Life in the Tiny Moments

As I wrote in my last post, I was having trouble maintaining the 15 min/ day over the last couple weeks. So I set that aside (compassion and patience!) and took a little break from the declutter challenge. That approach worked out really well because when it came time for a 3 day weekend this weekend, I was rested and ready to tackle the closet.

Over the last 3 days (total of 2.5-3 hours), I:

• Pulled everything out of the closet (except what I’d already handled earlier in the challenge)
• Dusted, vacuumed and cleaned areas that hadn’t seen light in half a decade
• Consolidated souvenirs into 1 area of the closet so I can easily get to them and sort them when I have time/ am inspired
• Wiped down a lot of stuff that was dusty/ moldy including some old exercise equipment and 2 extra chairs that match my dining room table but don’t fit in my current space
• Set up and took photos of an old massage table to post on neighborhood boards for free (with fixed set of sheets); ditto with a bike seat that doesn’t fit my current bike and an old pair of rollerblades
• Set aside 4-5 old backpacks to be washed (I haven’t finished that task just yet)
• Found a number of other things to be donated: an old home phone, 2 old curtains, an old pair of plastic slippers, and 2 extra throw blankets
• Identified more clothes to go to the local shelter’s clothing shop: a pair of emerald green cords that no longer fit me (lost their shape and would fit someone a size or two larger), a pair of cropped leggings I always thought would be great for hot days but never actually wanted to wear, a pair of sunglasses that never fit me right, a pair of leopard print flats that don’t have enough support to wear for more than a couple hours, a grey workout tank that made me feel blah the last time I wore it, a pair of grey skinny jeans that lost their stretch (I thought I could pull them off as boyfriend jeans but a recent attempt proved that was not possible 😉 )
• Took a small shopping bag worth of old electronics to the local ewaste donation center
• Tossed a few things that couldn’t be salvaged: an old outdoor game that was broken, a pillow that had seen better days and a bag that my comfortable came in
• Separated out (and cleaned) some jewelry to try to sell on ebay/ donate if it doesn’t sell: a green statement ring, a beaded bracelet I hadn’t worn in years, 5 sets of earrings that I haven’t worn in over 5 years

I learned: that the combination of an overall intention (to simplify and green my home) and a lot of flexibility about how I reach that goal (days of 15 mins, days of 30 min and a few days of 1.5 hours) works best for me. That won’t stop me from doing future 30-day challenges. The time pressure and focus of a challenge helped me do more than I would have without it, even if I got a little creative with my schedule.

What’s next: For June, I’m going to focus on doing about 1.5-2 hours/ week on house projects to keep the momentum. I’ll experiment with different schedules and let my energy and inspiration levels play into how much I do each day/ week (compassion and patience!). I’ll update on my progress here.