The Deep Tidy

I am sure I am not the only human on the planet with too many things! - yes, everywhere I look in my overlarge house are things, my things, the cats' things, other peoples' things and things I have been given. Each one is a little distraction, a memory, a failed project, a reminder of something I haven't quite finished or meant to do.

William Morris said 'Have nothing in your House that is not either useful or beautiful'

I am following a programme called The Deep Tidy. The Deep Tidy is a Zero Tolerance Zone. It allows nothing that is not either useful or beautiful. Where there is overcrowding, decisions are based on utility and aesthetics.

I have just spent an hour on one drawer which is largely full of sewing kits. I used to collect sewing kits from all around the world. As I rarely even so on a button these days, this collection is pointless. Nonetheless, it took me an hour or more to tear myself away from them and the other trivia in the drawer. An hour well spent? definitely! I have an extra drawer in my life, and a sense of satisfaction that may become addictive.

The Zero Tolerance Zone extends to computer files, which have now been placed in neat categories and folders, Career, Financial, Social, House, Business, Education, etc. Each major category has subcategories, Social divides into Friends, Addresses, and Financial divides into Accounts, Investments, and so on. I have deleted every file I no longer need and forced everything else into a category.

In truth I have a large back up drive, with all my back up data archive, so should I become desperate for a deleted file. The drive at 8x4x2" takes up no space at all, and in the meantime my computer space is clear. I also have a box for items to which I am too attached to get rid of, a singing dog from my niece, cards from my best friends, and a piece of Mammoth tooth, a birthday present from the Cheetah in my life.

This blog bears witness to the petty triumphs and disasters of my life, as do blogs everywhere. By giving them a place in cyberspace, it gets those insignificant details out of my life and lets me get on with the important things, like The Deep Tidy and setting up the Foundation. Someone once said to me 'if you spent less time updating blogs, you might have got your book written' but she was always a bit of bitch! I have done both, the book is written and looking for a publisher, it has been a reciprocal process.

The Deep Tidy is essential environmental hygeine. Over the coming months, I am going to keep you posted as to how my financial fortunes change, so that you can see how I did it. How one person got rich, very rich.

'The Secret' and all the other 'wish upon a dream' ideas which stir up excitement and greed are bollocks. The only people that get rich from those schemes are the people selling them. They are variations on the 'How to make Instant Money' schemes- 1) send £10 to the above address 2) put an advert in the paper that says 'How to make Instant Money' 3) give out above advice. The latest schemes are all about 'How to Make Money on the Internet' - Answer 1) send £10 to the above address 2) set up a website advertising 'How to Make Money on the Internet' 3) give out the above advice

I have started with a Deep Tidy in preparation for the Foundation. Watch this space, I am documenting everything I do on this journey, so that other people can follow or not, or just take the steps that are best for them. Your legacy starts with you, have nothing in your mind, on your computer, in your cupboards and in your house that is not either useful or beautiful and preferably both. Begin to step into the zone of Peak Performance.


http://www.drlizmiller.co.uk/

Copyright Dr Liz Miller 2008