I follow The Single Woman and that is where I was inspired to come up with this year ending purging from my life. The first post (Life’s Changing Landscape: Shelving 2011 covers the how/why, the rest will be the 31 things I am shelving from 2011 that will not go with me into the new year, the full list of posts pertaining to what I’m purging can be found here: Shelving 2011.

I’m getting a slightly late start on this but I am determined to find and purge 31 things, people, time wasters…whatever it is that I feel is holding me back from moving forward, growing, changing and becoming all I can be.  Not everything is negative, in fact most likely is not.  But all are things I see that stunt my growth in some way, shape or form.  Feel free to do the  same, I think it will be a fantastic way rid life of  what just needs to go!

Box #1

I am hanging up my overalls and leaving the farm.  Farmville that is.  I can no longer be concerned about when my virtual chickens have layed eggs, or the cows need to be milked, dogs need grooming, ripened fruit on trees of pixels needs picking or my crops in my fields need to be harvested before they wilt.  Let the barn fall in on itself and the house that couldn’t begin to contain the little virtual woman that is supposed to be me (her head is entirely too large for her body as it is and the boobs entirely too small) can fall into disarray.  I don’t want or need help building Santa’s sleigh (really?) or growing ridiculous plants that do not even exist in the real world.  I most certainly do not need to be spending REAL money to buy virtual crap to use on a farm that only exists on my computer screen.  Same goes for YoVille and any other ‘ville’ on Facebook.  Into the box you go to be sealed and shelved and left behind. I am allowing myself 2 games online that do not require me to participate if I don’t have time…in other words nothing dies, wilts, or needs the stalls cleaned if I don’t play for a few days.

I have kids to care for during the week days and a business to build, things that pay me REAL money to purchase REAL things that I need and want.  No more time wasted on worlds that do not really exist.

Box # 2

Television brings into our homes various forms of entertainment such as sitcoms, dramas, movies and talk shows.  I’m not saying it is all bad, some is actually educational.  But it is like a drug that can suck me in and keep me sitting on the couch when I could be cleaning, reading, or out working my Avon business.

I am not eliminating ALL TV from my life, but reruns of shows and movies I have already seen are being purged.  I love, for example NCIS.  Almost every weekend there are marathons of episodes of the show that I have already seen, and yet I will turn it on and watch them…again…and again and again and again.  Heck I’ve seen the pilot, ‘Yankie White’ at least 3 times in the past 2 weeks!  I had seen it long ago several times.  That is 3 hours of my valuable, cannot get it back ever again, time!  Those are 3 hours I could have gone and thrown brochures, called and follow-up with customers, written thank-you notes or a newsletter for my customers and down-line team.

I am all for relaxing but not to things I have already seen.  That is a total waste of my time and from now on I am not watching an episode of any show that I have already seen, be it Criminal Minds, NCIS, whatever.  I can listen to a motivational speaker or Avon rich and famous interview while working on crochet projects.  I can read or work my business in the evenings.  Heck  even go take a walk to work off some of this fat on my butt.  But I cannot see wasting another single minute on an episode of something or a movie I have already seen.  Too much of value can be done with that time.

Box #3

Tweet tweet…Yes Twitter.  You need to be contained.  Oh not eliminated but there is an overhaul that needs to be done.  I have 3 or 4 accounts now.  Too many to say the least.  One that is just family, one for Avon, one for whatever (the only one I use!) and others.  I’m done with that.  I’m also done following half the free world.

Some members of my family  had complained at one time that I retweeted things they weren’t interested in, well too bad.  I am going to ONE Twitter account, MarviMarti.  I simply cannot begin to keep up with more than one account.  The rest are outta here.  Dear family members and friends, if you want to follow me, then do so, or don’t.  But my Twitter account is MY micro-blog and I’ll tweet out whatever I want there.  I follow you, and not because everything you post is of interest, but rather YOU are of interest so the things important enough to you to post, become important to me.  140 characters to read and move on.  Don’t like it? Don’t follow me. But if you do follow me don’t complain.

I am also trimming down the number of folks I follow on Twitter.  Currently down to 85 but that is going to get cut back as well.  Right now I’m imposing a limit of 55.  That means cutting out 20 more from the feed.  May even go to less than that but for now 55.  In order to add one after that, one must be removed.   I knew this had to happen when I was scrolling past hundreds of tweets to get to current ones on my Droid.  If they were not important enough to stop and read, then they aren’t important at all.