Going on vacation provided me with a great opportunity to procrastinate. There wasn’t a lot of time between our camping trip and our vacation. So as soon as all the camping supplies were put away and we dealt with the mountain of laundry, I needed to start packing again. More than once I found myself thinking, After vacation I will go back into the attic/deal with Emma’s camp paperwork/figure out places for all the things laying about the house.
So I came home to a lengthy list of things to do, which makes me want to go away again. Another vacation is clearly not an option, but I gave myself a couple days to unpack and settle in again. Yesterday we made the 90-minute trip to go to lunch with my mom and pick up our dogs dogs from her house. When I got home from work today, I threw myself into Project 333, since that’s my main priority.
My time proceeded like this:
1. Re-read the instructions on the blog.
2. Read this post, which was very helpful.
3. Empty the closet and dresser drawers, and stare at the large pile of clothes.
Pile 1: I love and wear
4. Begin to sort the items into 4 piles as recommended by the above blog post: 1. things I love and wear, 2. things I love and don’t wear, 3. things which don’t fit my body or style, and 4. things that are in terrible condition. Spend some more time staring.
5. Consider the completed piles. Because I’ve been pretty aggressive with purging clothes, there was nothing in terrible condition, so pile 4 was non-existent. Pile 3 was also small, consisting of 2 t-shirts which shrunk in the dryer.
I love but don’t really wear…
6. Relocate the sorted piles after thinking about the next step and feeling a little overwhelmed.
And that’s as far as I got tonight. For those who might be unfamiliar, the goal of the project is to pare down your wardrobe to 33 pieces, which includes jewelry and accessories like scarves and shoes.
Analysis so far: We’re still working on vacation laundry so I know I’ll have more to add to my piles tomorrow. I feel like this is a tricky time of year to choose my wardrobe for the next three months, since this will take me into mid-October. As I write this, it’s 83 degrees in my living room, and while September is generally pretty warm, October will be much cooler. Today at work I was a little chilly, so I actually do have a need to keep my cardigans handy. I do like the idea of removing things but not giving them away yet. Because I’ve already gotten rid of so much, I can truly say that I really like or love everything I have, but I also feel I have more than I need. On Wednesday I’ll share my progress.
Speaking of procrastination, this month’s book is Eat That Frog: 21 Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time by Brian Tracy. I’ll be posting about this book at the end of the month. It’s a re-read for me, but it was a great book and I need a refresher.
I’ve been following you for awhile now, although the first time I commented, I had techy problems and it didn’t work. So, here I go again, lol! We have now removed approx. 60% of our possessions over time, and although my husband thought he was on board at the start, he really wasn’t. Now, however, our entire family is on board (husband and 7 1/2 year old daughter). My husband and daughter are both the type that get very distracted very quickly. So, with every item our daughter doesn’t feel like putting away, and with every item that makes dusting or tidying her room or her playroom, my sewing/craft room, a drag, I encourage her to put it in the donate pile, and bless another person. The less items you have, the less work everything n your house becomes. And I’m a firm believer in taking 15 min. a day, EVERY day (excuses only steal our blessings from us), and picking items to put in a donate pile. By doing this, our house is getting “thinner”, and there is a marked difference in the entire house. I would have loved to have completed this whole process aggressively within a couple of months, MAX! However, as I said, I was also dealing with two other people that were not on board, having to empty an entire LARGE barn, to put our father’s farm up for sale, and continuing to empty my parents’ house (father passed 5 years ago, mother passed a year and a half ago), and they were both hoarders, with a brother living in another province and a brother still living at home who was also a hoarder, I have had to do most of it myself, so it has taken me awhile (upwards of 2 years so far) to get through three properties. And the more I clear out, the less I want brought into our house. Stuff = work! No thanks!! Keep up the hard work…it will be so worth it in the end!
I just started a Project 333 as well. I didn’t include accessories except shoes and purses in my 33 items but my closet makes me feel pretty happy right now. If you can’t make it the whole three months because of the weather, that’s ok. You can always start another one. It wasn’t until I realized that not making it all the way wouldn’t mean I was a failure that I finally got the courage to try. Even doing it for a short period is a win in my book.
I look forward to hearing about your pared down wardrobe. I’m planning to do a wardrobe purge myself, but plan to wait until I’m done breastfeeding my little one (so I know my body will stay basically the same shape).