Decluttering – Page 2 – Physician In Numbers

Lessons From A Somewhat Sucky Staycation

I just took another staycation.

Mr. PiN and I went back and forth several times about staying home versus trying to get away; our desire to travel was up against an unreliable car and unreliable planes. We finally decided to stay put once I scheduled several medical appointments. I elected to call it a self-care staycation.

To be honest, it hasn’t been the best vacation I ever took. Since I am likely to be taking more staycations in the future, I thought I had better take away some lessons (again), and remember to use them next time I decide to stay home.

I hope that these may be useful to you as well.

Future Me, June 2022

I started this series of posts at the end of October 2018. I had just cut back my hours, and wanted to use my new free time wisely. Some of that time was to relax, but I also wanted to improve my fitness, make my home a more pleasant place to stay, and work on becoming a more well-rounded human being.

My last update was in January 2022; it is clear to me that waiting 6 months between updates means that I don’t do as much to meet my goals. (I was definitely one of those students staying up late to meet my deadlines.)

So, what progress did I make over the past 6 months?

Future Me, January 2022

My last update was in August 2021, with a number of wins, and several misses.

I had plenty of non-hospital months since then, which should have meant that I could hit most of my goals; however, between parental hospitalizations and a death in the family, my time was definitely not my own.

With all that, how did I do with my goals over the past 5 months?

Low Clutter Gift Giving

It’s that time of year: Giving Tuesday, Hanukkah, Christmas, family birthdays. A girl’s mind turns to giving.

I’ve already written about giving to charity in various ways, including–most recently–via donor advised fund.

In this post I am thinking more about the gifts we give to family and friends.

This year, I was more interested in more ephemeral gifts: what with inflation, supply chain issues, and more discussion about decluttering, I thought it might be a good year to think about gifts that won’t linger in a closet for years.

Future Me, August 2021

I started this series of posts at the end of October 2018. I had just cut back my hours from full time to 90%, and wanted to use my new free time wisely. Some of that time was to relax, but I also wanted to improve my fitness, make my home a more pleasant place to stay, and work on becoming a more well-rounded human being.

My last update was in April 2021, with a number of wins, and several misses.

I’ve been busy and tired since; took a vacation; worked in the hospital in July; and asked for another pay cut to reduce my hours after they crept up again to 100%.

With all that, how did I do with my goals over the past 3-4 months?

Future Me, April 2021

My last update was in January 2021, with a number of wins, and several misses.

So how have I done with my new goals? Read on for the latest update, covering the first 3+ months of 2021.

A Year Of Decluttering

A few weeks ago, one of my patients who is also a doctor came in for a physical. As I was asking about drinking (drinking has gone up quite a bit during the pandemic), he said something I found quite interesting: At the end of this pandemic, people are either going to be a lot healthier [exercising more and eating better] or much unhealthier [substance use and exercising less]. He is totally right.

One year ago, I returned to the office after a meeting (one I attended remotely because of concerns about this new virus out of Wuhan) to a new hospital, one preparing for an onslaught of very ill people with a disease we might catch and die from. Stay at home orders had been issued. It was the real beginning of the pandemic for me.

I did a little more drinking last Spring, to be sure, but as I spent more time at home, I looked around and decided it was really time to deal with the messes I had been ignoring as I rushed to work each day.

Future Me, January 2021

My last update was in September 2020, with a number of wins, and several misses.

So how have I done with my new goals? Read on for the latest update, covering the last 4 months of 2020.

Finding Joy In What We Have

I will be writing in a few weeks about the outcome of the challenge Mr. PiN set himself to reduce spending.

However, I thought this Thanksgiving week was an excellent time to write about a lesson we learned (or were reminded of) during this time: how fun it is to find out that we already have what we need. And then to use it.

5 Lessons Learned From Emptying My Closet

A few weeks ago, I up-ended everything in my home office.

I had previously gotten the office under some semblance of control: the bookshelves were thinned, the floor was mostly cleared, I could position my chair for video appointments pretty much anywhere.

And then, I decided I had had enough of my super-stuffed closet. I said I wanted space to put away my ironing board when I wasn’t using it. Suddenly I was emptying out my super-stuffed closet and had to deal with whatever crap was in there. In the process, I turned my nearly tidy office into an unholy mess, which prompted some reflection.

Here are a few of the lessons I am taking away from this experience.