Gosh, is it Monday already? Time for another update on my latest Seven Minute Declutter Challenge – battling my evil arch enemy…paper!
I had a couple of interesting clutter ‘a-ha’ moments when we went off on winter break. (Just for the record, we spent a week on the beautiful island of Madeira. And, by the way, thanks to the Flylady, packing and organising for trips gets easier and easier, yay!)
Going away on a trip is a great excuse for decluttering. We always take the kids’ ‘getting-to-the-too-small-stage’ pyjamas and old ‘almost-at-the-holey-stage’ socks. Plus any ‘getting-to-the-too-embarrasing-to-be-see-in-public’ underwear. Magazines, old beach towels, half-finished bottles of shampoo and tubes of toothpaste. They’re all on a one-way ticket… A great way to ensure that there’s plenty of room in the suitcase for souvenirs on the return journey! 🙂
Well, I figured that I wouldn’t have anything to post here on the blog about decluttering paper. Because we weren’t at home. Well, that’s where I was wrong. Because every time I got any kind of paper in my hand during the holiday – a plethora of leaflets about tourist attractions, maps of Funchal, copies of our hotel booking, flight tickets, baggage tags, receipts, etc, etc – I actually thought about whether it was something I needed to keep. To pack in the suitcase. To bring home. To file. (Or, to be completely honest, leave sitting on my desk for a couple of week’s while I procrastinate.)
You see, normally I end up bringing home a plastic bag full of papers. Goodness knows what I’m keeping them for, because most of the information can either be found on-line or is something I’ll never need again. Duh! So I basically chucked the lot. Then and there on Madeira. (Which was fast becoming a dustbin for all our rubbish. Oops!) Anyway. Not only did I come home with a lighter suitcase, but I also unpacked and was back to normal in double quick time. No pile of papers sitting on the right hand side of my desk, eating away at my conscience. Ha! The battle against paper continues – and I’m definitely on the winning side.
Have a marvelous Monday! 🙂
I always find myself with a ton of paper junk when I go on vacation. I still have to wade through the bag I brought home from Savannah in November! My next vacation will certainly be less clutter free!
Good idea 🙂