In an attempt not to make the same mistakes as last year, I turned to the very first post of my 2020 challenge and found that I had created a concertina file for receipts and placed it in the kitchen cupboard. I sort of stopped putting the receipts in there around August/September. I know it was around this date because I found a lot of loose receipts thrown into the cupboard instead of actually filing them in the concertina file. Why did I stop? Was the space too awkward to get to?
The answer was yes. The shelf above it was stopping me seeing into anything past the first few months of the year in the concertina file and it was difficult to pull the whole thing out. I decided that it needed moving, so I filed the loose receipts into the relevant monthly slots. After that, I took out all of the January 2020 receipts and put them in the slot labelled 20 (for the year 2020 if you didn’t work that one out 😃), and so that I can start using the January slot for this year.
The concertina file was only meant to be a temporary solution last year until I found something better but I never did, so I’m going to continue with it for now and put the whole thing in a more accessible place e.g. in the temporary filing cabinet in the study. I’m attending an online course on paperwork in a few days so you never know, I might find a new and better solution for receipts.
What an appropriate jigsaw to do to mark the start of a year where I want to start taking life at a slower pace. Thank you Mum for lending me this last year, I never noticed the title until today 😀.
Today has been a quiet one, pottering about tidying up and also lounging around listening to podcasts and audio books. One particular podcast was by Dr Rangan Chatterjee interviewing Edith Eger. It had such powerful messages in it that I had to make some notes. My notebooks were right there in the drawer next to me from when I sorted out the drawer the other day.
I’ve also downloaded Edith Eger’s book called The Gift which is about her life as a therapist and a Holocaust survivor. The stories of her life and the lives of her patience are very interesting and eye opening so far.
I know that I said that I wasn’t going to post daily this year but during a lovely Skype with my mum and dad this afternoon, my dad said how much he enjoys getting up in the morning to read my posts. So, I thought I’d sneak this one in for you dad!
This is one of my calm spaces that I’ve created this year for me to sit, relax, think, write and reflect on life…
My calming space
So, here I am at the end of 2020 having written consistently for 366 days about decluttering and clearing space. I still can’t believe that the idea I had on 1st January 2020 to clear one thing, would grow into what it did. My 2020 challenge wording changed a few times throughout the year but I settled on the final wording around mid-year which I turned into the affirmation below:
“I have a clear and organised space in my home, my garden and my mind”
My 2020 Challenge, Sandra Madeira
What I achieved on my journey was far more than I imagined. In fact, I didn’t really have a plan at all, I was just going to clear, clear and clear some more until it was all sorted out. I didn’t really know what that meant at the time, but I’ve learnt so much along the way, particularly about myself. I’ve also learnt to ask for help, have rest when I feel overwhelmed and that I can’t do everything.
I’ve listened to various authors’ books on topics such as happiness, cleaning, decluttering, clearing and so on. They have been an inspiration to me and kept me going when I really felt overwhelmed. So too have you, my readers, and followers. I have loved reading your encouraging comments and tips. Thank you 😊.
So, did I achieve my challenge?
I’m proud of what I’ve achieved this year. Just to have most rooms finished is enough for me to acknowledge that I’ve completed my challenge. Realistically I was never going to get everything done. The house is looking and feeling clearer and tidier and when I asked my girls this evening how I’d done with my challenge, they said ‘really well’ which means a lot to me.
My plan for 2021 is to continue with the program of work that I’ve started and to get the last two rooms decorated. I’ll also be adding in a cleaning routine and trying to stick to it in order to keep on top of things. I’ll definitely be taking things at a slower pace, working on my inner self and adding in lots more self care and reflection time.
Some challenges thrown in throughout this year
Covid-19 and two lockdowns shook things up a bit; however, we were all fortunate to be able to work and do schooling from home and stay safe. This brought with it some challenges in terms of finding places around the home for desks that we could work at. Adding to that we were all in the house every day and had to juggle having builders in working around us (or not depending on the restrictions).
Renovation work wasn’t on the agenda at the beginning of the year but one decision to move my daughter into the study, opened up a whole program of work for me to manage which resulted in a new en-suite bathroom, skimmed/plastered ceilings, spotlights throughout the house, and many rooms decorated. This made me feel quite overwhelmed at times, but ended up speeding up the decluttering process because as each room got finished, we only put back in the the room what we wanted in there.
Qualifying as a coach was something that I achieved last month. It’s something that I have been working on for the whole year through work alongside my day job as a Finance Systems Manager. It was a challenge to fit in, but I’m so pleased that I did it.
A few posts I’d like to highlight
There have been many highlights in the year and I can’t list all 366 of them; however, I’ve chosen a selection of my favourite 2020 posts below:
If it wasn’t a leap year, today would have been the final day of my 2020 challenge; however, as it turns out I have an extra day to clear something. How about that! There are still a few things left on my list that I want to achieve by the end of the year, or to at least have set the wheels in motion for next year.
After work this afternoon, I cooked two meals: chilli con carne and lasagne (a sneaky move to stop me having to cook on New Year’s Eve). I then had some quiet time reading and reflecting on the questions on Day 3 in A Year to Clear by Stephanie Bennett Vogt.
The daily exploring exercises are already stirring the thoughts in my head and making me realise that there’s someone quite calm inside me waiting for the clutter and stress to disappear, and I’m in control of that. I’ve had moments of clarity and calmness throughout this year already, but now I understand that this is the real me. It’s quite encouraging and very exciting.
What did I clear today?
One of the things on my list of ‘must dos’ before the end of the year is to move the old filing cabinet out of my daughter’s new room. I don’t really know why it was still in there other than the fact that when the desk got moved to our bedroom (so that my husband could use it to work) the filing cabinet got left behind. I then piled old sheets and plastic covers on top of it because we still have a bit of painting to do in my daughter’s room (something we said we might do over the weekend).
Moving the filing cabinet
I also remembered that there was no room for the filing cabinet in our bedroom, and because we’d rather sell the matching desk and cabinet together, I needed to find somewhere for the heavy thing to live until we are ready to sell it (whenever that may be).
So, where did I put it?
With careful thought, I moved it to the study; my lovely new and almost tidy room. I know what you’re thinking… I’m filling the room up again, but I had a bit of a plan. Paperwork and filing is on my list for January and I currently don’t have anywhere to put papers once I’ve sorted them all. Although this cabinet is already filled with ‘old’ filing, it will give me the opportunity to go through it if it’s in the same room as my desk.
I’m also making the assumption that most of the papers in the filing cabinet will be discarded, leaving room for more up to date filing. The two drawer cabinet has hanging files so I’ll be able to easily drop papers into the folders with no hole punching required. Nice and easy! I might still need to have a few lever arch files in the desk cupboard, but I’ll work all that out when I start the mammoth task of paperwork. Looking forward to that joy… not!
Anyway, my daughter was happy that she had a clear space in the corner of her room for the first time since she moved in there, and I’m looking forward to seeing what she uses it for.
That’s all for today. Tomorrow will be the final day of my 2020 challenge, so it might be a long post as I have a lot of thoughts going around in my head to sum up the year. I might need to start writing it early as I’ll want to have finished and posted it before we start seeing in the New Year 🎉🍾.
I woke up and remembered that I had to work today and did so until 5.30pm with a short break for lunch where I tidied the kitchen. Then it was time to cook dinner, do the washing, put out the bins etc., and tend to questions and requests from the family as they hadn’t seen me all day. I stopped to do my own thing around 9pm.
With just a couple of days left on my 2020 challenge, I’ve been getting a head start on next year’s challenge which is to work through A Year to Clear by Stephanie Bennett Vogt and at the same time reflect on my own daily posts of 2020. This way I can mop up what I missed.
I sat quietly and read through day 2 in the book (having made notes on day 1 yesterday). I’m going to go at a slower pace next year and use the principles described in the first few pages of the book as follows:
“Observing and allowing events to unfold without doing, changing or fixing the outcome”
A Year to Clear by Stephanie Bennett Vogt
I already feel like I’m observing myself and slowing down.
So, what did I clear today?
As I sat at the desk in the study listening to relaxing music, I thought about the desk drawers and how I would feel if they were empty. With that thought, I opened the top drawer and took everything out. My daughter didn’t mind me putting it all in her room. It was mainly make up in there all tidy in dividing boxes and I’m surprised she hasn’t missed it. It was then that I realised that she’s been in her new room for over two months. I spotted a hairdryer in the second drawer as well and realised that she must have two. One can be decluttered I think!
Just seeing the empty desk drawer made me feel happy. I vacuumed it with my small hand held cleaner and thought that it was big enough to hold quite a few of my journals that are currently tightly packed into my bedside drawers in our bedroom with a load of other bits and bobs (sorting those drawers is another job for another day!)
It always fills me with dread opening any of my three bedside drawers as there really isn’t any room to move in there. Not a single additional thing has been able to get into there for a very long time and I’m sure there are items that have fallen down the back. All I usually get out of there is my current journal which I write in from time to time when I can’t sleep. Seeing as I haven’t had many issues with sleeping this year, I haven’t written in it as much as I’d liked to have done… but then I have been blogging daily.
In each drawer there were old notebooks and journals large and small going right back to 2009 at least. I took them all out (which left a bit of room) and took them to the study.
Finding an empty drawer for journals
These aren’t all of my journals as I found quite a few in the wardrobes that we had knocked out recently.
The trouble with me picking up old journals is that once I get my hands on them, I just have to read snippets from them. I have so much material for blogs in the future it’s unbelievable. I tend to write my worries and thoughts on paper in an attempt to find answers and even if I didn’t find answers back then, I would probably have some words of advice to give to my old self now. It’s easy once you’ve been there and done that.
Anyway, after about half an hour of reminiscing, I placed all of the books in the drawer and went to run a bath. It felt good to finally have a drawer dedicated to these books. It seems silly hiding them away when I could be learning from them and seeing how much I’ve progressed (or not in some cases).
Once I sort out my bedroom and locate the other journals that I found a few months ago, they will all be in one place in the study. I might need to use all three drawers in the desk though as there are a lot!
I woke up at 10.30am today and couldn’t believe how much sleep I’d had – I must have needed it. I remembered that someone was coming round to buy the chandelier that we took down from the hallway a few weeks ago, so I dragged the heavy thing out of the garage and left it covered up by the front door along with the box of glass lantern covers that fit onto each pendant.
When the man turned up, I uncovered the chandelier and you should have seen the look on his face! He didn’t realise that it was so big. Even though he really liked it, he said that he couldn’t put it in his home as it would take down his ceiling! I hadn’t described it very well on my listing which was my fault. He didn’t seem to mind that he’d had a wasted journey.
He kindly said that the listing didn’t give it justice and he gave some very good advice about how much I should have been selling it for and how to describe it. He said it looked tiny in the picture and nothing like a very large and heavy antique brass chandelier.
When I looked back on the photos I’d added, I saw what he meant. I’d been in a rush back in September when I originally listed it as being ‘available soon’ when it was still hanging in the hallway.
When the spotlights were installed in December and we took down the chandelier, I never went back to the listing and added close up pictures. I have now though and I was very grateful to the man for giving us the advice.
The way that I would sum all of this up is that I had no attachment to the chandelier as it was there when we moved in and not really to our taste. I couldn’t wait to see the back of it so was trying to sell it for next to nothing. Even my husband agreed today that we should have had it up for more money. I suppose I’m looking at it differently now. I still have no attachment to it though, and it’s still going to trip me up in the garage until someone buys it.
Sorting Excess bedding
I don’t know why I left the task of sorting out bedding until the end of the year, probably because I’ve been doing so much else. It had got to the end of the day and we’d had an early dinner. My husband had used most of the remaining Christmas lamb to make a lamb curry and it tasted so good.
I sat down afterwards and couldn’t work out why I hadn’t got around to clearing anything today. Then I realised that it was because I felt so relaxed in the study as it’s now tidier. I was lying on the sofa looking out of the window and the clear desk made me smile.
I wanted to do something today that would make my life easier. Knowing that our bedroom is one of the last rooms that I need to declutter, I walked in looking around for a trigger to get me started. I saw the bedding that I’d left on my husband’s desk that needed bagging up. It’s bedding for a double bed which I want to keep for when we eventually get a sofa bed in the study. This gave me the idea of taking all of the bedding out of the divan drawers in our bed so that I could sort it all out once and for all.
This would definitely make my life easier because I always dread putting things in the drawers because they are packed full and I have no idea why. I took everything out and sorted it into types and sizes. I got rid of sheets, pillow cases and quilt covers that had seen better days and only put back what we use on our bed. It felt so invigorating to have space in the drawers.
I then looked at what was left on the bed which included two vacuum storage bags. I used one for two spare pillows and the other for bedding for a double bed (as I have nowhere to store this until I get the sofa bed). Once I’d suctioned the air out of the bags, they fitted nicely in one of the drawers.
Before and after sorting out the divan drawers
So, that’s it for today. I’m back to work tomorrow for the last 3 days of the year, but I’m hoping to get some clearing done during the evenings to complete as much as I can for my 2020 challenge.
I watched an old film this evening that I’d seen many times before called An Affair to Remember starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. I love the film so much but my daughter couldn’t see why. I suppose teenagers these days don’t really get those old films that we know and love.
The day started off slowly. I had so much that I wanted to do but couldn’t work out where to start. So, I looked around at what was in my path. The Really Useful Boxes which are partially empty (as we’ve put most of the decorations up now) needed to be put in the loft so I took them up there one by one and stacked them nicely.
I then focused on what was in my way in the study. The first things I wanted to get out of there was the mattress which I propped up in the hallway. It needs to be sold with the divan base or given away so I advertised it on Facebook Marketplace. I might store both parts in plastic in the garage in the meantime.
Once it was out of my way I was able to start clearing the build up of stuff in the rest of the room. I got a little way through it but I was getting a bit fed up as I didn’t know where to store some of the things we want. I sat down and looked around knowing that my attempts at tidying the room weren’t really getting anywhere as I was just moving things about. I needed to do something drastic to break the cycle.
Then as if my magic, the book turned up
Stephanie Bennett Vogt’s first book Your Spacious Self has been an inspiration to me. Her second book that I ordered yesterday and want to work through over the next year is called A Year to Clear and it wasn’t meant to turn up until tomorrow. I was so pleased that it turned up early. All I did was read the introduction and it jump started me into clearing.
Imagining a clear desk
I don’t know what came over me. I was sitting on the sofa with the book in my hand and an idea hit me. If I wanted a clear desk, why didn’t I just take everything off it, give it a wipe down and sit at it enjoying the clear space. I could then work out what to do with the rest of the stuff afterwards. Within five minutes, everything was off it and on the floor! It felt so good.
Before and after clearing the desk area
The funny thing is that after I’d done this, I felt so much more motivated to clear the stuff on the floor. It was like I was looking at it in a different light. It’s not all cleared away yet as I had to cook dinner etc., but what it has done has allowed me to get to the desk drawers which I have discovered are still full of my daughter’s stuff. She’s sorting out her new drawers and cupboard at the moment and working out what goes where so I might just box this stuff up for her in the meantime. This will give me three drawers and a small cupboard which I have plans for. I can do that tomorrow if I get time.
I ran out of time to sort out the other items piled up on the floor but at least they are tidy. I then had to vacuum the floor as it hadn’t seen light of day for a while. I do like a clean floor. Sitting back on the sofa, I looked around feeling quite pleased with myself.
It’s starting to feel like a proper room with a purpose and it is so much more spacious and cleaner. If I was still trying to sort out the clutter haphazardly I would never have got this far. The way I see it is that the clear desk space spurred me on. It energised me into moving a few more steps forward today.
The girls walked in and said that I’d done really well which made me feel happy as they don’t usually hold back if they don’t like something. I sat there to write this evening which felt good.
A couple of good movies
We watched two films this evening. Mulan (the non-animated 2020 version) was the first one and then we watched A California Christmas. Both were really good and I actually didn’t fall asleep through either of them which makes a change!
I got up late this morning and it felt good! No pressure to be anywhere or do anything. After breakfast I tried out my new Bose noise cancelling wireless headphones which are great. You can change the level of noise cancellation so that on the highest setting you can enjoy music, calls etc without any interference.
I pottered around the house wearing them, listening to music and audio books for a while, trying to get the kitchen back to normal as there was still a bit of clearing up to do from Christmas Day.
A restful few hours and some plans for more clearing in 2021
After catching up with a friend on FaceTime, that I hadn’t seen or spoken to since March, I decided to continue with this restful state on the study sofa and had a short nap which felt really good. After all, it is the holidays and I only have a few days off.
When I woke up, I did some research on one of my favourite authors on the subject on clearing – Stephanie Bennett Vogt. She has a website called spaceclear.com which has so much useful information. I’ve listened to her first book Your Spacious Self so many times on audible and I’ve made such good progress with the way that I think about clutter and my attachment to it. Each time I listen to the book, I learn something different and see things from a different perspective. She teaches you to see clutter as your teacher.
I’ve read some good reviews on her other two books: A Year to Clear and A Year for You and they both sound quite similar and so I did some research on which order to read them in. Apparently it really doesn’t matter but A Year to Clear is the next suggested one. It has a ‘slow drip’ approach to clearing and has 365 daily teachings which I will be able to reflect on. At the same time I can look back on 2020 and see how much I’ve grown.
Anyone who has been following me for a while will know that I’ve learnt a lot this year myself, and cleared a massive amount of space in my house, my garden and my mind, and have written about it every day. I want next year to take me to the next level but not to exhaust me in the process.
I’m only just learning to break the connection with things and let go of them and there is so much more I can get rid of. I want to follow her guidance and years of experience and see where it takes me. After all, I still have the whole of the garage to do and some of the loft. This book will give me a ‘slow drip way to a spacious life’.
Rather than listen to this book on Audible (which is my preferred way of absorbing a book), I decided to order a copy to put on the desk in the study and read and contemplate the messages daily. The book is arriving on Monday giving me plenty of time to get the study clear and clean.
Actual clearing
After my restful few hours in the study, I got to work on the mess that I was sitting in the middle of. I used the same concept as I was doing in the dining room earlier in the week. I had the ‘clear dining room’ image in my head which showed me that it is possible to turn a messy space into a clear one, by (1) throwing things away and (2) if I’m not sure about them, getting them out of sight. The latter, not ideal as it’s a delay to getting rid of things, but I have a lot going on in my head at the moment and I need some space.
I sorted out piles of clothes and bedding that made its way into the study when the bedroom ceiling was being plastered. Thankfully, some went into a charity bag and I found a home for most of the rest. I’m sitting looking at the other stuff in the study now and it’s getting late so I’ll continue with it in the morning.
Just a quick post to say Merry Christmas to you all. The four of us have had a wonderful day full of fun, laughter and relaxation. We usually spend Christmas Day alone together anyway so lockdown didn’t really affect us today; however, the girls will miss seeing their cousins on Boxing Day like they usually do.
When the presents were unwrapped (and there were a lot), I made sure that the boxes, wrapping etc. got put straight into a box in the conservatory ready to be placed out with the next collection. I was determined not to allow rubbish to congregate near the back door again as I’m enjoying the spaciousness in that area.
My husband slow roasted the lamb and did his signature roast potatoes 😀. We all worked together to cook and clear up. Dinner was the tastiest ever! We have a lot of leftovers so we’ll be eating that for a few days.
After lunch we played a game and then made our family calls and zooms. My mum and dad were on their own so it was lovely for us to see them and for them to see all of their children and grandchildren online.
We’ve had a relaxing evening and I’m planning on an early night for a change. I’m also looking forward to a few more days off before going back to work on Tuesday.
Hope you’ve all had a good Christmas Day making the best you can from the current situation.
I like listening to Mo Gawdat’s podcasts and quite by chance I stumbled upon one about minimalism. His guest was Courtney Carver who launched a blog Be More With Less in 2010 and is now one of the top bloggers in the world on the subject of minimalism.
I haven’t checked out her blog yet but I did listen to the whole podcast and she talked about putting things out of sight if you’re not sure what to do with them. I loved these words that she said…
Don’t pressure yourself if it feels too hard to let go. Instead, I recommend boxing things up and getting it out of sight because when you are not looking at it all the time, you really break the connection.
Courtney Carver, on Mo Gawdat’s podcast
When I take a box of items out into the garage I already know that it’s on its way out, but it gives me time to break the connection with it and this makes it easier to let go. I felt so much better after listening to both of them talking and it’s made me think very differently about the remaining stuff around the house.
Christmas is nearly here
I had to work until mid-afternoon but then I got into the Christmas spirit and continued with the wrapping with the girls and getting the table ready for our evening meal of pork butties and chips. My husband had been slow roasting the pork all day and I popped out to get some chips from the chip shop. We had a sneaky glass of wine with it.
By early evening everything was cleared in the dining room and I really don’t know why I’ve left it so long to move all of the stuff out of the way. The white Christmas tree looks so much better there than the junk. It really is easy to break the attachment to things once they are out of sight.
Getting ready for Christmas
It’s funny… now that the stuff isn’t by the back door and with most of downstairs clear, it feels like someone else’s house. Once everything was wrapped and under the tree in the lounge and a few more decorations had been put up in the hallway, it felt Christmassy. This allowed us time to watch Elf which is a lovely family film. I fell asleep half way through as usual!
I still have some bits and pieces to do before tomorrow and I really want that soak in the bath that I didn’t get a chance to do last night due to falling asleep on the sofa.
That just leaves me to say Merry Christmas to you all and I’ll catch up with you with a quick post and a few pictures on Christmas Day!
Sandra Madeira 