Start of a new week, start of a new day.
I felt awesome.
Good night sleep, up early, kids off to school.
Ready for work.
I perched at my desk, flicked the power switch on my ‘puter while sipping my tea and soaking in the morning sun.
As the glow of the screen lit up my face I watched my email count go up and up. I clicked open my inbox and whoaaaa what a mess.
Hundreds of unread and unnecessary emails were clogging my screen. I scanned the list trying to discover the most important and urgent items from their subjects. I was distracted by the flashy promises from various advertisers and drifted on to read a few of the articles I subscribe to.
Finally I emerged from my ‘inbox overload’ to realise an hour had gone by and I had done no work.
My schedule neglected, my to do list unloved and my feeling of awesome deflating rapidly. Where had that hour gone?
I closed my inbox, leaving the mess to multiply and got to work. My frustration gremlin now perched on my shoulder, reminding me my messy inbox would not clean itself.
I realised in that moment how much our clutter slows us down and robs us of effectiveness.
How sifting through unsorted piles to discover what we want chews up buckets of time while destroying our cheer.
Our clutter exists in wardrobes, pantries, toy boxes, cars, laundries, sheds, computers……
The clothes we wade through in search of something to wear.
The out of date packets falling out of the pantry as we reach for cereal.
The shoes we trip over in the laundry.
The forgotten files and folders clogging our hard drives.
The lost and crumpled notices shoved in the bottom drawer, the ones you spent hours searching for.
Clutter also leaves the house with us. It can be in your desk or locker at work.
It may even be the countless groups and committees you joined and no longer wish to be part of.
Clutter that gets in your way, tangles around you and eventually drags you down.
We all know where it exists in our lives, and we use precious time and energy being slowed down and frustrated by it.
Instead of shutting the door and dragging the naggy gremlin with you each day, while you attempt to ignore the mess, I challenge you to declutter, just one bag at a time.
Introducing 30 bags in 30 days.
It is as simple as removing 1 bag of unused, out of date, out of fashion, outgrown, unneeded items each day from your life for the next 30 days.
It does include virtual bags, yes deleted emails, unsubscribed subscriptions, tidied desktops on computer and the big one for me……..the sorting and deleting of photos.
So let the declutter begin 1 bag at a time and make way for those precious pockets of time to return to your day.
Where does your clutter exist and are your ready to rid your life of it?
Let me know, where will you begin your declutter.
This is your one great life and it is time to Lead it Fabulously.
Ok. You’ve motivated me! The first place on my list is my desk drawer at work. Even one of my students commented on the state of it recently. I intend to organise it today!
The desk drawer, always a favourite of the clutter.
I love this! Having recently moved my house clutter is at record low levels but my virtual clutter – photos, emails, junk emails, etc. – are overwhelming! I’m going to take your challenge and work to un-clutter, one day, one “bag” at a time!
Mo I often think of how lovely it must be to move house and rid yourself of years of clutter. Enjoy that feel and let the virtual stuff go one bag at a time.
I know we have 30 bags of stuff that could be gotten rid of…the hard part is to convince the rest of the family that it needs to go! Thanks for a great idea, and Happy Sharefest!
Leslie, I get this. As soon as I pull out and begin to bag up long forgotten toys they somehow become the toy of the moment again. Yes the little hoarders would keep everything for ever. Good Luck
I love this concept. I love getting rid of stuff and the idea of doing it every day for 30 days is enticing. My inbox is always clogged w/ junk. I go to unsubscribe but I always feel like I keep getting junk from that same company. grrrr.
Stopping by from SITs Girls Saturday Sharefest
The unsubscribe option, I love when I get on a roll. Persist, persist, there are some that take a few attempts to get off every list they seem to have you on.
It is so true – clutter extends from our homes to cyberspace and it makes us less efficient. Thanks for this motivating post . Found this at Saturday Sharefest!
Susan it is amazing how quickly and in how many places we collect our clutter. Thrilled you stopped by.
This is almost exactly like the book I reviewed on my blog last week. It’s called Throw Out Fifty Things and it talks about not just the physical things like clothes and books, but attitudes, people, Emails, and commitments. Now if I can just take my own advice. #SITSSharefest
Adrian it is amazing the places we collect clutter and that it is not all physical.