I get quite a kick out of the fact that so many of the blogs I read on a daily basis have pointed to this article over at SF Gate about cleaning out the clutter. The reason I find it so funny is that this has been one of my pet projects since I moved.
I came to the realization when I moved that I really do own WAY too much stuff. Now, some of the stuff I own too much of, in particular CDs and books, I enjoy owning too much of :) On the other hand, things like clothes I haven't worn in 5 or more years, probably just junk :)
I started off by going through my old magazines. Mostly, I was trying to put things on shelves since my apartment was still piles of crap everywhere at this point. I basically threw out any magazines before this year unless I had a specific reason to keep them.
I did keep all the old guitar magazines. I need to go through these as a stage 2 and pull out what I need and toss the rest. Hell, I may even try to scan in what I want/need and toss the whole thing. One of the reasons I always kept guitar magazines around was tablature, these days, that's all online, so the only real thing to keep out of these magazines would be lessons, which hopefully will be a very small amount of stuff.
The next step was trying to get rid of some of the old computer stuff. Mostly, I got rid of a lot of old documentation. I still need to make a second push at alot of this stuff, but it's definitely much more organized than it was before.
The first two steps were done while I was still settling in to the new place. After being here a few weeks, I needed to take a few more steps. The biggest target was my clothes. Now, I have a TON of clothes. I do not have a ton of clothes I like to wear :) I have a lot of old crap still in my closet. I even have a whole bunch of stuff that doesn't even fit anymore. The other huge issue are my sweaters. I have a ton and many of them have been kept for some level of a sentimental reason instead of actual use. A few weeks back, I made a first pass on my shirts section of my closet. I was able to get rid of a ton of stuff. I basically narrowed the closet down to things I wear on a normal basis and dress shirts. I kept all the dress shirts, as they are always wearable and sometimes necessary. Today, I went through step 2 which was pants and sweaters. Both were very easy. I know what I do and don't wear.
The biggest thing that came out of all this clothes cleaning? I need new clothes! I seem to have very little clothing for occasions other than business casual and very casual :) I really need to spruce up my closet some. Hopefully some day soon, once some more money stuff is in order (more on that later).
The last piece I need to go through in the clothes department are my T-Shirts. I will probably get rid of some stuff here, but this will be the most difficult section. Why? Because I can always wear t-shirts :) So, why not keep em?
Overall, this has helped me some. Mostly, it just keeps proving how much of a packrat I am and how much more can go :) The next steps involve going through a lot of old paperwork. I have bills and bank statements and the like dating back to 1993 (and maybe even before). I need to get a shredder first and then I will be spending a whole bunch of time cleaning out my filing cabinets.
Hopefully, by the time 2006 roles around, I will be running a tight ship (and of course have room for a whole new year of crap to fill it up :)
