Tag: stuff

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Throw It Out, You Might Feel Better

“Stuff” Isn’t Static

In Marie Kondo’s book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing , she talks about her process of “tidying up” and the work she does with clients.

Tidying up usually means throwing stuff out.

How does it happen?

She has the client touch everything one by one and asks them “Does this spark joy?” If no, it’s tossed. Usually, that means almost everything the client has.

As scary as that may sound, the result is a home or office that makes the client happy because everything they own is a reminder of something good.

How much better would you feel if everything around you made you feel good?

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Notifications and the Work We Miss

That buzz is annoying isn’t it?

Every zing, ding, badge, buzz, and pop sound instantly grabs my attention.

In a few minutes, I go from working diligently to finding an excuse to get to my phone. Soon I start “the cycle” and next thing I know, 20 minutes have gone by.

This only happens when I don’t intend to use my phone. 

Thinking back on it, I’ve never gotten a text that needed a direct answer immediately. That goes double for email. Phone calls have more importance, but we all have free answering machines (who calls people anymore anyway :-]).

Notifications are a bane on our existence. Nothing effects day-to-day concentration like them.

The effects are widespread, pulling us out of flow and depth and leaving us very superficial and disjointed. That superficiality and disjointed nature leave a lot of work on the table. Instead of the interesting stuff that we have the power to craft now, we spend more time creating tweets, texts, and Facebook comments that don’t push our skills or help us grow.

Serious, right?

I turned off my notifications for almost all my apps on my iPhone, and most badges (still have one for text, I should get rid of it). The hope is, I stop looking at that buzz so much and focus on whatever I do.

I hope you join me, there is so much work to do.

 

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Odd Power Moves – The Inside of Elevators

I find elevators interesting

For an event that wraps up so fast,few things are as fascinating as behavior in an elevator.  In the span of a minute or less, there are all type of behaviors, ranging from power struggles to polite conversation.

Here are a few of my favorite things on elevators.

Elevator behavior

  • The “letting other people out “– Apparently nothing says ‘powerful’ like being the last person on an elevator. I never heard anyone of consequence say that, but always look at the battle in an elevator when multiple people get out.It is supposed to be chivalrous I guess, but people take the opportunity to assert dominance. It’s very awkward, as if people think “If I let you out first, then I must be the first person you respect for the day.” Next time you are in a packed elevator, watch this from the back, or be the first to leave(oh no what about the power move). It is sure to make you scratch your head.
  • The “Small talk “– Nothing less interesting than talking about the weather in a climate controlled place, but that’s what we default to when we are in the elevator. “Hey person I will never see again, it sure is cold outside, isn’t it.” we can just enjoy the silence. Nothing wrong with enjoying the silence. This also includes the sports game. I love sports. But not when I am on an elevator.
  • The “I don’t want to discuss this” – This is easy to spot.  The rapid head nods, the “ok ok ok “, the come on not now look on the face. Most people who try elevator pitches end up in this category. I am sure your business idea is tremendous, but, this isn’t the movies. Far better to get to know someone and the organization, instead of pinning your hopes getting started on floor 5 and hoping to close a deal by floor 7.

It’s all very odd

We might think this stuff is odd, but its even more odd when we realize that we also engage in this stuff subconsciously. Sometimes we just stare into the elevator, but every once in a while, we find ourselves letting people out, or asking about the football game.

Programming is real 🙂 .

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Stuff Is Stuffing Your Brain and You Don’t Even Know It

No action breeds non action.

Everything in your place has a place in your head. Some things are there for intellectual gain (books), physical gain (weights), or nourishment (food) but there are other things that you aren’t sure about. I have a foot massage machine that I haven’t used since 2012 that stares at me every time I need a towel. I enjoy foot massages, but I have never thought, you know what would be a good idea? Plugging up this foot massage machine I bought and letting it happen. There wasn’t any set up other than plugging the unit in, but that was a lot to handle.

Things sit for a long time. Even as they sit, declaring an action for a thing that is inactive is work. Unless you get more stuff and need that space, what is the harm in moving it? That foot massage machine sits in that closet for me because I try not to buy things anymore outside of books other than once a year(SHOPPING DAY!!!! I splurge on all the Amazon wants, my version of Christmas). I don’t see it often, and it seems a lot easier to let it sit there in the closet. Removing an electronic device in New York City is a headache legally. I could leave it in a box by the side of the road, but I don’t care to get anyone a ticket.

So, in turn, it just sits there.

When I go to other people’s places I visit , I keep track of things that haven’t moved. Stuff sits in a lot of apartments gathering dust. It is great to count dust gathering objects in an apartment during bad conversation at a house party. Bonus points if you nod your head while you do it, so it looks like you are listening (I really shouldn’t do that, but it makes me look attentive – working on it).

As I mentioned above, I am not innocent of this on the other side. I am bad at letting things go because it is easy to sit and let things gather dust. They seem to not be a bother, until after I meditated today and thought, once again, about things taking up energy, no matter how little you think of them. I had a completely different blog post today planned and ready to go, but instead I ended up writing over 400 words about a foot massage machine I don’t use.  So much  to the idea that this doesn’t bother me.

I am getting rid of that and the other stuff that doesn’t add to my well-being this weekend. Also, making it a point to get rid of everything once a month. It is another open loop, and an easy one to close at that.

 

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Go Make More Stuff

It is hard to make something happen when you have nothing in front of you. There is nothing to show.

So, the goal is to make more stuff.

So go make more stuff.  Just go make more stuff.

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