Self help for spring time

Bruno Ganz as Damiel in

It’s spring time. Not just a time for spring cleaning, but also a good time for self improvement. Here’s some links that you may find can help with that.

If you are feeling stuck in life, read this: 5 Ways to Jumpstart Your Goals in Life
If you feel some goals can help you move forward, check out these 7 Simple Goals (Not Lofty Resolutions) Everyone Can Stick With in the New Year (or any time)
If you find sticking to goals and improvements are hard, some humour from Cracked.com might help: How ‘The Karate Kid’ Ruined The Modern World. As they note, “Life is So Much Harder Than We Think”. We don’t live in montages!
Maybe you find you are spending too much time on your phone. If so, read this: Gadgets for Breaking Your Phone Addiction. Relatedly, check out the new book by Chris Hayes: The Sirens’ Call.
Sometimes the best thing to do is clear the decks. Here’s two good pieces on that from Apartment Therapy: My “1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Method” Helps Me Declutter in Seconds and Why You Should Try the “Box and Banish” Decluttering Method. For more on this topic, read: The Year is 2025. Here are 25 Things You Can Declutter Right Away. Here’s another way to declutter: 7 things to (add or) subtract for happiness, according to science.
Once the decluttering is done, you need to clean up. Cleaners, take note of this: Home Cleaning New Year’s Resolutions You’ll Actually Stick To
Perhaps you need a check up from the doctor. If so, take this advice: I’m a doctor. Here are 5 ways to hack the 15-minute clinic visit.
We live in stressful time. If stress is the problem, then this piece, How to Weather the Storm, could be of benefit. If you are religious, consider reading this Aeon Essay: Why prayer is a problem-solving practice that works. As they say in the essay, “The power of prayer Praying is a cognitive practice full of problem-solving resources. You can learn from it even if you don’t want to do it”.
Another option for dealing with stress is Transcendental Meditation. This article will tell you What It Is, its Benefits, and talk about its Techniques. Since TM can be expensive, there’s also guidance on 3 ways to meditate on a budget in the article.
Or maybe you need to zone out in front of the TV for awhile. Why not make that a better experience by doing this: 5 Things Wirecutter’s TV Expert Does to Instantly Improve a TV’s Performance.
Whatever you do, make sure you appreciate the good in your life. This article might help with that: “That was good.” (The image above is from the article.)
Finally, listen to swissmiss: Always Go To The Funeral.

Not making progress on your resolution to declutter? Start with your fridge!

a clutter fridge.

I came across this advice and I highly recommend it: Don’t Try to Declutter Your Whole Life. Start With Your Fridge. | Wirecutter.

Let’s face it: decluttering can be a hard thing to do, and an easy thing to avoid. To get over that avoidance, start the practice of decluttering by tackling your fridge.

There’s some good reasons to do so. One: the amount of decluttering you have to do is limited, so it doesn’t end up feeling like a never ending chore. Two: you are less attached to items in your fridge than you are old clothes or books or photo albums, so tossing old food that you will not eat is less emotionally difficult (I hope). Three: you will see benefits right away and that good feeling should help you move on to your next item.

So get a move on that decluttering resolution this weekend and clear out your fridge!

P.S. If your fridge is in good shape, then start with your pantry. Or where you store your dry goods. If all that is in great shape, then pick one closet.

Ten good pieces of good advice

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Here’s some simple advice for personal finance.
Something to think about after the holidays: Paul Graham on Work.
For small home lovers: How to downsize before you move into a small home.
Relatedly, here’s the difference between Peter Walsh and Marie Kondo’s decluttering methods.
Here’s Martha on things that make your home look messy.
For those feeling hopeless: the joy was leaking out of my life… talking to a friend saved me.
In case you are feeling down, here’s a mental health wellbeing check in.
A good list: 50 things I know.
Also good: to lead a meaningful life become your own hero, perhaps.
I don’t agree with this, but it’s interesting: saving seconds is better than hours.

Decluttering 101

I like this piece: Why We Clutter, and What to Do About It – The New York Times. If you never decluttered your place before, it’s a good place to start.

Decluttering is like dieting though: you can make an effort to cut back, but unless you address the thoughts and behaviors that lead to clutter/overeating, you may end up back where you started.

I recommend while you are decluttering to take note of what you have excess of. Is it too much paper, clothing, books, utensils, tech stuff, or something else altogether? Those are the areas you need to focus your analysis of if you want to have any hope of living with less clutter. In the end you may be fine with periodically paring down the amount of clothes or books or stationery you have from time to time.

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