I grabbed my second cup of coffee, needed due to sleep deprivation, aka, an unwanted guest of late. As I left the laundry room where the coffee pot is currently temporarily located, I walked by our lower level bathroom, glanced in the room, and noticed the Instant Pot on the counter – cooking something.
Of course, every bathroom has an Instant Pot – that’s perfectly normal, right?
Mr. was making hard-boiled eggs.
Ah, the joys of not having a put-together kitchen. It’s our temporary normal life happening right before our eyes. We’re actually doing quite well. For the most part. The parts that fit, anyhow. (That extra 1/4″ inch on the countertop will part ways. Someday.)
Except for the stress – I’m not doing so well with that. Sigh. When we were first married (30 years ago), this kind of stuff we’re doing now excited the heck out of me back then.
Oh well, we’ve got to finish what we’ve started. Since we’re shaking things up, I figured, why not go all out.
And, now, as of today, I have 29 days until the big change in me happens that I hinted about yesterday.
To kick me off on the right note, I chose to fight tooth and nail, head-on with the Dubious Minimalist™ in me. I’ve known her a long time. She rears her ugly head under stress. If I coax her along and help her see the opportunities in front of her, she does better. I have to act fast while each discarding mood hits, though, otherwise, the dubiousness wins. And I keep what I thought I should’ve tossed because I might just need it. Someday.
When everything is in disarray and pulled out of previously dedicated spaces, it’s a great time to ask me questions like:
- Do I love this?
- Do I enjoy cleaning this?
- Do I need to keep this?
- Does it go with who I am now?
- Does it remind me of a bad time in life?
- Does it remind me of a happy time in life?
- Do I even remember owning it?
- Do I remember the last time I used it?
- Why am I keeping this?
- How many others do I have just like it?
- If it was gone right now, would I miss it?
- Is it expired?
Yes – duh, the analyzation session tends to add to the stress, especially if I put too much pressure on myself to decide. But when the mood strikes, look out donation sites or garbage haulers. My car is loaded and ready to drop off the stuff before it’s too late.
Enter in 3 Baby Steps
Baby step #1 – I’m joining in on The 30-Day Minimalism Game with my own twist to the game (for the correct rules, head on over to The Minimalists Website by clicking here). Ryan and Josh shared a short and sweet little video over there explaining the ‘proper rules’ of the game. The Mr. is my partner, a good sport too – he’ll play along without knowing it. 😉
Baby Step #2 – nurture the Dubious Minimalist™ to decide on the # of things on any particular day. Not in order like they do. I get it, their idea is sound, I recommend following it. But for me, it’s okay to have complied with the rules by the end of the month. Not during the month. It is also okay to nurture my rebel side while I’m at it, which reinforces the efforts when the mood strikes. I’ll take the chance to part with stuff when that happens.
Baby Step #3 – conquer categories of stuff that have been bugging me for the longest time, aka, expired items. I chose make-up – it does expire, and eww it can get nasty if used after expiration. Plus, now that I’ve embraced my gray and I use less make-up overall, I have stuff I don’t need or want, that just gets in the way – when the whim to put a ‘Halloween’ face on hits me.
Toss them in a garbage bag, right away, and don’t look back!!! Thank goodness it is garbage day, so I don’t rescue any item I may think later in the day I might need someday.
And I love the organized results – I won’t miss the stuff that’s no longer in my way! And I dated the new stuff so I know when it has expired.
Happy Friday, Happy November 1st –
Hugs to you, xx – me, aka, The Dubious Minimalist™
Post Inspiration – Cee’s Black and White Challenge – Anything with Numbers on It
PS – Don’t worry, I’m not going to go all out and detail this stuff for 30 days! You’ll get highlights when the mood strikes. When does the mood to part with stuff strike you? What category of stuff has been bugging you for a long time? How about when you downsized, what category did you regret an overzealous approach? Are you glad it’s Friday too? Do you remember eating a candy bar, stolen from your kids’ bucket with your morning coffee?
Good luck with the kitchen and the other stuff. It’s fun reading, so don’t worry.
Thank you, Dan – I appreciate your support!!
See my blog … and smile!
Yes, indeed! 🙂
Minimalism is a good life, I like it!
Yes, and you do very well with it! I hope you’re feeling better…! What a scare to have to go into the hospital while on vacation!!!
Stress causes me to do weird things, too, although they often involve eating. 😉 Anyway, I have had a coffee maker in my laundry room. I think it’s normal during big projects. Ha!
That challenge looks, well, challenging. I couldn’t figure out why you wrote makeup on the 17th until I read it. Yowzer. I would be great until about day 15 and then I’d panic. But I’m tempted to give it a go. I do have a lot of purging to do, even though my brother describes me as a “chucker”, as in I just chuck things regularly. LOL.
Oh, yeah, eating happens to me too – I’m going through the Tostitos faster than normal. I’m glad we have a space in our laundry room to set-up the coffee pot. It involves mini-stairmaster exercises, not necessarily a bad thing due to the chip consumption.
It is an interesting challenge. I did it once before, backwards, and it’s surprising how finding categories that need sorting give you the quantities needed per day relatively easily. Sorting pens and pencils was a win for 30 items ;-)! You’re a chucker and a whip cracker – you’re my hero!!! xx
Ah, that’s kinda genius. I’m sure I have pens and the like. Might try this after all. 🙂
LOL – it’s amazing how many little collections of stuff we have laying around…paper note pads (free in the mail) are my high hitting category for today.
I’m in the midst if clearing out too I love clearing things out gets rid of stress too 😉
Wont be long until the kitchen is sorted and looking great.
Thank you, Julie – I appreciate your encouragement. What are you sorting? Shoes or dresses? How do you decide what makes the cut?
In anticipation for downsizing, I started clearing out a few years ago. Then when my husband landed a new job and it was time to sell the house and move, we had a much less to go through in those final weeks. Memory boxes were always the challenge – I’ve kept it all these years, maybe I should keep it. We agreed that anything we weren’t quite sure we were ready to part with would be kept. And we reevaluate every year to see if we still have the same feelings of attachment to it. Another trick I learned (though I wish I could recall the source to give credit where credit is due) – do you need the “thing” or would a photo of it suffice? I had artwork from high school that brought back fond memories but I didn’t really need the artwork. Having a photo of it to look at brings back the happy memories just the same, but without taking up storage space.
Ah, Lisa, you know exactly what I’m feeling! Thank you for sharing your story. I’ve done the photo thing for a few items, I should do it for more and part ways with the items I don’t really need. I’m guilty of storing too many digital photos, so I need to be careful with that as well 🙂 LOL!! Happy sorting to you, thanks again for sharing your thoughts!!!
Wow! I’m impressed at this project you have taken on. Baby steps is a good plan. Long term goals also good. I took a few years off from getting rid of extra stuff after the major downsizing move of 2016. Now I notice stuff piling up – it won’t take as long to get rid of things since there is less room to “hide” it here. Nice job with the makeup.
I know how to really build up stress projects. I do find that when I’m stressed, it is easier to get rid of stuff that’s in my way and that I don’t really love anymore. It helps clear my thoughts. Then I reward myself with chips. I wish I could discard calories consumed…?! I do agree, if there is less space, it is important to minimize belongings. Glad to hear that if you do do that it is helpful in the maintaining process. Great job!
An uncluttered desk helps clear my thoughts. My motivation often begins when I can’t see the surface. It really makes a difference. A chips reward is well deserved!
Mine too – wait, is an uncluttered desk even a thing? I can’t remember the last time I saw one of those!?! 😉
LOL
That is one of my retirement projects – I look around and wonder how the heck two other people and a bird lived here? Something is definitely wrong with this picture!
I need you to encourage me to carry on this winter – you want to be my accountability partner?!!!!!
Yes I will do that for you Shelley – you keep urging me to go down on the bike too okay? I was more inclined to do it if I couldn’t walk B.B. (before Blogging) i.e. when blogging took off in November 2017 because before that I had two commenters only. 🙂
You can count on me!! Finding time to do it all is a challenge :-)!
Good luck with your remodelling, Shelley. I hope I can eliminate my clutter and become minimalist.
Thank you, Winnie – it’s a slow process, unless you’re ruthless. Call it a hunch, but I suspect your sentimental bend may be like mine in letting go of somethings? xx
You’re welcome, Shelley! You’re right lol.
You’ve inspired me to dump most of my makeup drawer in the bathroom (at some point!). The older I get the less I wear! Most days, only a tinted moisturizer with natural SPF.
YAY – I’m feeling the same way – the chemicals alone scare me enough to ditch most of it. I use BB cream if I’m feeling a tad pale, but for the most part just straight Vitamin E oil is my moisturizer choice. I’m enjoying the less is more approach to make-up. And it saves $ too. PS – you’ve got such a beautiful smile, you don’t need make-up!
Interesting. I am sorting and organizing a hoarder’s house, and I’ve discovered I’m quite good at it. It is overwhelming at times. Why do we have so much stuff. And, Lol, maybe I could do sorting and organizing for a living. Such a sense of accomplishment!
I love sorting and organizing other people’s stuff. I like doing my stuff when I’m in the mood. I have no idea why we have so much stuff? It’s amazing how quickly it can add up. If you love sorting it that much, go for it, or write about it?! 😉 I agree, once you get it all sorted, it is a great sense of accomplishment.