Clutter-Busting Week Reviewed!
Posted on January 18, 2016 in Challenge
(last edited on February 15, 2023 at 12:26 pm)
(last edited on February 15, 2023 at 12:26 pm)
The first week has passed, and while I didn’t spend every day actively decluttering, it went pretty well! I had wanted to sort two boxes of books, and I ended up going through 10! It’s slowly dawning on me, though, that I have about 20 boxes of books to go through, and my goal of winnowing the collection down to a single stack of six shelves is unlikely to happen. Rather than write about it, though, I stitched together a five minute video to show the progress itself.
You’ll get to see some of my book collection as I ponder the organizational challenge! Video is something I’m going to be playing with more in 2016, as the Living Room Cafe comes together!
5 Comments
Dave, I understand better than nobody the need to get organized and the ‘productivity itch’, but I have a feeling that your blog lately has erred too much in the ‘meta’ side of things. Maybe you could balance it with some “shipping stuff” kind of project? I remember when you did the one product a day challenge, visiting your site was one of the highlights of my day. Maybe a product a day is too exhausting, but how about doing “product Fridays”, or “This month’s product”, or other challenge of that sort? I’ll always read you anyways, it is always nice to know about your process. Thank you for your honesty and openness.
Anonymous: Thanks for feedback! By “meta” do you mean articles with a lack of a tangible delivery or result? I don’t think I would call it an error, as it’s quite deliberate :D
One of the things I really miss about my early days of blogging is writing about stuff I like. If anything, I feel the years of blogging between 2008-2014 were too much in the other direction, so I’m trying to return to a balance and experiment with some new forms. One of them (which might be the “meta’ you’re talking about) is a kind of “conclusionless writing”, where I just talk about what I’m doing, instead of summarizing a key insight, discovery, or creation as was my usual habit before. Writing in the insight/product delivery style is quite time consuming and one of my OCD tendencies, and it’s not always fun, and I realized some time ago that the desire to complete something in one sitting was preventing me from starting many things in the first place; it’s a habit I’m actively trying to break and it probably is reflecting in the writing! Also, I’ve been very busy with some work-related projects over the past year (and for the next two years) that I haven’t figured out how to write about (it’s all hairy programming stuff), so getting any time to write at all required some experimentation! Thanks for your patience with it! :)
I think the writing style will continue to evolve, though I think you might be right that I need to post some “new project” type stuff. I’m playing around with the format. I really want to present a full example of my “creative life”, and it’s more than just the stuff produced. It’s a lot of naps, video games, cats, toys, sundry products, and every day challenges too. Creating new things is hard, and I don’t want people to fixate too much on it if they’re looking for examples of how it’s done. That said, it’s those new things that create new value and attract people. If I can show that broad spectrum of activities in an approachable and conversational way, and also identify the really good stuff along the way, that might be the balance I’m looking for! I’ve started working with some editor friends to help me see the broader patterns in my body of work to help kickstart it as well. There are some pretty big patterns already emerging that may help put all the meta in context.
Thanks again!
I know exactly how exhausting this process is. I just recently finished sorting through the last of the boxes from our move a year ago. So hard to work that extra stuff into your space. It’s much easier to push them back into the corner and ignore them.
It feels a bit like cutting off a limb to get rid of the supplies and books from old project ideas. Am I really never going to get around to that? But the feeling afterward, when your workspace is clear and organized is indescribably freeing. I really had no idea how much emotional energy I had wrapped up in that clutter.
I think this sort of work is pretty important to the creative process and has a place in your blog if you want to talk about it. I find it reassuring to see someone else struggling with the same issues.
Ha! I noticed you’ve got a copy of the 4-Hour Chef in that stack of cookbooks! As it happens, I’m cooking/blogging my way through it right now (a-la Julie & Julia). Thanks for posting this video. I found it interesting, and I found it interesting that I found it interesting. Sometimes I struggle to blog because I think “Who will want to see this”. But this reminded me that everything’s cool to someone. Needed that reminder.
Penny: Thanks for sharing your experience with it, Penny! I am in agreement!
Ethan: Wow, that’s great that you’re cooking your way through it! Checking out your blog now! Also, YES…it is a great reminder that what YOU think is cool is likely to be cool to someone else; just putting it out there in some way makes the connection possible!