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Happy Halloween, fellow parents of trick-or-treaters!
Although technically candy is consumable, the size of the haul your kids bring home on Halloween can put it into the category of clutter. How do you deal with it all? Well, you could just not deal with it and let the kids keep and eat as much as they want. My main problem with this strategy is that having so much candy in the house is way too tempting for my husband and me! (The kids won’t notice anything missing, right?) OK, so assuming you’d like to tame the candy beast a bit, here are some strategies that work for me:
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One of the books I read over the summer was The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson and what I enjoyed most about the book were the descriptions of the new inventions created for the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, such as the Ferris Wheel.
The invention that most delighted me was this: “Visitors also encountered the latest and arguably most important organizational invention of the century, the vertical file, created by Melvil Dewey, inventor of the Dewey Decimal System.” – Erik Larson, The Devil in the White City  The kids have been back in school for about a month and a half now and, especially if you have preschool or elementary-school-age children, the papers they bring home are starting to accumulate.
If you want to get a handle on this influx, you’ll have to be systematic and ruthless! Your set-up should include two things:
Want to minimize the pile of mail you get? Try the PaperKarma app.
This app helps you control clutter in two ways: 1) It reduces the amount of mail you get. 2) It helps you avoid the temptation to shop by unsubscribing you from catalogs. With your phone, just snap a photo of the address label of the catalog or mail solicitation that you want to unsubscribe from, and PaperKarma notifies the company and takes you off the mailing list. It may seem fun to browse through catalogs, but constantly being confronted with the newest products is highly tempting and can create a sense of anxiety and dissatisfaction with the things you currently own. You can always look at that stuff online if you really need to shop for something. Letting the catalogs go will help restore peace. There's a small fee for using the app (I believe after a certain number of free unsubscribes), but it's well worth it to help you get the influx of papers under control. NOTE: The PaperKarma link given here is an affiliate link. At no extra charge to you, I earn a small commission when you purchase through this link. If clutter is driving you crazy, you might think the first step would be to start paring down and getting rid of things.
But how can you control the clutter when more keeps coming through the door? Step one: Stop the mindless purchases. Instead of buying on impulse, try this technique to give yourself a little more time to consider new acquisitions. 1. You see a dress/power tool/throw pillow that you really like (online or in a store) and have a strong desire to throw caution to the wind and buy it right now. (Excuses abound: It's so cute! I deserve a little pick-me-up! This would make things so much easier! It would pull together the whole look of my living room!) 2. Don't buy it! Instead, enter it into your list app (Use my link to get TickTick, my favorite list app) or calendar app with a reminder set for one month from now. 3. When you receive the notice a month later, check in with yourself to see if you even still remember the item, much less still want to buy it. More often than not, you'll realize you really don't need that thing and maybe not having it has helped you better appreciate the things you already own. If you're still undecided, postpone the decision again with another reminder set for one more month. If you find you still really want the item, it's OK to give yourself permission to buy it. Feel good about having made a considered decision not a mindless purchase. |
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