Pain in the neck, plus Too Much Stuff follow-up

Remember a couple of weeks ago when I told you I was going to see a physical therapist for my neck? Part of his treatment plan involves setting up a more ergonomic computer space--and since for several years now I've spent a good part of my day hunched over my laptop, this has been too long in coming.

So right this minute I'm typing on a split keyboard--not one of those ergonomic keyboards with a raised center and an inch of space between the two halves of the keyboard, but an entirely split keyboard. I've got it set up so it's about three inches apart (a little further than in the picture), which makes it so I can square my shoulders as I sit here and type. So far, I love it.

Kinesis Freestyle 2 keyboard, with separate
accessory kit installed. It's wired, but I've never liked wireless
keyboards anyway since it seems like they need new batteries
every ten minutes.

I thought it would take me awhile to adjust to the split, but it hasn't taken any time at all. Also, in the boring-trivia-you-don't-need-to -know department, I've discovered that I always hit the space bar with my right thumb. There's half a space bar on each side of this thing and I would have guessed that I use them interchangeably, but I don't. Right thumb, every time.

The PT also recommended sleeping with a pillow between my knees. I took this with a grain of salt, because while I can see that would be a great help to someone with hip or lower back problems, how would it help me with my neck? I didn't even try it until four or five days after I saw him.

But you know, your hip bone is connected to your...spine (someone should write a song about that), and your spine runs right up your back to your neck, and it has made a remarkable difference. I'm sleeping better, and waking up without feeling like I'm eighty. I still feel like I'm 53, darn it, but not 80. Highly recommended.

Too Much Stuff follow-up:

Seems like everyone I know is dealing with clutter right now, and in her Friday post, sister-of-the-heart Debbie mentioned using her old stuff in craft projects. Oh my word, is that ever something I wouldn't think of-- you can't imagine how un-crafty I am-- but it is a great idea, so I thought I would pass it along. If I understand the process correctly, she is cutting old T-shirts into strips, which will then be knitted into a rug. *envy*

London Mabel also wrote a post about how you figure out which things to keep and which things to toss, using Marie Kondo's criteria: does this item bring me joy? Great post exploring the larger implications of how we organize our lives.

If you haven't heard of Marie Kondo, she wrote a book about decluttering as spiritual practice that is really popular right now. On Amazon, it is here. I haven't read it yet, but I've read enough about it that I almost feel like I don't need to.

And if you're looking for inspiration, I have two sites to recommend. The FlyLady is an entire internet phenomenon all to herself. I personally would not recommend joining her group or getting her emails, since they can be a bit overwhelming and obsessive (my opinion, and many people disagree). But her website is great and has lots of good ideas for how to get started and how to keep going.

And Unfuck Your Habitat (excuse the profanity). In spite of the profanity in the title, UfYH is a great resource with not much other profanity. She has checklists of ways to get started, and an entire community of people who post before/after pictures of their formerly-junky-now-spacious habitats (keep scrolling down if you're not seeing pictures). It's aimed at young people who are on their own for the first time, but still there is some great inspiration.

One thing both of them highly recommend (and I completely agree) is starting small. Fifteen minutes a day, or whatever works for you. It's too easy to get overwhelmed if you try to spend an entire weekend cleaning your whole house. You'll burn out right after you get everything pulled out of your storeroom and then you'll just have a bigger mess.

Not that I would have any personal experience with that, I'm just relaying what I've heard. Really.

So off I go for my fifteen minutes.Well, actually, I'm taking Sadie on a walk first, but then I'll do my 15 minutes.