Issue of the day Do you have a doom box?

IT is a word full of foreboding, but it seems most of us have a “doom” box and the rising trend is not quite as bad as it may sound.

So what is a “doom box”?

It is one of those boxes or bags – or whatever receptacle you have opted for – within your home that houses the miscellaneous nonsense you have accumulated over the years that falls within no particular organisational bracket that you pile together with the intention – whether realised or not – of sorting out later.

It’s just life’s detritus?

Not quite, as it is not necessarily waste or unwanted. It just doesn’t come under any particular heading and is a mix of the sentimental can’t-quite-bring-yourself-topart-with items, to the spare parts and odds and ends we gather over time, from the small screwdriver set given in a Christmas cracker years ago, to a postcard sent with love and good wishes from far afield.

There’s more to it?

For some, there can be. Research suggests that people diagnosed with ADHD are more likely to put together a doom box because they are quick ways to take the first step toward organising, rather than outright sorting your life out in one go.

ADHD?

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a condition that includes symptoms such as being restless and having trouble concentrating. People with the condition have been sharing their fondness for doom boxes online. However, doom boxes have become a notable online trend for all during the pandemic, rising in popularity as people have all found themselves spending swathes more time at home.

And?

Let’s face it, it is easier to just gather up random items and put them in a box than it is to find genuine abodes for random belongings, but it is also the first step toward tidying.

However?

Some users of the Tiktok social networking service suggest multiple doom boxes can be a sign of a need to address undiagnosed ADHD, with thousands of videos posted online about the subject and millions of views accumulated as people relate to the modern-day practice that extends to “doom drawers” and “doom closets”.

Being tidy is in itself a trend? Decluttering has surged during Covid, led by Japanese organisational expert Marie Kondo, whose Netflix show based on her book,

The Life-changing Art Of Tidying Up, was a smash hit. Kondo says tidying can “spark joy” and if you have belongings that do not “speak to the heart” then they should be “discarded”.