When I selected “The Deletist” to be the name of my blog, I had a minor concern that people might think I was all about destruction. However the message of The Deletist is not about destroying things, but rather emphasizes the merits of saving strategically. This enables us to focus our time, money, and energy on the things that matter to us.
Whenever I feel like something is not going well in any aspect of my life (e.g. health, relationships, finances, career, etc.), the first thing I do is purge. Getting rid of things that no longer bring me value is my symbolic way of making space for new things to come into my life. And the purging doesn’t necessarily have to be related to the part of my life that is not working well. For example, if I feel like my health is not 100%, I don’t focus on the bathroom or whatever areas I identify as being related to my health. I just start somewhere, anywhere. It could be the fridge, my storage unit, or even the coat closet.
My purging projects are not restricted to physical items. I will often go through my contact lists in email or on social media apps to make sure the connections are worthwhile to me. The other week I revisited my LinkedIn connections and removed 20 that weren’t beneficial. Although I can add an infinite amount of people on LinkedIn, I prefer quality over quantity and focus on making mutually favorable connections.
When I elect to make space, I perceive any small advance as being productive. From my experiences, I know that sometimes people have challenges finding a starting point because the activity as a whole seems overwhelming or too time consuming. That’s why I sometimes start with a single drawer or shelf. It’s small and easy to get through, fills me with confidence, and provides a boost of motivation.
To me, purging things is about creating opportunities for new things to come into your life. And that starts by making space for them. Once you create space, be mindful of how/why you’re using it so it doesn’t get filled up with junk as you’ll read about in next week’s post, Nature Hates a Void.
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