ZENandTECH 6: De-cluttering

What I have gotten rid of is (almost) all paper documents. With a combination of iPad and smartphone, I am able to handle situations that arise, as well as banking and bill paying, immediately. Rather than have home and business mail pile up, I take care of it, and it is done. To quote a self help teacher I read, I am able to “eat that frog” right away. This has allowed me to de-clutter my desk (and mind) and let’s me move on to the next issue that comes along, rather than agonize and grind through a pile of papers.the mental effect has been fantastic. I am always on top of thing, or at least I appear so! It also has made finding bills, reports and documents so much easier. I find extra time at the end of the day to take care of issues in a proactive, rather than reactive way.

I just graduated college in May, which means I’m in the process of finding a full-time job (graphic design) and moving out to be on my own for the first time in my life. This summer I have been going through everything I own, only keeping what I need, enjoy on a regular basis, or look forward to passing down to my future children, as I can’t take everything with me. As I clean, I listen to podcasts (like ZENandTECH! ), as I find listening to a conversation or dialogue makes the time fly and I clean more efficiently (as in, less grabbing the nearest hairbrush and rocking out to my favorite songs). Afterwards, I see how much I got done and feel very accomplished. I also feel like the more stuff I get rid off, the calmer and happier I feel, like I’m slowly getting my life in complete control. Listening to podcasts is also great, as they rarely go way over an hour, so they’re a great way to time yourself so you don’t burn out. I highly recommend it!

I just got rid of a bunch of old electronics. It makes it easy when the technology is so old you can’t even find a way to use it in your own house. This even included laptops that were expensive at the time. It was hard. No matter hwat you think you are going to need it all one day or you just find it hard to throw away something that cost so much at the time but after it was gone and the area looked clean I felt a hell of a lot better. This was a great podcast.

I just de-cluttered my back kitchen counter. Among other things, I ditched my old toaster oven and spice rack. Haven’t used either for a year or more.

Bring it on!

I have old computer equipment that has no “market value”. I need to contact a local charity so they pickup the computer from me. This non-profit organization will then refurbish the device and make it available to schools. This seems a better solution than tossing it out and having a computer end up in a landfill. I feel this a great way to act locally and think globally. Best. Charlie.

My Wife and I de-cluttered our entire house by getting rid of our roomate, does that count? We couldn’t take it anymore, so we ‘de-cluttered’!

Feels so much better now to have all of his stuff gone!

I am just getting to listen to this episode, but two weeks ago I moved to a new apartment. This meant going through several rooms of boxes of devices, old books, old documents (school work, old bills, etc.), but it took moving as a means to finally throw away or recycle many old things that were not of use, especially old wires and adapters. It was weird throwing away the box for my iMac that I bought in 2007 because I have strange attachments to things like that, but I continuously said to myself that it had to be done.

Although I still have some issues to work out, doing this decluttering was a nice relief from the other stresses of my life.

Thanks for the wonderful show, guys.