Weekly Cleanup

It's been almost a year since we moved into this flat, but there's still a room with a lot of boxes opened yet not sorted. Most of the time we call this room our office, other times our guest room, sometimes the room without a name.

Everytime I saw those boxes I kept thinking that I have to sort them out but always too lazy to start. The big desk was almost always littered with opened letters, flyers, receipts and vouchers as well, which made it even worse.

And so when I read this article last week about "24 Quick Actions You Can Do Today That Can Change Your Financial Life Forever" I decided to just do it.

Action #2: Employ the “Clean Slate” approach to your clutter (20 – 90 minutes)

Simple steps:

1. Pick a room, area, or desk drawer – Pick a single, specific area. Your closet, bedroom, kitchen, office – or even the top of your desk or a “junk” drawer.
2. Remove everything out of the space - Everything… that’s why it’s called “Clean Slate”. Move it into another area or room.
3. Go item-by-item - Ask yourself not “Should I get rid of this?” but instead “Does this item add joy, value, or purpose into my life?”… ”Do I really need it?”. If yes, move it back into the room.
4. If no, put it into one of three piles – Put it either into SELL, DONATE, or RECYCLE piles. After you’re done with each item, sell the SELL pile, donate the DONATE pile, and recycle the RECYCLE pile. Duh.

How this can change your life: Clutter slowly sucks away more of our time, energy, and money. By attacking specific areas where it tends to collect you can reclaim back pieces of these resources. For most people, selling excess stuff is the #1 way to generate extra cash quickly. This process is also addicting and can lead you down a rabbit hole that may just end in an organized and clean living space. Gasp.

I've done step 1 and 2, but the boxes are now lying around in our living room waiting to be sorted. XD I'm good at starting something, but not at finishing them.
They're mostly Philip's stuff, but he still hasn't got time to sort them yet. So I guess I have to do it instead. TODAY!

At the same time as I started that little project, I also collected the papers on the desk, sorted and filed them. Usually I filed them into different folders, but I'm now using this filing system mentioned in here. It's easier so I won't be so lazy anymore.

I bought a couple of white Kassett boxes with lid for this purpose. One is already filled with bank statements, insurances and salary statements. The other one is still waiting for the receipts and stuff to be sorted. :D

Shouldn't take long actually, I'll do it once I've finished cleaning up the washing machine...