Not organizing – decluttering. The word is softer; the action is still hard
work.
In December ( it’s now mid-February), I decided to organize
my photos- not the digital ones- the old fashioned hold- in- your- hand
ones. What an undertaking…I’m only about
a quarter of the way through the albums I inherited from my parents and those I
created when my kids were young.
I think decluttering is like home remodeling….it always
takes longer than you planned and the costs are greater than the budget.
I am getting pictures scanned and then I will make photo
books for each of my kids. What I
thought would be a one month project will probably be a yearlong project. And persevere I will. 2018 will be my year of decluttering,
organizing, and breathing.
Tips from professional declutterers (not sure if this is a
real word)—
For clothing, look at your clothes
and decide if you really like each piece.
If not, give the item away.
Put
yourself on a 30 day freeze of non-essential purchases.
Schedule
downtime to rejuvenate yourself.
Walk out of your house/apartment/
room. Then walk back in as if you have
never been there before. Look at your
environment through a new lens. What do
you like? What would you change? And most important, what would you get rid
of?
I also started on my recipe collection. I’m a recipe clipper. Newspapers, magazines, online recipes. And I remember painstakingly putting recipes
into notebooks years ago. Now it’s time
to review and pitch. While I haven’t
filled a dumpster yet, I am throwing out recipes that I will never make. My cooking and baking habits have changed
over the years. So why have I been hanging
on to pieces of paper that I will never read?
I have no answer. For the past few evenings while watching TV,
I have been discarding old yellowed recipes and discovering those that have
possibilities. Decluttering is
freeing.
What are you doing to organize your life? To declutter your life so your path is safe
and easily walked on?
For me, this is especially useful with clothes!!
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