Amelia Lester wrote in her last week’s column:
For a child, owning something is both security, safety, and somehow a rush. Look at a kid after he or she has been given a book or toy. They clutch it to their chest with fierce determination. But for an adult, the apex of maturity is to let things go. A ‘toxic’ friendship; a silly fight with a colleague; a pair of jeans from another decade. We are better - and in some cases, healthier - with them on the trash heap.
This week, I spent the whole day cleaning out my wardrobe, getting rid of work clothes no longer fit me (or I don’t wear) - thanking them for their loyal service - then dumping them on the trash heap. All pencil heels have gone too; it was pointless hanging on to them when I can’t even stand in them.
There are a few other things I will be throwing in the trash heap - some unfinished projects, a few un-serving routines, and a couple of habits.
December has always been a month of ‘cleaning’ and ‘reflecting’ for me. Although I wholeheartedly agree with Marie Kondo’s spring cleaning method, I have never been able to implement it in reality. Rather than going by categories (clothing, books, papers, miscellaneous and sentimental items), I go by rooms and take out everything from cupboards and restock them in the process, discarding/ donating things that I haven’t used the whole year.
For projects, routines and habits, I have created a Planner and Bullet Journal that has everything I need to start the fourth year of my creative journey. It has a place for:
Index
Author Business plan
One Page Project Plan (6)
Future Log
Annual Log
Monthly Log
Monthly Notes
Weekly Log
Daily Log
Notes (30 Pages)
30 Days Sprints (place for 12 sprints in a year)
90 Days Sprints (place for 3 such sprints in a year)
Next Year’s Plan
I will be putting it up on Amazon for sale next week. I have designed several covers for it. Would you please let me know which one you prefer?
One of these?
Or one of these with Ms. Jolly?
I would love to hear from you.
Also, Eight Steps To Be An Authorpreneur is available for 0.99 cents for a few more days. Get your copy here.
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I enjoy aspects of Marie' Kondo's tidying method too, although I'm too much of a hoarder to get rid of the amounts of stuff she suggests. I especially love books and have many hundreds of them.