#Decluttering takes on an #Olympic bent when you attempt the “ski slope” method. “Much like skiing, where you don’t start by going straight down the hill, the ski slope method allows you to crisscross a room, one small section at a time, building momentum as you go,” says its originator, “home therapist” Anita Yakota. “By focusing on smaller areas, I found that I could actually clean up the space without feeling completely defeated — and it worked! This method gave me the freedom to take breaks while knowing I could finish by the end of the day. No more procrastination or paralysis.” Let the Games begin! #OlympicDecluttering
Tag: decluttering
Declutter to Create an Olympic Environment
#Olympic athletes are used to spartan conditions. Housed in temporary dorms during the competition, their #focus is on training, nutrition and performance. No matter what you do on a daily basis, your environment may not lend itself to that kind of #focus if you are surrounded by #clutter, says Medium. “Decluttering isn’t just about #cleaning. It’s not about perfection, or buying matching baskets or becoming a #minimalist monk who owns two forks and one beige shirt. #Decluttering is about #energy. It’s about focus. It’s about emotional relief. There’s something deeply empowering about intentionally shaping your space.” #OlympicDecluttering
Sweep Your Home Clean Like an Olympic Curler
Watching the curling competition at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics over the weekend had the unintended consequence of reminding the authors of The Organizing Blog that there are a few areas of the home that could use a good #sweeping. In curling, sweeping the ice clears the way for “the rock” to travel faster and straighter, allowing competitors to direct it into a scoring circle or knock the other team’s rocks out of the way. Similarly, #cleaning and #decluttering your home makes it easier for you to accomplish other tasks of labor and leisure, unfettered by a bunch of useless #clutter or built-up grime. #OlympicDecluttering
African Americans and the Vietnam War
It’s Black History Month — a great time to remember that African Americans have served honorably in the U.S. military for as long as there has been a U.S. military. But service often meant fighting for one’s country even while being denied equal rights at home.
More than 300,000 Black Americans fought in the #Vietnam War, making up an outsized share of those drafted (16.3%) compared to representation in the general U.S. population (11%). Black soldiers were more often assigned to combat duty in Vietnam and less likely to be elevated to command roles.
Fighting shoulder-to-shoulder in desegregated units for the first time in Vietnam often helped build camaraderie among the troops, regardless of racial and ethnic differences. But most Black #veterans recall discrimination during and after their service.
Upon being drafted or enlisting, “Black soldiers were immediately faced with discrimination and racism during basic training, which typically took place in the Jim Crow South,” an article in Time magazine says. “The racism was there: It was real and felt between soldiers.”
After the war, Black veterans suffered disproportionately high rates of PTSD and were twice as likely as white veterans to lack full-time employment. Veterans Affairs often routinely denied Black veterans’ claims for disability benefits even through the 1970s.
Institutional and interpersonal barriers have since eroded with no small amount of struggle. Military service is now regarded as a viable career option among African Americans; today, they make up one-quarter of enlisted Army soldiers while making up 13% of the population.
Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) and its local chapters support all veterans of all U.S. conflicts by helping with benefits claims and connecting them with health care and mental health care services, housing and job assistance, and much more. And it does this with your help!
You can easily support the nation’s #veterans by clearing out some of your #clutter and scheduling a #free #donation #pickup with ClothingDonations.org. Your lightly used clothing and household goods will be resold to #support programs that #veterans rely on nationwide.
Celebrate Black History Month with a #donation! You’ll #support veterans and eliminate some of the #stuff you don’t need at the same time. #BlackHistoryMonth
Create a Project for the Dead of Winter
There’s always a time of year when the #winter weather starts to wear on a person. Snow and cold likely find you indoors more than you want to be, and there are few holidays or occasions to provide a distraction. We’ve entered the year’s gray doldrums.
There’s a fantastic way to fight any boredom, anxiety, cabin fever or seasonal blues you might be feeling, however: Think up a new #project and get it off the ground! There’s extra time on the calendar, and you can defeat the winter weather to get something accomplished.
At #new year’s resolution time, the project might be yourself and your health. You might have started a dry January or be counting down to a dry February. You might set fitness goals such as losing X number of pounds or visiting the gym regularly.
You might decide to enhance your knowledge by learning something new — a language, a musical instrument, or a craft such as woodworking or pottery. The internet is full of free and reasonably priced classes; sites such as OpenCulture, MasterClass, Babbel and others help you get started.
Perhaps you’ve been planning a few small #household renovations — interior painting and redecorating, installing new insulation or shelving, and so on. As long as you’re trapped inside, you might as well get started on a project that makes your surroundings more inviting.
#Decluttering and #organizing is a great project to start now, since it can rapidly improve your home’s livability and your mood. The Spruce offers a 30-day challenge for the winter months, but you can adjust the scope of the project to suit your capabilities. ClothingDonations.org can help when you schedule a #free donation #pickup.
Projects don’t have to be huge to make a difference. Maybe you have a hobby you’d like to revisit. Maybe you’d like to finish one good book. Maybe you’d like to update your résumé, volunteer locally or help a family member with their project. Now’s the time.
Tackling a project can keep you from getting frustrated and bored during the dreary winter months. No matter what you might choose to do, you’ll feel more confident when you launch a new project and a sense of accomplishment when you complete it. Get it started!