live in a tidy, spacious environment

There’s too much stuff in my lab. I don’t have bench space to assemble anything.

Some of the hibernating instruments need go hibernate somewhere else.

I notice that I more and more often find my shoes in the bottom of my wardrobe where they should be, and not on the floor where I trip over them or under my bed where I can’t see them. It seems to be becoming a habit.

I’m clinging on to some paper that’s just filling a file and not doing anything for me, nor will it in future. Better get rid of it.

It seems obvious, but today I realized that the wording of this goal includes the insides of drawers.

I also saw again that to achieve this, I will have to clear other people’s clutter.

I’ve been not too good with this lately. I’ve been putting less and less energy into living tidily—not that it takes a lot. But there’s still life in the words, and I’ve just discovered a drawer full of junk and emptied it.

I am really happy with the wording of this goal. It is simple and inspirational. When I see a mess, or the beginning of one, I can recite the words and it inspires me to tidy up.

I find that it catches a number of chores. For example, it is easier to file paper under the urge of tidyness than under the urge of needing to deal with the paperwork.

Today, for the first time ever, I think, I put the books I had been using through the day away in the bookcase. No small pile of books to grow into a big pile of books.

The pile of books I used to have on my desk is now stored in the bookcase, tidy and away.

Before I could do that I first had to clear out the bookcase, and I came to the realization that I have to clear out other people’s cluttter, and it’s no use crying about it.

My filing cabinet now has some more files with labelled tags on them, and they are inhabited by papers that used to squat on my desk.

The bin is my ally in this goal.

If I have New Year’s resolutions, then this is one of them. I want to learn to live tidily. Things around me tend to grow disorderly and then stagnate and gather dust.

I want things around me that I have control over to be tidy. “A place for everything, and everything in its place.”