Moving Day

My suitcases are all packed, the apartment is stuffed with stacked cardboard boxes full of books and files, furniture is waiting for the movers. Today is the day: I hop on the bus at 11:30 AM and move to Ottawa.

Tomorrow at 9AM sharp, I report for duty at the library of the Supreme Court of Canada.

What I learned while preparing the move:

• everyone I know prefers Ottawa to Toronto where I live for another 2 hours or so, everyone seems to have only positive stories about the lifestyle in Canada's federal capital city - greener, quieter, cleaner, more balance between life and work, fewer guns, and closer to Montreal, Canada's city of true cultural sophistication (as opposed to Toronto, which often acts like an American wannabe because of some inexplicable inferiority complex - chill out Toronto and be more like Montreal which doesn't give a hoot what others think of it, the sign of true confidence and worldliness)
• it is astounding how much totally useless "stuff" can hide for years in obscure corners of rooms, closets, kitchen cupboards, bathroom cabinets, etc. How did that "stuff" manage to get in here in the first place?
• it is even more amazing how much stuff you can get rid of if you put your mind to the task - on average, I calculate that I have eliminated the equivalent of 2 or 3 cardboard wine bottle boxes of "stuff" every day for the past 3 weeks. Books - leave them in the laundry room and they will be picked up by some other tenant within 10 minutes. CDs, DVDs, music cassettes - give them away. Clothes - charity will have them. Furniture, old computer equipment - again, there are charitable oreganizations that will take all your castaways.
• scan documents - I reduced 2 metal filing cabinet drawers of library science and IT-related paper files to 2 CD-ROMs that fit in my jacket pocket

For more web tips on how to "unclutter" your space:

• Managing Paper Clutter (Library Support Staff website)
• Organizing 101 (About.com Housekeeping website)
• Organize Paper Clutter (Piles of Files website)
• Paper Chase: The ABC of Household Paper Management (OrganizedHome.com)

Or try one of the following books:

• The Smart Approach to the Organized Home: Less Clutter More Storage
• The Complete Clutter Solution: Organize Your Home for Good
• The Organized Home: Design Solutions for Clutter-Free Living
• The Office Clutter Cure: Get Organized, Get Results!
• The Home Organizing Workbook: Clearing Your Clutter, Step by Step