Inbox Update

I am in a class this week (M, T, W) and start my new job next Tuesday. Subsequently, I haven't been able to keep up with my inbox totally. However, I still only have 12 emails in my inbox. Not bad for someone who had 1700 emails in her inbox last week!

Melt my heart

Last night as he was going to sleep, one of my 2.5 year old twins, G, said to me, "I love you a lot honey bunny mommy." Sigh.

One email inbox

Yesterday I had over 1700 emails in my work email inbox. Yes, 1700!!! Crazy, isn't it? After reading a post on Inbox Zero, I decided to tackle my email inbox instead of tackling a physical box this week.

I just started going through emails like mad. I sorted in all different ways. Most of the 1700 I file away. Some I deleted. I am currently left with 6 (as of this moment) and they are 6 that require attention I can't give them right now. I noticed that many emails I left there as reminders for action at a future date. It wasn't that the work needed to be done that second, it just needed to be done and that was my way of reminding myself.

I am going to see how clean I can keep my email inbox over the course of the next few days. And once I start my new job? I am going to save everything from my current job to CDs and biff it all off my computer. I want to start fresh.

There is no "away"

What if you no longer had garbage? Think about it. We have a piece of garbage and we say, "I am going to throw this away." Where is away, exactly? There is no away. If you create garbage and throw it "away" it goes somewhere else on earth. And if it is toxic? Then it becomes someone else's problem. Portland, OR is rolling out (pun intended) new roll carts. One is for mixed recycling (paper, plastic and metal) and one is for yard debris. The idea is if they make it easier to recycle, we won't throw recycling in the garbage.

But what if you took a different tack entirely? What if your goal was zero waste? That is what the city of Vancouver, British Columbia is thinking about. Read the Worldchanging article here.

Another teeny box and a med sized box

I think I must be on a roll.

Teeny box

Last week I never got a chance to go through anything. Today I emptied a teeny box. I did give 4 bags of kids clothes away today but they weren't part of my original plan. (But I am still happy about it).

I am in a situation at work where I got a new job and will have to move from a fairly spacious cube to a very small cube. I am also going to a new job so I have the opportunity to shed a lot of the accumulation of 8 years in the same job. I have a feeling there will be a lot of clutter clearing in the next week or two.

The best part of clearing out clutter

$47 found! Cha-ching!

The worst part:

$130.00 in birthday checks from 1997. :(

Here is my weekly report. First, I went to clear out another of my small wicker file boxes and, ta da! It wasn't mine! So I put it on W's desk (he hates when I do that) and now it is one more box out of my office. I also looked through the files that were outstanding from last week. I got rid of a box (I still have a pile to shred and a pile to put away) and I got half way through another box. The pile dwindles...

In another room, I cleared off my dresser which hadn't seen the light of day in a while. That felt good but I still have a small drawer to go through.

Summer cleaning

As I recently wrote about, I made a weekly appointment with myself to go through one box and bag per week. This week I was not able to do this task on Wednesday at the scheduled time but instead worked on Thursday. I went through a small wicker file box which mostly contained bills and receipts dated circa 2002 to 2004. Sigh. I was left with 3 file folders to go through in depth, a pile of paper to recycle and a huge pile of paper to shred. I did this and ended up with three bags of shredded paper in addition to the pile of paper to recycle.
I still have to go through 3 files but I am pleased with the progress I made this week because...I also cleaned out our linen closet! And got W to work on it with me! And I made labels! Can you tell I am excited? It was long over due and is the kind of activity which makes you feel great.