I spent the weekend establishing a renewed commitment to becoming a miniminalist and living a clutter-free lifestyle. You see, my fourteen year old granddaughter visited. Although she was thrilled to see us and enjoyed her visit, she wasn't pleased that I hadn't made the progress promised last year.
She asked to help clean the house. She's such a thoughtful and diligent, straight-forward individual for her age. She agreed to dust.
When it came time to clean the shelves for my figurines collection, All God's Children, I assumed she'd seen enough. She placed an high-pitched emphasis on my name as she commented, "Naana, you've got too much stuff. When you come to live with us, you can't bring all this junk with you."
I froze for a moment. My heart sank. JUNK. She already knows they will be hers one day. I've tried to explain how precious they are to me.
I had to sit and think. Will she truly appreciate them as I have? She loves certain pieces in the collection, such as the "Black American Historical Figures Collection".
But I understood her point of view. She's already living a minimalist lifestyle. I admire her because she's not the normal teen. She doesn't require much to subsist.
I read previously that living a minimalist lifestyle doesn't necessary guarantee a happy and fulfilling life. In stepping back and analyzing this thought, it is certainly true. I can rid myself of all clutter and still not be satisfied with my life. It's a two-fold process. But I will be able to breathe easier and have more space available while contemplating other aspects of my life in terms of senior citizen lifestyle.
I know I have a short time frame in which to make a major impact on reducing not only my collections, but all other aspects of my life that need filtering.
The interaction with her gave me pause to reconsider why I haven't made as much progress as planned last year.
In all honesty, last year I realized that I was forced to sort through several containers of items that was originally stored in my garage attic. An incident in the attic caused the floor to give way. All items stored in it fell to the floor of the garage.
Needless to say, it was a traumatic experience as several boxes of items I thought safe were destroyed in an instance. This forced me to identify and sort through the containers I hadn't seen the contents of for years. But I did locate my Hot Wheels and Barbie Doll Collections.
Now, three months in 2024 have disappeared. I can fall back on the excuse that for the first quarter of the year my health was less than one-hundred percent. The energy drain was overwhelming. I knew the task ahead in terms of first identifying and sorting would be daunting throughout the remainder of the year.
But I also knew I needed another approach.
I read two rules recently that I gave considerable thought. I would like to attempt them for one month to see the effect. One is the 30/30 Rule. The other is the 90-90 Rule.
30/30 RULE
The idea behind the 30/30 rule is simple. However, as was pointed out, the calculation adds up quickly during the time period I choose. On day one, I have to get rid of one item. Day two; two items. Each day the items increase until for example thirty days have passed. On day 30, I will remove thirty items from my possessions. When calculating the total if I complete the challenge truthfully, I will have reduced my clutter by 465 items. Now, that's an amazing feat for only a month's worth of work.
However, given my indecisiveness in even parting ways with one item on any particular day as I indicated above, I don't think this will work for me. I will certainly fall behind within the first few days of the challenge.
90-90 RULE
Created by Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus of The Minimalists, the 90/90 rule is a decluttering process that requires you to ask yourself two questions about objects you're not sure about: Have you used it in the past 90 days? And if not, will you use it in the 90 days ahead?1
Now this approach I feel is extremely useful to me. My biggest problem is decision making when it comes to whether to keep or toss any items. I hold onto them for years, thinking one day I may use it, then I'd have to purchase it again.
I can see now that this approach has caused every storage place and shelf to contain items I look at every day and don't really think about because I may need it at some point.
I decided to try the 90-90 Rule for one month.
I'm starting today, April 1st. This day is also April Fool's Day. I hope I can avoid looking and sounding like a fool at the end end of the month. I will report on my progress in May.
But if I never try, I'll never know if I can do it. I just might fail. And I just might not.
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1 90-90 Rule in Minimimalism. The Minimalist. Online at: https://www.theminimalists.com/ninety/
I've found that it is a bit of a journey and it takes a lot of time and energy. This idea helped me:
set a short time for the activity (even with a timer - I used my phone), set maybe half an hour. before your start have your sorting equipment with you - a box for donations, a bag for recycling, another for refuse. Take a first pass and remove the things you have no qualms about. Sort them and move them on straightaway. Finish when you say you will and have a sit down. It may only be a small thing, but it's a bit more space than you had before 😍.
I had hundreds of books and I have already done three or four passes using this method. I feel it is worth taking slowly because I went too quickly with clothes and there are one or two items that I regret parting with - and I do think about them often.
With precious things, like your figurines, I take more time to think about how I am going to dispose of them. I had a big collection of Black history books and I found a home for them, a project in London that was pleased to have them.
It does all take time and energy, though, and we need to acknowledge that, and all the past memories that are tied up in objects, what they symbolise for us. I think, as well, growing up when I did, postwar rationing was still in place for several years and even after that, people around me were very careful with things they had, nothing was wasted or discarded carelessly. It's quite a struggle to deal with all those ingrained habits, we need to be gentle with ourselves and take our time.
I have people around me (Mr P, just sayin') who talk about keeping things just in case they are useful: I've had them thirty years since I last used them! Some of those tools, they've got rusty in the time they've been waiting for me to use them, and every year I move them round the garage when I spring clean.
For things that have no meaning to me (pretty much everything in the garage), the question I ask myself is, "what would happen to this if I were dead?" The answer is pretty much always "recycling" or "refuse".
Love to hear how you get on with the 90 days idea. Good luck!
Wow, some useful tips indeed. I'll take your time frame under consideration when deciding to part ways with my items. Thirty minutes at a time and different disposal containers.
I really appreciate your feedback and suggestions. Also, I'm going to give a bi-monthly update on my progress sharing what items I disposed of and who were lucky enough to receive them (other than File 13).
When you say that you have a certain person in your living space that has kept tools and other items for over 30 years...I have one also. A tool wheel cart that has rusted from working career in which he retired over 10 years ago. Just rolling it around to different sides of the garage. I could go on and on, but at least I'm attempting to do something about my part in all this. There's enough blame to go around, and I'm not going to point fingers UNTIL I declutter my demons. Showing by example.
I have a feeling though this tactic won't work. I've 30 years back history.
I've read numerous times over the years that the first step in any progress toward self-improvement is to recognize you have a problem. I've done that.
Now, I have a plan. It's at a point I have no choice but to address the situation slowly.
When you say "what would happen to my items when I die", like you I cringe when I think of my entire life's collecting being dumpstered if I'm no longer here to defend it and provide a good home for the worthy; and add to the trash bins for the worthless.
Only I know in what bin the items should go. So, it's up to me to JUST DO IT!
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That's amazing and I trust that she'll continue on that path:)
Your grand daughter is truly an amazing teenager. How many teens can boast of truly being satisfied with the simple things of life plus she also wants to help you achieve your set goals.... that's so sweet of her.
One should start the week in the same way with a lot of potential, it gives a lot of benefit, then the whole part goes smoothly, if you do it lazily, then the whole week goes in trouble.
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