"Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful." Regina Brett, columnist for the Plain Dealer.
I'd add that it should also be either compact or multifunctional.
Showing posts with label weeding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weeding. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Stationary? Who uses stationary anymore?
I was looking around for something to weed today when my eye feel on a pile of stationary. Huh? Why do I even have stationary anymore? Almost everyone I know I can call or send email to, and that includes even the older relatives.
I think I've had some of this stationary since I was a kid! Which is funny if you consider that I was always a infrequent correspondent and have atrocious penmanship. Back before PCs I used to type all my letters so that friends could read them. One of my oldest friends was once offended that I printed her letter, but she quickly changed her tune when my next letter was hand written. While I use to print my letters on fancy stationary, since the 'computer age' I haven't needed to bother doing even that.
Yet somehow I've still accumulated quite a pile of stationary. A few I can blame on gifts, but the rest were impulse buys. So here's the truth, I don't need stationary and I'm not buying anymore.
So I pulled it all out to look at it. Some of the small note cards can be used for thank you notes, so I did keep a few of those. Handwritten thank you cards are still considered proper etiquette. Darn! Some of the sheets of paper would actually make good note and scratch paper, so I did keep some of that. I like to have paper I can tuck into the non-fiction books when I read at lunch and having a pile at work means I have a supply of paper for personal use.
At home I like to have paper and sticky notes handy when I'm watching TV, on the computer, reading, or just planning my day. So a lot of paper will get used up in a reasonable amount of time. All the the rest and the orphaned envelops I'm throwing out.
Here's a picture of what is going. As you can see from the ruler it's a fair pile and I'm earning back a bit of space in my office area.
So I'm happy. I've made some room in my office and I won't be buying anymore stationary.
I think I've had some of this stationary since I was a kid! Which is funny if you consider that I was always a infrequent correspondent and have atrocious penmanship. Back before PCs I used to type all my letters so that friends could read them. One of my oldest friends was once offended that I printed her letter, but she quickly changed her tune when my next letter was hand written. While I use to print my letters on fancy stationary, since the 'computer age' I haven't needed to bother doing even that.
Yet somehow I've still accumulated quite a pile of stationary. A few I can blame on gifts, but the rest were impulse buys. So here's the truth, I don't need stationary and I'm not buying anymore.
So I pulled it all out to look at it. Some of the small note cards can be used for thank you notes, so I did keep a few of those. Handwritten thank you cards are still considered proper etiquette. Darn! Some of the sheets of paper would actually make good note and scratch paper, so I did keep some of that. I like to have paper I can tuck into the non-fiction books when I read at lunch and having a pile at work means I have a supply of paper for personal use.
At home I like to have paper and sticky notes handy when I'm watching TV, on the computer, reading, or just planning my day. So a lot of paper will get used up in a reasonable amount of time. All the the rest and the orphaned envelops I'm throwing out.
Here's a picture of what is going. As you can see from the ruler it's a fair pile and I'm earning back a bit of space in my office area.
So I'm happy. I've made some room in my office and I won't be buying anymore stationary.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Decisions, decisions
Taking control of our homes really comes down to making decisions about each of our possessions. Which ought to be easy, we make decisions all day, every day, for work, family, and play. But we get home and we're tired, we've worked all day, made decisions all day, and don't want to make any more. But wait, isn't making decisions about our needs more important than all the other decisions? Can't we spare 15 minutes or even less a day to find one thing in the house that isn't useful anymore?
My decision today was to go through the college text books that I still happen to have (I've pitched quite a few over the years). Here's the thing, these books are old and no teacher would assign them to a current class. Some of the information is inaccurate or outdated. Which doesn't make them very useful does it? Besides, I did that, been there, not going back! So all old textbooks are leaving the house. I've stacked them by the front door so it's clear that I'm ready to get rid of them.
My decision today was to go through the college text books that I still happen to have (I've pitched quite a few over the years). Here's the thing, these books are old and no teacher would assign them to a current class. Some of the information is inaccurate or outdated. Which doesn't make them very useful does it? Besides, I did that, been there, not going back! So all old textbooks are leaving the house. I've stacked them by the front door so it's clear that I'm ready to get rid of them.
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