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Looking back and heading forward – #minsgame 2

While my first go at playing The Minimalist Game got underway with a fair bit of angst and trepidation, this time around it’s fun!

week1final — Week 1 – 23 items decluttered

Lesson learnt

It was only this week, when I started decluttering again on a daily basis, that the lesson of last year’s exercise really came home to me.

As I went through cupboards and drawers, I noticed I had a different mindset – stuff was just stuff. Letting go of stuff is so much easier than it was the first time around.

Benefits realised

While doing the Minimalism Game again came about on the spur of the moment, on reflection having a year-long gap between rounds is beneficial. A whole year has gone by and I haven’t missed or regretted a thing I decluttered last June.

What’s more, I continue to notice the benefits of last years big purge. When I need something from my plastics shelf, linen closet or bathroom cupboard, I just go and find it – no searching through an overflowing mass of clutter, no sense of dread, no swearing as I try to shove everything back in with one hand while trying to slam the door shut with the other!

Energy spent < energy saved

The energy I expended on last years Minimalism Game has been eclipsed by the energy I’ve saved on a daily basis through reduce sighing, searching, stuffing and swearing!

It’s so worth it. In my head, in my heart – I know this. With this knowledge I am excited to get stuck into round 2.

Have you noticed lasting benefits from decluttering?

Here we go again – #minsgame Round Two!

It is coming up a year since I completed The Minimalist Game. This was going to be a post about what I learnt from playing the game, and the enduring changes it led to. However, I was chatting to my husband and he suggested that I should do it again.

Turns out that he really like watching my mad decluttering, and this time he wants to join in too.

So watch this space – July 2016 we are playing The Minimalist Game (again)!

Busy is the new fine – why I am fighting back

How many of your casual conversations start something like this:

“How are you?”

“Oh, you know, busy!”

It seems busy is the new fine.

Default answer, default setting
What’s the big deal? It’s just a throw away response to a polite question, which probably doesn’t interest the asker that much anyway.

But it is a big deal – it’s accepting and reinforcing a social norm.

Busyness is no longer a blip, a short burst of extra activity, an exception– it’s the default. Being busy is not just socially acceptable, it’s almost expected.

Busy is not fine
By operating with busyness as the default setting we are doing ourselves a disservice. We are sending out messages like:

if you’re not busy, you’re not successful or important
it’s not enough to be satisfied with what you have, you should always want to do more and have more
quantity is more valuable than quality.

Worse still busyness blinds us. When we’re busy, we’re more concerned with the what than the why. When we’re busy, there’s no room to think, reflect or question. In a world where we’re busy by default, in effect, we put our heads in the sand.

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But, why?

If, like me, you live with a three year old, then you probably ponder a seemingly endless array of “But, why?” questions everyday!

Right now, I am participating in WordPress’s Blogging 101 course . The course poses a great question, “Why do you blog and not just keep a diary?”.

Obviously, I write a blog because I want other people to read what I write. But, why?

Connection
One reason that I write for the world to read is because I want to connect with people with similar interests. Yay for other people who struggle with the indecision around hoarding vs chucking out plastic take out containers and like to share ideas about using up breadcrumbs! I’m pretty stunned that people actually read what I write. And commenters – oh my goodness, you truly make my day and give me so much motivation to continue.

Motivation
Another reason that I blog rather than keep a diary is for external accountability. I’ve only made it through the introduction of Gretchin Rubin’s Better Than Before , but I’ve already discovered that I’m clearly an “obliger” . Bascially, this means if I don’t feel like I’m letting someone down by not doing it, then chances are I won’t do it! Lame, but true. Publishing here creates an expectation amongst my audience that I will keep publishing, and that’s the kind of motivation that I need to keep writing.

Readers, commenters and followers you are the reason that I blog. I really appreciate that you give your precious time to my humble opinion. I am very grateful – thank you.

Do you blog? Why? What motivates you?

New Year challenge fatigue – and it’s still December

My January tradition is to attempt (note: not complete!) Apartment Therapy’s January Cure . I wasn’t going to attempt it again this year. Then I saw “decluttering” in the blurb and thought maybe they are changing it up. This provoked in me an irrational need 1) to know and 2) not to miss out. So needless to say I’m signed up.

Then I got an email about Courtney Carver’s The Busy Boycott 21 Day Challenge. Oooh that sounds good.

And finally just now I have seen that Joshua Becker’s Uncluttered starts January 1.

Decisions, decisions! Feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the great simple living options – ironic huh?

Are you trying out any challenges for the New Year? Got any recommendations?

#UseYourLoaf – reducing the amount of bread that goes to waste

It is Friday – Food Waste Friday – and this week, as well as reporting in on my food waste over the last two weeks, I want to focus on bread.

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