Decluttering

One thing I noticed on my long run this weekend was how many thoughts my poor brain had rattling around in there. It is like a pinball machine! I'd start thinking about one thing and would zip, zip around to a jillion other ideas without ever finishing the first thought.

I decided that it's partly because it's summer and we don't have a routine. True to the Type A personality that I am, that doesn't always work out well. It's also partly because there's a lot of physical clutter in my house. Yes, I know that with two kids it's going to be that way. But it's not all necessary. So, I have taken on a decluttering project. I have checked out the FlyLady's website and even get her emails, but I've never really followed through with it. And now I'm reading The Happiness Project where the author tackles various parts of her life in order to be happier. Those two things combined got me kickstarted this past weekend, and the feeling I have in my now mostly uncluttered bedroom makes me want to tackle the whole house at once.

Now, I know me, and I know that if I try to tackle the whole house today, nothing will get done. Not one thing. Instead, I'm working on one project a day. I was going to clean out my hope chest, which has really become a place to just stash stuff without a home, but when I realized that I couldn't hang up the clean clothes because we were 1. out of hangers, and 2. out of room, I bumped the closet to the top of the list. I'm getting rid of anything I don't wear or don't love, including things I've tried to hold on for the "what ifs" and "maybes". I still have a few things I'm not ready to part with, but the pile of stuff leaving the space is huge.

I'm struggling with just wanting to do more and more and knowing I'll burn out if I try to do too much. So, for now, I'm going to bag up the "getting rid of" pile, hang up the clean clothes, and wait until tomorrow to tackle the next thing.