The week 17 challenge is looking at decision making.
Deb from Home life Simplified writes that she believes much of time management and simplifying life comes down to 3 things:
1. making decisions without over-thinking things
2. giving yourself permission to make the decisions
3. recognising that much of the clutter in your home and life is simply delayed decision
Usually I am not an over-thinker when it comes to decision making, nor do I have any trouble giving myself permission to make decisions. In fact usually my family and those close to me usually look to me to make decisions or take the lead. If anything I think make decisions a little too quickly. I act then wish I had thought about the decision a little longer.
This is especially true when it comes to spending money. These days with the finances the way they are I have had to force my self to think about the decision to spend or not. This has been awful for a purse happy person like me! I am finding these days that if I carry the desired item around the store for a while, usually helps me come to the conclusion that I don't really need it!
The third point is very very interesting. I didn't really recognise till now that much of the crap adorning benches and stuffed in cupboards is about MY delayed decision making and about procrastinating (Week 18's challenge). I am generally a very organised person and my house actually looks pretty tidy when you walk in, but behind those cupboard doors and in rooms 3 & 4, it is pretty scary.
Now, I am certainly not to the point of being those eccentric hoarding people you might see on tv, found after an avalanche of shit falls on them, but I do have a lot of shit...old shit, new shit, useless shit, and other people's shit lying around the house.
Now there definitely is good shit like old photos, negatives, memorabilia, teenage love letters, diaries, school stuff etc, but when I look around I also have a lot of useless stuff that I haven't looked at or used for years.
You know the stuff that just seems to accumulate...power cords to things we don't have anymore, unrecognisable bits from things that you can't remember but you don't throw away in case you need them, paperwork, knick knacks, broken things you might fix one day, clothes you love but haven't fitted into for years but don't want to throw out in case you do one day...the list goes on.
I can remember when mum and I had to clean out my Nan's stuff after she had passed away. There were all sorts of things in her cupboards...yes many precious things but also lots of clutter and things that she wouldn't have used for years. At the time I did think, "OMG, imagine someone having to do this with my stuff one day". I want them to find the precious things, the keepsakes and not have to deal with years and years of useless that just built up.
What is fucking ironic is that not long ago, I wanted to start my own organising/home personal assistant business but I can't even organise my own shit. See exhibit A & B, snapshots of my clutter.
In one of Deb's recent post she suggested finding a permanent place for items that are just lying around. Before I can do that I need to clear out some stuff!
I am not the only culprit around here, Michael is also one to hold on to things so it is just my stuff piled high behind closed doors. It was hilarious when we had to move house, as we have done twice now. He and I actually believed we were down-sizing our shit each time, but it somehow seems to appear all over again.
Add to this the children and house dwellers who leave all sorts of stuff lying around...yesterday's bus ticket, icy pole sticks, toys, glasses, shoes, clothes, notes, empty packets of things...just crap left lying around.
So this leads nicely into procrastination for week 18. Now, my Michael is a self confessed procrastinator who made it his NYE resolution this year to stop procrastinating. He has been doing great. I on the other hand have never really thought of myself as a procrastinator, but I think when it comes to the clutter and organising my shit around the house, I am a bit of a procrastinator.
It is now time to stop procrastinating in this area and slowly but surely deal with my clutter and get a bit organised. I don't like sterile houses where you can't eat in the lounge or have all your mug handles facing in the same direction (that is a whole other past life of mine!) but I do like the way it feels when things are clutter free and tidy.
So slowly but surely I intend to sort mine and Emilie's clutter...one box of shit at a time...clear a corner...sort a cupboard...throw out some stuff and get more organised.
Just an update on earlier challenges and some of the changes I have tried to incorporate into my daily routine and that I am feeling good about.
I tried my '15min a day' theory with particular household chores and it is working. I somehow seem to have freed up more time as a result. One was the washing and the other the dishes and kitchen.
Boring I know but every evening I now do a load of washing and and fold the load from the day before. No more massive Mt Everest washing piles! Every night I do a complete pack, wash and unpack of the dishwasher and this is keeping the kitchen tidy and making house dwellers keep things more tidy too.
I have been slowing down and focusing more in all sorts of ways....less multi tasking, time with Em, scheduling date days or nights with Michael, more stopping and noticing the small things around me, taking more self time and not feeling guilty about it, going to bed earlier, and using 'Bloom' on my phone to remind me of the basics like having a glass of water, hand cream and eating fruit.
Little changes all the time that are making a difference and I like the way that feels.
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