SLT053: Fewer Things, Fuller Life! Are You Ready?

Simple Life Together

On our journey toward a more simple life in the modern world, one point that keeps hitting home is that less is more. We like to say, fewer things, fuller life. Last year, we started the Edit & Forget It Challenge to eliminate 2013 things from our lives and hundreds of you joined us. Well, we’re going to keep it going this year, too! Now, we know 2014 fewer things is a lofty goal and certainly won’t be for everyone. But remember, it’s never about the numbers, it’s about your relationship with stuff. The real focus is to eliminate anything that you really don’t need any longer and to reach a point where you have truly what you need…what you love…and what you use. You’re trying to build some margin in your life and the Edit & Forget It Challenge will help you do that!

So, if you’re considering doing the Challenge…if you’re ready for fewer things cluttering up the margin in your life…we thought we’d share some of the experiences we had as we eliminated over 3000 things from our lives last year. Plus, we’ll tell you how you can sign up too (it’s FREE!), and and we’ll go over the “rules” (think of those rules in air quotes because you can shape them a bit to fit your needs).

So let’s get started! Read more…

Topic: The Edit & Forget It Challenge

Our Experiences from 2013

Starting Out: As we embarked on this challenge I was chomping at the bit! Editing clutter has become second nature to me. Not just because of the work I do as an organizer, but because I make a regular habit of letting go of clutter in our home. I’ve also come to appreciate the concept of “less is more” and so I’ve been ready to let go of a lot more things for awhile.

• We started off easy by editing our own clothes first. We’ve mentioned before that starting the Edit and Forget It Challenge by editing your own clothes is a really good place to start simply because, for most of us, we don’t share our clothes so its usually easier to make decisions on them.
• What’s interesting, is we started the challenge knowing we really didn’t have much clutter in our home to begin with, but I knew once we got to the garage it would be a different story.
• The cool thing about the garage project was that Dan…well…he let me take over. He decided “hey…she does this for a living…I need to let her lead the way.” That was cool and it worked out well. But there were a few other reasons why it worked out well other than me leading the charge:

1. We set a date…actually we set aside an entire weekend just in case we couldn’t finish in a day.
2. We shared the same goal. We both wanted less stuff overall… and to make room for our car (or future teardrop camper) to fit in.
3. We worked as a team. The beautiful thing about working together is not only do you have additional manpower…but you’ve got someone to help guide or keep you in check. Like asking tough questions to really get you to think about if you should keep an item or not. Or knowing when to take a break when the other is tired or struggling to make decisions.

• So, we were able to meet and exceed our Edit and Forget It goal once we edited the garage. And it felt AMAZING!!! You know how cool it is to set a goal and then achieve or surpass it…it’s AWESOME!
• And that’s what you are going to experience. But there are a lot of other things you’ll experience along the way which I’m going to go over with you in a moment. But first let me break down what our actual stats were for you:

Our Results: We edited 2920 things (a little more because I lost count and forgot to record a few things…plus we didn’t count all of our garage items).

• Of those 2920 edited items: over 2300 were donated or given away
• Over 130 were recycled
• Over 150 items were sold
• 50 were digitized (keepsakes and manuals)
• The Best Thing…was that only 190 items were TOSSED! It felt so good that we had better options of letting go than to dump it all in the trash!!!!
• Another cool thing….was that we made over $2000 from selling our stuff! Which included things like our treadmill, oriental silk rug, saddleback leather bags, clothes we sold at a yard sale, power tools, home fitness equipment, and podcasting equipment. Oh, and we sold our land which freed up a lot of other financial obligations…that was the biggest EDIT (but we didn’t include that in our stats)!
• We used Ebay and Craig’s List for selling most of our stuff. It was really nice to get a little something back for going through the process.

Some Edit & Forget It Challenge “Side Effects”: There were definitely some other side effects that we experienced that you might experience too by going through this challenge:

• Once you start you may not want to stop! We kept going even after we met our goal. Letting go of our clutter was such a relief and it gets addicting.
• You will become more mindful about what you let into your life in the future. It’s like this natural side effect of editing….you become more aware. As you edit, you will no doubt experience moments of frustration, sadness, or regret because you spent way too much or wasted money on things that you got little use from or they didn’t deliver on their promise to make you happier. It’s normal and it’s ok….I know Dan and I had several moments of shaking our heads thinking… “what were we thinking?!” But what I would recommend is to try and channel that frustration and regret and use it to your advantage by becoming more aware. You’ll have a better sense of what triggers you have that make you buy….heck after you go through the E&F it challenge you may be like: “I’m never going through that again!”, so you are now determined more than ever to not allow clutter into your life.
• A side effect of being more mindful and another benefit of the E&F Challenge is that you’ll curb your spending and probably save some money. I know I cut down dramatically on clothes, shoes and toy shopping. And Dan cut down on tech gadgets, etc….
• You’ll relieve yourself of some guilt. Have you ever looked at things in your home and thought… “Ugg! Man, we bought that gadget 6 months ago and we haven’t used it yet! We really should use that more!”? And then every time you see it you say the exact same thing. And after a while you start really getting down on yourself and feeling totally guilty? I know I felt the same way about our treadmill. I use to look at it everyday and think; “I really should use that!” And then I’d go for a run outside. Ha! But once we sold it, I no longer felt guilty for not using it as much as I was telling myself I should. The same thing happened when we sold my silk rug. I felt guilty for keeping this beautiful piece of art stored away for 8 years and not displaying it properly. But once we sold it, I was instantly freed of that guilt!
• If you join the E&F Facebook group, you’ll get a TON of help and support! Dan and I don’t have the answers to every editing question that gets posted….but there has been some amazing advice. I’ve learned so much from folks like, Dayis, Kaylin, Tania, Robin, Kate, Ellis, Anne and sooo many others on who are active on the E&F page.
• You can get overwhelmed at the tasks ahead. I know we put off the garage for a few months because of how big it was….and we’ve delayed editing our personal and professional boxes of papers and keepsakes until this year. But just start in one small/easy to edit area and then move to another, bigger area once you get into the groove. Remember, you have all year.
• Your family and friends won’t “get you” and think you’re crazy!!!!
• It may become a way of life. Like I said in the beginning, editing has become second nature. Mostly because we’ve made a habit of editing different areas of our home on a consistent or recurring basis. It may not be a specific date on the calendar, but I’ll know when it’s time to edit and reorganize when things are feeling chaotic like in a closet, garage or in the kitchen…it’s probably because it hasn’t been edited in a while. So, basically, once you feel the benefits of editing you’re going to want to keep going and keep it up.
• You may be tempted to test the “minimalist” waters….like Dan and I have with testing out a minimalist wardrobe. That was uber simple for Dan…and uber tough for me…at first. But it gave us an even greater sense of and appreciation for “less is more”. And you can experience the same thing…maybe not in every facet of your life or space, but just one small area. We highly recommend taking it to the next level once you’re ready and experience some of the benefits of minimalism.
• And I gotta say that this is just the tip of the iceberg. You’ll see over on the Facebook Page just how much this challenge has affected people’s lives. It’s really been kind of amazing. You’ll see…

Moving Forward in 2014: Our Edit & Forget It Challenge Goals

• Do a second round in the garage
• Digitizing more of our documents
• Digitizing our keepsakes and photos
• Continue with Project 333 and Dress with Less
• Contemplate becoming a one car family (yikes!)
• Implement new buying strategy of not buying anything until we’ve waited a week or two to think about it.

Things to consider:

The Numbers: To eliminate 2014 things from your home in 2014 the numbers work out like this:

• About 6 things per day
• About 40 things per week
• About 170 per month
• We’re also including going paperless because that is a great way to eliminate paper clutter from your home.

So, you may want to re-listen to Episode 6 and our interview with Brooks Duncan of DocumentSnap. We recommend ScanSnap scanners!

It’s also really good to have an accountability buddy and that’s what we and all the members of the Edit & Forget It Facebook Page are for. We keep each other on track, with encouragement, suggestions, and reinforcement.

Edit & Forget It Guidelines:

• Things that normally go together or that you originally purchased together count as one, e.g. a pair of shoes counts as one (not 2), a deck of cards counts as one (not 52) a puzzle counts as one (not 150).
• Donated packaged food counts, thrown out food does not.
• Scanned documents count as one original if disposed of. A document is a document whether it is a single page by itself or a ten page document. Each scanned document counts as one item.
• Consider not counting things that you don’t ordinarily keep in your home (like junk mail, catalogs, etc) if you recycle or trash them immediately upon receipt. But if you typically keep them in your home, then you should count them!
• To help track your progress we made a very generic spreadsheet that tracks:
  • What you sell (and logging the actual sale amount)
  • What you donate (and logging the market value)
  • What you give away
  • What you discard
  • And what you digitize!
  • You’ll get links to the spreadsheet that you can use when you sign up for the Challenge. Of course you can make your own if you’d like! We’ve had members simply gather things and take pictures. Whatever works for you. Now, I will say that some members even stopped counting. If it’s just way too much trouble to keep count, well…ok, but some of them who are continuing this year said they’ll keep an accurate count this time.
  • So, these are our guidelines. We’d love it if you’d join us! Feel free to use our guidelines “as is” or adapt them for your needs.
  • To sign up, just click here or click on the Edit & Forget It box on the right side of the page.

Again, we know 2014 fewer things is a lofty goal and certainly won’t be for everyone. The focus of Edit & Forget It Challenge is eliminating as many things you truly don’t need any longer. It’s not about deprivation, it’s about reaching a point where you have what you truly need, love, and use. It’s about shedding some things that no longer have the impact on you that they once had, so you can focus on the quality of things you let into your life. The Edit & Forget It Challenge really will help you take control and build that margin in your life that you’ve had as your goal.

Question:

So, if you’re a returning Edit and Forget It member, what’s next for you? If you haven’t signed up yet, what’s holding you back? Are you ready for fewer things and a fuller life? It doesn’t cost a thing but you’ll get so much out of it. Oh, and would you like to hear from some of those that took or are taking the Challenge? We’re considering an occasional segment from members. Let us know! Be sure to leave a comment below!

THING Segment:

Our trip to Vegas for the Podcast Awards. Well, we didn’t win, but we had a fantastic time with some amazing friends, none of which we wouldn’t have ever met if it wasn’t for this show.

• We spend time with Sherry, from sherrylcarver.com and Leh & Stephanie from the Healthy Married Life show, and Leh also does the Avid Woodworker Podcast.
• Sherry, Leh and Stephanie started out as SLT listeners and we’ve become great friends.
• We also had a blast with our friends Corey and Tawney from Ivy Envy Podcast and Mommy’s Cocktail Hour, and Nick from Who Dey Weekly.
• Our friends Cliff & Stephanie Ravenscraft, Chris Ducker and Pat Flynn hosted an amazing meetup and just hanging around with fellow podcasters was an awful lot of fun.
• And…we each had just one carry-on bag. So all our travel clothes, and our Dress With Less wardrobes paid off once again. It pays to live with fewer things!

So thanks again so much for taking the time to vote for us. Maybe next year is our year, huh?

Announcements:

• We moved our show release days to Mondays for a while. We’re testing to see if that works better for our schedule. So, today’s show is going out on a Monday and look for future shows on Mondays, too. Now, you’ll have the whole week to listen to us on your commute!
• Special Announcement: Especially for listeners in and around San Antonio/Austin, TX…

Our friend and colleague Karen Meade of Let’s Get Organizing will be hosting her annual Organize and Energize workshop. It’s on Saturday, January 18th, 2013 from 9:00 Am to 1:00 PM at the Norris Conference Center, on Fredericksburg Road in San Antonio, Texas. There’s a great lineup of speakers talking about organization, financial planning, health and fitness…you name it. Dan and I will be there talking about “Five Things You Can Do To Lead A Simple Life In A Modern World”. For more information check out LetsGetOrganizing.com and we’ll have a link in the shownotes, as well.

• Don’t forget if you have questions or just want to learn more about Project 333 or Courtney Carver’s Dress With Less microcourse. You can learn more about that at SimpleLifeTogether.com/dress.

Finally, sign up for the Edit & Forget It Challenge! If you’re already on our Edit & Forget It Challenge email list, that’s great. If not, you can sign up here.

Shownotes:

You can download a PDF of our show prep, too.

Resources and Links:

• You can help support SimpleLifeTogether.com by using our Amazon Affiliate Link for any purchases you must make. Thanks!
• Dress With Less

Photo Credit Amodiovalerio Verde