Trim your Mindset—5 questions to Ask Yourself
I encourage gals in my Help! I’m buried in the Underwear Drawer talks to start de-cluttering in areas with the least emotional attachment; make-up drawer, kitchen utensil drawer, or clothing. I advise to stay clear of the photos or scrap booking area; because it stops you in your tracks and it is difficult to purge. I like this advice and I heed it, religiously.
I was a Creative Memories consultant (currently Advisor) for over 10 years. Part of staying current and being a skilled marketer and salesperson; I created albums and pages with the latest tool, paper, or gadget. I have over 40 beautiful albums completed. It was a fantastically fun job. Our family still enjoys looking through them and reliving the memories.
Then things changed with these 3 occurrences:
The digital age began. It was so much easier to take my 24 roll film it to be developed; throw away the ones that didn’t turn out and work with what was left. Now, I take 25 pictures of one person opening a gift “because I can”, but…then I have to deal with all of this clutter on my phone, computer, and the cloud (if I even knew what that was!).
I started homeschooling. Well now, here was a total life change and there was no time scheduled for figuring out the cyber life of my photos or desire for that matter. It was too much fun learning with my boys; not to mention all-consuming. (Which by the way, I wouldn’t change it for the world!!!)
Lyme treatment. That’s a whole, long, terrible story but let me tell you...we were all in survival mode. Period. Photos were taken but that was it.
Okay, so there are my excuses. And what are they now? Can I still justify my advice of ignoring the photo area after 2 years of intense de-cluttering in other areas? Do you suppose I should prioritize? Pun intended to me. (see previous blog post)
I thought of all of this when a dear friend emailed me. She shared with me she had been scrapbooking. It was also mentioned that she had taken a break to email because she was avoiding getting back at the task!
What makes us avoid things? Why do we procrastinate? Is the job so daunting that even the thought of starting it stops us?
It’s a mindset thing. It totally is. Every job has steps that need to be broken down in to doable, chewable amounts.
5 Questions to ask—Get your trimmer out:
Why isn’t this on my schedule?
When will I start?
How much time per day/week will I dedicate to the task?
Is the perfectionist in my holding me back from even taking the first step?
Who will help me get my photos out of my devices? YouTube? Teenage brain? (customize to your particular task)
This is what makes life so much fun. That we can admit our faults to one another for inspiration. We are in this together. Steady pruning, trimming and refining. It's a good thing. Iron sharpens iron.
As I gather photos for the graduation party next month, I will take baby steps toward taking control of the memorabilia, photos, and supplies...
Keep me accountable.
Snip, snip
Amy