I've noticed that while I'm de-cluttering my home there is another de-cluttering going on. My time is starting to be de-cluttered as well. I'm not sure when it started but I just noticed it yesterday. I've started doing things in my day more deliberately.
Social Media
For example, I haven't been on Facebook for over a week. What a huge time drain that thing is. Honestly, I don't really care that you went to a great little cafe and had a bagel for breakfast this morning. Why do you think I need to know? Facebook can be a great tool for bringing people closer together. I have family that lives on the other side of the country and I can send them a message at anytime. This is a great thing but it gets to be a problem when people obsess about it. I've been guilty of it myself. Sitting staring at the screen waiting for a comment, any comment on a status update or a photo I just uploaded. To the point of not doing anything else!
I've removed all the social media apps from my smart phone. I'm not saying I'll never be going back onto social media sites just not as a time killer or for some validation from people whose opinion I probably don't really care all that much about anyway. I certainly don't need them on my phone. When I'm out, I want to be more present. Not "there but not there" if you know what I mean. We all see them. People sitting in the most amazing of spaces and just looking at their screens chatting with someone. Here's an idea, why not call that person up and invite them to share this moment in person. I bet you are chatting with someone who lives less than 30 minutes from you.
Television
This one is another huge black hole in your life. Don't get me wrong, I like TV but I watch it deliberately. I always have. I hate having the TV on as background noise. I much prefer music, audio books or maybe a podcast in this day and age. I see no point in listening to the jibber jabber on the TV when it's nothing I want to actually watch. Especially the commercials. Terrible.
If I'm going to watch the TV it's on my time when it's something I want to watch not just for company. I do watch pointless entertainment on TV. The Simpsons is a favorite of mine. So I'm not trying to talk down to those who like to watch. Just be aware of the effect it is having on you and your time. Hours go by in a blink and suddenly you feel the need to shop as well. LOL.
The best thing my wife and I invested in for television was a PVR. We record the shows we want to watch so we can watch them on our schedule and we can skip the commercials!
What do you find in you life that steals away your time and gives you nothing in return? How can you cut them back and regain some control over the time you have each day?
Chris.
Showing posts with label De-Cluttering. Show all posts
Showing posts with label De-Cluttering. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Give It Time....It's A Process.
It takes time to de-clutter one's life. How long did it take you to accumulate all that stuff? If your anything like me and my wife, it was years and years. We still have boxes from our wedding 12 years ago! Just sitting there taking up room. So after all these years of building up how can you expect to de-clutter it all in a weekend.
Where is this coming from you ask? Well after spending hours on the weekend clearing stuff out, throwing away what was garbage and putting up for sale some of the items we thing are worth trying to sell off, I still see such a mess! In fact I made more of a mess trying to clean up that mess! I moved stuff out into the basement hallway, piled things up here and there and that storage room floor is a write off!
But, I see now that it's going to take time. Lots of time and I'm willing to spend that time to better organize and de-clutter my home and life. I looked around that room this morning after getting out of the shower and I was feeling bad that I didn't get it all straightened up at once but just a little while ago I realized that it's a process this de-cluttering.
It takes time.
Chris.
Where is this coming from you ask? Well after spending hours on the weekend clearing stuff out, throwing away what was garbage and putting up for sale some of the items we thing are worth trying to sell off, I still see such a mess! In fact I made more of a mess trying to clean up that mess! I moved stuff out into the basement hallway, piled things up here and there and that storage room floor is a write off!
But, I see now that it's going to take time. Lots of time and I'm willing to spend that time to better organize and de-clutter my home and life. I looked around that room this morning after getting out of the shower and I was feeling bad that I didn't get it all straightened up at once but just a little while ago I realized that it's a process this de-cluttering.
It takes time.
Chris.
Monday, February 10, 2014
Weekend De-Cluttering Progress
I made some great progress on the de-cluttering at home this weekend!
I pulled everything out of my closet in the bedroom. Everything. On to the bed it went and I looked at each piece of clothing with a very critical eye. My closet was packed. 9 linear feet of hanger space packed so tight that my shirts were always wrinkled from being squashed together all the time. I packed up 5 large black garbage bags of clothes that I have not worn in the last year or that I have no plans of wearing ever again. Let me say that number again.....5 large garbage bags!!! After the purge in the closet, I still have enough shirts to not have to laundry for at least a month. But these are my favorite shirts and I'm not one who believes that you only need 5 shirts in your closet. I brought the coats that I'm keeping up to my closet in the bedroom as well. I have no clothes in any closet other than my bedroom closet now. That's huge. I feel pretty good about that. My dresser is constantly being de-cluttered as underwear and socks get replaced and jeans and shorts last me for a very long time.
I also started on the spare bedroom/storage room in the basement. This room has always been a sore spot for me. It is the dumping ground for items we don't know what to do with. Clothes in bags that the kids have out grown, nick knacks that have been replaced and other general junk. I pulled all my books out, went through them and kept about 5% of them. I took the book case that they were in, put it in the family room and managed to eliminate 2 smaller book cases that had movies on them by moving the whole collection to this cabinet out in the open where it is seen and easy to get at. I have 2 more of these large book cases in the room that are getting a de-cluttering and a re-purposing as well. With the movies off one of them, I have room for all the school and craft supplies to go which will eliminate 3 paper boxes that float around the house all the time. I managed to condense a 4 drawer legal file cabinet down to a portable office file box! Talk about a lot of useless junk in that cabinet!
There is still a lot of work to go in this room but I will continue with it until it is complete before I move on to something else. My wife is convinced that I've lost my mind but she is going along with me as long as I don't get too carried away.
Speaking of my wife, she has decided to try to sell most of what I'm de-cluttering to recoup some money. What ever we make from this is going to be put away and go towards either our new deck or a trip to Mazatlan. Not sure which one yet. I'm really glad I was able to get through to her and show her that I'm just trying to simplify our lives and take some of the stress out of life. We also talked about not bringing anything new into the house that we don't need. She is on board with that.
Once spring gets here and the brain freezing cold snap we have been having this last few weeks stops, I am going to begin de-cluttering the garage and the shed in the yard. I have so many tools that I never use and I just don't need. They take up so much room and the garage is always a mess.
Here's to your de-cluttering success. I hope my example of de-cluttering my life will help to encourage you to do the same if you want. I feel really good about it and I'm hoping to have more with less in the future. It's a process but a worth while one.
Chris.
I pulled everything out of my closet in the bedroom. Everything. On to the bed it went and I looked at each piece of clothing with a very critical eye. My closet was packed. 9 linear feet of hanger space packed so tight that my shirts were always wrinkled from being squashed together all the time. I packed up 5 large black garbage bags of clothes that I have not worn in the last year or that I have no plans of wearing ever again. Let me say that number again.....5 large garbage bags!!! After the purge in the closet, I still have enough shirts to not have to laundry for at least a month. But these are my favorite shirts and I'm not one who believes that you only need 5 shirts in your closet. I brought the coats that I'm keeping up to my closet in the bedroom as well. I have no clothes in any closet other than my bedroom closet now. That's huge. I feel pretty good about that. My dresser is constantly being de-cluttered as underwear and socks get replaced and jeans and shorts last me for a very long time.
I also started on the spare bedroom/storage room in the basement. This room has always been a sore spot for me. It is the dumping ground for items we don't know what to do with. Clothes in bags that the kids have out grown, nick knacks that have been replaced and other general junk. I pulled all my books out, went through them and kept about 5% of them. I took the book case that they were in, put it in the family room and managed to eliminate 2 smaller book cases that had movies on them by moving the whole collection to this cabinet out in the open where it is seen and easy to get at. I have 2 more of these large book cases in the room that are getting a de-cluttering and a re-purposing as well. With the movies off one of them, I have room for all the school and craft supplies to go which will eliminate 3 paper boxes that float around the house all the time. I managed to condense a 4 drawer legal file cabinet down to a portable office file box! Talk about a lot of useless junk in that cabinet!
There is still a lot of work to go in this room but I will continue with it until it is complete before I move on to something else. My wife is convinced that I've lost my mind but she is going along with me as long as I don't get too carried away.
Speaking of my wife, she has decided to try to sell most of what I'm de-cluttering to recoup some money. What ever we make from this is going to be put away and go towards either our new deck or a trip to Mazatlan. Not sure which one yet. I'm really glad I was able to get through to her and show her that I'm just trying to simplify our lives and take some of the stress out of life. We also talked about not bringing anything new into the house that we don't need. She is on board with that.
Once spring gets here and the brain freezing cold snap we have been having this last few weeks stops, I am going to begin de-cluttering the garage and the shed in the yard. I have so many tools that I never use and I just don't need. They take up so much room and the garage is always a mess.
Here's to your de-cluttering success. I hope my example of de-cluttering my life will help to encourage you to do the same if you want. I feel really good about it and I'm hoping to have more with less in the future. It's a process but a worth while one.
Chris.
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