I received an email from a new minimalist blogger on the weekend. His name is Marco Laberge and his blog is Toward Minimalism. He asked me to check out his blog and give him some feedback. I am a busy lady these days with my blog, my craft making and selling, my other volunteer work, friends and family, so reading is just one things I don't have a lot of time for. Most of the posts, from blogs I subscribe to, that appear in my in-box are deleted without receiving any of my attention due to these other commitments. However I was intrigued enough to take the time out to read some of Marco's … [Read more...]
Rationalising
I wanted to share two comments from yesterday because they are both good examples of rationalising ones belongings. So here they are along with my own thoughts on the subject. From Claire I have been working on Monday’s Mission, glass, for a few weeks now! We moved across country about a year ago and even though I had given away probably half of what we owned we still moved way too much stuff – we had over 80 boxes for 2 people, yikes! I found that kitchen items were at least 1/3 of those boxes. And also that everything glass took up twice the space in boxes because it had to be wrapped … [Read more...]
Declutter while you clean
I received the following comment from Willow yesterday... "I like to do the mini missions when I am cleaning different rooms in my house. For example, as I was cleaning the bathroom, I decided to declutter the baskets we use to keep things organized (like my makeup, nail files). I pulled out all the old expired little medicine bottles and we were able to get rid of several which I will put in a plastic bag and recycle at the local police station tomorrow. It’s amazing what I find as I’m cleaning." I was amused by the comment and inspired to write this post at the same time. The … [Read more...]
Revel in the moment
Have you ever enjoyed one of those TV series where the two main characters have a love interest in each other that takes episode after episode to come to climactic fruition. The build up is intoxicating. It is almost a shame when they finally succumb to their lust for each other. In fact that is often when the series also comes to its finality and if it doesn't the show is never really as appealing from that moment on. It is like fairytales where the endings are "...and they lived happily ever after. Clearly the teller these stories know that the buildup is more interesting and tantalising … [Read more...]
You can do things differently
Doodles blog post yesterday got me thinking about how out of character my decluttering method is to my usual behaviour. Of the seven sabotaging behaviours Doodle mentioned in the post, I am not guilty of any of them when it comes to my decluttering over the last four years. Although there certainly are a few that I would previously have thought I was susceptible to. Â Lets go over them. 1. Do you focus on how much there is left to do rather than how much you have achieved? This is something I would most certainly have done in the past. I would be constantly looking at the volume of the task … [Read more...]
Sabotaging your efforts ~ By Doodle
Are there things you do to sabotage your de-cluttering goals? I got the idea for this post after reading “No More Clutter†by Sue Kay. She suggests the following as ways we undermine our decluttering efforts: Do you focus on how much there is left to do rather than how much you have achieved? Do you find your self apologising a lot to others and calling yourself lazy and other derogatory names rather than defining yourself in more positive language and a ‘work in progress’. Do you throw away essential things that then prove how risky decluttering is? Do you create such a … [Read more...]
Declutter your house and your mind
I have been receiving and reading some good post by other bloggers lately that I feel the need to share with you. Here is a great one that Cindy sent through to me... www.inc.com ~Want to be truly productive? End each day like this. By Kevin Daum Please read it before reading on. I particularly liked his first suggestion... "1. Finish one "organizing" project. Busy people always have some organizing project they have yet to get accomplished. It might be cleaning out an old file drawer or clearing your email. Whatever it is, schedule 20 minutes at the end of the day and tackle it. Even … [Read more...]
Efficiency v Plastics
There was a lot of chatter generated yesterday about an overabundance of plastic containers. It seems most of us still have an excess of these. In a bid to reduce food items in both the fridge and pantry due to my long vacation and impending move late last year, I have become very efficient at catering, shopping and using up leftovers to the point where my need for plastic containers has become greatly reduce. I mostly shop for fresh produce, meat and dairy these days from which there is very little waste. Any leftovers are soon devoured. I have also eliminated several baking items in my … [Read more...]
Consolidate & Refine
I have spoken about this subject before on 365 Less Things, however, having just moved, I am finding it necessary to do a little more of it. Things have become a little scattered during my move. Mainly due to the fact that rooms have been eliminated from my options of where and how to store things. The office space/craft area/parents retreat has turned into the office space/craft closet/guest bedroom. The laundry/third toilet/storage closet has become the laundry closet. The kitchen/family room/dining/living room/entry with cupboard has become the living room/kitchen/dining room. And needless … [Read more...]
To be perfect ~ By Andréia
We all are taught that perfection does not exist. What we fail to do is to believe that. I don’t really know about the rest of the world, but I am tired of seeing in all places the evidence of how imperfect I am. It is hard to avoid. You would have to live in an isolated island not to feel how your lack of perfectionism is ruining your life. They say it about the way you keep your house, care for your kids, live your marriage (?) (saw this one in a magazine)…Oh how life would be great…But not. Let’s talk for example about decorating and de-cluttering: How can I have a perfectly … [Read more...]