You may have old DJ clutter under a bed or in the back of a wardrobe. I have an attic full of it — two in fact. And it’s time for a complete clutter cleanse. My mind needs to be clear so that the future to take shape.
Up until recently, I was the scruffiest bastard around. It was never quite putting things down and stepping over them for years, but I have often wondered how I didn’t maim myself with power tools when doing DIY.
But I have collected quite a bit of stuff over the years. We’ve all got a junk drawer, but mine is more of a junk attic. There was a brief moment of clarity when I installed the home setup in the the lockable half of the attic space, but all it meant was that everything just got shoved into the other half, effectively turning it into a game of stepping stones and finding the spots of floor without anything casually abandoned on it.
But recently I dipped into James Clear’s “Atomic Habits”, and it’s transformed me from “I think I’ll load the dishwasher in the morning” to being motivated to making sure that the kitchen is clean by 7.30pm.
Sad but true, and it feels great. And now this new mentality is leaching into other areas of my life.
So four piles will take shape:
Save
It’s not all old crap — some of it is actually important to me, beautiful, or just plain useful. But I won’t be keeping things I might find a use for.
Sell
The stuff that I won’t use gets sold. I might have a swanky art printer, but it doesn’t print money. I plan that it will soon enough, metaphorically at least. In the meantime, there will be an eBay frenzy to keep said art printer running.
Salvage
The last stop before landfill is recycling. I’ll salvage what I can and put them in the right bin because I care about such things. But if all else fails…
Scrap
This is the last resort. There’s not much that can’t fall into the above three categories. Plastic film and polystyrene are still an issue in my region.
With the DJWORX site properly mothballed, all that remains is to sift through the mountain of tangible stuff that has accumulated. I won’t be at all sad. In fact I’m hoping to rediscover things I thought long gone. It’ll definitely be nice to reminisce from a place of peace.
And at the end of it, I’ll have mentally and physically moved on, ideally with a few quid in my pocket too. And I’ll have two usable rooms rather than a deathtrap/assault course of an attic.
Who knows — I might even raise enough for that Canon EOS R5 I’ve lusted after since launch.
