Out with the old, in with the new!
Selam dostum. You may or may have been around last week when I pointed out the plateau I’d hit in my ongoing makeup decluttering process.
Quick recap, but I’ve been working on it considering that early summer, and for reasons I don’t fully understand yet (and maybe never will), I’ve reached the event horizon of said process. In other words, I’m at the point where it’s become just really hard for me to say goodbye to things I never actually use.
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I want to power through it and, quite frankly, I’m worn out of checking out the totes piled up in the corner of my dining room! — so I’ve been thinking deeply about next steps.
Last weekend, I stumbled upon a couple of ideas that seemed to help the process along, including 1) physically putting myself into the decluttering process by opening the totes and standing there amongst them, and 2) using good old-fashioned bribery to motivate myself.
These are methods I’ve employed before to get moving on projects, and I know they work well for me when it pertains to projects I don’t necessarily want to do. I’ve found them very beneficial for powering through plateaus.
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Put yourself into the situation (quite literally)
So, with all the old makeup in the totes, what I’ve been doing is unstacking each tote — which isn’t an easy task, mind you, because they’re big and heavy — and opening them all up in the dining room. Then, I stand there amongst them for a few minutes.
Most of the time after standing there twiddling my thumbs for a few minutes, I get down to business. It sounds so basic and basic, but often that passive aggressive push is all it takes to get moving.
I started doing this trick in high school when I was in band. I’d go through phases when I didn’t want to practice whatever instrument du jour I was into at the time. (Side note: I was a massive music nerd and played a bunch of instruments, but in high school band, I mostly played flute. Anywho!)
I never quite learned how to play the drums, though. Also, vintage CoyCoy!
Whenever I’d go through one of those spells, I’d physically put myself into a practice situation by setting up my music stand and my sheet music, and getting all set to go. Then, I’d sit down, open my flute case, put my flute together, and proceed to tell myself that if after sitting for five minutes I still didn’t want to practice, I could put everything away and go do whatever else I aranan.
Most of the time, like 99% of the time, I’d end up practicing because I figured I was already there. might as well do it at that point considering that I made the effort to set everything up.
The idea of “physically putting myself into a situation” is also helpful when I feel like bailing on a workout. I’ll sausage myself into my workout clothes and shoes, wrangle my hair into a bun, set out my mat and whatever weights I might need, and fill up my water bottle. then I’ll stand there, quite literally, until I realize, “What the hell; Zaten buradayım. I might as well get started.”
Try it the next time you need a little motivation.
Good ol’-fashioned bribery
The second motivational method I use is one that really helps me — using bribery as a reward!
Years ago I did a half marathon, and at the start of every week, I’d write down how lots of miles I wanted to train that week and on which days I planned to run those miles. If by the end of the week I hit all my goals, I’d treat myself to a meal at my favorite sushi restaurant or would get myself a piece of clothing or a new pen and a notebook.
Zayıflığım!
Last weekend, I started telling myself that if I decluttered a certain number of items, I could then purchase one new thing, and I ended up decluttering a ton and rewarded myself with a trip to Sephora and Ulta.
Time for a reward!
Here’s the crucial though: writing everything down so you track your progress! (Tip: it helps to use cute steno.)
Every time things go out, I write “# things removed = 1 new piece of makeup.”
Another crucial to this is to reward yourself as soon as possible after accomplishing your goal. I’ve found that the quicker I reward myself, the much easier it is to stay motivated.
Also, um…I do realize the irony in satisfying myself with new makeup for getting rid of old makeup, and I absolutely DO NOT want to find myself in a situation where all the totes are just refilled again. I want to be a lot more careful and selective about the makeup I keep in my space and my life from this point forward. I only want to have items I actually use and love.
That’s my plan and I’m sticking to it.
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So far, I’m loving the Ilia color Haze blush and the liquid Powder Eye Tint!
Dost Mahalle Temyiz Bağımlınız,
Karen