Need, useful, nice, unnecessary

A list of twenty things you want is noise. The same list with a label on each item is a decision waiting to happen.

The four labels

Need. Something is broken, missing, or genuinely required. Small category. If everything is a need, nothing is.

Useful. You'd use it often and it makes an ordinary day better. This is where most good purchases live.

Nice to have. Real want, no urgency. Perfectly fine to buy — just buy it knowing that's what it is.

Unnecessary. You already own something similar, or it belongs to a version of you that isn't showing up. Keeping these on the list is useful anyway: patterns become obvious fast.

Be honest on the way in

Labelling after you buy is a story you tell yourself. Labelling before is information. The category you reach for first is usually the correct one, even when you'd rather it wasn't.