When did the first day of spring move to the 20th of March? It used to be on the 21st while I was growing up. I’m grown up now, and everything’s changed! Pluto was still a planet, Uranus was pronounced Yer-A-nus, and that big green dinosaur was still a brontosaurus. Now, I have no idea how many planets there are, I laugh each time I pronounce UR-eh-nes, and I forget what to call that big green dinosaur.
Let Go of Mental Clutter
I have to let go of these thoughts, which are fast becoming mental clutter. But how? I’ll search online for the answer to “when did spring move from March 21 to the 20?”
Here is what I learned about the first day of spring from EarthSky: Everything you need to know about the vernal equinox 2016.
The equinox won’t happen on March 21 until the year 2102. WHAT? I’ll be dead! If I’m alive, I’ll be really old. The March equinox last took place on March 21 in 2007. What a burden I’ve carried for nine years. It’s a good thing I looked this up and finally got the facts straight. No more mental clutter about the first day of spring. Now, what are they calling a brontosaurus these days?
Let Go of Digital Clutter
Late last year, with the help of a computer consultant, I purchased components for my first custom-built computer. Thank YOU, Leon Hanna. Change is challenging and the new 4K screen and Windows 10 operating system took a bit of getting used to.
But what really made me realize I need to let go of my digital clutter was migrating files from a nine-year old computer that crashed frequently to this new one. Sure I could have moved everything over, but Adobe no longer supports PageMaker so why bother moving these files?
It’s also a shocking experience to look into the last decade of picture and video files and realize how far technology has come. From the 1.3 megapixel photos I’d take with my 2004 HP IPAQ 6315 smartphone and poor-quality videos from speeches years earlier, compared to the work of videographer Bonnie Keith. I’ll feel even lighter after I take time to view some of these older videos and then hit delete.
Let Go of Temporal Clutter
A year ago, in February, my husband and I gave up subscription TV. Initially, we watched a few DVDs, but the last time we turned on the old 62-inch LCD TV had to be mid-2015. Amazingly, I don’t miss it.
And you know what?
You’d be surprised how addictive watching TV can be as we vegetate mindlessly watching show after show until it’s time for bed and we realize, I haven’t done a dang thing this evening! After paying $100 a month for about 150 channels of which we watched only 11, I thought, what else could I spend $1,200 a year? In March of last year, I began attending live HD feeds of the New York Metropolitan Opera at my local theatre. What a treat!
Reducing Temporal Clutter opened more time to deal with Physical Clutter.
Let Go of Physical Clutter
Physical clutter is what we often think of when we talk about decluttering. Paperwork is the most insidious of all. In fact, I refer to Piles of Overwhelming Paperwork as POOP in STUFFology 101, because of how much time it takes to review each piece, and then either file or discard it.
All of these categories of clutter (we call them cluttergories) are related. Let go of the things that take your time (temporal clutter) such as watching TV, and open up time to make progress with digital and physical clutter. This letting go has a profound effect on reducing mental clutter giving you greater peace of mind and the opportunity to do something we rarely have a chance to do these days – reflect in order to be ready to take hold of an opportunity when the time comes.
Next month, we’ll be marking the 2nd anniversary of the release of STUFFology 101: Get Your Mind Out of the Clutter. As a toddler, she’s had an impressive run – first being the best-selling non-fiction audiobook over Labor Day weekend last year thanks to Blackstone Audio and recently being released in the Korean-language edition.
For more information on dealing with clutter, click to read:
How to Manage the STUFF (Clutter) in Your Life
Caregiving Families: How to Help a Loved One Downsize With Dignity
Springtime (regardless of the official start date) is a great time to look at life with fresh eyes.
The cluttergories in our lives often go unnoticed without a step back, reevaluating what is important to us.
Thank you for the reminder Brenda. I made the time to clear the POOP from my home office that piles up without routine maintenance.
It’s always a good sign when we can clear the POOP (Piles of Overwhelming Paperwork), Eric. It takes a long time but we make inroads each period we devote dedicated time to the task.
I loved this book and really, really need to put all of it into practice. Thanks for the humor in this article I needed a laugh this morning;)
Sheri, I’m glad you enjoyed the humor. I had FUN with it.
As for “putting it ALL into practice…” Start one step at a time, Sheri. Eventually, you’ll put into practice what matters for you, Bob, and “Al.” We have enough pressure in our lives… small successes build into big accomplishments one step at a time.