Today I thought I might bore you all with how to digitise your user manuals rather than allow them to take up space in your home. Feel free to disagree about the sense of digitising if you like, I have no problem with how you choose to use the space in your home. I live in a two bedroom apartment so space is at a premium and not to be wasted. There are so many manuals available online in PDF form that you can download to your computer. Today, as an example, I googled for the PDF of my Brother P-Touch PT65 label maker. It must be at least 12 years old. I found the PDF in one try, downloaded … [Read more...]
Clutter Maintenance
Every time I have moved house I have had a reasonable length of notice. Although, sometimes the definite ~ "Yes we are moving." ~ may have come a little last minute but the maybe had been on the cards for long enough to have me get the preparation ball rolling. Â And by that I don't only mean decluttering but also... ...rounding up of like items throughout the home. ...bagging up tiny like items that might get lost if not secured together. ...cleaning items that may have become soiled either by constant or lack of use. ...running down of consumable items such as, toiletries, food … [Read more...]
In the moment
Today's post has been brought out of the archives as a timely reminder to stay in the moment. We all spend far too much time "multi tasking" and thinking about what has to be done next, which often will result in poor quality output and stress. So I wanted to reiterate the message that we need to strive to keep our minds in the moment, as the only time we have is right now. *********** I want you to take one minute now to do exactly as I say. Read the full set of instructions below and then act them out immediately before you forget… Stop what you are doing. Close your … [Read more...]
Coming full circle ~ By Nicole V
He awoke with a start, his heart pounding from the strange dreams that he’d had. He had no idea how long he’d slept. The inky darkness stretched all around him … and the silence, the silence was deafening. His pulse still racing and joints aching, he felt all alone. He tried to shake off the stupor of sleep still clinging to him. Something felt different, somehow, and he felt a frisson of fear, quickly followed by a sensation of vague familiarity. Unable to put his finger on it, he shrugged it off as the sluggishness of his disturbed sleep. A blanket of inertia (or was it ennui? … he … [Read more...]
My box of ‘getting-to-done’ ~ By Nicole V
A box without hinges, key, or lid, yet golden treasure inside is hid. ~ JRR Tolkien I have a box. Just. One. It contains no treasure but there is something hiding in it. It’s a plastic storage box measuring 60 by 35 by 42cm, which has helped me preserve my sanity, well, sort of preserve my sanity. It lives in the storeroom, sitting to the left of the entrance, looking harmless and, well, um, just like a plastic storage box. What it contains, however, is a Hydra of paper clutter and just like the creature in Greek mythology that grew two heads each time one was chopped off, this monster, I … [Read more...]
Old habits don’t have to die hard
I was talking to Wendy F the other day about breaking old habits. Smoking, I believe, is a very difficult habit to break, as is overeating, chewing your nails etc. I have a theory about this. I think that just trying to stop a habit is difficult. The ultimate reward can seem a long way off and hard to achieve. In this case the whole focus is on trying not to do something that, in some cases, you have spent a very long time doing and enjoying. While replacing an old bad habit with new better behaviour has immediate rewards even if they are only small. An immediate reward is far more … [Read more...]
A collection of thoughts
I've been racking my brain today, trying to come up with an idea for a blog post, without success. I thought of a few experiences I have encountered during the week in reference to clutter. However these thoughts didn't amount to enough content for writing a whole blog post. So I decided I would just put these thoughts to you and see what comments ensue. The conversation in the comments section is often as stimulating and inspiring as a post anyway due to my clever and engaged readers. So here goes. I was thinking of how I hold on to some things longer than I ought to, because I just … [Read more...]
Be grateful and let it go.
I received the following message some weeks ago. I am not sure now who the author was but please feel free to identify yourself if you recognise it. "I just read an interesting book called the KonMari method of Tidying Up. Her take is that for lasting change you have to do the whole declutter in one go, although her "go" can be 6 months. I don't necessarily agree with her but it was an interesting read. I'd love to hear your opinion if you have read the book." I personally have never read any of Marie Kondo's books but several of my readers have mentioned them in the past. One concept … [Read more...]
What do I do with my childhood paper keepsakes? By Deb J
I was reading through the posts from my friends on Facebook and came across one where the poster said, “I think I can truthfully say that I kept every award, essay, art project, homemade book, concert/performance program, birthday/graduation card, sheet music, script, report card, club photo, and every other piece of information regarding my K-12 experience. So...I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it.â€Â She also commented that it all only took up one big storage tub. My first thought was, “Why is she keeping all of that stuff?â€Â Why would she even want to? There seems to … [Read more...]
Don’t return to old habits
How many times have you decluttered in the past but then a year or so, or maybe more, later you find yourself back at square one. This is often the outcome when the task of decluttering is the focus and not the cause. In fact many times in the past I have decluttered only with the intention of making room for new stuff. Stuff I didn't even realise would be my future clutter. The thing that was different this time for me was that my focus was mainly on my intent to remain decluttered in the future. With that intent in mind it is helpful to analyse the clutter as you let it go and recognise … [Read more...]