Making Progress and a Living with Less Stuff Grand Total

After a difficult start to the week, things are improving. Having a full day to myself on Friday and no plans this morning, I've been able to make a large dent in my current to do list.

The family situation was resolved, albeit temporarily.  It may rear it's head again at some point, I'm hoping not.

I got a head start on the ironing yesterday and completed and put away a whole lot of laundry, which makes me feel a lot better.  I know that many people don't iron, but I was thinking as I was doing it yesterday, that it's a kind of meditation for me.  I do a lot of thinking whilst I'm ironing (in between watching YouTube videos, of course.😉).

Anyway, there's still a bit more to do to empty the basket, but I'll try to get that done this afternoon and then I'll be able to concentrate on doing a bit of post Christmas house cleaning next week.

In addition, I've been sorting out more bits and pieces for donation here and there. I didn't actually do either a November or December decluttering post in 2016, as Christmas was on me before I knew it, so here is the final tally for my year of Living with Less Stuff.

In November, I decluttered a total of 63 items, which when added to my October total of 875 items, came to 938.  In December, a further 72 items were put aside to donate making a grand total for the year of 1010 items. I'm pretty pleased with this figure, as after my first year of decluttering, where I donated over 1200 items, I only expected to be able to find 500 or so things this year, so to find more than double this is great.

I'm continuing with the process again this year and aiming once again to donate another 1000 items if I can.  As time progresses, I'm finding myself more and more willing to let go of things I thought I wanted to keep, which is progress indeed.  I'm hoping the same will continue to happen this year and really make our home a much more enjoyable space to live in and life a lot more simple.

On a completely different note, this morning, I finally managed to get around to doing some personal care things that I've just not made the time to do in recent weeks.

After having a shower, I've had a mini pampering session doing small but very necessary things, such as cutting my toenails and re-shaping my eyebrows. All things that you need to do and which annoy you on a daily basis, but I just never set aside any time to do towards the end of last year.

I feel so much better for getting to grips with myself and taking more care of myself, instead of overcommitting myself to do things for others. One thing that's definitely been brought home to me in the last week or so, is the importance of self care. If I don't do it, no one else will, plus the fact that it also helps you to feel better about yourself. I can now face the year ahead.