Sloth and Toil

This is the longest break I’ve had from work since my vacation in July. Even though I only work part-time, and have a super-short commute, I’ve been very appreciative to have this time off. Sleeping in is a rare treat- I’ve slept till almost ten the last few days, which I never do! We got home from visiting my family Saturday, and I spent the rest of the day in pajamas, reading. It was awesome.

But I’m trying to have a balance between laziness and accomplishment. Giving myself freedom to relax has helped me be more productive during the times when I work. It’s been great to cross some things off my list these last few days.

When I look back on this year and think about what I’ve learned, I hope I remember this: EVERYTHING always takes much, much longer than you expect, even when you plan to only do a couple things. For example, I allowed myself a leisurely morning yesterday, and planned to complete two medium-sized tasks: writing January’s menu plan and giving Project 333 another, better try. Emma and I were having ice cream with her Brownie troop at 2, but I still felt I could get both tasks done.

Ha. Ha. Ha.

On the upside, I gave Project 333 another try. Last time, my effort was definitely halfhearted and I threw in the towel pretty quickly. Since I got a few new items of clothing for Christmas, it seemed a good time to give it another try. We still have a few months of cold weather ahead so the timing also felt right.

Last time I think it flopped because I didn’t really plan strategically enough. This time I started by making a list of targets for each type of clothing- pants, tops and accessories. I then divided tops into shirts and sweater, and accessories into scarves and jewelry. My initial list had 10 pants, 12 tops, 11 accessories. As I started working through everything I altered my plan. I decided I didn’t need 10 pairs of pants but I wanted more shirts. I also have a few cardigans, which I love, and I paired them with shirts and counted each as one because I won’t wear the shirts alone as they’re sleeveless.

 

Five pair of pants plus two in the laundry.

Five pair of pants plus two in the laundry.

After I chose shirts and sweaters I went through my scarves and kept 6 out of the 25 or so I own, and boxed the rest.

Pared down shirt drawer

Pared down shirt drawer

braclets

Organized but unnecessary.

I didn’t count jewelry, because I have a lot of costume jewelry and I love all of it. But I went through my drawer and filled a tray with pieces I don’t wear very often. Most of my bracelets were hung from an old mug rack.  But I don’t wear bracelets often because they get in my way when I’m working, so I packed most of them and the mug rack away.

closetproject333

Way fewer things in the closet!

When I finished I lost count of numbers, but I have lots of space in my closet and drawers. Previously my shirts and sweaters occupied two drawers, with miscellaneous items left to be stuffed wherever. I have pants and a shirt I wear when painting, and velour sweat suit I only wear around the house because it looks too much like something I owned in fifth grade. I tended to stuff those things wherever I found a spot, but now they have a drawer.

The process took way longer than expected. Packing everything into a tote and a box and shoving it to the back of the attic was important, so I don’t feel tempted to go looking for something. I’ve had a minor headache all day and haven’t been able to shake it, so I decided to make it a Netflix day. But I did finally reorganize the tv stand.tvstand

This was a task I’d been dreading. Whenever I looked at it, I felt overwhelmed. It still doesen’t look aesthetically pleasing, but I recycled old magazines and put lots of CDs and DVDs into binders. When Emma was about a year old, she grew very fond of throwing discs all over the place. So we too them out of the cases and put them in binders. Until recently we had all the cases, but I really have no interest in going back, and in fact have recycled most of them. The reality is, discs will go the way of the cassette tape as the world gets more digital.

I have no idea what I’m going to work on tomorrow, other than January’s menu. I’m going to pull a lot of ideas from prior months which I think will make the process easier. All the Christmas gifts  have been put away, amazingly enough. I hope you all had a good holiday and are looking forward to 2016!


8 Responses to Sloth and Toil

  1. It sounds/looks like you really streamlined your closet and TV stand! I’m going to be going through my wardrobe again after I return home from the holidays. It’s great when everything is organised and decluttered.

    • It definitely make a huge difference! It’s only been a few days but I already appreciate the benefits.

  2. You did a FANTASTIC job streamlining your closet!!! BRAVO! My only question is why you put the excess way to the back of your attic (question mark is working hit and miss) I am curious why you do not load it all in your car to donate to a thrift store so it is out of your home…I have taken at least half our gifts out from under the tree and washed all the clothing gifts. This morning I am putting the remaining gifts away and taking our tree and all our decorations down, to get my clean house back, lol! Actually, through the Christmas season, I found several other decorations to donate to Salvation Army. So now, I have two more full boxes to donate to them, Man, a fresh clean start to the New Year is a good feeling! And Happy New Year to you as well, from New Brunswick, Canada!

    • It feels so good to have the holiday items and gifts put away!

      I did fill a bag with clothing donations, but I kept the rest because much of it’s seasonal- my office is casual so I have a few pair of cropped pants which are not good for current weather, and short sleeved blouses. But I’ll definitely wear them again because they are comfortable. Also, I think it’ll be good to “shop” my own stash of clothing when I want a change, instead of going out and buy more. 🙂

  3. Great job Tracy! I am off this week too and it feels a little disconcerting – no projects are happening for me. Will I regret this? I would like to do touch up painting around the house and/or clean up some leaves outside. Still have 4.5 days left. Good news is that I am focused on eating healthy(no wheat or sugar) and getting 12,000 steps a day. I am very happy that I am losing a pound a week during the holidays! Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

    • Thanks Pat! I hope the rest of your week went well! I started wearing my FitBit again and didn’t come anywhere near 12000 steps! Great job!

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