Breaking a shredding machine is actually good for the soul!
The time twixt Christmas and New Year is a good time for taking a good look in all directions – looking back at the year just passed and planning for the year ahead.
It’s no wonder then, that the month of January is named after the Roman god Janus, a fellow with two faces so he could see the future and the past.
Results of paper shredding #
Part of my time over the holidays was spent shredding a large quantity of paper, to the extent that the rather flimsy shredder I was using waved a white flag after a while and then stopped working. 😊
However, there has been a terrific value in revisiting some of my old projects, papers and articles. A number of ideas within them will be revisited in future. If I’d not dug out this treasure, the nuggets will have laid hidden for another few months; maybe years.
Did my decluttering give me a sense of control, accomplishment and clarity? Well, yes!
Benefits of decluttering #
According to an article by Stacey Colino on everydayhealth .com, this is what decluttering offers us.
“Making an effort to declutter makes us feel as if a weight has been lifted. No matter what we physically count as “clutter,” whatever is there is a constant visual reminder of things that need to be done. Decluttering allows us to cross things off the to-do list, which gives us a sense of accomplishment. Removing clutter also takes away visual interruptions. It’s an easy way to cleanse the palate and have a fresh start.
Paring down and getting organised also promotes greater productivity, a sense of order, as well as improving our mood. Looked at another way, tidying up, putting things away, and getting rid of piles of unnecessary stuff is a way of “managing symbolic pollution,” researchers concluded in an analysis published in the Journal of Consumer Research.
In the right amount, decluttering can be good for our mental and emotional well-being in many ways.
And in that respect, decluttering can certainly be a form of self-care, just as not doing it is a form of diminishing the self.”
What about the downside?
There is one I can think of.
I do need to buy a new shredding machine. Can anyone out there recommend one?!
Thank you for reading.
