Simple Living and De-cluttering

As can be seen from the title of this post, today I'd like to talk about two concepts I've recently discovered: Simple Living and De-cluttering. I can't remember quite how it happened (maybe it was divine intervention? I'd sure need it!), but the other day, when I was slowly starting to think about and planning for my impending move, I ended up on a blog called Keep It Simple (only in Finnish) and a post about getting rid of the chaos in your home, basically de-cluttering. For those who know me, it comes as no surprise that I need help and advice on exactly that - my home is rarely tidy, and there is usually random stuff lying around. So, this concept of Simple Living that this blog introduced me to inspired me to go and look for more, and I came across an absolute gem for all things related to Simple Living, including de-cluttering, time-management, sorting out your finances, and much, much more. So, this weekend I have spent some time reading some of the many interesting posts in zenhabits, which is a blog by Leo Babauta. For anyone interested in this concept, I recommend going into the Start Here section of his blog, where you can get an overview of the topics he's covered, and find the things that you find useful and interesting. After each post, there are links to related posts, so the information is easily available, and you could spend hours reading through it all.

For me, this is a perfect time to start the process of de-cluttering, since I'll shortly be moving back into my own flat - it makes so much more sense to go through all my boxes of stuff now, and get rid of what I don't need, and then only bring what I actually need back into the flat. Every time I move, I do get rid of a bunch of stuff, but this time I've got my new Simple Living tools at hand, so hopefully that would make the process even more efficient. When sorting through my boxes, I always try to think: Do I really need this? Do I use it? Does it fit? And, most importantly, is there space for this in my flat? I live in a 35m² studio apartment, so there isn't much room for extra stuff. I've also started re-thinking some of my storage solutions, to maximise the benefit I get from every single closet, cupboard and square metre of space.

At the moment, I'm very motivated to start this process, and to keep it up - de-cluttering isn't something you do once, you have to keep doing it. We'll see how well I'll do once I actually get back into my flat - there are loads of bad habits to be broken - but so far, it's been going quite well. Up till now, I've had about ¼ of my clothes in a closet, and the rest in three bags (one large duffel bag and two smaller ones) that have been in storage. Yesterday, I emptied out a large paper bag full of clothes from my closet, and reduced the amount of bags to one small duffel bag. I also dug out my folders of old school and uni papers from my boxes, and got rid of everything (except old report cards and a few essays) - amounting to a ½ metre high pile of paper. In addition, I've thrown out a few handbags and 9 pairs of shoes (yes, it hurt, but it had to be done). Right now, I'm very excited to keep going, so I hope I can keep this up in the future. And once the de-cluttering is properly underway, I want to tackle some of the other aspects of Simple Living that Babauta introduces in his blog.

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"You say 'erbs' and we say 'herbs', cos there's a fucking H in it."

Taken from here

I don't tend to plan very far ahead. Or rather, I tend to plan, but my plans also tend to change. A lot. And very quickly, too. So, although I may at one point decide that I'll, say, spend the next two years in Finland, I may also change my mind only a few days later, and end up spending 6 months in Scotland (true story). So for me, making plans for a year ahead isn't always very realistic.

But now, I've done it. I've bought tickets for 11.4.2013 - a date so far ahead that even my calendar won't let me note it down. And for once, it isn't a plane ticket, but a ticket to a gig. I am going to see Eddie Izzard in Helsinki!!! Yes! Amazing!!! I own most of his DVDs, and I've watched tons of his stuff on YouTube and TV, and now I get to see him live!!

Can you tell I might just be a tiny little bit excited about this?

Now what?

I've been working my arse off this spring. Well, sort of - depends what you compare it to, of course, but because everything's relative, and I only compare it to how much I usually work, I get to state that this spring, I've been working my arse off. I'll be getting nearly as many credits for this spring as I usually get in a year (see, those months in Edinburgh didn't slow my studies down, honest!), and I've started, and completed my bachelor's thesis. Which, to be honest, and considering my track record, I wasn't sure I'd manage, at least not by the deadline. (One of the perks (or maybe the perk?) of living with your parents for a while - you don't have to rely only on your conscience to nag you into getting stuff done.)

The point of this post isn't to show you all how very good and efficient I've been (well, maybe just a little bit). It's to say: today, now that I've finished my last class, and my last assignment, and the only exam I had to do, what am I supposed to do with my time? I still live with my parents (i.e. in BFN) for another month, so not much to do here. It's not like I was always working up till now either, but even when I was just hanging out, doing nothing, I always had all the work that had to be done at the back of my mind. I had a few nights when I didn't really need to do any work, but at some point I still ended up going back to my thesis, just because I had nothing better to do, or because I felt some weird urge to work on it. Scary shit.

So here I am, done with all the stuff that needed to be done for uni this term (except some final little fiddling with my thesis), with absolutely nothing to do. First world problem?

Oh, I'm not too worried. It's just the usual culture shock when moving from term into summer, but I'll manage. A few days from now I'll look back at this post, and laugh at it in contempt. Except that I won't, because in a few days time, I'll be back in the burgh. Hell yeah!

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Uncharacteristic behaviour?

I got a call from my step-mum today, and we talked for quite a while, mostly about my work at the school and my plans for the summer . I ended up mentioning that I'd be going to London in the middle of June - so far I'd kept pretty quiet about it, since I thought she wouldn't approve, what with me not really having a job this summer and all. Usually I tell my parents as soon as I've booked a ticket, but now I just thought my step-mum would tell me that I really should have saved my money. Instead, she laughed, and said "You know, I've actually been a bit worried about you lately. You haven't talked about any new trips, so I was afraid you were depressed, since you didn't even want to travel anymore!"
I thought this was pretty funny :)

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