2 Months Of Decluttering
During my recent trip to Indo, it really dawned on me I was spreading myself too thin and not focusing on more solid projects.
I also realized everything around me in my day-to-day life was unnecessarily busy and I really needed to declutter when I returned.
In a recent book I read Anything You Want by Derek Sivers, he quotes…
When deciding whether to commit to something, if I feel anything less than, “Wow! That would be amazing! Absolutely! Hell yeah!” – then my answer is no. Say “Yes!” to less.
Applying this to my everyday thinking, I’ve really started to not waste time on semi-cool ideas. I’ve even applied this to buying new things, going out to clubs and even going surfing when the waves aren’t good when the workload is crazy.
This is a list of things I’ve done to simplify and try improve my lifestyle over the past 2 months:
Things
- Gave away 2 surfboards to a local surf school
- Gave away 2 pairs of shoes and slops
- Lent out my guitar as I never play it anymore
- Lent out and gave away books
Online
- Deleted my LinkedIn account (It’s never got me good work)
- Unsubscribed to almost all email newsletters
- Auto-archived website backups that send to my gmail
- Unsubscribed from 20+ RSS feeds in Google Reader
- Unfollowed at least 30+ accounts in Twitter
- Moved all my important documents online to Google Documents
- Started using YouTube “Watch Later” feature when friends send me videos in day
Banking
- Cancelled my 2nd (UK) PayPal account
- Closed my Standard Bank account
- Officially started my “Emergency Fund“
Projects
- Deleted several “potential” domains I had hanging about that I day-dream about
- Completely removed everything online to do with FlareBrand ie. CardFlare and BoardFlare (IdeaBin entry coming soon!)
- Deleted two other potential site ideas I had sitting in Tumblr
- Pulled out of a UK Venture I was involved in for years, big decision but feeling great about it
There are a couple more I can’t remember, but I feel a load off my back from the above, hope an item or two on this list inspires you to do something similar.
Good luck with the decluttering!
Awehwolf!
Dunno bout the LinkedIn though… massive networking tool when you need it.
Love it Rob. We talk and do some stuff but you need to make a “declutter day”, turn off the phone, lock the door and systematically do it.
Thanks, going to do that on tuesday 16/8. My list will be ready by then.
Awsome idea Rob!
I have to try this, but it’s gona be sooooo hard to clear out some of the clutter.
[...] decisions all sort of came clear to me after my Indo trip in May that I needed to declutter to see clearer into the [...]