I'm really enjoying going through everything and purging, purging, purging. I've noticed that the time I spend waffling on whether to keep or toss items is getting shorter and shorter. I think it's becoming addictive. The addictive part is not so much the act of getting rid of the stuff, but more so the idea of life getting simpler because of having less stuff to think about, clean, move around etc.
One area that I've been completely determined to declutter is my email. I am addicted to my iPhone. I'm not proud of this addiction and I am repeatedly trying to pry it from my emotional death grip. That project is a work in progress and a discussion for future posts. For now, it is considered one of my appendages and it serves as my primary computer much of the time. The amount of emails that get sent to it drives me insane so I decided last week to, instead of deleting messages from Old Navy, the Company Store, Ticktemaster, NRDC, (the list is never ending), to UNSUBSCRIBE from them ALL. These are not spam messages. These are emails that at one point in time since the inception of the internet I have subscribed to either by buying something from a company or signing up for a newsletter that I was certain I would be so interested in that I would welcome weekly emails. These are choices I made at one time in the past to keep me completely connected to companies or organizations that, for the most part, were trying to get me to spend my money. I am not a big shopper at all, but I have fallen prey to buying 5 tshirts at Old Navy because they were 30% off. I have 20 tshirts already. I don't need more. So one by one, as these emails pop up on my iPhone, I scroll to the bottom, follow the link to unsubscribe and get sent to a webpage which says something along the lines of "You have been removed from our email list. We're sorry to see you go but if you want to enjoy our deals in the future, come visit us at www.blahblahblahwasteyourtimeandmoney.com." I close that webpage and feel a sense of satisfaction that that's one less email I have to delete in the future.
It's been about 8 days and now when I open my email I can be assured that 99 percent of what will be in my Inbox is something that I need to read, want to read, and will make the time to read.
Hello! I found my way here via reading 365 Less Things--a source of weekly inspiration for me. And I really admire what you have started here. My blogging is largely creative in nature, but all of life finds its way to my blog. My husband & I, since we moved into a small house a few years ago, have been de-clutting and downsizing, paring it down to the essentials in all areas. Stuff is stuff--there's too much stuff in life. We need only substance & sustenance. :o) Thank for you the inspiration here--a topic very close to my heart. I look forward to reading how you get on. Happy Days!
ReplyDeleteHi Sally,
ReplyDeleteI too followed your link from 365 Less Things.
I've been decluttering for about six months now and not far into it had the same thought. I was getting so many newsletters and shop emails which I would just delete straight away.
Your post is a great reminder to get back to unsubscribing not just deleting.