Sorting , organizing!
After my trip to India, spending time with Appa, Amma and in Madras, I began to feel I was overly materialistic, always hoarding and shopping.
I made up my mind that on return to London, I would get down to basics, only buying what was needed. Contentment would be my new watch-word!
I also decided to take stock of my situation - basically checking out what all I own. I would retain waht I could use, give away some and bin the rest.
So I made a list:
1. Papers
2. Books
3. Clothes
4. Cosmetics
5. Accessories - ear-rings and chains
6. Stationary
7. Medicine Cabinet
8. CDs
9. Kitchen grocery
10. Kitchen Utensils
11. Cleaning Supplies
The whole sorting exercise looked like Himalayas with each activity looming as a peak to be scaled. There was an odd bit of a curioisty though to see how it would all turn out!
After some amount of procrastination, when I would duck whenever I saw the list, I decided to start with the easy ones - the Grocery and Utensils. I made a list of the grocery supplies I had - brought from India and from the local Indian Spice Shop. I only found about 2 packets of everything, both half open but neatly clipped with a nice pin. I made a list of the things I had and glued it to the Kitchen Door. That was a nice start and it did not take more than half an hour! Way to go, Sita!
I also realized I had a decent collection of Steel Pathram(steel utensils) and that felt good.
Then I attacked the cleaning supplies, I found I had 3 dish-washing liquids, 3 hand washes, 3 detergents etc. Anayways, all that is sorted now, I have used the existing ones and it is now down to one per category. Hurray!
I sorted out the papers as well - placing them all into their respective folders and binning whatever was not required. This did not take a long time and I began to feel really cool.
The Medicine Cabinet was also easy.
I took about 2 hours to do the clothes and accessories, this was the more difficult part, as I had to part with a few old clothes and they felt like comfortable friends. I also realized mid-away that I seemed to be more organized than I think I am.
I am yet to get to the books and CDs - I have been putting this off for a while. But all this activity gives me a high - like scaling a mountain and realizing you were almost there anyways!
So if you have been putting off any sorting, you might be pleasantly surprised like me!
I made up my mind that on return to London, I would get down to basics, only buying what was needed. Contentment would be my new watch-word!
I also decided to take stock of my situation - basically checking out what all I own. I would retain waht I could use, give away some and bin the rest.
So I made a list:
1. Papers
2. Books
3. Clothes
4. Cosmetics
5. Accessories - ear-rings and chains
6. Stationary
7. Medicine Cabinet
8. CDs
9. Kitchen grocery
10. Kitchen Utensils
11. Cleaning Supplies
The whole sorting exercise looked like Himalayas with each activity looming as a peak to be scaled. There was an odd bit of a curioisty though to see how it would all turn out!
After some amount of procrastination, when I would duck whenever I saw the list, I decided to start with the easy ones - the Grocery and Utensils. I made a list of the grocery supplies I had - brought from India and from the local Indian Spice Shop. I only found about 2 packets of everything, both half open but neatly clipped with a nice pin. I made a list of the things I had and glued it to the Kitchen Door. That was a nice start and it did not take more than half an hour! Way to go, Sita!
I also realized I had a decent collection of Steel Pathram(steel utensils) and that felt good.
Then I attacked the cleaning supplies, I found I had 3 dish-washing liquids, 3 hand washes, 3 detergents etc. Anayways, all that is sorted now, I have used the existing ones and it is now down to one per category. Hurray!
I sorted out the papers as well - placing them all into their respective folders and binning whatever was not required. This did not take a long time and I began to feel really cool.
The Medicine Cabinet was also easy.
I took about 2 hours to do the clothes and accessories, this was the more difficult part, as I had to part with a few old clothes and they felt like comfortable friends. I also realized mid-away that I seemed to be more organized than I think I am.
I am yet to get to the books and CDs - I have been putting this off for a while. But all this activity gives me a high - like scaling a mountain and realizing you were almost there anyways!
So if you have been putting off any sorting, you might be pleasantly surprised like me!