In my ongoing challenge to clear my life of clutter, Covid-19 has helped me identify four areas:

Before: click to enlarge

1. WORKSPACE CLUTTER: Although I consider myself a pretty organized person, I’ve found that having more Zoom meetings has resulted in more scraps of paper accumulating on my desk. Since I don’t have to actually pick up these papers to go to a physical meeting, they just lay around being lazy and remind me of what I still have to do. I decided that the basic action I would take to fulfill my blog’s Enough Challenge was to clear my desk work space by finding accessible homes for these papers and discard the rest. It took about 1½ hours but now my desk space is neater and I learned some stuff (see upcoming post).

After: click to enlarge

2. TIME CLUTTER: With Covid-19 cancelling most in person meetings, I thought I would have more time (since I wasn’t sick, an essential worker, or homeschooling kids). Even though I work at home, it took time to convert programs to online formats and learn the intricacies of Zoom. I devoted any “extra” time to weeding my vegetable garden and exercise. This required changing my daily routine since it was so hot out that all gardening and bike rides had to be done before 9:00 am.
Because of physical distancing, I’ve had to postpone my plan to use extra time to do more direct service like tutoring children in a mixed race, low income school. I have, however, gotten to know the neighbors on my block better as they have been the recipients of too much kale and tomatoes. Now that’s service too and our neighborhood is of mixed race and income.

3. MONEY CLUTTER: After disbursing our $1,200 Covid-10 stimulus checks to non-profits, it was time for my husband and me to meet with a financial advisor to develop a long range financial plan. It’s a sobering experience to look at one’s projected life expectancy, resources, and the potential need for long term care. None of it is certain since a lot of it depends on knowing the odds and one’s tolerance for risk. Thinking about death and knowing it is certain – at some time – forced me to reevaluate what I’m saving money for. How much is enough?

4. WORRY CLUTTER: Since my work is now more dependent on technology, I’ve become more aware of potential internet scams. Why is my website getting so many hits from Beijing, China? Is there any way to stop those incessant robo calls? Are any of those emails offering tech support or warning me that I need to upgrade my security legit? Should I wear a mask while biking or how careful should I be when visiting immediate family members? Am I an OK human being? Have I led a good enough life? Maybe it doesn’t matter because, after all I’m surly going to die eventually no matter what the actuarial table says. Hmmm…

I was going to summarize what I’ve learned from all these decluttering experiences but this post is already long. I’ll hold those insights till my August 4 post.
But, I am curious to learn how you are dealing with workspace, time, money, or worry clutter?

Now for  the riddle reveal from my #215 blog, How much is Enough?
RIDDLE: What does coping with Covid-19 have in common with liturgy?
ANSWER: For me, both involved Sitting, Standing, Kneeling, and Walking.
Sit: I spend a lot of time sitting at my desk, working at my computer. This led me to choose decluttering my workspace as my “How Much Is Enough” action.
Stand: I recently took a public stand on a controversial issue. I wrote an Op-Ed for the Cincinnati Enquirer, Being pro-life is messy – elections and purity
Kneel: During Covid I’ve been spending a lot of time kneeling in our vegetable garden to weed.
Walk: I walked about a mile to an unknown neighbor’s house to deliver some stamps she had requested through Nextdoor due to being in Covid-19 quarantine