Add No More

I picked up the book Getting Things Done probably more than a year ago on the advice of a friend.  I got about 10 pages in, and apparently got distracted (hah, that's kinda funny) and didn't go back.  The last few weeks have been a little slow at work, but there's been a ton of stuff going on that needs doing outside of work (A/C upstairs going out, coordinating the hunt for the brown recluse(s), yard stuff, life stuff).  In light of all the things that need doin', I decided maybe I'd give the book another go this week. Fortunately, it's gotten more interesting, and I've made it to page 20 I think...progress, people.

I've also been thinking about different approaches to life, different philosophies, different ways to ascribe meaning to your life.  Part of that comes from the frustration I have with feeling I just don't have enough hours in the day. 

Somewhere in the reading I've done in the last week or two (GTD, Zenhabits, etc.), the suggestion was made that "stuff" and "clutter" take away energy from your life.  This hit home because, ya know, some days I hardly have enough energy to make it to bed time.  See also: last night, where I crashed on the couch for half an hour while the kids played, then wandered off to bed around 10.  I'm not sure what triggers days like this, although last night I'm fairly certain it was a pain in the ass stubborn headache that won't go away, combined with sitting in 95 degree weather for the girl's softball game for an hour.  But those reasons aside, there are STILL days where I just have no energy left at the end of the day.

I like the idea of things being streamlined, I like the idea of little to no clutter in my living area.  When we were visiting relatives this weekend, their house was amazingly clear of extraneous crap.  As J later pointed out, they have no kids.  This is, of course, true; they are grandparents, retired, and they have pared down their belongings.

But I think it is possible to live with little to no clutter, even if you have kids.  And it is possible to get things under control - or so I hear. I spent most of the day on Monday cleaning things out - one small area at a time. A large junk drawer in the kitchen (the coffee maker has a new home), the "toy bins" downstairs (hello large box to Goodwill), and the craft boxes in the kitchen where Halloween candy and old paper scraps go to die (trash trash trash).  All in all, I nearly filled up the trashcan, which practically never gets filled.  This is a start.

My goal at this point is to just "not add."  And tackle little areas, bit by bit.  Maybe by the end of the summer I'll have things where I want them...