It’s funny how easy is to get used to something that we don’t particularly enjoy, specially if it requires a little bit of work from our part. The drawer that’s hard to close, those bras that we never use ’cause they are too tight…It becomes normal, a habit, push the drawer harder, use other bras that are looser, etc., the list is not small. I bet I’m not the only one that ends up leaving these things hanging around until we become insensitive to it.
After being a couple of months away for work, I start to notice all these small things again, because the habit is gone. This has giving me a lot of perspective and I end up to do lots of organizing when I first arrive. However I want to get even better, I don’t want for it to be a one time thing, I don’t want to stop noticing these things, I’d rather fix them up before the workaround becomes a habit. If there is something that annoys me and can be taken care of right away, I’m teaching myself to act instead of delaying. Sometimes we really don’t have time but frequently laziness is the major deciding factor, not time.
Some changes that I’ve been trying to implement:
If a sock has holes on it, I’ll mend if before wearing it or put it in the garbadge
For some reason, I always had a habit of saving socks, even if they were ready to go to the trash. Maybe it’s related to the fact that I’m always trying to get the most use out of everything…”They have holes but I can still wear them at home” kind of thing. But you know that usually happens? They remain in the drawer forgotten.
What did I do to change? In the morning while getting ready, if I end up choosing a pair of socks that have holes, I’ll mend it right away. It takes 5 minutes! I’m serious, you have time to do this! If you don’t know how to mend your socks, I highly recommend watching a few videos in youtube in a day that you’ve more time, after that, no excuses!
If the socks are in really bad state, super worn out, holes hard to mend everywhere, into the garbage they go. The truth is we don’t actually need that many pair of socks to wear at home, it just becomes hoarding.
Small improvements at home
For months these little balls from the door coat hanger were constantly falling off…They were always walking around the house and it always annoyed me. With a little bit of white glue inside, the problem got resolved! This took literally 5 minutes! It does make it easier that I had white glue at home but this is just an example on how small improvements can be made quickly. For some reason we are always delaying this…what improvements could you do at home without much effort that would make a world of difference?
Ask a seamstress to fix clothes
Broken zippers, loose skirts, tight bras, how many times have we let pieces of clothing forgotten because some of these? Some of them could be easily donated or fixed by a professional seamstress. My sewing abilities are very basic and I’m not able to do most of the fixes that are required for clothes in general. Much of these clothes ended up in the closet waiting for me to have time to learn how to do it myself rather than spending the money. However I’ve learned that sometimes it’s best to recognize that you’ll never do it and just spend it, if you can afford it.
If there are clothes that don’t fit you and it’s expensive or difficult to repair, I advise you to just give it to someone in need. Sometimes you can give it to a friend or someone from your family, however you can always give it to people who might need it more. In Portugal there are containers all over the country where you can donate clothes, maybe it’s something that exists in other countries, if not I doubt an institution will refuse your clothes. If you cannot wear it, why keep it?
I hope this has inspired someone! I bet there are many other things that we could do!