To Do List for June 2013

My monthly To Do List for June 2013 only has 3 items on it:

1. Decorate Flat

2. Pack up and Move 

3. Write for a Living.

I will have to wade through 6 pages of tasks in order to complete these items. To say I'm a touch stressed by the whole thing, is like saying Elvis kind of liked fried food. Put it this way, I bypassed the Pink Fluffy Dressing Gown completely today. 

Normally it's not a good thing to make such a massive list of tasks, it's too easy to get discouraged by the enormity of it. However, I've got so much to do and the timing is quite crucial, I was worried I would forget something important. 

The good thing about breaking down all the tasks is I've been able to score some easy wins today. I am having a massive clear out. Today, I did books and CDs.

There's another shelf under this

And this is the other pile

Once all those were collected and piled up, I turned on my CD collection. I then went through  all the CDs, got rid of duplicates and the ones that were copied for my car several times. I've got two small boxes of music now looking for a new home.

One of the things that struck me as I was sorting through my books was how many of them I purchased because I thought I ought to read them. Books that would supposedly enlighten and expand my knowledge and experience. You know, literature books. I bought them and they've sat on my shelves taking up space since then. Looking through them I wondered who I was trying to impress by keeping them. Out of preference I read genre fiction, my life has had quite enough drama as it is, without including it in my entertainment. When I relax I want a good time with a happy ending. As I was sorting through it I became determined to only keep the books I wanted with me. The ones whose company I genuinely enjoyed, those I would read again. Hence, I probably got rid of about 2 bookshelf-worth. 

When it came to the CDs, same again. I sorted through the endless the compilations I'd bought because I was only after a couple of tracks. I'm now multitasking as I write this post. I've got a pile of CDs next to me and I'm systematically copying them on to my laptop. I know I will have to go through my digital library again. There are sure to be duplicates, but that's fine. I should have done this a long time ago.

I've also had a long think about many of my possessions: knick knacks, random stones, odds and ends and I've decided that if it's been in a box (i.e. in the loft) or I haven't interacted with it (i.e. looked at, picked it up or enjoyed it) it will be moving on. I'm not a sentimental person and frankly, dragging stuff around with me, on the off chance I might one day use it, when I haven't used it for years - it makes no sense.

I also dug out the kitchen, did a massive pile of dishes, cleaned up and did a couple of loads of laundry. So, all in all a very productive day. Tomorrow, I will do more work on the flat. I'm lucky in that my friend Juju has offered to help. She's good company and it'll be a good excuse to indulge in a cheeky cider afterwards.