A Chic Paris Lockdown – Part 2: Day 4 – Little “Nit-noids”

 November 6, 2020

 “The joy of getting things done” is the title of Day 4 in 30 Chic Days At Home by Fiona Ferris. This day addresses the opportunity to work on making one’s life feel as light and low maintenance as possible. She made a list called “Loose Ends and Bothersome Things” to help her focus on just what she wanted to handle and put away.

When I read the title to this chapter, I originally felt more of a Marie Kondo “declutter the whole house” sort of vibe – which felt a bit exhausting. When I read just a few lines further, the title of her list, “Loose Ends and Bothersome Things,” caught my imagination. “Bothersome Things” are not the enormous “I have to change my whole way of life” type of issues. “Bothersome Things” are little annoyances that I call “nit-noid” type stuff. They don’t cause big hassles….but they do cause constant, little hassles.  There are a good number of little, irritating items in my every day that are not dreadful. I can usually breeze past them with only a slight cringe or a frown. An example would be my duvet which likes to bunch up on one side of my duvet cover. Usually, I put a large, heavy safety pin at each corner to anchor each duvet corner to its corresponding cover corner. Last winter, when we moved into our Paris apartment and I bought a new duvet and cover, I never got around to purchasing a box of heavy safety pins. I spent the rest of the winter flapping the duvet and cover to straighten them each morning as I made the bed. Is the extra tussle with the duvet the type of struggle that drives strong men to tears? No. But it is definitely a “bothersome” thing. There are several tabletops in my immediate line of sight that are laboring under messy piles of paper. As an example, with France’s lockdown, we are required to carry an “attestation form” with our name, address, reason we are out, as well as the date/time. I have already printed a small stack to use each day.  Note: There is an on-line form that one can use. I use the on-line form as a back-up option if I run out of the paper. (I just don’t like the “big brother is watching” feeling that comes with the electronic data tracking.) So, I have chosen to add yet another stack of paper into my space – but it could be much better confined (and some other stacks can definitely go!)

In the spirit of one of Fiona’s other recommendations that I wrote about last lockdown (from 30 More Chic Days, Day 19 – “Don’t talk, just do” – here), I hopped up from my chair and tidied the two tabletops and did some quick paper purging.  I also corralled the children to go through their “school” space and either tidy or trash. (There was some temporary howling to ignore but they were pretty good-natured about it.) My husband is a bit tidier than the rest of us so he was happily supportive.

Gretchen Rubin writes about the same topic in Chapter 1 of her book, The Happiness Project.  Rubin writes that she has the same emotional reaction to unfinished tasks as Fiona describes – feeling drained and guilty. (For my part, my little nit-noid tasks make me feel more annoyed than anything else. In a more perfect world, I would have a patient and uber-efficient  personal assistant to take care of these irritating tasks. Back here on planet earth, however, I have me (who is neither patient nor efficient) as the reluctant “do-er” of these nit-noid tasks.

One realistic thing that Rubin notes is that she has come to accept that there are some tasks that one must do every day for the rest of life like wearing sunscreen. In my case, the biggest nit-noid that is an every day task is to tidy the “key table” – the table right by the front door where we keep the door keys, our face masks, attestation forms, miniature hand sanitizer bottles and other small, pocket type things that you need as you exit. The small table can quickly become a cascading pile of small, tumbled articles just waiting to clatter to the floor with one, accidental nudge. Besides which, it looks messy and I can see it from where I sit at the kitchen table and every time I enter or leave the apartment.  So, my list of “Bothersome Things” (I love that title!) is composed of both daily clutter and small tasks that when left undone add inconvenience to my day.

Thinking about Fiona’s “bothersome things” led me back to one of Rubin’s habit which is the “evening tidy-up” – a brief 10-minutes before bed (or dinner) to do a simple tidying. (Fiona also recommends doing this.) It keeps the assorted flotsam and jetsam of everyday life from getting out of hand. The other small issues have gone on a list (in my iphone notes app – no scrap of paper for this project!) and I am doing a few each afternoon.  It’s amazing how easy several of the tasks are to complete and how much positive energy I gained just creating the list. Even with the strange circumstances of pandemic and lockdown and all the other weird things going on in the world, using Fiona’s and Gretchen’s advice lifted my mood.  By making my space and my daily routine a little prettier and easier, I feel a bit more in control of how I experience my day.

PS. In the continuing spirit of adding “hyggie” to my day, here is a photo from my morning tea pot (fresh mint leaves, English Breakfast tea, and half a lemon to squeeze into it. As part of the “hyggie” fun, I’m experimenting with loose-leaf teas. Right now, however, I’m trying to use up my English Breakfast in bags before I purchase it in loose-leaf form.)