Photo by Luigi Anzivino

Ok, so I’ve only been blogging on schedule for about 4 months now, but still. I wish I was less of an “out of sight out of mind” type.

I wonder if that’s part of my clutter problem. I tend to keep things out so that I remember about them. Since I can’t leave my blog lying about on my desk, I forget about it sometimes. Or rather, it’s not so much that I forget it exists or anything, but more other things crowd into my head, and I don’t notice that I’m “missing” the blog in there.

I’ve always been terrible at remembering things, but this is getting ridiculous. I tend to get great ideas for blog posts while I’m putting on my coat, or driving, but by the time I actually get home, those thoughts are long gone.

I’m thinking of trying one of those little tiny voice recorders, but I’m worried it’ll just become another piece of clutter than I don’t use often. Even if I got an app instead, it’s not like I have my phone out while driving anyway. Maybe I should just wait until I can get a little USB port in the back of my neck and download all my great ideas directly. Good idea, Y/N?

What’s your best tip to declutter your brain and remember tasks while you’re busy doing something else?

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Brain Clutter

I found this video of Peter last night, and wanted to share it.

If you cannot see the video in your RSS/email, please click through to ClutterCubed to watch it.

This video was brief and to the point, so if this is how Peter usually is, I think I like the guy. Peter says:

Your stuff has to help you create the life you want. And if it doesn’t, the obvious question is: “what’s it doing in your home?”

This goes right along with William Morris‘

Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.

These are concepts that we should try to embrace in our quest to get rid of clutter. Why should we keep things that we neither use not like? We shouldn’t.

He also touches on two of the main types of clutter: memory clutter, things that you keep to remind you of past events, and “just in case” clutter (he calls it “I might need it someday” clutter, but mine is shorter ), things that you keep in case you might need them in the future.
I think that in general, keepsakes can be fine, but must be kept in moderation. Do you really need a ceramic mermaid to remind you of your trip to Florida?
This past summer I got rid of a lot of my memory clutter. Most of it was found in a box I hadn’t opened for years. Sure, it was kinda cool to go through it and remember everything on queue, but the items themselves were pretty useless. Some where broken, some where never very nice in the first place. They were not useful, and most were not anywhere close to beautiful. Since I’m still not as ruthless as perhaps I should be, I wrote down a list of all the items and what they reminded me of, then I got rid of the items. It was somewhat of a compromise, since I still own a list that doesn’t really have a proper place in my home, but it’s better than a box full of random trinkets.
My comments about “just in case” clutter turned into a whole post all on their own, so I’ll post them some other time.

Peter goes on to say that all your belongings should help you create the life you want to live, and that sometimes people confuse “more” with “better”, and they keep on acquiring clutter as they chase the life they want. Will your life really be better with 500 channels when you’re too busy to watch the 200 you have now? I think that more of us need to look around at the stuff in our homes and really ask ourselves if they actually enrich our lives, or if they are just cluttering up our lives.

After that it kinda turns into an ad for his book, but the main message of this little video, to strive to only keep items that let you (and actually help you) live the kind of life you want to live, is still sound. If you want a calm, serene, relaxing life, you can’t do it if you cram your house and schedule with everything you’ve wanted to own or do on a whim. You need to take the time to think about purchases before bringing them home, and consider how those objects will help you create the life you want to live.

Are any of you fans of Peter Walsh? Do you have a favourite quote or idea he popularized? I’d love to know!

PS – Would anyone be interested in watching if I recorded a little video post of my own? I’m not sure if people need to see my mug on the Internet any more than it’s already on this site.

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Create the Life You Want

1. Drop a commitment
A cluttered schedule clutters up your life and your home. Give yourself permission to do less in 2010. Pick something that you usually do because you feel you should and not because it’s something you actually enjoy doing, and stop doing it. This could be anything from coaching little league to sitting on a committee to taking a spinning class. While these things are important, if they are not enriching your life right now you should step back.

2. Give away a gift you received but do not like or use
Sometimes we keep too many items out of a sense of obligation or guilt. Just because something was given to you as a gift doesn’t mean you need to keep it around forever.

3. Admit you made a mistake and move on
Each of us has had regrets about a purchase. There’s no point in keeping the item around as a reminder of your moment of weakness. Try to avoid making the same mistake again in the future, rather than dwelling on the fact that you made it in the past. Sell or give away the item and then move forward.

4. Learn to say no
No more things on your schedule, and no more unneeded items in your home. Don’t accept another commitment you don’t want. Don’t buy another item just because it’s on sale. Learning to say no to things you don’t want or need in your life can be difficult, but is an essential part of decluttering both physically and mentally.

5. Don’t wait for conditions to be “prefect”
Make a change today. There will never be a “perfect” time to reduce your clutter. The closest we can get to the “perfect” time is now. By making a step forward now you increase your chances of success by an incredible amount.

Happy New Year, folks! May your hopes and dreams for 2010 come true!

This post is part two of a two-part series on Decluttering in the New Year.
Part one: 5 Easy Ways to Declutter in the New Year
Part two: 5 Hard Ways to Declutter in the New Year

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5 Hard Ways to Declutter in the New Year

1. Set up an inbox
Grab a tray or a cardboard box and set up an inbox. Any tasks you need to perform or pieces of paper (such as bills you need to pay, or letters you need to respond to) you need to act on goes into this inbox. When you bring the mail home, put it into your inbox (unless you are acting on it right away) so when you need it, you’ll know exactly where it is!

2. Set up a landing strip
A landing strip is similar to an inbox, but for physical things instead of actions. It is where you place everyday items when you come home from work. Items like your purse, cellphone and keys can be stored on your landing strip, so you will save time in the mornings because you’ll always know where they are.

3. Start using online banking/bill payment
Online banking is safe and easy these days. If you’re not already signed up, talk to your bank and they will be able to help you. Paying bills online instead of writing out cheques and mailing in payments saves you time and money (since you don’t have to buy stamps). Check with any service providers you use (cellphone, cable, hydro, etc) to see if they have an online option, so you can receive an email when you bill is ready, instead of waiting for it to arrive in the mail.

4. Give away five items to charity
Quickly go through your home and find five items to give to your favourite local charity. These items can be clothes, books you’ve finished reading and know you won’t read again, or even some of the new items you got for Christmas. Before you know it, you’ll have removed 5 unnecessary items from your home. If you find more than five, that’s fantastic, but don’t stress yourself. Five is enough for now; this list is supposed to be easy.

5. Empty out one drawer
Take one drawer in your home and dump everything out of it! It’s ok if you pick a small drawer. Wipe it out with a damp cloth, for that snazzy new-drawer feeling. Now only put items back into it that actually belong there. Outright garbage goes into the trash (or recycling). Take items that belong elsewhere to those other rooms. Put the remaining items, the ones that are useful and belong in this drawer, and put them back in as neatly as possible. Now you can feel good that you’ve cleaned out an entire drawer – what a great way to feel going into the new year!

What is your favourite easy decluttering method?

This post is part one of a two-part series on Decluttering in the New Year. Part two will be up tomorrow.
Part one: 5 Easy Ways to Declutter in the New Year
Part two: 5 Hard Ways to Declutter in the New Year

Photo by Koka Sexton

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5 Easy Ways to Declutter in the New Year

I don’t think I’m a very good blogger. When my house was being built, I was very excited and could usually find something to post about. That, in turn, fuelled other posts relevant to decluttering.
Now, though, I’m terrible at posting. I don’t like that, but it is, unfortunately, a fact.

Even when I do do some cleaning around the house (and I’ve actually done quite a bit – there are only a couple more rooms to be overhauled. We even cleaned out the whole garage!), I completely forget to take any photos before or during the task, so I end up with no real blogging fodder (“yeah, um, this room used to be messy, er, now it’s not; here’s an “after” photo” doesn’t sound like an interesting blog post to me).

I think by such huge spans of not posting, I’ve probably lost all the readers I once had. Should I just give it up and archive the blog (since I still get lots of hits on some posts) or try to rekindle interest and try to get back on a proper posting schedule and keep the blog alive? If there are any of you left, dear readers, please give me your opinions!

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End of the Line?