Category Archives: Minimalism

My Desk

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As promised yesterday I have taken some photos of my desk and the drawers.  There are papers and files on my desk during the day but I always pack them up before I leave.  On the extreme left is a vertical file where I keep assorted envelopes and a couple of manilla folders of pending work on the desk.  There is a dual screen monitor with keyboard and mouse.  Other things on the desk are the telephone, rubbish container (we do not have rubbish bins at our desks), block of sticky notes, desk calendar, stapler, calculator, container of pens and filing trays.

To the left of the desk is a small cabinet with 2 drawers and a filing drawer.  This is the top drawer which is mostly stationery items.  There is a bit more in here that can go when I get a chance.  The thing I use most is the paper clips.  I use them for files I am currently working on and once they are completed the papers are shredded and the paper clips go back in the drawer for the next round.  I only use staples when I am sending things to someone else so that I can be sure they do not get separated.

The next drawer has more personal items.  The three containers at the back contain dry crackers, home-made muesli and psyllium husk.  I start work early and generally have my breakfast when I arrive.  The notebook and papers are from a Journal Club I attend.  I have a teatowel and cutlery in one ziplock bag and toothbrush and toothpaste in another.

Beside the drawers is a cupboard with 2 shelves.  This has old files in it and I could probably sort through and discard at least some of them.

Do your habits at home spill over to your work area or vice versa?

Decluttering Mindset

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It seems that once you actively engage in decluttering a part of your life, regardless of whether it is physical or mental clutter, there is always more that you can find to do.

My home is far from totally decluttered but I have increasingly found myself applying the same principles to my space in the office.  I work in an open-plan office in a 5 star ‘green’ building.  Many people are resistant to the ‘rules’ attached to this standard, however, I am pleased that we have initiatives such as separate waste and recycling bins in the kitchen areas.  Compared to some others, my work-station is positively spartan.

2012-03-15 01Nevertheless, there are always bits of paper and other junk gathering so each day I check to see what else I can clear away.  It is much easier to work when everything has a home and you have only ‘enough’ of things like stationery supplies.

2012-03-15 02Neither of these desks are mine but I definitely am closer to the tidy than untidy one, thank goodness.  One day I will take a photo so you can see what it is really like.

On another note, Joanna asked what is in my make-up module.  Here is a list.

Liquid foundation
Blush + brush
Mascara
Lipsticks x 3
Eyebrow pencil
Lip pencil
Pencil sharpener
Compact mirror
Tweezers x 2

Apart from that I have a bottle of organic foaming face wash which lives on the shelf in the shower. There is a jar of moisturiser and rose hip oil which I use around my eyes in a different container in the drawer.  I do not use an fancy make-up remover – just the face-wash and water.  So, it is not only the physical stuff that is streamlined.  My beauty and make routine is about as simple as you can get.

What routines have you streamlined to make your life simpler?

Module and Launch

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No , it is not the space shuttle!

I do not wear make-up every day but this afternoon I was going out and planned to put some on, so it was a simple matter of retrieving the module containing my make-up from the drawer of the bathroom cabinet.  Here it is.

Make-up module

Yes, this is my entire make-up collection.

In her book on minimalism, ‘The Joy of Less’, Francine Jay talks about setting limits on the amount of stuff you have and one way of doing this is to create modules.  My make-up module was simply a matter of putting my current streamlined supplies into a container, however, it will help me to maintain a small collection now that it is contained.

Since we do not yet have a bathroom mirror I was able to easily pick up the container and take the whole lot into my bedroom to use the mirror there and then return the module to where it belongs in the bathroom.  No fuss, no searching and no time wasted which suits me perfectly.

Now to the second part of the title – Launch.

I went to the Queensland launch of Rhonda Hetzel’s simple living book, ‘Down to Earth’ at the Maleny Neighbourhood Centre this evening.  I had bought my book about 3 weeks ago and it is well on the way to being a much-loved reference book in my home.  You can read my review in a previous post here.  There was a good crowd of interested and enthusastic people and I really hope that this is just the beginning of more people making a real effort to simplify their lives and reap the benefits.

Putting It Back

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Today was a fairly rare occurrence as we went shopping.  Not grocery shopping but to a couple of large stores.  My first goal was to buy some containers/dividers for the bathroom drawers.

We went Howards Storage World and I bought these.

2012-03-11 01They are acrylic and have small silicone feet on them to stop them sliding in the drawer.  This is how they look in the drawer.

2012-03-11 02I have  done the top two drawers like this, the third drawer is empty and the bottom drawer has the hairdryer in it.

Even though I have culled the contents of the bathroom cabinet a couple of times, most recently when I had to take everything out of the room for the renovations, there was still more to do.  I carefully evaluated every single item before I put it back into the cabinet.  There are still a couple of things that need to be used up and will not be replaced, however, it is almost to the point of having only those things that I actually need or use.

This is the top drawer.

2012-03-11 03The second drawer.

2012-03-11 04This is the cupboard.  I used to have 2 plastic boxes – one was first aid stuff and the other was extras of medications, sanitiser gel etc so I have now condensed them into one slightly larger box.  The bonus is that it is high enough that everything is able to stand up in it.

2012-03-11 05These are the baskets that I had previously used in the bathroom drawers.  They were slightly too big for the space so had got a bit squashed and one was cracked.

2012-03-11 06The broken one (not shown) went in the bin but I scrubbed the others and have now used them to contain some of the small items in the drawers in my sewing room.  They have replaced some cardboard boxes that were a bit the worse for wear after nearly 20 years!

All I have left to do is scrub the 2 plastic boxes from the bathroom cupboard.  One, which has an airtight seal will probably go back to being a food storage container.  That was its original purpose.  The other was previously used for storing toys when Belle and Missy were small so I may offer it to Belle if she needs it for a similar purpose.

Pinterest – Friend or Foe?

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I am probably way behind the times but about a month ago I took a look at the latest phenomenon sweeping the online world – Pinterest.  I became aware of it because of several threads about it on the forum of Simple Savings.  I had a browse and I just didn’t get what all the hype is about.  I discarded any ideas of Pinterest as an inane waste of time with no redeeming features.  I thought nothing more about it until I stumbled across 2 blogs in the last week.

Joshua Becker at Becoming Minimalist took a close, first-hand look and came up with this post about the pros and cons of Pinterest.

Yesterday, one of the ‘Freshly Pressed’ featured blogs on WordPress was from Never Contrary about the same subject.

Please read these links as I think they probably put their thoughts far more eloquently than I will but here are my thoughts on Pinterest:

It can be addictive – this is almost the first comment from anyone who has joined.
The concept feeds unrealistic aspirations and can easily promote jealousy and envy.
It is an insidious form of clutter.
There could be serious legal implications.
It promotes consumerism and the acquisition of stuff.
Like everywhere else on the internet the advertisers are tracking your every move.

I have not joined and do not envisage being sucked into this unrealistic, time-wasting world of pinning.  The blogs I have linked to have helped to crystallise my views.  I would rather be creating something of value in my own home than be living vicariously through random images on the internet.

Have you joined Pinterest?  What are your thoughts?

 

Consider This

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‘Enough for everybody forever’ – I read this in a newspaper article about an upcoming fair focusing on sustainability.  Along with, ‘Live simply so that others may simply live’ this really defines how we should be living our lives.

To put it bluntly, those of us who live in 1st world countries are being greedy bullies who are snatching way more than our fair share and denying the most vulnerable a chance.

That is without even beginning to think about those who are yet to come.  Will anything be left for them?

Family in ChadThis is a week’s worth of food for a family in a refugee camp in Chad (Africa).  Below is a sample of what a family in USA might eat.

Family in USAYou can check out a selection of photographic essays here on food for a week in households around the world.

That is only food.  Now take into account – shelter, access to clean water and sanitation.  While we continually strive for more, bigger and better there are many in the world who have next to nothing.

How Do You Clean?

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Do you clean all like things together or do it room by room?

From an efficiency point of view I suspect that it makes sense to do all of the sweeping or clean all of the light fittings.  On the other hand , I like knowing that I have completed one room.  An example is the bedroom – I may strip the bed then remove any cobwebs, wipe the windowsills, clean the lightshade, clean mirror, dust and polish furniture, vacuum the carpet, remake the bed with fresh linen – and it is all done.

Anyone who has been reading this blog for a while will be aware that the office is the unofficial dumping ground here and getting it the way I want it is a struggle.  Since the weather has been miserable today I have stayed indoors and continued to work on this area.

I am very pleased with my achievements so far.  Here is the desk.

2012-03-04 01Another view of the room.

2012-03-04 02Finally, the pile of stuff that I have yet to sort and find where it is going to live – either in this house or elsewhere.

2012-03-04 03Wish me luck!

Space When You Need It

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I have previously written about the benefits of living with less.  By having less stuff in our homes we immediately benefit by having less maintenance – less washing, less dusting, less cleaning and so on.

Doing less allows us more time and freedom to choose what we do with that time.  This can be time to volunteer, exercise or indulge a variety of passions.

Sometimes things that are completely out of your control happen that require time and attention from you at relatively short notice.  This has happened to me and I have been able to easily adjust my schedule to accommodate these changes.

It made me think how much more stressful these situations would be if my days were completely crammed with commitments and I had to struggle with finding the time for important things that require my attention.

Do you have spaces available and what would you do?

As an aside, I will try to maintain my blogging routine but please bear with me if there are some interruptions to the regular service.

Fundraising Clutter

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I want to preface this post by saying that I have nothing against the concept of fundraising.  Many charities receive little or no regular funding so donations are essential for them to be able to carry out the wonderful support and services which they provide.  It is also helps to raise awareness of issues such as medical conditions of which many people have limited knowledge.

I am bothered by the amount of stuff generated by fundraising for good causes.  The past 25 years has seen exponential growth in this type of fundraising.  Almost every week there is some designated ‘day’.  We have pink ribbon, white ribbon, blue ribbon, red nose and daffodil days to name but a few.

There are several issues around this whole concept that bother me:

The amount of unnecessary stuff which is generated in the name of merchandising.  These include ribbons, lapel pins, pens, medallions, mugs, teddy bears, silicone wristbands, keyrings, bandanas, fake flowers and caps.  This is not an exhaustive list but it gives you an idea of the sort of stuff that has become part of the push for the donation dollar.

This stuff is:

Mostly made in overseas sweatshops and imported

Has to be purchased initially by the charity which reduces the money available for use in provision of services and support

Is rarely of any real use to the purchaser

Takes up space, gathers dust and eventually is consigned to landfill

Possibly the earliest proponents of giving away something in exchange for a donation was red poppies on Armistice Day.  I believe they used to be handmade using red crepe paper but then progressed to mass produced.  Now there is a choice of poppy themed merchandise.

The next forays into a designated ‘day’ that I am aware of were ‘Daffodil Day’ (Cancer Fund)  and ‘Red Nose Day’ (SIDS and Kids)which began in 1986 and 1988 respectively.  They both began with a single product and quickly expanded into a range of merchandise.

Since when did the need to buy stuff rather than simply make a donation become the accepted norm?  Do people feel that they need to ‘advertise’ their support?  Or is it simply designed to raise awareness rather than funds?  Whatever the reason I disagree with the waste that is generated by the selling of merchandise on these special ‘days’.

My strategy to avoid the stuff is simply to select those charities that I wish to support and make a regular donation directly from my pay or at at time of my choosing.  On the rare occasions that I make a donation on a specific ‘day’ I give money with the express wish that I do not want any merchandise.  This is usually met with a strange look or comment but I simply say, “No thanks” and leave.

How do you feel about this issue?

Remember, this is not against individual organisations but rather the mass marketing of ‘stuff’ in the name of fundraising.

A Spoonful of Sugar………

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………helps the medicine go down, according to Mary Poppins.

On Sunday evening Miss O and I went to see Mary Poppins.  I had already seen the show in Sydney so was familiar with exactly what would happen.  Miss O was completely unfamiliar with the story but was thoroughly entranced by the costumes, music and dance routines.  With a little guidance from me she was able to gain an appreciation of the story.

It is exciting for me to share my love of the theatre and to see the sheer delight on her face.

As the full cast performed Supercalifragilistic for the encore Miss O was sitting on my lap, wide-eyed and clapping in time to the music (along with most of the audience).

2012-02-28 01I did not buy a program because I feel they add very little to the overall experience.  Also, in order to justify the cost most people tend to keep them which is simply clutter for the majority of us.

I think this photo of Miss O in front of the mural outside the theatre will be a far more meaningful ‘souvenir’ for her.