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Lighter Living Task #12 Books

Lighter Living is more than a book. Lighter Living Tasks are weekly suggestions to make progress on decluttering, organizing and simplifying your life. By working on parts of your home each week, you will breaking big projects into small, manageable tasks.

I love books and over the years, I have bought many of them. I have also had to develop the habit of thinning them out every year so that they don’t take over my house!

I recently undertook a book purge. I took every book off my shelves and then dusted the shelves! Then I placed the books into piles on the floor or table. I created groupings of subject matters. Then I decided what to keep and what to distribute out.

I kept my absolute favorites and books I am currently using for research of my next book or blog. If I was never going to read the book again and the subject matter was of a topic that was in my past such as business building, I decided to give those books to others immersed in that world who could benefit from the information now before it became too dated.

I then donated books in perfect condition to my local library and marked up books to a used bookstore. I also donated a collection to an organization that specialized in that subject matter. I also handpicked a few choice books for friends who I thought might like them and saved a few books for my daughters. This sorting and giving away was not easy for me. I sometimes grieved a little that a part of my life was behind me and no longer relevant.

Recently, I am checking out books from the library so that I save money and cease accumulating books that later need to be dealt with. I also read some books digitally. But paperback books remain my favorite medium to read, so I doubt I will become bookless anytime soon!

If you believe that books are more valuable circulating to those who might like and read them now rather than gathering dust on your shelves, it might be time for you to do a book curating day!

Between tasks posted on this blog, be sure to read Lighter Living if you have not already.