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Monday, January 18, 2010

decluttering

A few days ago I sat down and worked out some goals and resolutions for 2010. I set general and specific targets for myself in five areas: spiritual, physical, social, writing and house and home.

My house and home section reads:

General: Cut down on clutter and stuff I keep and store.
Specific: Choose one area to work on per month. Declutter for three hours per week (all at once or spread over several sessions.) Area for January is my office.

A big reason for starting in my office is because it's in my work space that I give in most noticeably to my tendency to squirrel things away. I have drawers filled with clippings from newspapers and internet printouts on subjects I have found interesting and thought I might write about one day. But how relevant is stuff from 1998, 2002, or even 2005?

Meanwhile I've begun filling boxes with research notes from recent projects, saving them because -- well, who knows, I might need them again. But will I ever? (I paid attention last June when at Write! Canada, Chip MacGregor told our workshop he never keeps notes from a finished project.)

I started my decluttering on Saturday. I spent a most enjoyable several hours surrounded by papers, humming along to the shredder and music on itunes. But I have many tricky bits still to tackle. The book Simplify Your Life by Marcia Ramsland is holding my hand. This statement in Chapter 1 under the heading "Where do I begin"  is my little beacon at this point:



"The basis of determining what to change is really quite simple: Keep what is working; change what is frustrating." -Marcia Ramsland


How do you maintain a streamlined life?

3 comments:

Pilgrim said...

My life is not as streamlined as I would like.
I also got in the de-cluttering mode, with the Christmas decorations coming down.
I like your dividing into areas of focus, so something doesn't get missed.
For some reason, the holidays always leave me unfocused and tired.

Anonymous said...

http://flylady.net/

good site to help with decluttering

Violet N. said...

I feel the same way about the holidays, Julana. Definitely need a time to catch my breath. Hope you're feeling better.

And thanks, Anonymous, for the Flylady tip!

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