A simple rule of thumb.

---

For some people, everything, and especially what they think they've lost, is important. Perhaps it's a corollary to losing something: if you lost it, it was important. If you still have it, it isn't yet important.

A simpler, and probably more effective, approach would be almost the exact opposite. You lost it? Before you knew it was lost did you miss it? If not, then it wasn't important. Of course I can understand the logic - but I can't seem to internalize it as an approach to life.

And yet here again, the digital comes to the rescue. Barring the dreaded hard drive crash, there's more than enough room to misplace just about anything, and then simply run a quickie search on it. Basically that means that I don't lose anything, other than the recollection of ever having saved it. And when that happens, it's an especially pleasant surprise to rediscover something you didn't even know you had.

---

Go to: Digital vs. Physical.