A mid-week reflection: 10 quick and easy things to purge

It’s Hump Day and raining. Not entirely weird for SEQ but definitely not typical. I’m welcoming the polar blast that’s coming and hoping for some nice cold sleeping weather.

There will be days like today that no amount of wishing or hoping will get you outside. Personally on these days, I take them as is, but I also often have a small list of inside things I need to tend to and sometimes get to those. It’s nice to be productive and actually get things done, but it’s also nice to relax. I think sometimes it’s a misconception that, more broadly within society, if you’re being productive you are more successful. That idle moments are wasted moments.

I don’t think that. I certainly used to do things like that but I never agreed with the ideology. I think that, particularly with the global pandemic and all that has happened around it, I have given myself permission to really become self aware and in tune with what I truly feel and believe, and I’ve shed a lot of things I did, or used to do out of obligation.

So as a result of that self awareness also comes this need to shed and remove and get rid of things that might hold you down. This is physical as well as non-physical things, and could very well be termed the great purge, depending on how much you need to shed!

The idea of purging sounds great but the reality of purging can be overwhelming and emotional.  Overwhelming particularly if you have so many items that you aren’t sure where to start. Emotional if you realise, once you start purging, that they hold memories. But it feels so much better once you can begin to let go of some of the clutter.

I have always been a good purger. I get myself to the point where it all must go because I can’t stand it anymore. I can’t stand dusting it or moving it or finding a new home for it. I think I can attribute this to my mum who often said, the best way to review what you have is ask yourself, have I used it or needed it in the last 6 months, and if not, consider moving it on. I have also previously used the kon mari method and I found that fantastic.

So today I made a list of things you could consider doing a purge on if you also encounter a rainy day like I have today! It is comprised mostly of items that are less likely to bring emotion into it, making it the perfect place to start!

1. Holiday Decorations – We tend to hold onto these things when they’re broken or sentimental. It’s a good idea to either get some string and fix the broken ones or remove them entirely. A future fun craft project could be making some of your own from repurposed things around the homestead!
2. Magazines – paper, paper and paper. Toss them if you’ve read them. Don’t keep the entire mag for one recipe you may want to make one day. Take a scan of the recipe with your phone, and dispose of the rest. It’s dusty and brings unnecessary clutter in the house.
3. Craft Supplies – getting rid of excess, items that are no longer usable (dried out markers and glue), and items you’ll likely never use will make it so much easier to see and use the items you keep. Consider donating supplies to daycare’s, nursing homes, etc.
4. Health and Beauty Supplies – discard items that you’ve had hanging around for too long and give away things that you’ve not yet used and will likely not use. When I changed my work schedule in my IRL job to mostly WFH, I also decided it was most likely I would never use this excessive stuff again. And it has been so liberating to just get rid of it. I keep a small amount for special occasions, if we have a wedding, or funeral or the like to attend, but that’s it.
5. Kitchen Utensils – do you have utensils that you thought would be useful that you’ve never ever used? How about items that are old and worn out but you’re still holding onto them? And gadgets…kitchen gadgets. If you can achieve the same using a knife then you don’t need the gadget.
6. Cleaning Supplies – do you have supplies you purchased but ended up not liking the product? Donate to a friend who may be interested in trying them or get rid of it. 
7. Glassware – determining what you realistically need and getting rid of the rest can be a difficult task but think of how much more space you’ll have in your cupboards! Alternately, consider alternative uses such as repurposed flower vases you could paint. Pinterest has a huge array of fun craft ideas you could try!
8. Books – this is the one on this list that’s the hardest for me. I adore books! Get rid of those you haven’t looked at in years and likely never will read. Donate or sell what you can. Replace your favourites on a kindle. I did this based on the kon mari method. I have maybe 50 books in total that are hard to find or that I absolutely adore. I now get all my books to my kindle which to me, was an absolute saver because I can travel with it, its lightweight, and can store a gazillion more books than a bookshelf ever could.
9. Linens – It’s easy to hold onto linen. For me, my mum gave me a lot of linen and I just didn’t need it all. But it was expensive which made me feel I had to keep it. I used it the best I could until I couldn’t use it any longer, and repurposed what I could. Pillow cases don’t need much to turn into laundry bags for delicates, or sew on some straps and you now have a shopping bag. My husband uses the flat and fitted sheets in the shed to cover the cars and for scrap cloth when doing servicing, and the doona covers I often kept due to their fun designs and re-purposed them into kiddie blankets for my nieces and nephews.
10. Clothing – I am waiting patiently for the day I leave corporate Australia to purge 50% of my cupboard. On the days I work from home, and on weekends, I am usually in leggings or jodhpurs, with outside boots and a t-shirt. Nothing fancy. I’m outside with animals, cleaning their stalls. I don’t have use for dresses and blouses. But I have 50% of a cupboard full of this crap that I just don’t ever wear. And I only have it because of my IRL job. A really good way to feel like you’ve done a nice cull inside, is to remove clothing you don’t use, wear or need. A couple of worn out t-shirts for really dodgy jobs are ok. I have one t-shirt that is specifically for when I clean the bathrooms and toilets as it’s covered in bleach stains. But don’t keep all dodgy t-shirts. And socks and undies that are torn or have holes. No. Get rid of it.

 What about you?  What items do you find the least challenging to purge?

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