Ideealistin has been at it again, generating interesting blog topics that is. This time she posed the question below and I am going to do my best to come up with some kind of solution or at least opinion on the subject. Wish me luck. * * * * * * * Question to all the procrastinators out there: Do you have a trick that works? I manage to get myself to action with a fixed date (e. g. I painted my living room 3 days before christmas when overnight guests were going to sleep there so I just had to get it done – and it actually took surprisingly little time). But the thing with the date … [Read more...]
Archives for May 2011
Is Buying Hobby Clutter Your Hobby?
Cindy's Weekly Words of Wisdom Like last week, a comment by Ideealistin’s is the inspiration for this week's blog. In reponse to Eliminate Clutter Without Even Trying, she spurred me to think of another category of clutter that should be eliminated – excess project purchases. I know this is a pitfall of a lot of 365 Less things readers. Hobby and craft shops like Michael's and Hobby Lobby would probably see their receipts decrease by half if it weren't for Aspirational Clutter. That's largely what hobby shops sell! The dream of how beautifully this yarn, that fabric, these beads, or … [Read more...]
Don’t confuse overwhelmed with busy
In response to ~ Five questions for you and for me ~ Andréia sent these words of wisdom... Question ~  What is something that you have realised recently that had never occurred to you before about your clutter? Andréia ~ It is time consuming. It always gives you the illusion that you are busy, when, in actual truth you are overwhelmed. It makes a five minute job turn into a five hour crusade, with no good results. It makes your house horrible. And, last but not least, it makes you want have a magic wand to make the house look lovely. I particularly liked this sentence in Andréia's … [Read more...]
Mini Mission Monday – Itty Bitty Bits
Mini Mission Monday is about finding ten minutes a day to declutter. To make it easy for you, each Monday I set seven declutter missions, one for each day of the week for you to follow. It takes the guess work out of decluttering and makes it easy and "fun" for you to achieve some quick decluttering. This week we are not going to make a lot of space when completing our mimi missions but we won't be doing any heavy lifting either. We are going to work on some little things what we might otherwise overlook. Some of these areas have been visited in previous mini missions but they are areas that … [Read more...]
Simple Saturday ~ Before/After Handbag
No matter how organised I am the good old handbag always ends up with bits and pieces, mostly receipts, building up to outrageous proportions. This week it was time for a clean out and here is the result. There wasn't that much removed aside from those receipts I mentioned, but a good tidy up certainly put things back into order … [Read more...]
Friday’s Favourite Five ~ 13MAY2011
This week's favorite five have been chosen by Cindy because Colleen is away on vacation Favorite Five comments From Cat's Meow in response to Do You Shop to Fill a Void? She shares the control she'd taken over her money and her spending. http://www.365lessthings.com/?p=1208#comment-7633 Also from the same post, Delores talks about feeling out of synch with friends who still want to shop, shop, shop. http://www.365lessthings.com/?p=1208#comment-7624 Ornela loved my post on honesty, and encouraged me to let the girls go wild on my remaining scrapbook supplies. … [Read more...]
He’s been at it again
The night time declutter has been at it again. I woke up last Sunday to find seven magazines, pictured above, in the recycling bin. My immediate reaction was to retrive them and take a photo and include it as a daily decluttered item but then I noticed something. The dates on the magazines were all within the date range from when I started my decluttering mission. This ment that they were not part of my mission because they were just a maintenance clean up of things bought in the last 16 months. As you can see I took the photo anyway because they held a more important significance. The thing … [Read more...]
The Importance of Honesty
Cindy's Weekly Wisdom On April 13, Ideealistin wrote: You asked for the readers’ ways of decluttering without even trying. Mine is … honesty! Once I managed to admit to myself that I am not the fancy sort of cook, guess what happened: The kitchen almost decluttered itself. I am sure this will work in other areas of my home as well – as soon, as I am ready to let go of some more misconceptions about myself … This got me to thinking, as well: if I were more honest, what could I release? Well scrapbook materials, that’s for sure. Even at the height of my involvement with … [Read more...]
Do you shop to fill a void?
When we get to a point where we are shopping to fill a void in our lives then it is time to stop and think ~ What is happening here? ~ Instead of facing reality and doing something to improve whatever unsatisfactory situation you find yourself in, you turn to your drug of choice, shopping, to give you that little pick-me-up that you are craving for. Why do I do this? ~ In this day and age we behave this way because we are conditioned to it. In the modern consumer society we have become accustomed to the idea that shopping is a feel good activity and if we want to feel good what simpler … [Read more...]
Mini Mission Monday
Mini Mission Monday is about finding ten minutes a day to declutter. To make it easy for you, each Monday I set seven declutter missions, one for each day of the week for you to follow. It takes the guess work out of decluttering and makes it easy and "fun" for you to achieve some quick decluttering This week for our mini missions we are going to concentrate on removing some old, shabby, broken, beyond repair, neglected and maybe even old faithful but worn out items from our homes. Now that you know what we are looking for I will give you a list of where to look and the rest is up to you. … [Read more...]