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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.

Define Your Clutter in 2021

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2021 has arrived and is the perfect opportunity to START addressing the clutter in our lives.

The new year often brings with it grandiose resolutions that are frequently broken within days or weeks. Not terribly useful for our confidence and well-being.

Instead, I recommend you define your clutter today. That is, take a small-scale look at whatever clutter is bothering you in your life right now. Perhaps it is a basket of clean laundry that remains unfolded? Or a pile of mail that continues to grow on the counter?

Starting small will get you moving forward in 2021. Then build on that success by staying current with folded laundry, sorted mail, or whatever your specific issue might be. That sounds so simple because IT IS. But simple does not necessarily mean easy to maintain all year.

Clearing the clutter is an ongoing process. Do it now. You will be glad you did.

 

“You can’t reach for anything new if your hands are full of yesterday’s clutter.” – Louise Smith

 

 

Treasured Books in a bookcase with glass doors

Treasured Books to Declutter

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Years ago, I wanted to reduce my library of books by 75%. I wanted to keep only those books that would guide me along my life’s journey. (I read mainly nonfiction.) Some treasured books I’ve kept in a separate bookcase with glass doors to protect them.

Times are different, today. The way we relate is different. I am different.

Today, we are exposed to an overwhelming amount of information. Fifty years ago, if we wanted to know something, we’d find it in an encyclopedia or wait for the library to open to ask the librarian. According to some sources, NINETY percent (90%) of the world’s information across all time has been produced in the last two years. That’s a LOT of information!

I decided I would read my books once more and then give most of them away. They no longer carry the instructive weight they once did. I feel anxious while reading some with dated expressions and examples. Others carry eye-opening tidbits that I relish or missed earlier. Sometimes, we’re not yet ready to absorb something that time helps us better understand. Some of these can nurture pivotal moments in our lives.

With that much information readily available, and my desire to reduce possessions even more, I am letting them go. The authors have expressed their ideas. Times keep changing. I will capture the nuggets that matter most by taking notes. I will then return these resources to the stream of life for others to catch.

What about you?

What’s on Your Mind?

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What’s on your mind?

Have you ever been asked this question and wondered, “Where do I start?”

We lead busy lives with endless items added daily at the workplace, at home, and elsewhere. So much input leads to mental clutter. Mental clutter includes thoughts, worries, emotions, and regrets that distract and drain us.

I view my own mental clutter as a weed filled garden. Just like weeds choke out healthy plants in the garden, so too does mental clutter choke out healthy thoughts in the mind. Weeds-of-mental-clutter-2

That feeling of fatigue, even when you get enough sleep, may well be mental clutter, weeds that must be pulled from your mental garden.

What do you do to clear the mental clutter?

A few suggestions to consider:

  • Take a walk outdoors
  • Call a friend you haven’t spoken with in awhile
  • Read a book (preferably a novel or something light)
  • Watch a comedy movie
  • Listen to classical music

Just as what you define as clutter is unique to you, so too is your response to the mental clutter in your life. Please share something that helps you clear the mental clutter in the comments section below.

Weeds often reappear in the garden despite our best efforts at keeping them away. Mental clutter does the same thing. Keep pulling the weeds.

Pomegranates budding - Avadian photo

Is it Time for Spring Cleaning?

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Spring is a season of renewal. We plant the seeds we’ll sow in fall.Corn fields in Wisconsin-Avadian-photo

It’s time to take a serious look around and do some spring-cleaning in the areas we define as clutter. Clear out the weeds so the fruits of summer can grow to their full potential.

What are some of the cluttergories in your life?

  • Physical – accumulated possessions that take up space.
  • Mental – mind clutter, such as worries and even too many thoughts.
  • Digital – excessive files to wade through in order to get to the good stuff on our computers, tablets, smartphones, and portable media.
  • Temporal – resulting in “I-was-busy-all-day, but-what-did-I-get-done?” syndrome.
  • Sensual – overloading our senses until sounds, smells, tastes, and more not pleasurable, any longer.

Remember, one of the key tenets of STUFFology 101 is that YOU define the clutter in your life.

Lately, my husband, David, and I have been spending about two to three hours each Sunday, reducing our tax files from 2006 to 1986. We got a bit behind in clearing our clutter.

Because I have a need to reflect, we’ve spent more time decluttering. David would simply toss the old files. Instead, I persuaded him to join me in reflecting on our past as we review our income and expense files of our various endeavors during a twenty-year period of our thirty-seven plus years, together.

Given that I work with family and professional caregivers for people with dementia, I am acutely aware and feel fortunate that we can recall what we did some twenty years ago when we retrieve a receipt from 1995.

More importantly, I am gaining a greater sense of urgency in not putting things off–whether it is as small as keeping up with the filing or as big as prioritizing my dreams instead of investing so much time and energy helping others build theirs. Besides, I’m older. If I don’t follow my dreams now, there might not be enough time left to dream!  🙂

Fawn comes down from the hills to graze during The Station Fire - photo by AvadianNo one would notice our progress, yet we feel better about getting rid of these records. Besides, we learned firsthand during the 2009 Station Fire of what really matters.

The ripples of clearing the clutter have moved to my desktop and worktable as well. Plus, we’re even making time to clear the excess brush on our property in preparation for fire season.

Again, it’s important to remember; only YOU can decide what is the clutter in your life. I’m not talking about hoarding, which is a different issue.

Part IV of STUFFology 101 Get Your Mind Out of the Clutter offers clear guidelines to help you clear the cluttergories in your life.

After you have taken the steps to clear your clutter, be available to help others clear areas they define as the clutter, too. You wouldn’t want someone else defining what’s clutter in your life, would you? We’ve made it easy with the Bonus STUFFologist’s Guide included in your copy of STUFFology 101.