Files and drawers

When it´s cold outside, staying inside turns into the preferred modus of spending one´s time. Weekends, in late autumn, turn into golden opportunuties to boldly go where no declutterer has gone before.
This weekend, I took advantage of such an opportunity to go for another of the chests of drawers in our bedroom, managing to empty it out completely. Its former contents, at least those that did survive the purge, have migrated to the other three chests, and the empty chest is right now standing in the corridor, awaiting the final decision on it´s fate (toss, put into cellar, donate, give away?). Careful re-measuring of the available space in our future bedroom did, by the way, convince me thet there will be space enough for one such chest of drawers, or two stacked one on top of the other, besides the bed when we exchange rooms, so, the problem has just become somewhat smaller than I thought.
And then I went at the testimony to my own laziness.
I own a file cabinet with hanging files that hold the most important documents. Unfortunately, it also has a drawer on top that regularly becomes the repository for bills, bank statements, and such, that get tossed in there rather than filing them away at once. Every now and again, that drawer is full, and I´m forced to start filing. Which I did, sorting out what didn´t need to be kept, which meant a full bag of paper to go to the shredder.
Next stop, the other multi-drawered cabinet I have at my workplace at home, which held plenty of small electronics parts that I sorted through. Among them a graphics tablet I just "had to have" when it came out, and which rested unused in a box that named the systems requirements as "Windows 2000". It´s neither likely I´ll use that thing, nor will it fit in with my existing (somewhat more recent ;)) hard-and software. So, out with it. Out, too, with half the USB cables in there- I have more of them in use with my computers, so, any that could still lie in a drawer are probably superfluous. Also went- several outdated address and phone book CDs, CDs with drivers to some appliances I no longer own, and parts of said appliances. If any cable still is inside a sealed plastic baggie two years after I bought the appliance it is supposed to go with, I probably don´t need that cable. An old cell phone and charger, complete with a headset that doesn´t match my existing phone, went, too.
In the stationery department, I ditched about a hundrerd dried-out felt-tip pens plus the metal box they´d been in.
And found myself wondering how on earth I come by four packages of unused artist´s crayons. As these don´t dry out, I kept them, together with the box of watercolors. I haven´t given up hope yet that I just might have time to use them someday.  The single drawer they occupy is something I gladly spend for that hope. Even if the number of times I felt the impulse to create can, as per now, be counted by the times I bought materials, instead of by the number of things I actually painted:(.
Surprising doubles, next take: two six- hole-punches that go with my old filofax calendar- if ever I´ll use that again, one punch is enough, so out goes number two.
The end result of a whole day´s work is a workplace where I can finally find things again, and I have made room for the things that, due to overflowing cabinets, were left on the desk, so, the place is tidier on the outside, too.
Any lessons from this decluttering session?
Number one, if I print out something because it is relevant at the time, I should check it for further relevance before burying it in a drawer. Among the paper stuff I tossed were several centimeter´s worth of printouts made when I was shopping for my freezer online. The freezer has been bought two years ago, and one of the retailers half of whose freezer sortiment I printed out has even gone out of business by now.
Number two, ther seems to be no area where I wouldn´t have to watch out for my tendency to buy something, and then buy the same thing over again. With things that can be used up, that may not be so bad unless I buy more than I can use up before it goes bad. But non-perishables are one area where I have to be careful in the future to check whether I have something already before buying myself another one, before I find myself spending twice and then needing twice the space to store all that stuff.
After all, I still want to do that apartment remodel, and I don´t want to provide storage any more for things that are plain junk.



Julia