The Zen of Inventory Management

[Persephone Emerald]

On 6/15/2022 at 9:54 AM, Ceka Cianci said:

I have to redo this because I messed up.. It won't let me edit that post for some reason so i'm gonna fix it in this one.

I meant the photos and the textures need to be full perm before dragging them to the notecard.

I just knocked down 2,458 items to 15 note cards putting my photos and textures on note cards.. The pain in the butt is setting all the permissions on the photos and textures..

That took a good while..

I know darn well they'll be set to full perms from here on out before I let them collect up like that again ..hehehehe

A similar way to reduce inventory is to put stuff into labeled boxes, but this is more work than putting items (full perm only) onto a notecard. The advantage of boxing up stuff is that you might not be emotionally ready to delete it, but at a later point when you realize you're never going to use it, you can delete the whole box in one fell swoop. Another good way of storing items is inside of a virtual book. If you have pictures of outfits, you can keep copies of the packages they came in inside the book along with the pictures. Wear the book on your central HUD and turn the pages to look at the pictures. This is similar to using a texture or sculpt organizer, except that those types of organizers are usually rezzed inworld.

Edited June 16, 2022 by Persephone Emerald

[Rat Luv]

On 6/12/2022 at 2:36 AM, Persephone Emerald said:

 I find organizing and getting rid of stuff to be relaxing, in SL even more than in RL because it's so mentally focused. I thought, I wish I could feel this kind of calm focus toward my RL problems and tasks.

Is there any way you can transfer that focus to RL? It''s still the same you 🙂

I must admit...I never bothered tidying up my SL inventory...but I find RL decluttering relaxing! I did a lot of that during the lockdowns.

On 6/12/2022 at 2:36 AM, Persephone Emerald said:

I started this thread to share ideas for a positive view of inventory management, but if there are other things you do in SL that bring you a similar peaceful state of mind, please share those too.

My zen thing was building skyboxes and texturing them, doing wallpaper, tiling, carpets, posters, steamy bathtubs, grimy windows, GIF TV sets 😍 l also used to visit a SL Buddhist temple, where the sit poses were all cross-legged. I don't really understand Buddhism, but was cool just listening to the singing bowls and wind chimes and sitting with all these other avatars in front of a massive golden Buddha 🧘‍♂️

 

[Persephone Emerald]

1 minute ago, Rat Luv said:

Is there any way you can transfer that focus to RL? It''s still the same you 🙂

I must admit...I never bothered tidying up my SL inventory...but I find RL decluttering relaxing! I did a lot of that during the lockdowns.

My zen thing was building skyboxes and texturing them, doing wallpaper, tiling, carpets, posters, steamy bathtubs, grimy windows, GIF TV sets 😍 l also used to visit a SL Buddhist temple, where the sit poses were all cross-legged. I don't really understand Buddhism, but was cool just listening to the singing bowls and wind chimes and sitting with all these other avatars in front of a massive golden Buddha 🧘‍♂️

Decluttering in RL is harder for me. RL possessions have more emotional attachments for me - both positive and negative. I have more imagined judgmental voices going through my head in RL. Also, because I lost many of my RL possessions when I became homeless, I can start feeling sad for all the things I've lost - both objects and people.

For the most part I'm not so emotionally attached to my virtual possessions. Easy come, easy go, easy to save in my inventory unseen for years.  

[Ingrid Ingersoll]

On 6/11/2022 at 9:36 PM, Persephone Emerald said:

I was feeling anxious and depressed earlier today. I went into SL as Alycia, picked up some hunt items, then started sorting her inventory a bit while standing in a quiet Premium sandbox. I realized after an hour or two that I was no longer feeling anxious or depressed. 

I think there are 2 reasons why this calms me in SL. First because sorting inventory doesn't have the emotional baggage that RL worries and tasks have.

I do the same thing when i feel anxious!! It must be a personality type thing or just indulging our ocd for a while in sl restores our sense of order and peace. I do it irl too.

And its just easier to find things after.

[Prokofy Neva]

I will say that my "Gatcha Addiction Center" has a lot of useful ideas that apply not just to gatcha or shopping but any addictive behaviour.

But particularly with shopping, if you set yourself certain rules, like "each time I buy something, I have to immediately put it out and decorate it" or "if I buy something, I have to gift the next thing to a friend," or "Wednesday is no shopping day" or whatever works, it's an interesting experiment if nothing else. 

[Rolig Loon]

8 minutes ago, Prokofy Neva said:

But particularly with shopping, if you set yourself certain rules, like "each time I buy something, I have to immediately put it out and decorate it" or "if I buy something, I have to gift the next thing to a friend," or "Wednesday is no shopping day" or whatever works, it's an interesting experiment if nothing else. 

A old friend invented a rule like that: "I'm not going to buy anything until after I have found a chocolate cupcake with a cherry on top ."  (or some other suitable incentive, difficult but hardly impossible to find and rewarding when she does find it).  With any luck, she has spent enough time looking for the cupcake that she's had a lot of exercise and there's little time left for shopping. It cuts down on the impulse buying, and every once in a while she gets a cupcake.

[Persephone Emerald]

If I allocate some days to no Second Life, not even going on the forums, I know I can get more RL stuff done. I hate doing this when I'm addicted though. 🙁

[Lindal Kidd]

OK, I think I just reached Inventory Nirvana.

I have over 600 saved Outfits, most of which use an old shape and old, or no, mesh body parts. I noticed that there were a few items that I almost always wear, that were included in these outdated Outfits.

By simply removing the Links for all these "always worn" items, I cut my inventory size by THOUSANDS, with only a couple of mouse clicks.

Good lord...I can SHOP again!

[Arielle Popstar]

37 minutes ago, Lindal Kidd said:

OK, I think I just reached Inventory Nirvana.

I have over 600 saved Outfits, most of which use an old shape and old, or no, mesh body parts. I noticed that there were a few items that I almost always wear, that were included in these outdated Outfits.

By simply removing the Links for all these "always worn" items, I cut my inventory size by THOUSANDS, with only a couple of mouse clicks.

Good lord...I can SHOP again!

Are you saying your inventory size is not only based on the actual items but also by the amount of links pointing to those particular items?

[Lindal Kidd]

Yes, Links count in your total inventory items. HOWEVER! While that's true, I do not believe Links affect your performance the way the same number of actual, um, things would do.

Even so, it's nice seeing that huge number go down for once, instead of always inching up.

Edited June 18, 2022 by Lindal Kidd

[Persephone Emerald]

I think I've figured out the perfect way to organize folders for Shop and Hop gifts.

First I make a Folder titled something like " !  Shop & Hop - June 2022 - Sort  !

Inside that Folder I create subfolders like these:
!  Animations & Poses - Sort  !
!  Body Parts - avatars, hair, skin, etc. - Sort  !
!  Clothes & Accessories - Sort ! 
!  Environment - plants, outdoor furniture - Sort !
!  Furniture, Décor, Buildings - Sort  !
!  Objects to Hold or Wear - Sort  !
!  Vehicles & Pets - Sort  !

When I get my first folder from a gift, I'll usually rename it as my Shop & Hop folder. I'll create the other folders after going through my 1st region, so my memory will be fresh as to what each gift is or where it came from. Using the Recent Items filter, I'll check both the bottom of my Inventory and my Objects folder to find and move gifts into my Shop & Hop folder. If items are boxed but inside a folder with a LM, notecard, script, etc., I may just keep the boxed item & delete the rest. I move LM's to my Landmarks folder after renaming the folders they came in with:  [Name of object] - description, color or HUD, mesh body size abbreviations - [Name of store].  I've been sorting my recent gifts into these folders after going through 1 or 2 regions. This way there won't be a bunch of items for which I have no idea what they are. It also helps to watch a YouTube video of the gifts, such as Naria Panthar's, before hitting those regions. This way I can avoid picking up gifts that I don't really want. 

I try to use these types of subfolders to sort items from my other hunts and events too, but in the past I've made them after I've collected all the gifts. With a big event like Shop & Hop I think it helps to have them made ahead of time and then sort into them as I go. When I'm done collecting stuff from the event, these subfolders can be moved into their respective subfolders in my regular inventory, then be sorted out from there later. 

Note: I always sort Gift Cards immediately into my "*  Gift Cards  *" folder, so I won't forget to use them. If Store Credit or a Gift Card will expire quickly, I use it after I've finished 1 or 2 regions. If it will be good for at least a month, I may wait to use it later. 

It's exhausting for me to go though too many Shop & Hop regions at once, so I'm trying to do just 2 at a time, using a figure 8 path through 2 regions. After I've collected and pre-sorted the gifts from those 2 regions, then I'll do 2 more, going clockwise around the event mall. When there are favorite shops or good gift cards I know about, I may hit those first or out of order, but I'm trying to keep track of the best ones, so my alts can get those gifts too before time runs out. 

I've only gone through 4 regions out of 20 so far.

As a side note, Lavender has a bunch of men's clothing and Gilded had a bunch of vehicles.

[Ceka Cianci]

Wasn't LL supposed to be doing something with the inventory right around now, Some sort of change to it?

I remember a little while back some were saying to make sure you have your inventory organized or it could be a bigger mess after this change.

Did that already happen?

[Ayashe Ninetails]

1 minute ago, Ceka Cianci said:

Wasn't LL supposed to be doing something with the inventory right around now, Some sort of change to it?

I remember a little while back some were saying to make sure you have your inventory organized or it could be a bigger mess after this change.

Did that already happen?

I thought so! Nothing's changed in mine yet and I still need to go through and clean it out. I started a few weeks ago, but...it's a THING.

[Ceka Cianci]

4 minutes ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

I thought so! Nothing's changed in mine yet and I still need to go through and clean it out. I started a few weeks ago, but...it's a THING.

Two of mine are good to go, but this one is still a little bit messy.. Not as much of a mess as it used to be, but this one is down to like 45k things, where my other two are in  like 12k  range, so they were pretty easy..

Maybe we didn't get hit like those with much larger inventories, maybe?

[Ayashe Ninetails]

2 minutes ago, Ceka Cianci said:

Two of mine are good to go, but this one is still a little bit messy.. Not as much of a mess as it used to be, but this one is down to like 45k things, where my other two are in  like 12k  range, so they were pretty easy..

Maybe we didn't get hit like those with much larger inventories, maybe?

My main one is at about...95,000 items. 😩

The biggest pain is the Objects folder. I'm dreading dealing with that. Absolutely dreading it.

[Ceka Cianci]

18 minutes ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

My main one is at about...95,000 items. 😩

The biggest pain is the Objects folder. I'm dreading dealing with that. Absolutely dreading it.

Ya, I really hated that one.. I think I have that folder under control now, which took forever..

I just went at things  like, Am I ever going to use these things..  I did a quick scroll over mine and I remember just deleting chunks of things at a time..

I remember at one point making a new and old inventory to divide things up a few years ago when mesh bodies were coming out..

Almost all of my old inventory is gone now..  There was a lot of things that were nostalgia that I just pulled the trigger on and let go of..

I have a real hard time  of thinking one day I might use this or that.. I had to get my head out of that and just rip through, because it all comes down to, will I actually ever use this again..

I hadn't missed those things so far so they went bye bye..

Even after that I still have to re-organize things so that i can get to them much quicker with less digging.. Something that will make it easier to find things even if I take a long break and come back..

Once I get them all straightened out, I'm never getting lazy with them again, it's too much of a pain to get back in order..lol

 

[Ayashe Ninetails]

51 minutes ago, Ceka Cianci said:

Ya, I really hated that one.. I think I have that folder under control now, which took forever..

I just went at things  like, Am I ever going to use these things..  I did a quick scroll over mine and I remember just deleting chunks of things at a time..

I remember at one point making a new and old inventory to divide things up a few years ago when mesh bodies were coming out..

Almost all of my old inventory is gone now..  There was a lot of things that were nostalgia that I just pulled the trigger on and let go of..

I have a real hard time  of thinking one day I might use this or that.. I had to get my head out of that and just rip through, because it all comes down to, will I actually ever use this again..

I hadn't missed those things so far so they went bye bye..

Even after that I still have to re-organize things so that i can get to them much quicker with less digging.. Something that will make it easier to find things even if I take a long break and come back..

Once I get them all straightened out, I'm never getting lazy with them again, it's too much of a pain to get back in order..lol

 

I really need to do that. I think the worst part for me is I'm always thinking about new types of avatars to build, so if I come across something I've never worn - well you never know. If I ever make a...dryad...I may need that bark skin I didn't know I had in the first place!

It's terrible. So much old crap to go through. 😲

[Ceka Cianci]

1 minute ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

I really need to do that. I think the worst part for me is I'm always thinking about new types of avatars to build, so if I come across something I've never worn - well you never know. If I ever make a...dryad...I may need that bark skin I didn't know I had in the first place!

It's terrible. So much old crap to go through. 😲

I tried looking through the blogs and things For that topic and can't seem to find it..

Maybe it was put on the back burner and we have much more time to get things straight.. hehehehe

[Cali Souther]

On 6/11/2022 at 6:36 PM, Persephone Emerald said:

 

I started this thread to share ideas for a positive view of inventory management, but if there are other things you do in SL that bring you a similar peaceful state of mind, please share those too. 

 

Since I absolutely detest sorting/cleaning/organizing my SL inventory - I will say that,  I love going to beautiful locations and taking pictures.  Even if my pictures don't come out great,  it's relaxing and calming.   It's amazing what people can build in SL.  

[Cali Souther]

2 hours ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

I thought so! Nothing's changed in mine yet and I still need to go through and clean it out. I started a few weeks ago, but...it's a THING.

Second Life Inventory (for me) is very intimidating!     

[Rowan Amore]

I wish LL had an option to archive inventory.  

[Nalates Urriah]

The OBJECTS folder is AWESOME! All the stuff I forgot I have... its like Christmas.

[Ceka Cianci]

2 hours ago, Nalates Urriah said:

The OBJECTS folder is AWESOME! All the stuff I forgot I have... its like Christmas.

That's how my received folder gets sometimes.. hehehe