5. Declutter Computer Stuff

So, this is always a big one too. There are cables that might come in handy. There are the instruction manuals that might be needed some day. There are the cds and dvds of software that might be useful. There are all sorts of things... So, today I decluttered the little mountain of computer paraphernalia (that would be a good spelling bee word!).

I got rid of all the disks relating to my old computer. I got rid of manuals from two computers ago. I got rid of little boxes and containers which used to hold a new webcam or whatever. I got rid of anything that didn't relate to the computer that is actually sitting on my desk. Amazing how much space that created!! Amazing how many disks my old computer came with! I found cables that were for my old personal organizer, which bit the bucket a year or two ago.

Now I have quite the pile of stuff to go to Staples or to the electronic recycling bin. I'm not sure where they will go... just that they will go... In the meantime, there is a mountain of stuff starting to form in the basement... what with Value Village boxes, Second Hand Bookstore Boxes and Electronic Recycling boxes...

It feels good though, feels like I'm letting go of a lot of useless things and creating some space for other stuff to show up!

4. Declutter Office Supplies

Well, this was a fun one! You know how you pick up pens wherever you go. Maybe from an old workplace, or a conference or a workshop or... high school. And you keep them because they are perfectly good pens. You test them out every once in a while and get rid of the dead ones, but the live ones are still writing well, so you can't throw them away, so you keep them. Mind you, they aren't your favourite type of pen and you never use them. But you keep them... I'm not sure what for... but I keep them. So, today I decluttered pens and stuff... I went through all of the pens and pulled out all the ones I never use, put them in a ziploc bag and they can go off to Value Village. Then there was this old ruler... I've had it since Grade 5. It's white plastic with cm down one side and mm down the other side. I never use it because I have nice metal rulers that have both inches and cm... But I've kept it because... I've had it a long time... 35 years or so. But now... it's sitting in the garbage can... yup, I let it go!!

So, what with one thing and another, I did pretty good in decluttering the office supplies. There's some more space, and that always feels good... But do you ever wonder... why did we ever go to disposable pens? Pens that we can only use once and then throw away? Whatever happened to the pens where you would just get a new pen insert and keep going? I'm not sure when that transition happened, but we sure do throw away an awful lot of plastic with pens nowadays... Do they even still make the refillable ones?? I found one in all my stuff, and I kept it... you never know when it might come in handy....

3. Declutter Book Shelf in Office

This was actually number 4 on my list, but... it happened today as I was there, and it felt like I needed to declutter in the office! Well... there weren't many books I got rid of, maybe 5 in total. Which is still something, as there aren' that many books in there. So, it's created some space on the bookshelves and that means that I can put away the piles of books that have been sitting on the edge of the bokshelves... Which makes the whole office look neater and more streamlined which... is a nice thing!

I did manage to find a box for the decluttered books, but it is definitely overflowing, so I'm going to need to find another one somewhere. And a visit to the second hand bookstore is in order once I look at the living room bookshelves!

2. Declutter Book Shelf in Bedroom

Well, that didn't take very long at all... Admittedly, there aren't a lot of books in the bedroom, but I was able to get rid of a few. The one thing I am noticing, is that I'm finding books tucked away that I have been meaning to read for a while. They get hidden behind this and that, and I end up forgetting about them. The trick is to have them out there, visible where I can see them and remember that I want to read them!

I haven't actually done a recent tabulation of how many books I have that I've been meaning to read. Last time I checked, it was around 30... sigh... So, no more book buying for me! I need to take enough books with me on a trip to ensure that I don't end up in some airport bookstore buying another book or two! Mind you, those are the ones that I do tend to read quickly but still... I'll just "buy" some from my own bookstore!

The one thing I'm noticing is I need some empty boxes pretty quick! I have a few stacks of decluttered books sitting around and I need to get them out of the house before they just migrate to some other spot.

My ongoing to-declutter list from June 1 is always being updated... I'm still trying to get it up to 100!

1. Declutter Book Shelf in Spare Bedroom

Whoo boy... I've been debating about whether to follow through on this idea of altering 16 little things over the course of 100 days. Do I really want to take on decluttering something everyday? And all the other 15 things that I listed? Sigh...

I was looking at this bookshelf this morning and thinking... there are books on there that I could let go of. For sure, there are. Books that I've read and kept mostly.

The 100-Mile Diet. Great book... will I ever read it again? Probably not.

Non-fiction books about Harry Potter... the spirituality, the theology... etc. About seven of those books. I used them about 6 years ago to do some seminars when the movies and books were all the rage. Do I need them now? Probably not.

The Golden Compass trilogy - I've only read the first book... and not the other two. Will I read them? Probably... so that is a keep.

Decluttering books... they motivate me and inspire me to declutter. When I feel like things are getting out of hand in my life... I just pull one off the shelf, read it for a bit, and I'm good to go. Have I re-read them all? No. Are there some I could let go of? For sure...

Nature books, hiking books, outdoor books. Definitely a keep... But there might be a few things I could let go of...

Genealogy books - now these ones I need to take a closer look at. Genealogy for Dummies... well, I can probably let go of that one as I am no longer a beginner at this... So, definitely a few that could go.

Should I aim for a number? How about... 20 books? Could I let go of 20 books off of that shelf? There are probably 100 books on the book shelf, so that would be 20%. If we go by the old rule of thumb that we use 80% of our things 20% of the time... and only use 20% of our things 80% of the time... then I should be very much able to let go of a piddly 20%!

Oh, and there is another bookshelf in that room too... a little two shelved nightstand... with paperbacks doubled up on the shelves. These are my most favourite paperbacks that I read over and over again... But there might be a couple that I could let go of... maybe... I'll have to check...

The truth is, we outgrow things after a while. We grow into different books. We grow into different music. We grow into different art. We grow into a different exercise regimen. We just grow. So it makes sense that we would be able to declutter and let go of things. If we keep on holding onto the things that we've outgrown well... that could get kind of messy!

Well... the long and the short of it is... 20 books have been decluttered. Not too bad for 15 minutes worth of work. There's a bit more space on the bookshelves and a bit more space in my life.

Declutter 100 Things??

Alright... so 100 Things to Declutter... let's go...

1. Bookshelf in Spare Room
2. Bookshelf in Bedroom
3. Bookshelf in Office
4. Office Supplies
5. Computer Stuff
6. Box of Binders in Basement
7. Box of Framed Pictures in Basement
8. Box of Misc. Household Repair Thingies
9. Old Computer
10. Cat Toys
11. Bookshelf in Living Room/Dining Room
12. CDs
13. Laundry Room supplies
14. Light bulbs
15. TV and Phone cables/cords
16. DVDs
17. Puzzles
18. Games
19. Clothes
20. Kitchen Cupboard - under sink
21. Bathroom - Cleaning Supplies
22. Scrapbooking Supplies
23. Photos
24. Slides (35 mm)
25. Pictures on the walls
26. Stamps
27. Emails
28. Inside of Truck
29. Gardening Supplies
30. Gardening Tools
31. Gardening Shed
32. Tools
33. Workbench
34. Canned Food
35. Kitchen Appliances
36. Cookbooks
37. Plastic Containers
38. Glove Box in Truck
39. Empty Boxes
40. Nic-Nacs
41. Filing Cabinet Drawer 1
42. Filing Cabinet Drawer 2
43. Appliance Manuals
44. Junk Drawer in Kitchen
45. Utensil Drawer in Kitchen
46. Cupboard Above Fridge
47. First Aid Supplies (old and expired)
48. Luggage
49. Throw Pillows
50. Sheets
51. Towels
52. Bedding
53. Shoes
54. Jackets
55. Coat Closet
56. Office Shoulder Bag
57. Records
58. Tape/CD Players/Decks
59. Bath supplies
60. Dresser
61. Easter Supplies
62. Genealogy cupboard
63. Freezer
64. Fridge
65. Vases
66. Candles
67. Big Old Trunk in Basement
68. Tablecloths
69. Napkins and Placemats

(69 and counting)

OK, that's all I can come up with for today! I am seriously tempted to start splitting things up, but I'm going to trust the process and see what else will come to me as the days progress. At least I'm good for a month. Anybody else have any bright ideas??

100 Days to a New Life

I came across this link the other day from the http://www.lifehack.org/ website... It caught my eye and I'm thinking I might print it out... It's called 60 Small Ways to Improve Your Life in the Next 100 Days. Now that is quite a list!!

The first thing to do is look at 100 different ways in which you can declutter things in your life. Day 1 - declutter books. Day 2 - declutter Cds. Day 3 - declutter empty boxes. Or whatever. The first thing that came to me is... I don't have 100 areas of my life to declutter!! Unless I turn Declutter Clothes into various things like: Declutter Socks, Declutter Jeans, Declutter T-shirts... At that rate, I could probably turn one thing into 20 things! But I like the idea of it!

Now, I have to admit, keeping track of doing 60 things in one day might be a bit much... I'll be lucky if I can tackle 10 of them... But it's an admirable idea... and given that they have put the list into categories, maybe the trick is to choose 2 from each category to start with... Eight categories... two from each... that's 16 small ways to change my life in the next 100 days... Cool idea...

So let's see... which ones... which ones...
Home
#1 - Pick one thing a day to declutter for 100 days... I like this one
#3 - Walk around house and fix/repair/handle one thing a day
Happiness
#4 - Write down 5 to 10 things I am grateful for each day
#5 - Write down 20 things I enjoy doing and do one a day
Learning/Personal Development
#8 - Choose a book requiring effort and concentration and read a bit for the next 100 days
#12 - Keep Morning Pages for next 100 Days
Finances
#15 - Scourt Internet for frugality tips, choose 10 and implement them for the next 100 days
#17 - Don't buy anything I don't need for the next 100 days
Time Management
#20 - For the next 5 days - track how I spend my time, create a time budget and stick with it for the 95 days
#22 - Identify 5 ways in which I waste time and then limit the amount of time I waste...
Health
#32 - eat at least 3 servings of fruit/day
#36 - drink water instead of pop
My Relationship
#47 - write someting positive about my partner each day
#49 - three actions to strengthen the relationship and do them each day
Social
#53 - don't pass judgement... period
#54 - do a kind deed for someone each day

There, that doesn't look so bad... now I just need to print this out or write it out and keep it with me. It is affirming to know that I already do some of those 60 things, so I've got a start already! I figure it's one way of making our world a better place!