Seashells w eyes conversingBrenda Avadian 2021

Letting GO of Temporal and Mental Clutter to Let IN

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Something will always fill the void
IF we let it.
We choose whether or not
We will leave the time and space open.

The Importance of Time

The older we grow; the more important time becomes.

At age 61, I find less of it. Even though, the actuaries say I’ll live another 30 years, painful arthritis is my annoying companion. 

I’d better go on all my fun physical adventures now. Once my knees and shoulders get stronger (unless I need surgery), the Sierra Mountains will beckon me. By the next decade, who knows.

If there’s a silver lining in the COVID cloud it just may be the forced reflection and observation of how we’re passing each day.

Letting GO to Let IN 

Letting Go to Let In has been a thread throughout quite a few of our STUFFology 101 posts. 

It’s an important theme. Like eating, we can only ingest so much before we need to let go. Constipation is painful and dangerous.

With this, I’ve decided to let go of one of my long-standing organizational memberships. 

While many are getting rid of their physical stuff there’s also all that non-physical stuff that fills our minds with mental clutter and steals away our limited time.

I have thought about why I need to let go in order to let in something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time.

Reduce the Clutter in Our Lives

When we reduce our temporal clutter, we open time for what’s important in our lives. When we reduce our physical clutter, we make space and clear some of our mental clutter. We need to take a serious look at the cluttergories we tolerate that needlessly fill our lives.

For two and a half years, I’ve postponed moving on in one area of my life. Being a loyalist, I’ve remained. Yet, the clock keeps ticking and I know I’d rather do the things that align with the direction I’m headed in, now.

Let in What Matters

For about a decade (maybe more), I’ve wanted to host a salon. Among the varying French traditions, these are meetings where self-proclaimed intellectuals discuss a topic in depth.

Seashells w eyes conversing

This intellectual pursuit re-energizes my passion for deeply thoughtful discussions about diverse topics.

The other activity I’ve wanted to re-engage in is serving my community with the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT).

We must decide what to let go to leave space and enough time in order to do what matters in our lives.

For more, click to read:

Less TV for More of What Matters

Treasured Books to Declutter

Letting go and Letting IN the World with Professor Dumpster

Constant Clutter Conspiring to Constrict Your Life?

What HAPPENED? Too much Time STUFF!

 

Decluttering for Relaxation on Presidents’ Day

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Taking time to declutter on your day off can help you relax. I realize this may seem counterintuitive but think about how much better you feel after clearing the clutter from even one small space.

Today is Presidents’ Day in the United States and many people have the day off since it is a Federal Holiday. If you have the day off, consider taking time to declutter.

I take time to dust, clean, and consolidate items (mostly books, but other select stuff as well) on my bookshelves on such days. This has the dual benefit of keeping things tidy and rediscovering books I may have forgotten. For example, The Arrow Book of Presidents by Sturges F. Cary

is a book I have owned since grade school. I keep it because it sparked my lifelong interest in history. For me it is NOT clutter. Processing these items as I go through my bookshelves is a simple way for me to relax.

If I find items that have become clutter to me as I clean, I set them aside to donate or pass along to a friend. This does not have to take huge amounts of time. Do not overthink it, take some small action to declutter today!

Interested in history like me? Just click on the links for additional information about George Washington’s Birthday and how we (in the USA) came to celebrate Presidents’ Day. Bonus: Famous quotations from George Washington.

Declutter Just One ThingBrenda Avadian 2021

Sometimes, It’s Just A Matter of Removing ONE Item

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There are times when I’m feeling distracted and can’t focus on what I’m working on.

Sometimes, it’s because there are things on my desk that creep into my focused attention on what needs to be done. Take the bubblegum wrapper that I always save but rarely use to wrap my chewed gum in before throwing it in the trash. Or the description of how to use the flexible phone stand I received as a gift.

The reality is these are minor items that crowd our focus and grow into major excuses for why we are not able to finish our work in less time.

All I need to do is file away the instructions in my Products Information folder, which is in the file cabinet four feet from my office chair.

The bubblegum wrapper? I almost always wrap my chewed gum in a used facial tissue instead.

The yellow pouch holds my Bluetooth earpiece, which belongs in my purse. I mainly use it in the car to reduce the many distracting background car noises for whomever I am talking with.

The 2009 article about IRA to Roth conversions came to the surface when I was going through an old investment folder. I saved it to gain hindsight as to how laws change over the years. After all, by the time I’m ready to tap my Roth IRA for living expenses, the tax laws may change once more.

Decluttered desk helps us focus on the task

As Eric Riddle noted in his procrastination article last week, “big or small action… kills procrastination.”

Sometimes, it’s just a matter of removing ONE item. Other times, we’re on a roll and remove more.

Tomorrow is Too Late to Deal with Procrastination

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Now that February 2021 is here have your New Year’s resolutions fallen by the wayside?

Has procrastination reared its ugly head?

Perhaps your goal of simplifying your life in 2021 has instead filled with continuing clutter. You are ‘too busy’ with work, family, and life to declutter.

Being Busy Does Not Equal Being Productive

 

In STUFFology 101: Get Your mind Out of the Clutter

STUFFology 101 Get Your Mind Out of the Clutter book by Brenda Avadian MA Eric Riddle we discuss how procrastination leads to Mental and/or Temporal Clutter. We all have the same amount of time in a day, a week, a month, and a year. How do you spend your time each day? Are you busy? Or are you productive?

Since February is a new month, take a moment to look at your resolutions or goals for this year. Abraham Lincoln said, “You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.”

While it is true that tomorrow is another day, putting things off usually only makes them worse. Painter Pablo Picasso offered perhaps an extreme perspective when he said, “Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone.” Wow.

Everyday things may not be as intense as life or death, but procrastination can still lead to unwanted stress.

Action Kills Procrastination

 

Big or small, action builds momentum. As Nike says, “Just Do It.”

 

ICYMI: Define Your Clutter in 2021