Purging

I always feel better as I head into a new year if I do a little bit of purging of items we no longer want, use or need.  I will go through drawers, cabinets and closets collecting items to donate and place them into a bag.  Other items that can be recycled are placed into our recycle bin which is set at the curb for collection.  I make a point to gather up all of our glass bottles and jars to take to the recycling station set up at a grocery store parking lot nearby as our regular curbside recycling does not include glass.  Paper with sensitive or personal information on it will get shredded or burned.  Lastly, whatever cannot be donated, shredded, burned or recycled goes into the trash.

 

Next I go through my computer and delete what I no longer need.  I organize all of the remaining files and photos into Folders, name and date them.  Once I’ve completed that task I back these storage Folders up onto a thumb drive for long term storage.  I check to make sure the items I want to store on the thumb drive are indeed there and will open.  Then I will go back and remove those stored Folders from my computer or go ahead and leave them if I think I might access them later.  I will create new files, mostly Excel workbooks and a couple Word Docs in preparation of the new year as well as new Folders to keep things organized.

 

I am really good at purging my emails as I go, just as I do with the mail I get in my mailbox.  I have folders setup to organize emailed receipts and important information and will go through those and delete what I no longer need as well as empty the trash bin.  I will also go through and unsubscribe to unwanted emails, mostly from stores I don’t want to shop at and deactivate accounts to groups and social media that I don’t need to be a party to.  I have done a lot of that this past year.

 

Another area I am purging myself of this time around is with regard to people and social commitments.  I know there is less of that this year than what there has been for a very long time which actually has allowed me to do some soul searching and really think about what I want and what I don’t want.  What I’m willing to put up with and what I am not.  Who impacts my life positively and who sucks me dry.  Without going into too much detail, I have made a pact with myself that if people, situations or events are not positive and something or someone is not in my best interest I will no longer participate.  It’s hard to explain exactly what I mean, but suffice it to say, it is a really good decision for me.  And one that, surprisingly, I am very excited about.

 

There are many ways to purge.  These are the areas that are most important to me.  Do you do any annual purging?  What are things you work on in preparation of a new year?