#declutter

[e-rose]

[quotelr]

Enjoy the peace of Nature and declutter your inner world.

Amit Ray, Mindfulness Living in the Moment - Living in the Breath

[growinggoblin]

The worst part of tidying up and decluttering is probably all of the items you find that don't have an easy home (yet).

The weird knick-knacks, the things you probably have more of so you could gather them but they're all over the place in different drawers and boxes, the keepsakes you want to keep but can't display right now. There's so many of these things!

[accidentallyadorable]

In the days of spring cleaning (or summer cleaning, whatever!), let me suggest an odd place to donate very odd things:

Your local zoo!

Zoos need a WIDE variety of goodies for enrichment. Did you know zookeepers keep a stash of spices for providing interesting smells for hoofstock, large carnivores, and primates?

What about that random string of lights you don't really want anymore but also they're kinda grubby so you feel bad about donating them to a thrift store? Keepers will place string lights outside of many different species' enclosures for enrichment - I see it most for birds and elephants! And keepers are used to things being a little grubby so don't worry about that!!

Best way to check is to see if they have a wish list on their website. This will include a lot of stuff they'd like new, but also pleeeeenty of stuff they'd be okay with used. (Paper bags are often on there so save your paper bags for a zookeeper!) Then, you'll often drop it off at their customer service desk upfront or the wish list will tell you specifically.

Declutter and enrich an animal today!

[nonewriter2000]

"Your mind is your home. Declutter it. Be kind to it. Invest in it." - Diana K. Levy

[bujobijoux]

Back in the day, way way back in the day, when email was barely a thing and I don't even know if PDF was even invented yet, we got everything in the mail. Paper documents. I used to have a sort of filing system and mostly kept these documents in binders.

Then digital documents became all the rage. We were sold on the idea that going digital would save so many trees. Maybe it even did for a time. All the banks and government agencies and what-nots convinced us to sign up to receive digital copies instead of paper ones. Maybe some of them didn't even give us a choice. I didn't mind. I was on board. Keeping paper copies was cumbersome, took up physical space. 3-hole punching everything was tedious. Keeping paper in filing cabinets was so old-fashioned.

But I'm so over it!

Digital documents still take up space. Not physical space but space on my phone, in my email Inbox, on my external hard drive, in the "cloud". In my head! 🧠

Digital documents create digital clutter, except unlike physical clutter you don't see it. You're only aware of it when you get the dreaded "you have run out of space" message. I don't know about you but this state of constantly fighting to maintain a couple of gB of space gives me chronic low-level anxiety. That can't be good for my health.

And they said that digital documents would be searchable. They're not. They lied.

Plus, Idk, I'm just better with paper documents that I can physically handle and look at. I find it easier to look at and understand and do whatever mental work I am trying to do with the information on multiple sheets of physical paper, as opposed to trying to look at multiple windows of documents open on my computer screen. I'm not sure how to explain it but maybe you understand. It's the clicking and scrolling back and forth and losing the spot you're trying to look at that does my head in. Spreading the documents out on the kitchen table armed with a pen, highlighter and sticky tabs is so much easier for me 📑

So I'm slowly going back to keeping paper files, I think. Back into binders.

[floridaboiler]

[beforeiread-studies2]

FINALLY finished all my face sheet masks from Korea. I had 12 at the beginning of the year and my goal was to finish them all by December (have the last one on as I'm writing this).

I'm so relieved! One less thing in my monthly to-do list. Originally, I thought that after I finished them all I would go buy a couple from my local Korean skincare store, to keep for emergencies. But now I'm like: girl, when have I ever had a face sheet mask emergency??? The marketing is going strong with this stuff. So I will not be repurchasing them any time soon.

Some thoughts about sheet face masks after this experience:

They are wasteful both environmentally and monetarily. Just buy a serum and use it a couple of times a week. Much greater value for money!

If you do use one, keep it on for max 20 minutes or you will get pimples/irritation.

If you "massage" the package before opening it, supposedly the mask will absorb more serum and there will be less left in the package. I like to use the residual serum on my arms, legs, etc.

You are allowed to cut the fabric to fit your face shape better. For example, I always cut the nose bridge, otherwise it doesn't stick to the face. Other easy modifications are the outer corner of the eyes and the mouth.

My favourites always had some soothing rosemary essence. I think they make my pimple marks appear less red for a couple of days? But otherwise I don't think sheet masks have much of an effect tbh.

You don't need to buy Korean masks. A lot of Western brands produce them nowadays so just try those first. I only got Korean masks bc I lived in Korea for a while.

Anyway, I'm glad it's over and now I can focus more on my other project pan items OR on something completely different, who knows.