Day Four – Bathroom mainly, moved the ball forward on the island (emptied most of a box in the evening, just a few minutes)
Day Five, and I’ve started to work on the island. It’s now divided into four main sections: 1) Projects we know we need to tackle. Specifically, books and photos. 2) Physical things. Those have been taken out of boxes and spread out on the floor so they’re easy to see. 3) Papers. And there are a LOT of papers to go through. 4) Empty boxes and bags, most of which will be broken down and recycled.
I’m almost to the point that I can’t do anything on the stuff – I need my wife to make some decisions. This is why it’s important to have the buy-in from those in your household. My wife really likes the progress I’m making, but she’s not as motivated to go through stuff herself yet. And that’s ok. She will be at some point, and pushing her will make it less fun for her. But I do need her to make some decisions, so I’m doing that in bits and pieces – I might bring three things to her and ask “what’s this?” or “where does this go?” or “are we keeping this or giving it away?”. Those quick decisions have helped me to reduce the pile, so it’s looking less overwhelming, and soon I will get her into the room so she can pick those items that she can make a quick decision on. When you’re not really in the mood for it, this is a good method – chip away at it by tackling the quick and easy stuff first. It will reduce the size of the project, even if what remains is a little more difficult. The other reason this is a good strategy is because it helps to build momentum. Remember, getting started is the hardest part, so start with something quick and easy, experience immediate success, and perhaps you’ll keep going (or at least be more motivated to start next time).
