A Very Pinterest-ing Situation

DIY

Pinterest is a dangerous place.

We have a very tumultuous relationship.

I love, love, love that I can steal other creatives’ ideas without guilt.

The guilt comes when I either,

  1.  Spend way too much time browsing, or
  2.  Get lots of great ideas, but put none of them to use, or
  3.  Find myself coveting what others have.

There is, in my estimation, only one way to remedy the situation.

Now you may think that I’m going to say that I should avoid the temptation altogether, but I don’t think that would be wise stewardship of all the time that has been invested in accumulating such valuable information!

Let’s just call it, Pinterest purging.

Love Me Some Pinterest

Kind of like cleaning up your old files and organizing them so you can find things better.

I started my Pinterest boards several years ago, and for one thing, my taste has changed, I have moved, and simplified.  Why not simplify in this area as well?

  1. Update your Board titles:  Remove/consolidate boards that can be easily put into others.
  2. Delete those Pins!:  I know you want to save some of those, “just in case”, but do you really want to become a Pinterest Hoarder?
  3. Clean out your “like” section:  Admit it.  You “liked” something just so you could find it easily later, hoping and planning to go back and check out the link before you added it to a board.  Well.  Do it.  Either delete it or pin it.  You can’t find anything in your junk drawer because there’s too much stuff in there to even make it worth your while to look.  So clean it up!
  4. Pin something new!:  Sometimes cleaning up means that you actually enjoy looking for something new to inspire you.
  5. Go back and visit your favorites:  Figure out what you liked about it in the first place and MAKE.IT.HAPPEN.

The goal of simplifying can be complicated by something like Pinterest–or helpful if you use it wisely.  It helps if you stay focused on why you are visiting the site in the first place:

  1. If searching for something specific–stay on task.
  2. If you are re-visiting your old pins, save browsing for another time.
  3. If “window-shopping”, set a time limit for yourself so you won’t get lost in technology and waste valuable time.

It’s kind of funny, really.  I am in the smack-dab-in-the-middle of a Pinterest Project (coming soon!) and haven’t actually starting this process myself, but was reminded when I went to look for this pin that I needed to do a little re-organizing.  I know I am the “pot calling the kettle black”, but I tend to remedy this situation soon after I’m finished with this inspiration:

DIY Brick Wall

Here’s my BEFORE:

DIY Brick Wall (Before)

I’ll let you know how it turns out!

How has Pinterest inspired you?  Do you still visit old pins, or do you just spend the majority of your time looking for new ones?

He then told them, “Watch out and be on guard against all greed because one’s life is not in the abundance of his possessions.” Luke 12:15


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