Decluttering – Page 3 – Physician In Numbers

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

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 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.

Future Me, September 2020

My last update was in June of this year, with a number of wins, and several misses versus abandonment of goals (that darned pandemic!).

Here is my 3 month update. I have been giving myself plenty of slack, as between COVID and worrying about the other big C, my brain has been very busy this summer.

Future Me, June 2020

My last update was in March of this year, with a few wins, and a bunch of misses. I set new goals, based on my predictions of what life might look like with a pandemic sweeping through.

I had planned to follow up at the end of May. I’m a little late, but rounding things up after 13 weeks of dealing with COVID-19.

Victory! Or, On Completing A Huge Challenge

After writing about clearing my bookshelf for nearly a year and a half, last week I emptied it! The thrill is starting to fade, as I deal with the downstream effects, but let me tell you, I mentioned it once an hour the day I accomplished it.

To some of you, this may not seem like a huge accomplishment. I myself thought I could get it done in just 4 months–how deluded I was! I had no idea it would take me another year beyond that to accomplish my goals.

In many ways, achieving this goal was like achieving any other intimidating goal, like paying off a mortgage or student loans. And in other ways, it is very different.

One Hard Thing Each Day

I have been very anxious about the situation with COVID-19, and also Mr. PiN has some (badly timed) health issues, which have me worried too.

Last Wednesday, I read some advice: when feeling overwhelmed and uprooted, pick just one thing to do. This way you have a goal each day, and a good chance at accomplishing it.

Future Me, COVID-19 Follow Up

My last update was in January of this year, with a few wins, and a bunch of misses. I set new goals, many of which are not going to be possible to hit given the new recommendations around social distancing (#flattenthecurve).

I had planned to follow up at the end of May, but I would like to review my progress so far, and offer some course correction to my goals for the next few months.

My Goals Versus COVID-19

The weather is wintry, but the lengthening days tell my hind-brain that Spring is coming. And in my home, Spring means Spring Cleaning. Tidying. Emptying the kitchen cabinets and all the closets of old, unusable items.

On the other hand, this year we have the novel coronavirus, the cause of COVID-19, making its way across the globe. There are currently only a few known cases in the USA, but very likely there will be many more soon.

It has been 11 years since the swine flu outbreak, but I do recall hospital policy: you were not to come to work if febrile. If you had proven swine flu, you were to stay home for quite some time, until you were unlikely to spread your infection to patients and other staff.

My husband is very concerned about the possibility of having to self-quarantine. In addition to the possibility that we might get stuck in our home for a while, he also has to worry about his 2 elderly parents, who live just a few miles away. He worries about possible food shortages and how they will get supplies if this virus hits our city hard.