May 22, 2013
21-Day Simplify Challenge: Days 11 & 12
I’ve been under the gun with deadlines.
Yesterday, I did declutter my email box, which was Day 11′s task. Managed to post a screen shot.
Today’s challenge is to get rid of old makeup. I barley had time to do that, but I did manage.
No time to play with pics, though. Must get back to writing.
Perhaps, I will catch up on pics tomorrow.
May 20, 2013
21-Day Simplify Challenge: Day 10
Well, that was easy.
Donation Box © 2103, Deborah J. Wunder
Today’s challenge was to create a donation box. Since December, I’ve had a donation box (I call it a freebie box) on my living room table. So far, friends have taken books, lotions, and other things from it, giving them good homes and getting them out of my house. I actually started the box when I decided that the roomie and I needed to get rid of some of the several tons of books we own. She agreed, but was loathe to just throw them out, and we have far too many to lug to the one used bookstore near us. We thought about giving them to the local library, but they stopped taking donations of used books a while ago.
The current plan is that we leave the books (or whatever) in the box for a certain amount of time. If they are not picked up or adopted within that time, one of us will lug them up to the Goodwill thrift shop four blocks away and give them away. the main thing is that we are getting them out of the house. Once I am ready to start purging clothing, I will do the same with it.
May 19, 2013
21-Day Simplify Challenge: Days 8 & 9
Sorry about not posting yesterday – just had too much to do and too little day to do it in.
Day 8 was about simplifying your morning routine. Mine’s pretty simple:
- Meditate
- Breakfast
- Straighten bed
- Check email
- Check in with London client
- Write
- Edit
My prayer beads © 2013 Deborah J. Wunder
The problem comes when I am not feeling well. Unfortunately, the congestive heart failure seems to have left me with a somewhat lowered immunity, in addition to energy levels that vanish suddenly, often in the middle of doing something interesting. I am working on getting them back, but it is taking longer than I was hoping it would.
The photo is of my prayer beads, which are malachite. I wear them all the time, and use them each morning for meditation.
Day 9 is about Other People’s Stuff. I don’t have much trouble with that, since the roomie and I each tend to keep our messes in our own rooms. However, there are a few chores that I wish I didn’t have to ask her specifically to do each time they need to be done.
I don’t nag her, though. If I remember to ask her to do it, she will, and she does so much of the stuff I can’t do right now that it wouldn’t be right to nag her. So I am concentrating on my stuff this Challenge.
May 18, 2013
21-Day Simplify Challenge: Day 7
I’m posting a little late because I slept most of the day – when I wasn’t running to the loo, that is.
Stress Triggers:
- Running late
- no caffeine
- poor planning
To Simplify My Mornings:
- Write to-do list the night before
- Make sure kettle is full of water
- Spend a few minutes meditating before diving into today’s stuff
My Toodledo To-Do List ©2013, Deborah J. Wunder
The attached pic represents my to-do list, which I keep online in a program called Toodledo. It’s a great program, and it does have a free version (although I use the Pro version). Ver versatile and useful. One of the best things about it is how easily I can customize it, and it does sync with the Toodledo app on my iPhone, so I have the list with me t all times.
I do need to get back to meditating in the morning. I find that when I remember to do that, I am more focused the rest of the day, so it’s 15 minutes well-spent.
Anyway, my stomach is still acting up, so I’m gonna end this post here. More later, when I’ve looked at Day 8!
May 16, 2013
21-Day Challenge: Day 6
Okay, today is about what blocks us from decluttering.
Michele poted seven blocks to decluttering, and asked us to note which ones were most powerful to us. Mine were #s 2 & 4:
“Declutter Block 2: Declutter Block 2: I Can’t Get Rid Of Anything I May Need One Day
Reality:
Yes you might declutter something and then later want it – that part is true. But the implied myth is that you’ll somehow fall apart if that happens. Guess what – you won’t. You’ll have to buy it again – a small expense compared to the sanity of getting rid of chaos and clutter. Or you’ll do without it – again, a minor inconvenience compared to a clutter-free life. Either way, you’ll be absolutely fine.”
“Declutter Block 4: One Day I’ll Fix It/Fit Into It/Want To Use It
Reality:
Life is busy and you’ll probably never fix it. If you lose weight you can treat yourself to cute new outfits that are fresh and modern. If you haven’t wanted to use it for ages then you’ve likely moved on. And anyway, see Myth #2 above. Seriously, life it short. Let it all go, be happy, move on. You’ll be glad you did.”
(Please note that the quoted material is ©2008-2013 Happiness Strategies Pty Ltd | 52 Organizing Missions | Premium Subscription, PO Box 527, Chatswood NSW 2057, Australia)
My photo is of the pile of clothing in various sizes that I can’t seem to sort, get rid of, or organize enough to figure out what is what:
I will have to attend to this as soon as I get a few minutes to breathe after my deadlines are met. I also need to decide if I am going to commit to doing Weight Watchers again, since if not, I have a whole wardrobe of smaller sized clothing to get rid of. If I am, I need to toss the larger stuff.
At any rate, I need to get back to work — I still have a manuscript to finish editing and articles to get written.
May 15, 2013
21 Day Challenge: Day 5
Imperfection Personified ©2013, Deborah J. Wunder
Okay, here is my day 5 pic – an imperfectly made bed. It feels a bit uncomfortable, but not unduly so. the thing is, I tend to either make the bed perfectly, or just leave it unmade, so it feels good that I am – at least – getting the covers pulled up on a daily basis. Until I can move things around in my room a bit more, though, I will not be able to get the side nearest the file cabinet made properly.
Also, last night I rearranged things on the nightstand so that I have a place for my books, even though I clearly left the one I’m reading on the bed. That actually makes me more uncomfortable, because that’s how having half my bed covered in junk often begins. And I don’t want to move the containers between my bed and the closet yet, because the closet door doesn’t close all the way, and the containers are the only thing keeping the cats out of the closet. Until I have the stuff in there sorted and in containers, I really don’t want Kitt going in there and knocking things over or shedding on them. Fat Louie isn’t so much of a problem in that regard, but Kitt loves poking into closets.
Anyway, I’m on a tight deadline today, so I must get back to work now.
May 14, 2013
21-Day Challenge: Day 4
Okay, today we were to take the list of chores we made yesterday, and divide it into daily, weekly, and monthly/seasonal chores. We were also supposed to take a photo of something to represent the list.
©2013, Deborah J. Wunder
©2013, Deborah J. Wunder
My List My Photo
In other stuff, I can’t seem to get my tush in gear today. Very tired. Still working on editing that manuscript, but was up very late because I discovered that there were several different styles of quotation marks used, so I had to go back and make sure they were all corrected. Was able to get a one-day extension on my other deadline, but aI really need to work on that project, or I will be sunk there, which would be bad.
Anyway, I’m keeping this short because I really need to get to work now.
May 13, 2013
21-Day Challenge: Day 3
Today, the challenge was to make a list of the chores I do:
My Chores
- Cleaning my room
- Making my Bed
- Vacuuming
- Cooking
- Organizing the apartment
- Shopping
- Edit Novels, when I have them to edit
- Write articles
- Update my blogs
There really isn’t anything that can be eliminated from the list, and the roomie and I share the cooking and shopping. The reason I’m the one who gets to do the vacuuming (except for the roomie’s room) is that I’m the one who cares about having the floor clean. She could wade through a ton of pulled out fibers from the cat tree without batting an eye. Same about organizing the apartment (except for the roomie’s room); I’m the one doesn’t want to live in a pigsty, so I’m the one gets to do the work.
Kind of busy tonight — still trying to get the novel I’m editing finished, and I have an article to write myself or I won’t make my quota for the week, which would be a Bad Thing. I also need to update one of my blogs today.
May 12, 2013
21-Day Challenge: Day 2
Okay, today’s task was to make a list of my top five priorities:
Things that Matter Most in My Life Right Now
- Getting my health back
- Getting my walking range back
- Cleaning up my living space
- Having my business succeed
- Losing weight
There they are in all their glory. The one surprise on the list was that losing the weight was actually the lowest of the five.
Below and In Front of the A/c – Before ©2013 Deborah J. Wunder
Additionally, I set myself the task today of pulling out all the stuff obscuring my air conditioner, so that I can begin going through it. This is the before picture:
As you can see, I have quite a lot of stuff there to go through. Still, it will be a relief to have it done. I know it’s baby steps, but it does add up, thank the ghods. I have plans for what I want my space to eventually look like, and it will take time to get it that way, but I will manage to do it. Of course, this isn’t the scariest of the three spots in my room that need work; that honor actually goes to the pile o’stuff on top of my dresser at the moment.
Frames by Mickalene Thomas Photo ©2013 Deborah J. Wunder
One thing I eventually want to do is to create some picture frames like the ones I saw when I went to see the Mickalene Thomas exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum. I was really impressed with the way she layered the frames, and think I could achieve the same effect with frames from various thrift shops. I love learning new crafts, and this looks like it will combine a number of things to learn: working with various media to make a coherent whole that will not only be interesting to look at in and of itself, but will be functional.
There is an interesting PBS special on right now, about a Hawaiian ukelele player named Jake Shimabukuro. I didn’t turn it off, because I thought my friend Abby played ukelele (she doesn’t – she plays mandolin; I called her and checked), but now it has truly caught my interest. On the other hand, we now have a little bit of a goal for me to explore while trying to get my walking range back. I do love it when things I want to do meld together nicely.
Anyway, I’m off to get some stuff done, so I will post the result of my attempt to clean out under the a/c tomorrow.
May 11, 2013
Something New…
First, I apologize for missing posting Thursday — I was not feeling well, and pretty much avoided the computer for the whole day, staying in bed and reading instead.
Okay, the new: I have signed up for Get Organized Wizard’s 21-Day Simplify Your Life Challenge. I had a chance to sign up for $2, instead of the $29 the course normally costs, so I grabbed it.
I intend to blog about this as I go, although I might double up and post about several days stuff at once. So there will, at least for the next 21 days, be more frequent posts than usual. As always, I will share the links to these posts on Facebook, Twitter, Plurk, and the other usual places.
Today’s challenge is to get a big bag, and start collecting stuff that is no longer useful, then take a picture of it before getting rid of it. I will begin doing that in a few minutes, and will post the picture here when I am done:
21DaySimplify – Day 1 ©2013 Deborah J. Wunder
There. I mostly got bags and shoes today. It took me 20 minutes to go through stuff and decide what I could try to sell or give away, and what has to get thrown away. The blue bag and the blue huaraches will be tossed, since they are in really bad shape, as will the green tote bag. Everything else, I will show to a friend who sells finds. I figure we can split whatever she sells them for, so we each get a bit of good out of it. And it will give me room to store the bags and shoes I am not getting rid of, which is even better. There is still a ton of stuff to do to get myself and my living space, but progress is progress, and one good thing about small bits of progress is that they do add up over time.
So that’s it for today. Will go back to work in a few minutes, since I have both writing and editing that needs to be done. Gonna just make a ginger ale & orange juice, and heat some ramen for lunch first.
