shhh... is it spring?

I have been very quiet here this last month. I've barely blogged and hardly commented on other blogs, although I've still been reading them. It's been a hard, long month, where the much needed end of winter hasn't really materialised and I've felt the unseasonal cold more keenly for that. It's the third of April and it's snowed today.

Through not blogging, I've discovered that when you don't blog for a while you enter a kind of feedback loop, where the fact you've not blogged means that the next post you create had better be really excellent to make up for it, and so the pressure to blog, and blog well, escalates, and that becomes a reason not to blog just yet... I've also felt the "I've not blogged for a while so I must blog a lot now to make up for it" anxiety, along with the "I've not blogged for a while so perhaps I should just not blog again at all" sensation.

But I'm still here, still finding words to say, and still seeing photos I'd like to share. Even in my short time blogging here, I've enjoyed meeting people, learning about them and their lives through their blogs, and becoming, in a small way, part of a large and fascinating community that so many others belong to.

So while I may not know exactly when I shall blog again at this very moment, I will do so. And I'll enjoy it. Thanks for reading :)

overwhelm...

I've been a little quiet here this last week. I've had a cold and I've been busy but I've also felt an affliction that I suffer from fairly frequently. I call it web-overwhelm.

Think calm. Be calm. Read this.

One of the reasons I started this blog was an attempt to deal with this, but I'm not so sure how successful it's been. I thought here I could list and store things I loved that I found on the net, could file them away to remember them and to remind myself to do them later, to make them, to read or listen to them, to remind myself about them.

And it has done some of that. But as I've followed more links, clicked onto more sites, I've found the amount of things on the web that interest me is endless. I've been pulling pages onto my bookmark toolbar in Firefox, adding blogs to Bloglovin, making notes in Evernote. And all these things just seem to add up to an ever-increasing and very rarely decreasing web-to-do list.

And it weighs me down. When I have to hunt through that bookmark toolbar and scroll though dozens of pages before I reach a specific one I saved, just a week ago, then the sheer amount of information I have given myself to read feels like nothing more than than something else to work through, rather than enjoy in any way.

So what to do?

I've found this post some help, especially this part:

"Pick a handful of sources. There’s an almost unlimited amount of reading out there, and you could do it all day and not make a dent in just what was created today. So let go. Pick just a few good sources (including news sites and blogs and social news and more), and check them once a day at most."

This is true. No matter how hard I may try, I cannot read everything I want to.

But what I am trying to do is read things that interest me, when they interest me. I've spent what feels like years skim-reading, then tucking things away into various bookmarking sites, to read later, when I've got more time. Which is, of course, never. So I'm trying to read more carefully, to take in the information I want when I see it. It's not easy. I think most people feel they're always up against the clock, whatever they're doing. But I'm reaching a point when I'm considering deleting all my bookmarks just to feel more in control again. And so a change of some sort has to happen.

I'm also going to consider joining Instapaper and saving the words simply, and I may well resurrect my old Pinterest account and see if I can use that for fast and easy bookmarking - I do love visual bookmarks (although I am very aware that pinterest just leads me to browsing the boards and finding heaps more things to bookmark...).

I'm going to read this post again and carefully, knowing how much sense it made the first time I read it, and the second time. I've linked to this before in my decluttering post here. The sentiments behind the need to have a digital tidy-up may not be exactly the same, but the ultimate goal is - to make the web easier to negotiate and clear some of the backlog that ties.

And I may well download this free ebook about focus - because focusing on exactly what you're doing, and what you're on the web for, must surely help with not feeling overwhelmed by the rest.

I hope this has been some help, and I hope to be back on the web a little more, but takng things a little more carefully.

lose the clutter - part two

Source - Old Chum

Intrigued by my waffling from last week about how I've got too much stuff? Want to see if it gets any worse this week?

Read on ...

The William Morris quote, above, is wise but I think it's also open to interpretation. And how you interpret it will affect how you live. Many of my possessions don't make me happy, even as they remind me of happy times, or allow me to read and reread, and reread again. Much of my clutter is tied up with the past and the future. I hold onto this miniature cat figure to remind me of the holiday I had with my parents when I was seven. I hold onto that book because I may read it again, if I get time, and that jumper because I can make a felted cushion out of it one day, and give it as a gift.

But what about now? Now is where I live - it's where we all live - and it's constantly buffeted from side to side by memories of the past, and dreams of the future.

Decluttering is a little like reclaiming your present. Like saying you love your memories but you want to make new ones. Saying you love your dreams but you can only make them by living today, now, in the present.

I'm not saying I'm going to get rid of all my stuff. I'm not. Some memories are too precious, some items mean just too much. But I believe I'll be happier if I'm less weighed down by things, whatever my reason for having them.

If, like me, too much stuff is getting you down (however much you may love it), then check out some of these links. I genuinely hope they help - the weight of too much stuff is a heavy one.



First up, some eye candy for purposes of inspiration. Check out this and this, and look here and here (click on the individual images to enlarge), and here too.

Handy hints (and eye candy)  

This sounds scarier than it is - it's called zero clutter. But it's about creating a tiny clutter-free zone and slowly expanding it. And it's by Leo Babauta from Zen Habits, who knows what he's talking about.

The rules of throwing things away.

It is easy to get overwhelmed. Even this list can be overwhelming if you've a stack of magazines that need to be read or have pages pulled out out (or just thrown away. I know, I know). If you feel like that, then just read this quote. It's short, but it's good, and reiterates the importance of throwing things away, not just stacking them up so they look neat. Ahem ...

The last entry of a year long declutter project. Wow. The blog hasn't been written in since the project ended, well over a year ago ...

Organise what you do keep with tiny bits of paper!

Too much paper (not including the bits from the previous link ...) ? Check this out. It may take time though, depending on how many documents you've got. And how many piles of pages pulled from magazines. And it's worth considering that some documents might be worth keeping in a hard copy version.

Where to put the things you no longer want - a recycling guide - This site is Australian but wherever you are, you can get some good ideas here if you want to pass on items that still have life left in them

Some hints on decluttering, and some links too. All very sensible and calm. Nice.

"Start from wherever you are and with whatever you've got." Another way to banish the overwhelm - applies to more than decluttering too.
 
If you're inclined to physical clutter, then it's also likely you'll have a massive amount of digital clutter. I do. Endless photos, endless documents, truly endless bookmarks (post to follow soon on bookmarking!)... It used to feel that digital things didn't get in the way because they didn't take up physical space. But they take up head space, thinking space ...and space on your hard drive (or even in your bit of the cloud - it's all space). So check out this post on digital detoxing, and then these posts too if you fancy a bit more guidance and inspiration and hints.


Some simple ideas I've gained from all this?

Be careful what you buy or fetch home with you. If you find things hard to dispose of, then consider very carefully before you potentially give yourself something else that may cause angst and difficulties and turn into clutter.

Start small. Every thing you throw away/give to charity/recycle will help.

Set yourself targets. For example - chose one item of clothing a week. Every Sunday. If it's beyond use, throw it in the bin. If you can turn it into something else, then give yourself a week to do so in. Hang it up to remind you. If nothing has happened in that week, then chances are it never will. Add it to the pile of clothes that you won't wear again, and you won't upcycle. Put them in a bag, and put them by the front door, or in the boot of your car. Take them to a charity shop, a recycling depot, or anywhere that will allow them to be used again.

Don't worry about what to do with things you no longer want too much. Yes, it's easy to get hung up on passing things on to a good home, to make sure nothing is wasted. It's important and a good thing to do. But if,  for your sanity, you have to get rid of something by binning it, then do so. Sometimes (only sometimes!), you are allowed to put yourself before the rest of the planet.


I would love to hear your own experiences of clutter and possessions. Do you have too much? Do you easily throw things away? Any hints you can pass on? Please leave a comment!

lose the clutter - part one

Print from Lisa Congdon via Jacqui Smith on Pinterest

I always run into problems with this quote.  Beautiful to me can mean a sweet wrapper my other half gave me on a wonderful day out that, even when I see it now, can remind me of how happy I felt then, and it can make me feel happy again. Useful can indeed mean a cardboard box that gets in the way right now but will come in handy next Christmas, to send gifts to someone you love.

To a greater or lesser extent both the above examples are also excuses. They're 'reasons' people who collect clutter/hold onto things/hoard find to justify why they keep things that, to other people, are rubbish.

They mean something.

They'll come in handy. One day.

Another reason the clutter builds up is that once it reaches a certain point/size/volume, it is harder to deal with it. One box of papers to go through might take an hour. Ten boxes full of unfiled documents and notes is so daunting that it's no wonder it makes more sense to put them back on the shelf, make a cup of tea, and find something else less scary to do.


Most people have a clutter Achille's heel. These are mine, things I would like to keep but know I mustn't. But still might keep anyway ...

Magazines. I love magazines. So much so that I barely buy any now (which has the added benefit of saving me money), because I'll only be tempted to hold onto them, or pull pages out and keep them in a folder already full of pages that have been pulled out of other magazines.

I have thrown a lot of magazines away.

I have sold some of the older ones on eBay.

I've given a lot to charity.

I still have too many and must throw them away and must stop pulling pages out on the basis that it's got some information on it I will forget if I don't keep it.


Souvenirs. When I say souvenirs I refer you to the above-mentioned sweet wrapper. This is hard one. I value my memories intensely, the time spent with people I love, the little moments that I fear will be forgotten if I don't have that physical reminder.

One way I've found around this is to photograph these little ephemeral items, and then discard them. In some ways, the act of remembering them like this, with a photograph, helps the memory become stronger.

Another solution is to not allow myself to hold onto such things in the first place. Don't keep that ticket from your special date at the cinema as a bookmark - just throw it straight into the bins outside the multiplex. It's gone then. And you have no option but to trust your memory to do its thing.


Books. Which are like magazines but worse. Because they're books and you're not meant to throw them out, are you? I value books, all my books.

A read book contains memories of when it was read, beautiful imagery and writing, ideas it sparked.

An unread book contains such promise. It may contain the meaning of your life within its pages. Read it and you'll find out, but don't read it just yet and let the promise linger...


Clothes. I have too many clothes and very little to wear.

Many of my clothes don't fit.

But the fabric is soft.

Or pretty.

It might fit again one day.

I could turn it into a handbag (I could!).

I could turn it into a new item of clothing with just a few basic sewing skills.

I could use that nice soft fabric as a duster.

It would be wrong to even give it to a charity shop.

I've still got uses for it.

I could ... etc.

Ad infinitum.


This is part one of my decluttering thoughts. As is suitable for someone who has too much of things, I also seem to have too many thoughts on this subject! So I'll post post part two separately. It will have some hints that have helped me, and some links to other sites, if you need more wisdom than I can provide!

Do leave a comment if you have a constant battle with possessions - or if you don't, and tell me how you manage it!