When my husband and I emigrated to Australia 15 years ago we brought only what we could carry in a bag. We had lived in one room in a boarding house for two years to save for the trip and we lived out of a 1986 Ford Falcon with dodgy suspension for 6 months as we travelled up and down the East coast of Australia.
It was a wonderful experience, but I have to say by the time we had finished I was looking forward to having a bathroom cabinet and tossing my toiletry bag.
Every year I decide that this is the year I am going to become minimalist.
I have a friend who does it beautifully, her home is white and clean with not a hint of clutter.
The problem is that when I try and replicate this in my home, things creep back in.
If I’m honest I like my things too much. I like the memories they invoke and the stories they hold. My possessions tell me the story of my family, the places we have been and the things that we have seen - My things are important to me.
So, what’s the alternative, when you are finding the ‘things’ in your life weighing heavily on your mind what can you do if you just can’t bring yourself throw things away?
What do you do if you are a business looking to gain back your focus and clarity without starting from scratch?
This year I’m committed to stop trying to be minimalist and start being a tidiest.
Often when I work with leaders and teams there is a sense of clutter and busyness, people feeling overwhelmed which leads to working in a reactive rather than a planned way. I have been guilty of this sense of busyness.
I like to draw on my experience of developing streamlined systems to help declutter rather than having to try and survive with less than 100 things. "The Minimalists"
In his book, "The New Rules of Management", @Peter Cook talks about systems as being like conscious habits, reducing the energy it takes to get something done, thus freeing up headspace to focus on the important things.
I have been using this process successfully over the last 6 months I found time to go for a run each day and I am now learning yoga, these are things I always said I didn’t have time to do because I was too busy.
I’m going to continue to be tidy at work and at home and I know I will finish 2018 and start 2019 feeling #lessbusy and I still get to keep my stuff!
Bek