Steven Colborne's Blog, page 42

Introducing my Book: An Almighty Predicament

An Almighty Predicament is a 70 page essay written in 2019. The essay opens with a story recalling an impromptu meeting I had with a Muslim in a cafe, which led to a very interesting prayer session later that day and sparked the thought...

Introducing my Book: The God Articles

My spiritual journey has involved the exploration of a wide range of faith groups, from the ‘self-enquiry’ of gurus such as Ramana Maharshi, Papaji, and Mooji, to the shaking meditation retreats of Indian guru Ratu Bagus, to a period of time spent sleeping rough...

Introducing my Book: A Collection of Essays

Hello, folks! I was considering how last year I released quite a few books in a short space of time, which was a really silly thing to do from a promotional point of view, because I didn’t give each book the promotional time and...

Christian and Muslim Views of Judgment

Do you believe that at a time appointed by God to take place in the future, every human being will be judged? This is an idea that we find in both Christianity and Islam. If you haven’t read the Scriptures of these religions, I...

If God is a Person, then Justice is Subjective

Hello, friends. I’ve been thinking a lot about justice. This is because there are certain people in my life that I am annoyed with, because they have been behaving in a way that I find to be really inconsiderate and unkind. But don’t worry,...

Should Christians be Judgmental?

The question I’d like to address in this article is whether being a Christian means a person must be judgmental when interacting with others. What prompted this post was something that happened in my life yesterday. I purchased something from an online second-hand clothing...

Understanding Different Uses of the Word ‘Faith’

I recently updated the tagline of my other blog to include the word ‘faith’. As I thought about that word, I felt it would be good subject matter for a blog post to clarify what I, and others, are often trying to convey when...

A Guest Article About China by David Robertson

Those of you who have been following Perfect Chaos for a while may be aware of my friend David Robertson, who I interviewed for the blog in 2019 (you can read the interview here). David is a blogger, author, and student of theology from...

It’s Time for a BIG Change — Please Read

Friends of the blog, I would firstly like to thank you for the interest you have taken and continue to take in my blogging activities. I appreciate your support very much. I’m writing this post to describe a big change that I hope will make us all feel more comfortable.

I’m aware that in recent weeks I’ve been posting a lot about personal activities and reflections that have not necessarily been related to philosophy and/or theology. I have felt anxious about these ‘random’ posts, because, while I love writing them, I’m aware not everyone is interested in my personal life; some people just want to discuss philosophy, theology, and spirituality.

What I’ve decided to do to try to remedy this situation is create a second blog on which I will share my more personal posts, and then I will keep Perfect Chaos exclusively for philosophy and theology. People can follow either blog, or both blogs, depending on what interests them.

The second blog is live, but I’m not going to share the URL. Instead, I’m going to ask you to email me if you would like access to the new blog. The reason I am doing this is to try to filter out some of the people who read my writing simply to be critical (I believe they’re called ‘haters’ in the trade!), and instead to keep the audience of the new blog limited to people who like me, and are genuinely interested in my life and my more personal reflections and wish to be supportive and encouraging.

I hope all of this makes sense and sounds like a good plan. Peace be with you.

The Simple Joy of Being Organised

Today, I thought I would share a few of the strategies I employ to reduce the amount of stress and anxiety in my life and which enable me to feel more peaceful and happy. Perhaps someone reading will benefit from these examples.

Calendar, Notes, Reminders. I find these three apps work together to form a really great system for keeping my life organised. I use the Apple Calendar app for appointments (for example, a doctor’s appointment or repair visit to my flat), I use notes to brainstorm ideas for projects and plans and also to keep an inventory of everything I own, and I use Reminders as a daily ‘Things To Do’ checklist. In Apple Reminders you can schedule To Do’s to recur daily, weekly, monthly, or annually, which means you can get reminders to do your grocery shopping every week, or do an annual Spring Clean or boiler service, for example.

2. Digital Organisation. I don’t have a single item on my computer desktop! I keep just those applications and folders I use most often in the dock at the bottom of the screen. There are about 10 applications and two folders in my dock. Within my folders are only files I believe I may need to access regularly; the bulk of my files are on an external Samsung hard drive which I regard as a kind of storage cabinet. Keeping legacy documents on an external hard drive frees up storage space on your computer allowing it to run more smoothly. I also backup my computer every Sunday to another hard drive.

3. Cleaning Blitzes. This is a tip I always love to share with people. Instead of letting cleaning jobs pile up and feel like a terrible chore to tackle, instead you can set a timer for 20 minutes, and do as much as you can in that time. At the end of the 20 minutes, have a cup of tea and I expect you will feel satisfied you’ve made good progress. Most people can spare 20 minutes in a regular day, and if you do this a few times a week you should stay on top of the cleaning.

4. General Minimalism. I find it very reassuring to have an inventory of everything I own. If I need to move to a different home, or if I were to pass away, the inventory could be really useful. It also stops me from buying duplicate items, and when I started doing this I was able to donate many spare items to others in my community which is always a positive thing to do. If you’re bored during lockdown and have the motivation, I highly recommend having a crack at making an inventory. Do it on your smartphone so you can access and update it whenever you need to.

What are your tips for staying organised, and do you believe there’s a correlation between how organised you are, and your happiness levels? Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below. Thank you for reading!