A week ago, I sold off some ninety-plus technical books to a used book store. This is in addition to the three boxes of used books that I sold off a half year ago. For a bibliomaniac, these are big steps.
Part of the reason I wanted to get rid of these was to help me commit to moving on to a new technology for my career by getting rid of my books on the old. You might say that the books which I had collected over two decades of mastering the old technology no longer sparked joy for me. I was burning my boats, so to speak.
Speaking of which, my new rule of thumb before buying something is to ask myself whether it will fit on the boat. By boat here, I mean my hypothetical future cruising catamaran which I will move onto when my family adopts the live-aboard lifestyle. For media items such as books, music, and videos, this means that I am more frequently purchasing the digital format.
Asking myself whether something fits on the boat is also helping me with my efforts to declutter. I tell myself that whatever I get rid of today is one less thing that I will need to deal with when I move into my new floating tiny home in the future. I am starting to see more floor space in my bedroom and I like it.
Besides decluttering my space, I think the "fits on the boat" rule might also help me with decluttering my time as well. When I imagine how my family and I will be sharing our time together while sailing between ports, I think about all of the unnecessary solo activities that are preventing me from enjoying that now. Maybe on a boat where there is a place for everything and everything in its place, there is also a time for everyone to be together.
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