This year, I’ve been working through the Powersheets Goal Planner. Now that Spring has started, there is a “Clear The Clutter” challenge I can go through in the workbook. After answering a few of the questions, I decided to share my to-do list with you. I hope you enjoy.
“It’s time for some spring cleaning! Press the RESTART button and clear out all of the clutter that prevents you from spending your time intentionally. It’s never too late for a fresh start, whether that means saying no, creating spaces in your home that fire you up, or clearing out internet clutter. Here are a few simple challenges to give you a fresh start.” – 2018 Powersheets Goals Workbook, Pg.93
//Internet Clutter
These are the tasks the planner suggests to do this Spring
- Try a social media free weekend – I’ve never done this before. I can go days without checking social media, but those are usually weekdays when I have a lot to do. I have a pretty healthy relationship with social media, but I think I’ll try a weekend without it. I may end up noticing that I reach for my phone more often than I thought.
- Gut your social media feed and blog list – I’ve been slowly doing this over the last few years because there are many people from high school who I don’t need to follow on Instagram. I don’t think I need to gut my blog list on Bloglovin’ because I read most of what comes up in my feed, but I’ll still sort through everything and unfollow anyone I don’t need or want to follow.
- Unsubscribe from emails – I really need to do this because my inbox is filling up with a lot of emails that don’t need to be there. Someday, I will be a person who reaches Inbox Zero every day, but that day is not happening anytime soon.
- Organize and Simplify your computer desktop – I got a new laptop a few months ago, but the desktop can still use a bit of organizing (there are so many folders for my travel photos that I don’t know how to organize them anymore).
- Turn off notifications that distract you – All unnecessary social media notifications are off on my phone. This has simplified my life by a lot and I highly recommend it.
//Physical Clutter
Three spaces to clear out this Spring
(Here are the three spaces I chose)
- Drawers Under My Bed – There are four drawers and a door under my bed. I keep the drawers pretty neat and organized, but there are plenty of things I can get rid of like, clothes, craft supplies, etc. I’m mostly worried about the little door because I haven’t opened it in years. It’s blocked by my bookshelf/nightstand, so I never open it. (I’m pretty sure there’s Halloween candy from elementary school in there.)
- Desk – I declutter my closet pretty regularly, but I seldom clean out my desk. The desktop is fine, but the drawers are full of junk.
- Separate Summer & Winter Clothes – Atlanta’s weather has two different extremes: below freezing in the winter and melting in the summer. It fluctuates a lot in between, but my clothes are so disorganized that I end up going through different piles of clothing (I fold everything properly when I do a declutter, but after awhile, everything just ends up in crazy piles everywhere. It’s the law of entropy). It will eventually start getting warmer, so I would like to put all my winter clothes away in a box to store in my closet so that it won’t contribute to the regular mess of a pile that is in there. It will make my life simpler.
Related – The Complete Guide To Decluttering Before College
//Heart Clutter
Three purpose-filled things to do when I feel lost in the comparison trap
This wasn’t elaborated at all. I’m assuming it equates to productive things to do when I’m being lazy and procrastinating, so I’ll go with that.
- Write A Blog Post -Publishing a blog post always motivates me to get more done. It also boosts my creativity because I love writing so much. Even the more organized technical posts. Blogging takes a lot out of me, but the finished product always inspires me to get more done.
- Read A Physical Book – I always feel more productive when I’m reading a physical book compared to reading blogs or Wattpad stories online. The final product is still the same (time spent reading), but the feeling of accomplishment from reading a physical book is much higher than that of reading online.
- Clean My Room – I haven’t cleaned my room at all this year. I’ve gotten a lot done in 2018, but cleaning hasn’t been my priority (there is a carry on sitting in a corner of my room right now. I’ve unpacked and done all the laundry, but I haven’t sent the suitcase to the garage yet.) I “cleaned” once before a party, but that was basically me throwing the things on top of my dressers into drawers so that it wouldn’t be as cluttered. I need to take ten minutes out of my day to clean because this is getting ridiculous.
Related – 10 Ways I Refocus Myself During The Day
//Decision Clutter
Three decisions that will help me have a clean emotional slate and live more purposefully
- Where To Travel Next – This is a fun decision that includes a lot of thought and planning. I will explain this more in my quarterly 2018 goals update next week, so stay tuned.
- When I’m Going To Move Out – If you don’t already know this, I live with my parents. This has saved me a lot of money in my last two years of college, but I plan on moving out in 2019, so I need to make decisions about where I’ll live and how much money I want to save before taking the leap.
- Transferring College – I took the money saving route when it comes to college in that I went to a cheaper state university in my first two years of college. I don’t regret this at all because I don’t have any student loans or debt, but I’m considering transferring next year. I’m sure my friends are sick of me when it comes to this decision because I can’t seem to make up my mind. I’m honestly at an impasse when it comes to other people’s expectations of me and what I want to be doing, so this is definitely the biggest decision cluttering my mind. I’ll talk about it more if there’s any news to tell.
Related – My Travel Bucket List
//My Social Media Mission Statement
I think I have a very healthy relationship with social media. I use it to keep up with my family in other countries and states. I also use it to document my life. If I ever feel like I’m posting a photo for the wrong reasons, I don’t post it.
One thing I do need to get better at is posting pictures of just myself when I’m not traveling. I think posting pictures of myself alone is kind of vane, so I feel uncomfortable doing it unless it’s a picture of an event or milestone, which is why most of the pictures I post on Instagram is of me with other people (who I love with all my heart). I need to be okay with posting pictures of just myself. This has nothing to do with insecurity. I like the way I look and most of the pictures I post online are of me without makeup.
I have no idea where this is going. I just should post more pictures of myself.
One thing I want to get better at is posting more often and I really need to post my travel photos in an album on Facebook because it’ll be a lot more organized and will force me to delete bad photos (I have a bad habit of keeping every photo I take on my computer.)
I guess that spiel wasn’t really a mission statement, but I think that summarizes my approach to social media pretty well.
Well, that’s it for now. Spring is by far my least favorite season because I have a lot of allergy and asthma problems (The last few weeks have been hell for me in terms of my health). Even so, I’m glad that it’s getting warmer.
We’re almost 3 months into 2018, a quarter of the way through this year, and I’ve been getting so much done thanks to my Powersheets Workbook. I’m going to do a quarterly update on how I’m doing on my 2018 goals next week, so stay tuned.
What is on your Spring To-Do List? What spaces do you want to declutter this season?