Sun's rays upon a rock-lined pathAvadian

The Process of S.T.U.F.F. is Pure Magic

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Want to know a secret?

Overnight success takes years. Honestly. You’ve got to do the work.

You’ve got to Start. Somewhere. Move forward step by step.

You need to Trust yourself to keep going. The elite marathon runner trains one step at a time and completes 26.2 miles on foot. The lowly carpenter ant will destroy your home, chewing through the wood to build its nest. Big things are accomplished by making a consistent effort.

Understand, greatness is not achieved overnight. Clutter doesn’t magically appear. It takes years of no action to accumulate clutter.

STUFF Start Trust Understand Focus Finish

To achieve anything worthwhile in life, Focus. We’re fast losing our ability to focus. There are too many tempting distractions. Facebook. Google search. Netflix. Spotify.

Focus on taking one step at a time, consistently. This is when the magic strikes. It’s different for each of us. When you are committed to and keep doing a thing, a magical force pulls you along until you Finish.

I’ve felt the magic. Sometimes, it’s a feeling of lightness after I dig repeatedly into a task and complete a small portion. Other times, I’m blanketed with warmth. My goals, resources, and energy appear to converge as they carry me confidently to the finish line. I cannot fully describe these magical feelings that are unique to each of us.

With consistent focused effort, you will feel the magic too. But you must Start and then keep going.

Remember, LIFE is about the journey. (We all know how it ends.) So, enjoy the gifts each day, as you take one step at a time toward your goals and ambitions. You will pave the path. You will finish. Trust yourself.

What have you got to lose?

In this case, a lot of clutter.

For more, read Eric Riddle’s article, Trust Yourself to Declutter.

Move Away From Clutter

Move Away From Clutter

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Are extra storage boxes clutter? That depends on what you define as clutter.

In this case, no they are not clutter. My oldest daughter is moving out of state soon and I am on the lookout for well-constructed moving boxes. Yes, she can always purchase moving boxes from a variety of sources when it is time to pack her belongings. But I look at it as a challenge to find good quality boxes until then.

It can be fun too. Just keep your eyes open during your regular shopping trips. For example, the boxes from Urban Jungle left me curious about the name. Now I know that the company sells houseplants to Lowe’s.

While gathering moving boxes in this fashion may lack uniformity, it gives me the opportunity to expand my knowledge base as well as provide me with random topics for conversation, making it a game of sorts.

Another example is the box from hōmz. This box was from another member of the household that was ready to recycle. It will find new life as a moving box and I found another source for storage and organizational items by accident. Always handy for a STUFFologist!

The final example is a box from Hello Fresh. This company provides home delivery for pre-portioned meal kits. A handy and healthy way to cook for a busy family. I learned something new while talking to the neighbor about food and time-constraints for cooking dinner.

Moving and the preparation for same can be a tedious and time-consuming process. Why not throw in some fun while you move away from clutter? Gathering boxes from random sources is a cost-effective and entertaining way to ease at least a small amount of tension from the moving process.

 

 

European-Space-Agency's animated illustration of space junk

Before we visit Mars, we need to clean up our mess at home.

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We humans are a messy bunch! We don’t pick up after ourselves.

We leave clutter everywhere. At home. At work. In the oceans. In space.

The Mess in Times Square

Consider the massive clean-up in Times Square after each New Year’s Eve celebration in New York.

“The New York City sanitation department says it had 300 people at work overnight, removing an estimated 56 tons of debris,” according to ABC7NY.com

Seriously?

I often wonder why we are unwilling to pick up after ourselves, whether at a NYE celebration or the 50 tons of trash cleaned up after the Rose Parade in Pasadena, California.

Pollution in Our Oceans

Consider the amount of waste we’re producing that affects life in our oceans.  Right now, we’re focused on plastics polluting our oceans.

Space Junk

Consider the absolute mess we’re leaving in space that threatens multi-million-dollar functioning satellites.

European-Space-Agency's animated illustration of space junk

What next?

We want to colonize Mars.

Really?

Let us prove we’re worthy. Instead of looking outward, let us look around and start practicing responsible habits at home. Let us pick up after ourselves after watching TV or reading in the living room. Let us clean our dishes, utensils, and wipe down the counters, stove, and microwave after cooking in the kitchen. Let us put away stuff where it belongs in our home offices, bedrooms, closets, attics, basements, garages, and yards before we venture out.

Once we build solid habits that we pass to the next generation (and next), including the practice of leaving no trace after partying at outdoor events, only then should we consider ourselves guests worthy to visit or inhabit another planet.

Kitchen Gadgets and Junk Drawer Clutter

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Kitchen gadgets can make food preparation easier unless they lead to junk drawer clutter.

My wife is in charge of our kitchen and I asked her to pull six random gadgets from the junk drawer, then quiz me to see if I knew what they are used for. If I didn’t know, she would explain their use to me. I managed to get three out of six correct.

How many of these kitchen gadgets do you know?

If you don’t know what a kitchen gadget is used for, is it clutter? The very name “junk drawer” conjures an image of chaos. Since she uses these items throughout the year they are not clutter.

If you have a junk drawer in your kitchen, beware of clutter creep. That is, accumulation of gadgets that never get used. If you have trouble opening your junk drawer, it might be time to start de-cluttering that drawer.

How many gadgets did you get correct?

The item list and purpose of each:

  1. Egg separator – a tool used to separate the yolk of an egg from the egg white.
  2. Cake tester probe – a kitchen tool designed specifically for use in baking to test the doneness of cakes, a crucial step in the baking process.
  3. Biscuit cutter – a kitchen tool used to cut dough for the North American definition of biscuits (similar to English scones but without the higher amounts of sugar.) They are round, with a taller cutting edge than a cookie cutter.
  4. Citrus zester – a kitchen utensil for obtaining zest from lemons and other citrus fruit.
  5. Egg piercer – a tool that pierces the air pocket of an eggshell with a small needle to keep the shell from cracking during hard-boiling. If both ends of the shell are pierced, the egg can be blown out while preserving the shell (for crafts).
  6. Butter slicer – A tool that makes cutting butter easier and cleaner. Made of metal and wire. Also referred to as a “butter cutter”.

Kitchen gadgets can make food preparation easier, just be sure to use them.