I’m available, @TonyK !
Get a room, you two! :-j
I mean, I don’t think my dh would approve, but I AM an incredible woman and love to travel!
OK, not only did I clean out a kitchen cabinet, but I’ve already hauled what I took out to Goodwill as well as an old vacuum cleaner! Man, I am feeling so productive.
This is about to turn into the “Bag a Week” thread!
Have to admit how cathartic it is to clear out your house and gain breathing room for new things in your life. All of you head over there and I’ll meet you there. I’m still working on it.
Clearing stuff out, pretty much.
@Youdon’tsay - my solution for the bulky kitchen items is a dedicated cabinet in the garage where I keep seldom-used things. I don’t mind going out to get them when I only use them a few times a year.
I keep my bulky, not used often kitchen stuff (crock pot, big turkey roasting pan, fondue pot, seasonal serving pieces, trifle bowl, etc.) in the unfinished portion of the basement on a shelfing unit.
Good idea to use some space other than the kitchen. Thanks!
I realized this afternoon, while doing a task I don’t like (going to the post office to mail packages), that putting off unpleasant things doesn’t make them easier to do; it merely delays the tediousness. So I’m going to try to keep this realization in mind this year and use it to motivate myself to do unpleasant things as soon as possible.
Do the unpleasant thing first and then do something pleasant as a reward.
@rosered55, that is an excellent insight. I find that often the “unpleasant” thing I’ve put off actually takes very little time in the end, which makes it all the more galling that I’ve put it off and let it hang over me, increasing its impact on my psyche.
Ditto on little-used kitchen things. Good strategy for almost any space. “How much do I use this object in/near this space?” is a good question to ask when storage overflows.
I’m in the middle of a chaplain internship and trying to decide if I want to apply for a residency this fall or next. It will mean a whole new life at 58. Wanted to do this for 26 years and finally started.
@KKmama: Go for it!! Why wait? You’re not getting any younger!
My goal is to become a grandparent-- but thats not in my control.
@VeryHappy I tend to use the same behavioral mechanisms-I can’t go shoe shopping until I’ve gotten x,y and z done, and x,y, and z are NO fun to do. I’ll also use commitment devices https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commitment_device which work really well for my personality.
That is the Premack principle. Completing a lower desired activity in order to do a higher desired activity. http://www.alleydog.com/glossary/definition.php?term=Premack%20Principle
@TonyK thanks for reminding me about photos and such
I have a bunch of old videos that I want to digitize. someone told me about http://www.imemories.com/ anyone tried this service?
@MotherOfDragons please provide examples of a commitment device!
@Fishnlines29 Fitbits are a good example of a fairly harmless commitment device. There is a hilarious podcast from the Freakonomics guys where they talk about commitment devices at length. Unsurprisingly, the very impractical world-famous economist has some very out there ideas for commitment devices, like carrying a bottle of vomit around your neck to sniff every time you feel hungry to keep you committed to your diet.
However, there are some better ones, like writing a check to the Trump campaign (or the Hillary campaign, if that is how you roll), and you HAVE to send that check to them if you break your diet in under 30 days.
Or whatever time frame you designate-the whole point is you set the parameters to help you live up to them.
Here’s the Freakonomics podcast on it: http://freakonomics.com/podcast/save-me-from-myself-a-new-freakonomics-radio-podcast/
@MotherOfDragons thanks for that - I’ll check it out. I did buy a fitbit over a year ago, I guess it’s time for me to break it out =))
No. Really.