The Only One
Hi there,
Tuesday already? Whoa! I tell you, give me a long weekend and I can never adjust to the Tuesday is really Monday thing. I do speak Friday though!
We have chatted about having quality over quantity in our lives before but here are a few more ideas on the topic. With Spring cleaning around the corner (and let's face it, ANYTHING that has Spring in it has to be good about now!), makes you take inventory of what you have in your life. I'm talking about things here, your collections, clothes, books, etc. Sometimes we tend to keep items that have long passed their usefulness or even boxes of things that you can't remember WHY you kept them in the first place.
Here are some tips that have helped me:
1) Those stacks of articles from this past summer that you MUST read, well Gentle Reader, you won't. Ever. Most of the news in them is likely outdated and you can always find this information on the internet. Seriously there is a virtual limitless library out there. Try www.refdesk.com if you need to find out anything. This site is amazing! If you really wanted to read the article at the time, you would have. Trust me on this one.
2) Great that you have a drawer full of pens but you really only need a half dozen at best. One with a pad of paper by the phone, one in the kitchen to write up that grocery list, and maybe a couple by your computer and one by your nightstand to jot down that interesting dream. The final one in your purse or messenger bag. Anything beyond that number and you're in competition with Grand and Toy. Except THEIR pens ALL work. I have been totally guilty of this myself with 30 or more pens housed in different kitchen drawers. This I know....there is no pen lottery, pens will NOT be the next form of currency, and they don't last forever. No one will want them on eBay (remember how many thought Beanie Babies would assist with retirement funds? - NOT!), and you will feel much better recycling them or giving them away. Frees up space too!
3) Hanging onto all those old t-shirts for painting one day (walls not canvas) seems like a grand idea BUT a) when did you last need 8 shirts to paint one wall and b) did you even get any paint on your "paint" shirt? Better to recycle into rags. They will get more life than living in your bottom drawer. More room for NEW shirts then!
4) School stuff from WAAAAAY back then. FABULOUS that you got a bunch of B's and A's in school but 20 years later, why do you need to hang onto them? We both know you're smart! Old textbooks are updated quite regularly so anything older than a few years should be recycled. Unless they are fairly current, used bookstores won't want them either. I admit that I have carted a few boxes of books and papers over 4 different moves and then ended up shredding/recycling everything in them after move 5. Was I going to have my B+ English paper on the coffee table as a conversation starter when guests were over? Methinks noooo. Best to keep any transcripts and maybe that one paper that had your instructor using lots of words to describe your brilliance but that's it. Everything else can be recycled.
5) Photographs - the old fashioned REAL paper ones - not digital - and you probably have boxes and boxes of them. Most unlabeled and undated. ACK! About a year ago I went through everything - EVERYTHING - recycled all photos that didn't make my heart sing. Got them down to one photo album which mostly included photos of my immediate family and pets. A couple of vacations in there but only a few photos from each. Next I have to do that with my digital photos! For now then are housed on an external hard drive that has 5x more space than my pc. Many are also saved to dvds and quite a few are printed and framed or in the album. Photos are for enjoying and reliving great memories, not for taking up valuable space or highlighting less than happy moments of your life.
It is so easy to toss items in a drawer or a cupboard and worry about it later. Except when you need to find something or need the space and it isn't available. Just all the stuff! For me, it is an ongoing battle but at least I am living by the one-in/one-out rule. For every new item you bring in then the same type of item has to go out (recycle or give away). You don't take up additional space that way either. Win-win!
Until tomorrow Gentle Reader...
Linda
Tuesday already? Whoa! I tell you, give me a long weekend and I can never adjust to the Tuesday is really Monday thing. I do speak Friday though!
We have chatted about having quality over quantity in our lives before but here are a few more ideas on the topic. With Spring cleaning around the corner (and let's face it, ANYTHING that has Spring in it has to be good about now!), makes you take inventory of what you have in your life. I'm talking about things here, your collections, clothes, books, etc. Sometimes we tend to keep items that have long passed their usefulness or even boxes of things that you can't remember WHY you kept them in the first place.
Here are some tips that have helped me:
1) Those stacks of articles from this past summer that you MUST read, well Gentle Reader, you won't. Ever. Most of the news in them is likely outdated and you can always find this information on the internet. Seriously there is a virtual limitless library out there. Try www.refdesk.com if you need to find out anything. This site is amazing! If you really wanted to read the article at the time, you would have. Trust me on this one.
2) Great that you have a drawer full of pens but you really only need a half dozen at best. One with a pad of paper by the phone, one in the kitchen to write up that grocery list, and maybe a couple by your computer and one by your nightstand to jot down that interesting dream. The final one in your purse or messenger bag. Anything beyond that number and you're in competition with Grand and Toy. Except THEIR pens ALL work. I have been totally guilty of this myself with 30 or more pens housed in different kitchen drawers. This I know....there is no pen lottery, pens will NOT be the next form of currency, and they don't last forever. No one will want them on eBay (remember how many thought Beanie Babies would assist with retirement funds? - NOT!), and you will feel much better recycling them or giving them away. Frees up space too!
3) Hanging onto all those old t-shirts for painting one day (walls not canvas) seems like a grand idea BUT a) when did you last need 8 shirts to paint one wall and b) did you even get any paint on your "paint" shirt? Better to recycle into rags. They will get more life than living in your bottom drawer. More room for NEW shirts then!
4) School stuff from WAAAAAY back then. FABULOUS that you got a bunch of B's and A's in school but 20 years later, why do you need to hang onto them? We both know you're smart! Old textbooks are updated quite regularly so anything older than a few years should be recycled. Unless they are fairly current, used bookstores won't want them either. I admit that I have carted a few boxes of books and papers over 4 different moves and then ended up shredding/recycling everything in them after move 5. Was I going to have my B+ English paper on the coffee table as a conversation starter when guests were over? Methinks noooo. Best to keep any transcripts and maybe that one paper that had your instructor using lots of words to describe your brilliance but that's it. Everything else can be recycled.
5) Photographs - the old fashioned REAL paper ones - not digital - and you probably have boxes and boxes of them. Most unlabeled and undated. ACK! About a year ago I went through everything - EVERYTHING - recycled all photos that didn't make my heart sing. Got them down to one photo album which mostly included photos of my immediate family and pets. A couple of vacations in there but only a few photos from each. Next I have to do that with my digital photos! For now then are housed on an external hard drive that has 5x more space than my pc. Many are also saved to dvds and quite a few are printed and framed or in the album. Photos are for enjoying and reliving great memories, not for taking up valuable space or highlighting less than happy moments of your life.
It is so easy to toss items in a drawer or a cupboard and worry about it later. Except when you need to find something or need the space and it isn't available. Just all the stuff! For me, it is an ongoing battle but at least I am living by the one-in/one-out rule. For every new item you bring in then the same type of item has to go out (recycle or give away). You don't take up additional space that way either. Win-win!
Until tomorrow Gentle Reader...
Linda
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