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Archive for the ‘Simplifying’ Category

Opportunities to Simplify When You Are Down for the Count

Posted in Recycling Old Magazines, Simplifying on May 15, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

The practice of letting go of old magazines

Two days ago I had foot surgery and I am down for the count.  As I sit with my foot propped up,painkillers and antibiotics by my side, I contemplate what can be placed next to me on the bed that I can organize.  Magazines!

You see, I used to have a sad conversation with my husband about my lack of passion (not that kind..ok?).  I’m referring to being passionate about certain things in life.  My husband is passionate about metal and machines.  He happily makes his living in a shop…making stuff out of metal.  I have a good friend who is passionate about helping people and is about to embark on a second-part-of-her-life career in social work.  I never thought that I had a real passion, but I do.  It is not a passion I would have chosen.  I believe passions find us.  I wish I would have been born with a nobel passion to spread peace or cure world hunger.  Instead, my passion comes in the form of creativity.  Because of this, I am inspired by many things.  Unfortunately, I tend to collect and save that which inspires me.  I am especially moved by color and texture.  I drool over art supply websites.  I love fabric ribbon..the vintage kind, I like pencils, pens, journals, paints, sketchbooks, photographs and photography equipment, paper, clay, glazes, books and magazines…lots and lots of magazines.  Not just any magazines though.  I am drawn to art, craft and home decor magazines.

Today, with foot held high, I am on a mission to purge my life of the many magazines that I have collected over the years.  My favorite collection consists of two titles that are no longer in print:  Cottage Living and Mary Englebreit’s Home Companion.  Though I’m not a fan of ME the artist, I was often inspired by her profiles of other artists.  A quick eBay check tells me I could sell my ME Home Companion collection, but do I really want to?  How do I hang onto all of  the inspiration hiding inside the stacks of glossy paper now keeping me company bedside, while purging my life of boxes of heavy magazines weighing down my bookshelves?  It seems such a waste?  And isn’t it just wrong to send even more scrap to the landfill?

This thought process made me do some internet searching and I came up with some interesting old magazine opportunities:

Magazine Recycling:  http://www.ehow.com/how_2127818_recycle-old-magazines.html

Make Magnets! http://howaboutorange.blogspot.com/2007/03/old-magazines-put-to-good-use.html

Make Envelopes! http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/magazine_envelopes (I’ve done this before.  They are quite nice.)

While I don’t see myself making envelopes or magnets out of magazines any time soon, I have decided what to do with my collection:

  • The Home Companion collection stays intact.  I have made an agreement with myself.  These are by far my most inspiring resources and I read them cover to cover.  Keeping this collection means being extra-viligent about purging the remainder of my magazines.
  • My creative interests fall into 5 distinct categories: home decor, art, cooking, gardening and organization.  I’m going to neatly tear out the “keeper” articles and scan them into appropriately named folders on my computer.  I’ll tuck the articles back into the magazines and offer them to any interested friend, relative, organization, etc.
  • Whatever magazines remain will go to the nearest recycling facility that accepts glossy paper.

And finally, my new, simple commitment: Future magazines will be enjoyed digitally, or borrowed and articles of interest will be copied.  It’s time to leave the trees in the woods and not bring toxic inks into the household.

So I begin…  I would love to hear from anyone who has more ideas on what to do with old magazines.

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When Life Happens, Does Simplification Have to Stop?

Posted in Simplifying, Uncategorized on May 15, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

Jewelry Armoire simplification in waiting...complete with last week's shopping receipts piled on top.

With the very best of intentions, I posted a blog on April 19 about my plan to break down the organization of my overflowing jewelry armoire over the course of a work week proving to all that some consistency and attention, even a bit, will pay off in the effort to organize.   We all know the saying “the best-laid plans…gang aft a-gley” and astray these plans went!  A project at work ramped up keeping me hours beyond my usual 40 that week, my Villanova class was coming to a close with two final tests and I was anticipating the arrival of my daughter and son-in-law from Russia.

Each night that week, I lamented over the fact that I was too tired or too busy to follow through with my plan for simplification.  On my right shoulder sat “Discipline” whispering in my ear, “if you were dedicated to this plan, you would work on it for 5 or 10 minutes regardless of how you feel or what other obligations you have.”  On my left shoulder sat “Patience” saying, “be gentle with yourself.  How important is this in the scheme of things?  You have other obligations this week that trump the jewelry box cleaning!”

“Patience” won.  In reality, other things were simplified and organized along the way just because I was about to have visitors.  For example, my pantry got cleaned and organized, as did a couple of bedrooms.

I suppose there is a lesson in this short story.  Consistency does count, but it doesn’t have to be rigid.  Even though the jewelry armoire organization has yet to be carried out, my overall dedication to the cause of simplification keeps me tuned in to my surroundings and I automatically hone in on areas that need attention when the time is right.  The order in which I attack them should remain flexible and non-stressful.

Up next: Can I still simplify when, literally, my feet have been knocked out from under me?  And…Having the right tools for the job…when it’s time to start the job.

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Plenty of Time to Think…when you can’t sleep

Posted in Jewelry organization, Simplifying on April 19, 2011 | 1 Comment »

Blogging at 1:30 a.m. was not part of my get-some-sleep-before-work-tomorrow plan, until my cat brought a mouse through the pet door and dropped it in the living room.  Little dachshund, Rambo, was sleeping soundly until his rodent-hunting instincts kicked in.  The rest is history.  He spent the next two hours tearing the house apart determined to find the escapee…and he did.  Unfortunately, I am now wide awake thinking of my next simplification task.

The jewelry armoire should have never been invented.  At the very least, I should not be allowed to own one because it has given me license to accumulate everything shiny.  Accumulate, but rarely wear.  It even contains shiny things that are not wearable , like Arubian florins and paperclips.  Some content is non-shiny, like tubes of lip balm and anything else that falls out of my pocket as I pass by.

In my last post, I noted the difficulty I have finding time to work, study and still do a bit of organizing during a work week.  I thought it would be wise to keep my organization/simplification momentum going nonetheless.  The jewelry armoire will become this week’s project and oh what a project it will be!  I can hardly describe its current condition.

When I received my armoire, my intention was to fill it with the jewels spilling from at least 4 locations throughout my bedroom, dressing room and bathroom.  I got part of the way there and the result was fairly organized…bracelets in the big compartments, rings in the ring slots, necklaces hanging from the hooks, etc.  Then I got to the hard decision pieces.  Mom gave me this when I was three, an old friend gave me that in high school.  I guess I never came to a landing on what to do with certain pieces because the 4 jewelry storage places scattered throughout 3 different rooms still exist, just with fewer pieces in them.  As for my neatly organized jewelry armoire, the disarray commenced one lazy day arriving home from work when I dropped a necklace on the ring slots and tossed a bracelet on a necklace hook.  It has never  been the same.

Now my new commitment to simplify life takes me back to a task never completed.  Drawer by drawer, shelf by shelf, compartment by compartment, it’s time to purge the many, many pieces of jewelry that I haven’t touched in years  Stay tuned for photos and updates.

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A Step in the Right Direction – Simplify & Organize Day 1

Posted in Professional Organization Tips, Simplifying on April 17, 2011 | 1 Comment »

BEFORE                                                          AFTER

I can’t say that I accomplished all that I set out to do today, but I’m satisfied with the results of Day 1 on the road to becoming a more simple me.  My “Have to” list yielded a clean fridge and fresh groceries that will keep us in simple meals all week-long.  I engaged my able-bodied husband in the process and received far more than expected: grocery shopping, a bouquet of flowers, meal prep for the week and a delicious dinner of whole wheat pasta and mussels marinara.  There IS a God!

I cranked out some fresh bread for the week early this morning (aided by the bread machine I bought last weekend), but my most impressive feat was taking on one of the things that haunts me the most: crammed cabinets!!  I have decided that this is something that I have to chip away at.  Two years ago, I had a professional organizer come to the house to help with un-cluttering my way-too-small kitchen.  I learned great things from her.  Since then, we have remodeled, but my organizer’s lessons still apply.

Every morning I make tea.  This morning, I came face-to-face with the most poorly organized cabinet in the kitchen.  I decided that organizing the evil cabinet would take about the same amount of time that it takes me to make tea.  So I plugged in the hot-pot and opened the cabinet door…and took a picture for my blog, of course.

I could hear my professional organizer’s voice in my head.  ”Take it ALL out….all of it!”  So I did.  And I sifted through each item.  Amazing.  A ziplock bag containing Little Mermaid and Nemo cutouts.??  Why?  I have no idea where they came from or why I was keeping them.  The next discovery was two sealed, white bags marked with the expiration date, June 2011.  The bags were unmarked, opaque and I had NO idea what was in them.  Mystery food.  It turned out to be River Rice, which made me very happy.  The bags were sliced open and the contents transferred to a container that I could actually see through.

The hot-pot clicked off and I poured the hot water over the teabags waiting in the teapot for a 7 minute steep.  Back to the not-so-evil cabinet.  The professional organizer taught me to only touch each thing once and make the quick decision: keep, give away, or throw away.  As the 7-minute timer buzzed to let me know the tea was done, I was putting the finishing touches on my newly organized cabinet.  Top shelf: baking stuff.  Bottom shelf: bags, wraps, filters and other paper goods.  Done!

Later in the day, I tackled the china cabinet.  You see, I have had my heart set on painting it (that fits on my “Want to do it for me” list, but cleaning it out fits on my “Should do it” list.  I saw this as a double-win.  Out came the stuff, on went the paint and back in went….part of the stuff.  The partial set of champagne flutes that I never use?  Gone.  The shiny cloth napkins that don’t feel like anyone should ever wipe their mouth with?  Gone.  The non-soy candles that make too much soot and smoke?  Gone too.  The cabinet?  It looks FABULOUS!

Finally, I finish my day and my blog honoring my husband’s request.  We don’t have to work all day on Sunday.  I feel a bit more organized, a little more simple, and a lot more satisfied.

Tomorrow’s challenge:  Find one thing to simplify after a long day of work.

Below:  China cabinet before and after…

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Bad Day

Posted in Simplifying on April 16, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

Paralysis of the mind.  That is why I started this blog.  My life has become far more complicated than I wish it to be.  My “To-Do” list is too long, my closets are too full and I find interest in too many things.  I shut down.  The world in general is a more complex place today, but I have my own way of whipping up chaos.

You’re probably thinking that a blog is the last thing a person wanting to simplify their life needs.  I’m thinking that too, but I’m hoping this blog will become my travel journal as I step out onto the road of simplification.  Perhaps others who find themselves in similar shoes will benefit from my process.

Today is Saturday and Saturdays are supposed to be good days.  Five days a week I work at a corporate job that most folks can’t wait to leave on Friday afternoon.  My job happens to provide something much needed in the life of someone who has adult attention deficit disorder.  Structure.  When I go to work, I know what to do and I do it all day long.  When I return home, the muddled mind takes over.  Don’t get me wrong, my job has its own unique set of challenges, but some well-practiced coping mechanisms keep my spinning mind in check for the bulk of my day.  That story deserves a blog entry all its own.  I’ll get to it someday soon.

I have a list a mile long of things that I need to change…to simplify, but let me begin with this one.  Like most A.D.D. folks, I tend to be creative.  Anything new and artsy turns my head.  I love working in my pottery studio.  I love colors and textures.  I love decorating, redecorating and reading about decorating.  I love to write, knit, sketch, garden and read.  I have other interests too.  I love yoga, walking, skiing, biking and kayaking.  This is merely my list for the moment.  It will change in a couple of hours..maybe minutes!  Reality dictates that I must do responsible things too; like cleaning, laundry, bill paying, taking care of the (too many) pets and studying for classes that I’m currently enrolled in.  Put all of the above (and much more) on one big list and mind paralysis sets in.  I have spent the bulk of my day doing everything in my power to avoid the “To-Do” list on my kitchen table.

Here is my first goal: decide how to begin the unraveling of my complicated life and take the first step.  Ok, one more goal: figure out the details behind the setup of this blog.

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