a new cable, take a tiny piece of masking tape and wrap it near the USB end. Write "3A 08/24" (3 amps, bought August 2024). When performance degrades in 2026, you know to replace it without rage.
We all think we remember when we opened that jar of pasta sauce. We don't. Write the opening date on the lid. Do the same for spice jars. (Yes, paprika expires. It doesn't go bad, but it loses its spirit. Date when you opened it; after six months, refresh it.)
