inbox zero.
Every so often I hit inbox zero.. Right now, I’m at inbox zero for both work AND for my personal email for probably the first time ever! Part of my “simplify and organize” plan this year is to try to keep it that way. The first step – unsubscribe from all of those darn retail
silence.
On a whim, I pulled the car off the street. We walked a bit. I whispered to Chloe “Do you hear it?” She replied “What?” “The silence.” Other than a few birds, we heard nothing. Nothing. Living in downtown, we are never in a quiet zone. Even when there are no cars, trucks, buses, we
finding time.
How do I find the time? Whenever I see the suggestion “Just get up thirty minutes earlier!” I want to scream. I’m often up at 4:30 or 5am, unable to sleep because I know how very much I need to get done in a day and don’t know how it will all get done even
time tracking.
Starting back in May, I began tracking my time. Because of the crazy schedule of our time in Irealand, I really didn’t get serious about it until July. And even then I flopped around with how to best categorize my time. Six months later, I’m still tracking. I’ve changed how some things are tracked —
the sound of silence
As I planned my trip to France, I started to think about things to do while I was in the area around Nice. I’ve been to most of the touristy places in the area and wanted to do something different. On the same day, I came across the Lerins Islands and a friend recommended them
time for “spring” cleaning.
Over the years, I have written on and off about my cleaning/decluttering strategies, like in Room of the Week and Room of the month. I haven’t been sticking to my schedule as well since we’ve downsized to a condo in walkable downtown Decatur. What I have done, however, is an “everything in a week” each
tidying up.
As everyone’s been discussing and praising the KonMari method, I wanted to find out what the fuss was all about, so I requested The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo from the library. Given its popularity, it took a while to arrive…just in time for us
don’t have time for this
How many times have I said this over the past 10 years? I cannot even count the times… Over the past couple of years, I’ve been working hard to finish up projects, transfer projects, move on. Just to give myself a little bit of breathing room. Find the things that truly are worth my time.
Paper, Plastic Or Neither
A few weeks ago, I read a short column in Time that left me all mumbly and grumbly. The “research” alluded to in Paper, Plastic Or Neither had me fit to be tied: One study found that a cotton tote must be used at 131 times to be better for the planet than plastic. Well,
overdoing it.
Labor Day here in Decatur means, at the minimum, Dragon*Con and the Decatur Book Festival. This year as with last year, Rob and the girls have gotten a hotel room at Dragon*Con in order to have a comfortable place to crash during the day and to allow them to spend more time with friends and
working for the weekend
Scrambling, scrambling this week to clear out my to do list. Table returned to IKEA. White t-shirt bought for Chloe. Work caught up on. Most of the “Goodwill item pile” sent on to new homes. Web page backlog almost cleared. Plans to change address with school system tomorrow. My motivation? Having a weekend in wich
autumn is finally here
The days are cooler. The trees are bright and colorful. I’m ready to make soups and teas and curl up under a blanket with a good book. And to possibly take up knitting once again. But it is too late for autumn. Thanksgiving is a week away. And thus the Christmas rush will be upon
downsizing never ends
Last year, we moved from a great big house to a tiny (for Atlanta) apartment. In the process, we got rid of half or more of our stuff. And it felt GREAT! Somehow, I had assumed that by getting rid of all that stuff, I’d no longer have to spend hours cleaning up after people,
rethinking my to-do list
For better or worse, I have lived by a to-do list for the past 5+ years. My list is long and evolves very slowly. I have daily items, one time items and then longer term items all crowding my list. While I try to remember to make sure some of the one time and long
minor change results in great happiness
While I was stuck home this weekend recovering from the flu instead of out camping at the LEAF Arts and Music Festival with the rest of the family, I did spring cleaning here at the condo. This amounted to “room of the week” style cleaning and organizing of the entire apartment. It looks better than
Learning to Breathe Again.
After two months of intense, packed lists of things that needed to get done, we are settled. And all of a sudden, I am ungrounded. No longer facing huge piles of things that MUST GET DONE, I am feeling untethered, not sure what I’m supposed to be doing, flitting from one thing to another, but
Mission Downsize: DONE!
Wowza! It feels like absolutely forever, but, in reality, it was just less than two months ago that we made our first offer and a little over a month ago that we made the jump over. In that time, we found homes for most of the furniture, books, toys, tools and all the rest that
slowing down
The frenetic pace of our moving activities is finally slowing down. We have a few more piles in the garage to deal with, but they will be gone on Saturday. A few trips to Goodwill and a single trip to the dump — we’ve cancelled the 1-800-GOT-JUNK appointment as the piles appear to be quite
Mission Downsize: Day 1082
Okay, not really, but it certainly is starting to feel that way. Yesterday, I really felt the toll that moving has taken on me. After Camille and I unloaded the car, I took a TWO hour nap…and still had to go to bed by 9:30pm. I’m just exhausted. Moving is hard work. But a downsize
Mission Downsize: Day 36
Aren’t we done yet?? No, but look how far we’ve come so fast! Our house is empty on the two top floors; we only have the storage room and garage left to empty. We now have a storage unit rented for things like holiday decorations, kayaks, the rooftop carrier and the tent. Soon we hope
GBK Gwyneth
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