Here’s an experiment I did with the place I live. I wrote this because I suggest you do the same.

Lately I have been reading about all the things we have to deal with in everyday life. All the things that demands our attention. Everything from the dog, to finding things, to analyzing socials situations, and constantly deciding whether to check the email now or later. When you start thinking about this, you realize what a ridiculous number of choices we make every single day, you begin to understand why humans tend to love simplicity and generalizations… and you begin to appreciate them yourself.

So I decided (in the middle of studying for my exam) to see what I could do about the place where I live (procrastination anyone?). Here’s what I did:

1. Went to my attic and was happy to find it as good as empty, except for some boxes I’d used for moving in. Perfect.
2. Brought down 4 of them and started packing things up. Everything, except:
   • Tables, chairs, bed, sofa, etc.
   • My laptop and my new external monitor.
   • Bank papers.
   • Study books and basic study materials like pen and paper.
   • Some of my very classical literature (see my other post on books to read).
   • Art: My violin on the wall, a babushka from Moscow, vase from Morocco, chessboard from Turkey, Buddha from Laos, and some other interesting and inspirational things.
3. Moved everything to the attic.
4. Kept one drawer empty. It’s the buffer zone for letters, and must be empty before I go to bed every night.

The goal was to remove so much from especially my living room, that I would have a feeling of missing something. In that case, I could just go to the attic and get it back. No biggie. I could have removed my art too, but I regularly have visitors over, and I want the place to look inspiring and fresh —not like a prison cell.

Everything I did not move to the attic got a very specific place to be. Usually somewhere out of sight. I did not want to have “boring” things lying around at all. And by “boring” I mean everything that can not be used as a conversation starter. A slightly odd definition, I know; but think about it. You can’t start conversations about pen and paper, so I got that out of the way. Same is true for bank papers, etc. Out of the way with that too. What you can start conversations about, is books for studying. It is pieces of pottery that I dug up somewhere in Palestine, or the tibloc lying in my window next to coins from different places I visited. So they’re all in. Lying around, making me feel at home and new visitors welcomed.

So how did it go? Very well…

1. I have not been missing a thing.[*]
2. It probably saved me at my exam (in fact I aced it).
3. I now treat my place with respect. That is, I never let papers or other stuff just lying around.
4. It’s much easier to clean.
5. Every single person who has visited me (new friends as well as old ones) has complimented the place.
6. I have more time than ever before. I can feel my mind beginning to think more structured now.
7. I’m on top of things. Studying ahead of things, etc.

Even though I love what I have done, I have not forgotten about my initial experiment. I wanted to remove so much, that I would be forced to go up there, and get it back down. I wanted to find out, what I really need, and the only way to do that, is to first remove too much. So, I will be doing it again. Removing dictionaries, my Tintins, and finding better storage for folders and paper that I can’t do without.

* Except for an envelope. But since I didn’t have any stamps either, I had to go to the post office anyway, and of course just bought an envelope there and then.