clean out the clutter

I just cleared out a pile of old mail. Working on the piles and clutter little by little has helped me. I have to work hard not to add to anything though. At least I’ve been able to separate important papers from junk. I even found a check! I guess it literally pays to keep on top of this stuff! hehe

I think this will work best if I attack it in small increments!

Prior to the dinner I made for some friends, I did a fairly good job of clearing things. Unfortunately, some things went right into a bag, and shoved in a closet, that I worried would sit in that bag for awhile (because I would forget about them.) I emptied half the bag tonight, and found- eww- mail (hello? the bane of my existence.) I am impressed with myself though.

I had some cubes that you mount on a wall and clueless as to their arrangement. Faced with a decorating decision just makes me freeze up (seems odd, coming from a person with a Fine Arts degree). In about 2 seconds flat my friend had them arranged. They sat on the floor overnight. This morning, I walked over them about 8 (million) times. After nudging one and thinking I would collapse into crisis mode, fearing their arrangement would be tainted and I would be completely lost… I just got the hammer and nails out and set to work.

I’m happy now and I gave a couple cluttery objects a new home on display! As for the other things that reeeeeaaally need homes… in good time. I managed to make a decision that the paintings needed to be put on the wall (or else!)- yeah, instead, they traveled to yet another corner of an adjacent room. I guess I should do my paintings some justice and honor them- rather then treat them like naughty children in “time out” (facing the wall.)

I’m making great efforts to change the way I handle the mail. First, I thought that putting them in the same place would be helpful. That just caused lots of mail to get piled up and I ended up spending a great deal of time sorting through it all at the end of a week. I am trying to open up mail the same day it arrives and do sorting that way. It feels kind of good to see the stuff that I don’t need get thrown in the garbage. If I get something that isn’t a bill or something important, I give it a week before tossing it out. Yeah, ok, so usually it gets tossed, but you never know!

I have a bad habit of setting piles of mail everywhere, which just gets re-piled later. With the new year I am writing down one day a week to devote to this project of tossing/recycling what I don’t need to keep around. I’m also going to try and make sure the mail stays in one place. One day, I hope to be able to just sort the mail daily. For now, once a week is sufficient to start. I can’t wait for the new year to begin- I am anxious to start using that wall calendar to help keep me on track of things!