Hour #12 : Saving Love Letters

"Through Kurt I saw the beauty of minimalism and the importance of music that's stripped down."
Dave Grohl

Came across two boxes full of letters / cards / poems / photos / notebooks etc from past loves.

There is nothing more personal than a heartfelt passage of words presented as an offer of connection and openness. Made my heart feel a little lighter and my soul was touched by how deep some of the feelings were.

It also brought up the question of whether to keep or recycle.

For me it's a simple answer : keep.

There is nothing more minimal than love expressed. The intent. The need. The beauty. The importance to cherish (even though it could've ended badly) the sweet manifestations of this emotion.

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Decluttering : Exploring A Minimalist Lifestyle

“This was a very typical time. I was single. All you needed was a cup of tea, a light, and your stereo, you know, and that’s what I had.”
Steve Jobs

After spending over ten hours decluttering my life thought it was a perfect opportunity to take stock, reflect a little and share some thoughts on the journey so far.

My personal reasons have not shifted and if anything, a number 8. could be added : it's starting to feel good.

Looking around there's so much more to file / donate / sell / bin / recycle etc but already the load is feeling lighter, the rooms are looking cleaner, the cupboards are looking barer, I am feeling freer.

Even though it seems the 100 hours set aside to complete the task is a tad generous, I still believe even if all the clutter from my life is banished the remaining time will be focussed on sharing / maintaining / honing the skills learnt.

The biggest challenge is ahead, that of decluttering my workload and digital life (even though I've made a start).

A big thanks must go to those voices out there who are providing guidance and insights through their offerings (check out the Inspiration page for a growing list).

I'm still waiting for that 'pang of loss'—the realisation something discarded is important—although it's yet to come and don't think it will arrive at all. Onwards.

Hour #10-11 : Hitting The Books

"It's not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential"
Bruce Lee

Above are all the books I own (65 of them).

I'm keeping 19 - below are all the books I'm giving away to free homes (just cover p&p and they are yours) :

ALL BOOKS HAVE NOW BEEN DONATED

Native American Wisdom (Running Press Miniature Editions) [Hardcover]
Cut it Out: v.3: Banksy: Vol 3 [Paperback]
The Mini Rough Guide to New York City (Miniguides) [Paperback]
The Big Moo: Stop Trying to be Perfect and Start Being Remarkable [Paperback]
the unbearable lightness of being [Paperback]
The War of the Worlds 1964, New Windmill Series
Last Words [Paperback]
Poetry, 1900 to 1975 (Longman English Series) [Paperback]
Six Thinking Hats [Paperback]
Branded [Paperback]
Funky Business (Financial Times Series) [Paperback]
Dylan Thomas: a new life [Paperback]
By Heart: 101 Poems to Remember (Faber Poetry) [Paperback]
A Spillage of Mercury (Cape Poetry) [Paperback]
Canada: The Rough Guide (Rough Guide Travel Guides) [Paperback]
Poems on the Underground: Ninth Edition: No. 9 [Paperback]
The Penguin Book of Oral Poetry [Paperback]
Bono on Bono: Conversations with Michka Assayas [Paperback]
First Aid Explained: A first aid manual written and explained in an easy-to-understand style. [Spiral-Bound]
Finance on a Beermat [Paperback]
Crush It!: Why Now is the Time to Cash in on Your Passion [Hardcover]
The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance [Paperback]
As Though I Had Wings: The Lost Memoir [Paperback]
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Disaster Preparedness (Complete Idiot's Guides (Lifestyle Paperback)) [Paperback]
Disconnected: Why Our Kids are Turning Their Backs on Everything We Thought We Knew [Hardcover]
The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything [Hardcover]
The Beermat Entrepreneur: Turn Your Good Idea into a Great Business [Paperback]
Usborne Illustrated Guide to Greek Myths and Legends [Paperback]
Millennial Leaders: Success Stories from Today's Most Brilliant Generation Y Leaders [Hardcover]
Deep in a Dream: The Long Night of Chet Baker [Hardcover]
Rolf on Art: A Step-by-Step Guide to Painting [Paperback]
Cartoon Cool: How to Draw TV's Retro Style Characters [Paperback]
How to Draw Comics the "Marvel" Way [Paperback]
Tom Jones [Hardcover]
Visualizing Ideas: From Scribbles to Storyboards [Paperback]
The Painting and Drawing Course [Hardcover]
The Virtuoso: Face to Face with Forty Extraordinary Talents [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

ALL BOOKS HAVE NOW BEEN DONATED

Declutter100 - The Book

Since starting this Declutter100 project I've been devouring and digesting loads of minimal related videos, ebooks, blogs, podcasts... there is a wealth of fantastic guidance, insights, tips and strategies out there for newbies like me.

Thought it was time to contribute to the cause...

As I'm still an amateur was thinking of acting as a curator of knowledge rather than originator - here's my intention:

100 minimalists sharing in a 100 words anything they want (an idea, a story, a practice, a lyric, a quote, anything...) on the subject of minimalism.

All responses will be aggregated into a free ebook. Simple, huh?

If you've completed the form below feel free to publicise this project using #declutter100

Hour #9 : Shedding Your Online Friends And Follow Lists

As someone whose business is social media shedding online friends could be seen as dangerous.

Could I be losing valuable contacts and / or shedding potential fruitful business relationships?

Then again, I'm all too aware of the issue surrounding 'signal vs noise' online and ensuring filtering methods are in place to ensure you get the good stuff only.

Therefore, this decluttering project needs to extend into all aspects of my life and online friends / follow lists are no exceptions.

The main focus for this exercise are Facebook and Twitter.

The approach for unfollowing / unfriending people has been simple :

• those I haven't spoken to (in person / on the phone / skype / email) in over 6 months
• people who offer no discernible value (ie education / inform)
• anyone who is not a client
• inactive accounts

The total on Facebook has gone from 552 friends down to 424—achieved by simply going through my whole friends list.

Twitter total has shrunk from 750+ to 496—achieved over the past couple of months by using the Chump Dump iPhone App and being critical of my decision to follow anyone.

Maybe Dunbars Number is about 450 for me?

How have you decluttered your online spaces / friends list?

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Hour #8 : Tees

A selection of funky tshirts are for sale after halving all the clothes I own the other week—all before either donating them or putting them on eBay / Freecycle.

Here's your chance to drop a few dollar and get your hands on some cool attire which will make your friends gasp in envy... maybe...

Hour #7 : The Minimalist Belt-Buckle-Wearer

“Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”
William Morris

These are my belt buckles.

Three get worn regularly (can you guess which ones?) and the others are liked but not loved/used—the latter are up for sale (which took time to set up—you'll see what I mean).

From the little I know, minimalism is a concentration not a reduction.

Hour #6 : Drawers

Bet everyone has drawers like this in their homes... random junk collected from years of living.

This is one of mine!

Found stuff in this drawer over 5 years old and literally will never be needed. The other items have been binned, relocated and/or donated to others.

Now I'm only using two of the four drawers in my bedside chest—maybe I should get rid of it and move my pants and socks somewhere else?

Hour #5 : Post / Paper

I hate post.

80% is junk and the other 15% just needs to be filed and saved, leaving the last 5% (at most) which needs to be actioned (most of which can be sorted through an email or a phone call rather than killing a tree).

I just spent a best part of an hour sorting through a couple of months worth of post (I told you I hate it) and here's what I have left:

A. Shred—notifications from banks about rate changes, stuff with my name and address on etc

B. File (work stuff)—bank/VAT and other work-related statements, contracts with clients etc

C. File (personal bank statements)—maybe I shouldn't bother as I access my account online

D. Read (then recycle)—newsletters from organisations I'm a member of etc

E. Recycle—junk mail, stuff that comes in your bills informing you of other offers etc

F. File (household bills)—gas, electricity, water etc

The trick is to deal with each item of post as soon as it arrives plus having a filing system which is easy and on hand.

The other side of it is to see if I can receive certain publications via email and also cancel receiving certain bank statements.

Pursuing Minimalism : My Personal Reasons

There are usually two responses when telling others about my intention to explore a minimalistic lifestyle:

1. Encouragement and interest—'wow' they say, followed by a 'good on you'. Then there's some exploratory questions about what I'm doing and why. All good stuff as it serves to reinforce my reasoning whilst giving my response.

2. Confusion and dismissive—'I couldn't do that' people state, followed by a 'sounds a bit silly/odd/funny/batty to me'. Then there's usually a roll of the eyes or comment which rejects it as folly. All good stuff as it serves to reinforce my reasoning whilst giving my response.

A few people (before I've even started this decluttering) have commented on the fact my living room is so bare.

'Where's your stuff?' they ask (as basically my room consisted of a two seater sofa, a chair, a three seater sofa, a tv cabinet with a tv on, oh and a lamp).

I even remember years ago painting the walls in my room white much to my parents worry (as it looked like a 'hospital room' apparently).

So have I always been a closet minimalist?

If so, then this is my coming out!

And here's my personal reasons to go minimal (in no particular order) :

1. I'm messy—having not much stuff means less things to leave lying around.
2. Makes moving easy—looking to move again soon so lightening the load will help.
3. Change is good—to quote a clever chap, "It's stasis that kills you off in the end, not ambition", (thank you Bono), I like change and want to keep challenging myself to be better.
4. Feeling full—my life is so full at the moment so the need to create some tangible order will in no doubt impact into other aspects of my life.
5. Cost—I'm not a cheapskate but a tad frugal. Cultivating this frugal attitude means asking the right questions when it comes to any purchases.
6. Green—buying less stuff means less things being manufactured plus less waste going into the world.
7. Intrinsic feelings—not to get too deep or anything but it just feels right.

In summary, my pursuit of a minimalist lifestyle means getting more not less out of this crazy thing called life.

What's your reasoning behind being minimal? How do people respond to you?

Hour#4 : Reading Time

Was questioning whether this was legitimate time I could log as part of my 100 hour challenge to declutter my life and decided it was.

So here's some articles, blog posts, ebooks, videos etc I've been devouring to assist in my task:

• Minimalist Business : fantastic ebook by Everett Bogue
• Art Of Being Minimalist : another fantastic ebook by Everett Bogue
• Nine Quick Tips to Identify Clutter : from master zen dude Leo Babauta himself, referred by good pal Neil Cocker (you should also check out his Blackspotting project which explores "to intentionally seek out areas of no wifi or mobile phone reception in order to improve productivity & creativity")
• Digital Downsizing : a fantastic set of articles from Gwen Bell who I'm fast becoming a fan of
• The Experimental Life: An Introduction to Michel de Montaigne : exploring the philosophy behind self-reflection.
• Both videos below seen on Minimal

Hour#2-3 : Clothes

Well I had to start somewhere and what better place than my clothes.

Above is every piece of clothing I own.

Now 'decluttered'...

Before Declutter	After Declutter
boxers 18	boxers 8
socks 27	socks 10
sweatband 1	sweatband 1
sweat tops 2	sweat tops 2
trackies 3	trackies 2
sports jumpers 2	sports jumpers 1
shorts 8	shorts 3
tees 47	tees 20
long tees 6	long tees 3
jumpers 4	jumpers 2
shirts 19	shirts 10
vest 1	vest 0
jeans 5	jeans 3
trousers 1	trousers 0
cords 3	cords 1
pj bottoms 2	pj bottoms 2
army hat 1	army hat 0
beanies 7	beanies 2
jackets/coats 10	jackets/coats 5
suits 2	suits 1
trainers 5	trainers 2
sandals 1	sandals 0
shoes 1	shoes 1
hiking shoes 1	hiking shoes 1
total 178	total 79

I have three black bags for the charity shop.

Hour#1 : Where To start

"There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth...
not going all the way, and not starting."
Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta, the founder of Buddhism, 563-483 B.C

Obviously creating this blog, hacking the design a little, writing the first post and about page, then writing this...

At an attempt to start minimalising my possessions I thought I'd list and detail the areas which need focus and attention.

List of physical spaces (in order of priority):

• Living Room : even though I have an office I don't use it. Most of my time is spent here in the living room - main issue is keeping the table and two sofas clear from clutter.
• Bedroom : it's pretty sparse but important - main issue is the dirty clothes box (and the clutter on it's top).
• Office : (or basically my junk room) where the majority of my stuff I never use is - main issue is the whole space.
• Kitchen : lots of cupboard space but the problem I have is not washing up regularly - main issue is washing up.
• Closets : housing my clothes, boxes, old paintings (canvases), filing cabinet, shoes etc - main issue is just too much stuff.
• Bathroom : pretty empty - main issue is the er, don't know.
• Car : not too bad but never clean it - main issue is keeping it clean.

List of online spaces (not in order of priority):

• Google Docs : use this platform as my main invoicing archiver plus development area - main issue is that there's just too many docs.
• RSS : at the moment I subscribe to 281 feeds - main issue is too many feeds.
• Blogs / sites : currently blog at MediaSnackers, Social Media For Suits, Gnat Gnat and now here - main issue is time to create content for all of them.
• Twitter : currently using Chump Dump to try and reduce down the 500+ people I follow - main issue is too many 'friends'.
• Facebook : same as above.

List of other things :

• Post : I HATE paper and post. Sometimes statements and bills don't get open for weeks at a time - main issue is action not collection.
• Business paperwork : same as above.
• Hard-drive : iTunes, Files, Folders, notes etc - main issue is too much data.

Got to start somewhere...

The Start

Over the past few months I've been getting more and more into the ideas and philosophy behind minimalism.

Blogs such as Far Beyond The Stars, Exile Lifestyle and Minimal (to name but a few) have spurred me into action with this blog and my very own Decluttering My Life In 100 Hours project.

100 hours devoted to decluttering my life in pursuit of a minimalistic lifestyle.

Simple as.