Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom

As I mentioned back in January, I recently read The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. It’s full of rules, suggestions, tips, and research on making yourself, and by extension everyone around you, happier. In the very first month of her year-long undertaking, Ms. Rubin cleans and declutters, and she keeps it up throughout the year – helping out friends when she gets desperate for a tidying fix.

One tip I got from her was the One Minute Rule. I doubt this is something she made up; it sounds like something nearly everyone’s parent said to them as they were growing up in some way or another. Basically: if it only takes a minute to do it, then do it. (A couple variations I can think of are “Don’t put off to tomorrow what you can do today” and “A stitch in time saves nine.”)

Here at 365lessthings, when we talk about clutter, we usually are referring to items in excess of your needs and desires. But clutter also can be the stuff that you use frequently but fail to put away. It’s always out, it’s where it doesn’t belong, and it creates visual clutter. Plus, anything left out draws other things to it. That’s how black holes develop.

Recently I walked into my bedroom and threw my sweater on the bed. As I turned to leave, the rule popped into my head. I walked back into the bedroom, picked up my sweater, and in far less than a minute, I had hung it where it belonged.  I prevented clutter.  One of them sitting on the bed will surely attract another one, likely my husband’s jacket perhaps or maybe his bags from work.

Here are some common clutter pitfalls that can be avoided with the use of the one-minute rule:

• Lost keys: They belong on your dresser, desk, in your purse, or hanging from a hook. Same place every time.
• Sweaters, jackets, and coats thrown on a chair or the floor: Hang up your items in the closet or buy a set of hook for near the door.
• Needed receipts lost, useless receipts found: If you’re going to keep them, find a home for them and put them there every time, as soon as you get home. (Right after you put your keys away, of course.)
• A messy bedroom: Make the bed in the morning as soon as you get out of bed. This might take 2 minutes, but it sure makes your bedroom look nicer.
• A visual mess and possibly smacked heads or knees: Close the cabinet doors behind you. It amazes me that there are people who leave the cabinets open and walk away, but I’ve heard it enough times to know it’s true.
• Mental clutter: Have a place for your notes and reminders, either on paper or electronically. Remembering that there’s something you have to do and what it is takes as much time and mental energy as doing the thing itself. Write it down and free your mind.

Decluttering and organization expert Peter Walsh gave this wise advice that dovetails nicely: Complete the cycle. “If you use it, put it away. If you dirty it, wash it, etc. When a family thinks this way, there no longer is a trail of clutter left throughout the house.”

If it only takes a minute, do it now, do it right.

Today’s Declutter Item

I am not really a flipflop kinda gal but I continued to wear these because it would have been wasteful not to. Now they are beyond repair and I feel quite justified in throwing them away.

My Gratitude List

• Something that made be laugh ~ There is an advertisement on television here for a clothing store called Rivers. The lastest promotion is for women’s shoes and I swear the legs in the ad are hairy and I am not even sure they are a woman’s legs. I find this oddly amusing even though I wouldn’t want anyone to see my legs right now either. 😆
• Something Awesome ~ Homemade chocolate chip muffins warmed up and served with cream. Yumm!
• Something to be grateful for ~ The Liam’s motorbike only had an air bubble in the fuel line and decided to start after all. He was not a happy boy when it wouldn’t start.
• Something that made me happy ~ Even though it would be great to wave a magic wand and have the house clean itself I always feel satisfied with a job well done when I am finished the task. I love a clean house.
• Something I found fascinating ~ Chemistry, alchemy and the elements and the discovery there of.

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow

1. Start with the easy stuff then graduate emotionally into the things you may find harder to part with. The enthusiasm gained from purging the easy stuff should spur you on.
2. Don’t reclutter while you declutter.
3. Learn from your clutter. Don’t just get rid of it learn from you previous mistakes of acquiring stuff. If you don’t take the time to analyse your mistakes in this area you will soon have a repeat performance and be back to square one.
4. KISS ~ Keep it simple stupid. There is no need to disrupt your entire house during the process of decluttering. Just select one small area at a time and then move on to another. There is nothing like a trail of disaster to put you off the task altogether. Don’t even think of it as one big mammoth task just think of it as a bunch of little tasks and only concentrate on one at a time.
5. Do your research and have your strategy planned for how you are going to dispose of your items.
   • Where or how you can donate. (Drop off, pick up, other)
   • Your options for selling (eBay, garage sale, flea market etc)
   • The how, what and where of recycling in your area.
   • Your options for large trash that won’t fit in your curb side bin.
6. Decide ahead of time where your departure points are going to be so you can quickly transfer the things you are decluttering to these areas and get them out of the way. The more organised the area is that you are working in the less likely you are to get stress out, throw your hands in the air and give up.
7. Don’t feel obligated to keep things just because someone gave them to you either as a gift, in remembrance or an heirloom. It is your home and you have the right to decide what stays and what goes.
8. If you can spend hours watching TV, logged on to your computer reading blogs etc, talking on the phone, reading book, magazines or newspapers… then you can surely put aside at least 1 ten minutes a day to declutter. Find a space in your day for that ten minutes and make it a routine.
9. Have an open mind. If you even think an item may need decluttering it is worth consideration. Sometimes an item appears in our declutter radar but we reject the idea because of one reason or another. Maybe this is because the item has been very useful over the years, maybe because at one point you loved this item, maybe because it holds sentimental value. There is usually a reason it appeared in your radar in the first place so give it some second thought, maybe the time has past when it was useful, loved or held sentiment and now you are just keeping it out of habit.
10. Unless you have true hoarding tendencies and need to enlist outside help to assist you in making the decision about what is a reasonable level of stuff I would suggest that you decide for yourself what level of possessions is right for you. The only guide you should use to decided when enough decluttering is enough is your own comfort level. There are many variables at play here and only you know what is right for you and you shouldn’t be railroaded into what is reasonable and what isn’t by someone else’s standards.

Today’s Declutter Item

Once again today’s declutter item is in line with the mini missions set for this week. I made this bracelet but have only worn it once or twice.

My Gratitude List

• Something that made be laugh ~ My husbands silly jokes.
• Something Awesome ~ Miniscule
• Something to be grateful for ~ My balcony is finally repaired so no more tradesmen waltzing through my house.
• Something that made me happy ~ Taking it easy today. It only means I will have to do more tomorrow but I am satisfied with that.
• Something I found fascinating ~ My friend’s grandson’s Lego creations.

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow

Mini Mission Monday is about finding ten minutes a day to declutter. To make it easy for you, each Monday I set seven declutter missions, one for each day of the week for you to follow. It takes the guess work out of decluttering and makes it easy and “fun” for you to achieve some quick decluttering

Monday again and how is everyone today. I hope you are all feeling refreshed after a relaxing weekend and looking forward to some mini missions to get your week started. This week we are going to do some personal decluttering. We are going to embark on a mission to rid ourself of seven items that belong to us personally but wish they didn’t. I think I can come up with something for each one of these categories and am going to give myself permission to part with them all guilt free. I give you permission to do the same. I am the sort of person who likes to use things to the end no matter what but there are a few things around my home that I am just sick and tired of them being there. So this week I am going to rid myself of them once and for all. I will do my best to do that responsibly but if that is not possible I am going to be outrageous and do it anyway. The list is simple and concise so have at it.

• Monday - A toiletry product that even though you have tried to persevere and use up it just isn’t disappearing quick enough.
• Tuesday – A piece of jewellery that you no longer wear or is broken and you don’t love it enough to have it fixed.
• Wednesday – An item of clothing (not underwear) that not longer fits, isn’t being worn, is tattered or you came to the realisation looks bad on you. (We probably all have one of these)
• Thursday – A pair of shoes that you no longer wear, feel uncomfortable or are really old and shabby.
• Friday – A gift item that you never really wanted but have kept out of obligation.
• Saturday – An item of make-up that has been around too long or you never use.
• Sunday – And last but not least that tattered pair of panties or that old bra you keep just in case even though it is no longer supportive and certainly not attractive.

Good luck and happy decluttering

Today’s Declutter Item

In keeping with today’s mini mission I have chosen this jar of hand butter to declutter. It has been around for so long it no longer smell its best so I have put it in the trash. the jar was not recyclable either. That is one mini mission taken care of for the week. How did you go today?

Hand butter that been around too long

My Gratitude List

• Something that made be laugh ~ The kookaburras laughing on the light pole outside my house.
• Something Awesome ~ The tiny little fingers on babies.
• Something to be grateful for ~ Being happy with what I have and only wanting less.
• Something that made me happy ~ Having a nice weekend away with my hubby.
• Something I found fascinating ~ The tiny yellow antennas on a dead insect I found.

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow.

Sorry folks this is not the perfect solution to clutter just a funny skit put together by the funny folks at Hungry Beast.

A guest post by Katharine

The Mysterious Case of the Tottering Stalagmites

Photo Credit Simply Placed Blog

In the magic land that is our home we have an enchanted forest. Trouble is the wicked clutter goblin chopped it down and made into paper that breeds when we are not looking.

So I needed a plan of action for breaking the curse of paper clutter.

This is what I felt mattered

I can only get ruthless with the stuff I own, no one else’s, so focus on my stuff first. Everything needs a home so I can put away ‘like with like’ easily. No more malevolent life forms spreading homelessly over our living space. I don’t want to keep what doesn’t enhance my life now. I want to let go of ‘aspirational’ clutter: it’s contributing too much to an undercurrent of failure to achieve. I saw one way of eventually tackling the tottering stalagmites was to create more shelf space for their contents by getting rid of mine.

This is the variety of paperwork I had to deal with

the official that needs to be kept (finances/tax records, car records, pension info, health info, employment and qualification records) the practical (warranties/instruction manuals & a hoard of receipts; house maintenance records/rent/purchase contracts the sentimental including aspirational clutter and ‘information that might come in useful one day’.

This is how I did it

I discovered with quick research online that the 10 years of paperwork in the attic, including legal documents relating to flats I sold 9 and 12 yrs ago, all phone bills, utilities and bank statements was O.V.E.R.K.I.L.L. I weeded my official and practical paperwork from the systems already set up on my filing shelves and stored in the attic and shredded everything apart from specific tax related details for the last 3 years. The shreddings filled 4 dustbin bags and what is left fills two A4 envelopes. Please note I am in the UK. How long and what you need to keep for tax purposes may vary depending where you live. My banking is all online. I have now gone paperless for these accounts and my phone. For now, I wish to keep one year’s hardcopy of utility bills as I find it easier to monitor our usage that way.

BIG HELPS

A very good shredder, set up at waist height that is easy to access immediately (including waist height wall plug switch). Have a filing system that is easy to access and use. Be ruthless with mail as soon as it enters the house. Over the last year, we have actually got very good at this: the envelopes and inserts and marketing go straight in the recycle bin; bills are filed in my A4 ‘Bills’ folder . The official and practical felt like the easy bit. Much more difficult was the homeless mess of sentimental flotsam and jetsam.

This is how I did the difficult stuff

I tackled one small pile of mess one at a time, gradually ‘joining the dots’ with many small clearances, keeping in the forefront of my mind the release I wanted to feel by it leaving my home and setting me free to live now. I remember the high from getting rid of the most difficult thing for me ever, last year, my flute: nothing was going to be as difficult as my struggle over that one and it has felt great ever since. I took each single piece or scrap of paper and put like with like in piles on the floor, weeding ruthlessly as I went. At the end of each mini clearance, I put each group in designated box files/folders. It helped that I have been decluttering for 3 months now: I’ve build my ruthless muscles up in that time.

The piles roughly divided into these

Papers related to hobbies (unfinished writing project with lots of research notes & articles, clock & mosaic making and a titchy bit of selling.) Family history research written on scraps of paper Cards I have bought because they would be ‘lovely to frame’ (dating back years) Cards I have been sent. Cards bought to send to people but I didn’t don’t get round to ‘yet’. Entertaining articles cut out from papers. Useful ideas and quotes written on scraps of paper. Sentimental bits of paper; including doodles I liked or quotes, or half filled notebooks. Memorabilia; tickets, pamphlets (many of places we ‘should’ go to…) Information; magazine articles with a good quote in them or interesting picture Course notes from numerous evening classes Articles that might come in useful one day

Nearly all the cards went,(plus a number of unused frames bought 2nd hand for these cards and the two never met); the quotes; the scraps; loads of excess envelopes and writing paper we will never get through if we live to 110; the university brochure I appeared in; the badly written poetry; the half filled notebooks; the course notes I hadn’t looked at since finishing the courses over 5 years ago.

IT FELT FANTASTIC

Anything just too difficult to chuck now, is now is a single box file and I can go through that whenever I am ready to. It’s ok to do this in stages. Results I was able to get rid of half a dozen boxes/files that were now empty, choosing to keep the ones I liked best. The attic is no longer haunted by the paper ghoul. I know I will do a further purge one day. My ‘creative desk space is clutter free and the sofa seat beside me empty. My total paperwork reduced to 1 ½ shelves. I have created 7 ½ ft of empty shelf space and one empty filing drawer for the tottering stalagmites. I converted 4 shelves down to 3 much more useful ones by raising them two inches so it takes the right size for OH’s files etc. So what next My next job is to “facilitate the organised & supportive demolition of the aforementioned tottering stalagmites, on to the shelves in a like with like labelled basis. Sounds so easy put like that…

Here are the five comments I singled out for favouritism this week…

Andréia in response to Andréia’s declutter story ~ Stuff in our lives is very relative… Read more

Ideealistin in response to Eliminate clutter without even trying ~ You asked for the readers’ ways of decluttering without even trying… Read more

Mrs Green in response to Eliminate clutter without even trying ~ …think I would add DVD rental to your list… Read the full comment

Cindy in response to Eliminate clutter without even trying ~ Ideealistin’s comment reminded me of another category of clutter that can be eliminated… Read more

Jennifer in response to Eliminate clutter without even trying ~ I am often surprised by the intersections between different movements… Read more

The five blog posts/web articles I most enjoyed this week

Listen Feel Breathe ~ The bridge builder

Be More With Less ~ Calm down mini mission

Organised living solutions.com ~ Tips-on-getting-organised

Upcycled Love ~ Ask-yourself-to-buy-less-crap

Search.earth911.com ~ Where to recycle almost anything if you live in the USA

Today’s Declutter Item

Getting more and more ruthless with the cookbooks. There aren’t too many left now. Mostly ones I need to copy a few recipes out of that I actually regularly before I declutter them. These have gone to the thrift store.

Cookbooks

My Grateful List

• Something that made be laugh ~ This from Fail Blog – Tip Math Fail – I don’t think that person could English either.
• Something awesome ~ Freshly baked chocolate chip muffins. Even better with a little whipped crean and a few juicy ripe strawberries.
• Something to be grateful for ~ The tiler finally came to start on finishing the balcony repairs.
• Something that made me happy ~ My daughter calling to tell me how much better she is at saving these days and that she hasn’t gone over on her phone plan for three months. Hope springs eternal!
• Something I found fascinating ~ Deep sea nature shows.

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow

If you want to make changes in your life you are going to have to change the way you do things. Explore better options, be open minded, step out of your comfort zone and try doing things differently. Trust me, you aren’t going to wake up one morning, do things the same way you always have and suddenly yield the desired effect that you have been hoping would miraculously occur.

If you have a clutter trouble spot in your home and it has been that way for a long time chances are you are repeating the same habits in this area and until you change this habit the problem isn’t going to go away. For example…

• The Trouble Spot ~ The bathroom cabinet. No matter how many times you declutter this space in two months time it is chock-a-block full of toiletry products again.
• Same Action ~ Clearly this isn’t happening by magic, you have a weakness for this kind of product and continue buying more of it than you need. It is also likely that you decide after a short while that you didn’t really like what you bought in the first place. You either have to accept this weakness and live with a cluttered cupboard or do something about it.
• Different Result ~ The solution here is simple (on the surface) ~ resist temptation, only buy a new product when you have used up the old one. When I say simple I mean logically simple, resisting temptation can be a very difficult thing. I saw a quote the other day that made me laugh ~ Lead me not into temptation, I can find my way there easily enough on my own. The best tip here is to stay away from the shops that sell this kind of product. It is easier to resist if it isn’t right under your nose.

Lets try another example…

• The Trouble Spot ~ Paper clutter. You are forever complaining that your desk is always a mess because all this paperwork builds up and you don’t have the time to deal with it.
• Same Action ~ You continue to receive bills via the post. You sign up for every catalogue known to man, and add your name to mailing lists willy nilly including charities that you just can’t say no to. You also refuse to investigate the fact that maybe your filing system isn’t functional which is what slows you down when putting the completed documents away.
• Different Result ~ Digitise your billing, cancel all the catalogues you really have no time to look at and stop signing up on mailing list (this includes entering competitions that require your address and phone number) including all but your two favourite charities. It may take some time to set this new plan into motion but I guarantee your paperwork will decrease. This isn’t only good for you but good for the environment as well. Once this is in place you will find that you have less paperwork to file which alone could make that task easier but you could also investigate ways to improve your filing system altogether. It took me five seconds to google the works filing systems, one second to click on this site  womensmedia.com and five minutes to read through this article Organize your filing systems a 4-step formula that really works. There were some great tips in the article and I am sure there are thousands of other web sites out there with just the right solution for you. Consider this ~ it isn’t just the filing taking up your time it is dealing with far more things than you need to and feeling obligated in too many areas and those catalogues may be fun to look through but they are most filled with deals on clutter you don’t need.

Also reading about doing something and actually doing something are not the same. You have to put a plan into action. You may find that it isn’t the right plan or the perfect plan for you but as they say Live and Learn. You will not learn the best plan if you take no action. You may find that you only need to make small tweaks to what you are already doing to make a big improvement. I do this all the time even on systems that are working quite well just to see if I can simplify my life even more. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t but my philosophy is ~ Nothing ventured nothing gained.

Today’s Declutter Item

One more toiletry product gift used up and out of my house. I am so grateful that my friends have accepted the fact that I no longer wish them to give me gifts because soon I will have eliminated all the birthday guilt clutter from my home and I would like it to stay that way.

My Gratitude List

• Something that made me laugh ~ The latest episode of Big Bang Theory.
• Something that made me happy ~ Sitting in the sunshine having my lunch again. This time no cockroach to spoil the moment.
• Something to be grateful for ~ Making progress on my eBook.
• Something awesome ~ Juicy, sweet crunchy apples.
• Something I found facinating ~ Wondering why we keep the things we do for so long when we clearly aren’t using them and probably never will.

It matters not how fast I go I hurry faster when I’m slow

Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom

How can you eliminate clutter without even trying? Sound almost too good to be true, but it’s not. Here are some things I eliminated from my life:

Paper towels – Paper towels were a real source of irritation to me, as well as being an unnecessary product in general. My husband tended to reach for a paper towel even when a rag would have been a better choice, and he often left them wadded here and there, rather than throwing them away. I have lots of rags – kitchen towels that got too ratty to hang on the towel bar, decade-old baby washcloths, and cut up old shirts. There is no shortage of rags at the Bogard household. When the last of the paper towels ran out, I did not replace them. There was remarkably little adjustment needed. Because I sometimes cook bacon in the microwave, and I like to put a paper towel over the bacon to cut down on splatters, I eventually bought another roll of towels, but I did not put them out. Instead, they’re in the cabinet near the microwave. Paper towels are not a free-for-all item; they are a tool for cooking bacon. Decluttered: Paper towels, paper towel waste, paper towel holder. Probably decluttered: A sense of wastefulness.

Newspaper – Many (most?) newspapers can be read on-line. As far as I can tell, few people read the newspaper through every day. Reading it on-line allows you to just access the sections you want without having all that paper build up around your home.

To be completely honest, we have not gotten rid of the paper; however, we share a subscription with another family. They read the paper in the morning, and we read it at night. However, if this arrangement were to fall through, we would not get an individual subscription. Decluttered: newspapers. Possibly decluttered: the guilt of not keeping up with the newspaper the way you think you should.

Books – I love a good library, and I virtually never buy books. I do sometimes buy used books at the library (50 cents for paperbacks and $1.00 for hardbacks). When I am through with them, they either go directly back to the library or to a friend, who will read them before she donates them back. I have mixed feelings about Kindles and other eBook readers, but having one does eliminate the accumulation of physical books. Decluttered: books and possibly the shelving needed to hold the books. Probably decluttered: the guilt of having purchased books that are collecting dust, unread.

Magazine subscriptions: The same as books and newspapers. Decluttered: Magazines. Probably decluttered: The pressure to read the magazine all the way through, pull out the articles you want to save, and the need to find a way to store these articles that you will likely never reference again.

Cleaning supplies – My friend DeeDee remarked “my mother would be stunned to know that I have a cleaning product for every different surface of my house.” Yes I’m sure she would, and no one needs this either. Colleen wrote two posts praising microfiber cloths, which you can read here and here.

My own cleaning supplies include an abrasive cleanser, homemade glass cleaner (vinegar and water), Kaboom (a soap scum buster for the shower), vinegar, natural toilet bowl cleaner (when this product is done, I intend to fill the container, which has a handy “under the bowl” spout with vinegar and try that instead), microfiber cloths, a broom and dust pan, a mop, a microfiber push broom, and a box of Magic Erasers. I also own a vacuum cleaner, but only have one rug in the house. If the vacuum cleaner breaks, I may get rid of the rug, rather than replacing the vacuum. Decluttered: Multiple unnecessary product. Probably decluttered: Chemicals that you don’t need to be breathing or adding to the environment.

Beauty products – Do you really need a different lotion for your hands and face? A different shampoo for each member of the family in the same shower? We don’t. Eliminating duplicates simplifies your routines, saves money, and keeps you from developing a build up of “I tried it but I don’t like it” products. Decluttered: Multiple products that do the same thing. Probably decluttered: Some of your fantasies about having skin as perfect as the model in the ad. (Don’t worry – her skin’s not that perfect either. For those of you who don’t believe me, I highly recommend that you check out the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty video “Evolution” here. It’s a great learning tool for your children, as well.)

Tampons and pads – I have minipads and several different sizes and brands of tampons under my bathroom sink. I bought them at Costco, so not only do I have a variety, I have a lot of them. After reading posts about reuseable personal hygiene items at The Greenest Dollar and My Zero Waste, I decided to try a menstrual cup. I’ve used it for two months now. Like all things, a little practice makes perfect. My last cycle, I used three minipads and the Diva cup. If my next few cycles are as successful, I will be able to declutter my very large boxes of tampons by donating them to the local women’s shelter. Decluttered: Multiple disposable products. Probably decluttered: A non-reuseable habit and the possibility of developing toxic shock syndrome.

Can you think something that you can do to Eliminate Clutter Without Even Trying?

Today’s Declutter Item

The rest of those coat hanger I mentioned yesterday that I forgot to give to my mum and dad. My friend Amber was happy to take them from me

My Grateful List

• Something that made be laugh ~ Andréia can say Dog Poo in English but doesn’t know the words for other things in her back yard.
• Something Awesome ~ Two beautiful days in a row. Great days for washing linen.
• Something to be grateful for ~ That my friends and family no longer give me gifts.
• Something that made me happy ~ Discovering something by mistake. I won’t bore you with the details but I do love it when this happens.
• Something I found fascinating ~ Why the crickets that get into my house all seem to shed their back legs before they die. If anyone knows the answer to why this happens I would love to know.

It matters not how fast I go I hurry faster when I’m slow

Decide

Because of the way I have chosen to declutter ~ slowly and steadily ~ the decision making process is gradual and so far painless. Once I set myself on this path to declutter an average of one thing a day I, by design, have given myself permission to take my time to make informed and considered decisions. Hasty decision making can be a recipe for disaster and an invitation for regrets further down the line.

When I first began my mission there were plenty of items in my home that I knew I no longer wanted to take up space. I began my decluttering process with these items, which was carried out with ease. All the while I was examining my space to identify other items that weren’t really in my radar to begin with. While taking care of the easy stuff my mind was contemplating whether or not I was prepared to part with those items that I considered to be on a higher level of attachment.

Divide

Once I made the decision that something had to go, which now turns out to be easier than I first imagined, I then have to divide it from the herd. That is, remove it from its usual position in the house and place it in its point of departure. I have the following departure points located around my home…

1. The bin ~ to which very few items have actually gone so far. Oddly enough this ratio doesn’t change much over time because bin items for me are usually natural declutter items that wear out or break over time and are no longer useful to anyone. Being that my clutter situation was never a case of being littered with useless items, this category of items has been limited and sporadic. I am pleased about this because it feels a lot less wasteful to me but at the same time ashamed of the fact that I had so much stuff that was sitting here unused yet useful to someone else.
2. The recycling bin ~ Items that have gone there are usually paperwork that has long needed clearing or an overabundance of paper keepsakes that I weeded through and thinned down. Sometimes there have been metal and recyclable plastic objects put there as well.
3. The selling departure point ~ this is generally on top of my sewing cabinet in our office space. Sometimes these item sit there for much longer than I would like because we can get a little lazy about actually listing them. Sometimes my husband has already listed them and they didn’t sell and I don’t realise it. Then they sit there until one day I say to him ~ “What is happening with these items.” The answer is often “They didn’t sell and are just waiting for you to do what you want with them.” Too bad I’m not a mind reader, 🙄 the process may go a lot quicker.
4. The donation pile ~ This area for me is in the garage right next to the door. I deliberately position it where I will see it often as a constant reminder to take it to the thrift store when there is enough to make the trip worth the effort. This generally happens when my husband goes out of town on business because I have open access to the car. I also put Freecycle items near this area until the appointed collection day.

I have never been tempted to bring anything back into the house because I have given myself ample opportunity to consider my decisions and am satisfied with them. If you struggle with this at all I would suggest getting the items out of the house as quickly as possible. Any items I am not sure about, can’t be bothered immediately selling or I feel I want to document before decluttering I just leave in place until I am good and ready. There is always other items that can be dealt with in the meantime.

Conquer

Finally having the clutter completely out of my home is what I consider conquering the clutter. The feeling of satisfaction and freedom that comes with every load I deliver to the thrift store, every eBay auction item I post, every Freecycle pick up completed, every “use it up” item whose remnants go in the trash or recycling is like heaven to me. It is a great relief to have decided what can be decluttered, it feels even better when they are separated from the keepers and moved to their departure point but it feels wonderful when they are actually gone.

Excess Coat Hangers

Today’s declutter item

I gave these coat hangers to my mum and dad when the came to visit. They took them home in their suitcase. I meant to give them more but I forgot to get them out of the box in the garage. Hopefully my friend Amber will take the rest from me today.

Grateful List

• Something awesome ~ Sitting on my back patio enjoying my lunch the temperature in 24ºC, the sun is shining and the birds are singing.
• Something that made me laugh ~ Liam making fun of me for saying something silly. Nothing new about that.
• Something to be grateful for ~ Pest control. That cockroach that interrupted my nice lunch on the patio won’t last long after crawling all over the insect spray the pest man laid down a month or so ago.
• Something that made me happy ~ Finally clearing all the photos on my camera’s memory card.
• Something I found fascinating ~ That I think my MacBook Pro automatically adjusts its brightness setting for different light. When I came in from being out on the patio the screen was quite dark. Perhaps I should have waited to see if it adjusted again but I didn’t. I will have to experiment with it when I am not so busy. It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow.

Mini Mission Monday is about finding ten minutes a day to declutter. To make it easy for you, each Monday I set seven declutter missions, one for each day of the week for you to follow. It takes the guess work out of decluttering and makes it easy and “fun” for you to achieve some quick decluttering.

For this week’s mini missions we are going to concentrait on the obvious clutter collection points in our homes. These are areas that seem to attract clutter like iron filings to a magnet. I bet there are several running through your mind as you read these words. We aren’t going to clear one or two things from these areas, the idea is to recognise these areas for what they are, tidy them up completely and vow to try to keep them tidy in the future. The clutter you will find is not likely be the “get rid of” type just a lot of junk and stuff in the wrong place,visual clutter if you like. This areas will be a lot tidier So let’s get started.

Monday – I just cleaned this area out so it is fresh in my mind, the dreaded handbag. My biggest problem with my handbag was receipts. I have now put a paper clip in my bag to keep them tidily together so that when I get home after being out shopping I can round them all up quickly and deal with them in what ever way is necessary. What amazes me is how many I seem to generate even though I don’t buy clutter. They are most from grocery shopping and dining out (I do love my food).

Tuesday – Another obvious clutter magnet is the junk drawer. We have visited this area several times already since I began blogging about decluttering. Most of you should be able to have today off because back on Monday Feb 7 I had hoped to have convinced you to eliminate your junk drawer altogether. For the new readers and those of you that didn’t heed my suggestion last time I repeat those instructions here. “Why do we need a junk drawer anyway?”. Surely all the things we put in there have a home elsewhere but we are just to lazy to put them away properly. Maybe once it is emptied we should remover the drawer for a week and attempt to learn to live without it.

Wednesday – Today’s area is as Cindy dubbed it The Black Hole. This is that area in your home where you dump things when you walk in the door and or need dealing with but not right now. Hall tables, kitchen benches, dining tables seem to often fall into this category. Read Cindy’s post that I linked to above, determine your black hole, deal with what is lingering there and try to come up with a better or organised system so the black home can be eliminated once and for all.

Thursday – This one may be more than a mini mission but that would depend entirely on how out of control you allow this area to become. The area for today is the desk top.

Friday – The car is today’s area of clutter caos especially if you have little children. Things that can be found collecting here are ~ parking tickets, half eaten cookies, toys, candy wrappers, spare change, sports equipment, shoes, sunglasses, hats, shopping bags and much much more!!! My advice is to go to the car pull everything out whether it belongs there or not, sort through it, replace neatly what does belong and rehouse or trash everything that doesn’t.

Saturday – Coffee table drawers can also be an attracter of all sorts of interesting bits and bobs, pens, hair ties, old magazine, dead batteries, DS games etc. If you don’t have a coffee table maybe you have a small table beside you sofa that serves the same purpose.

Sunday – Pick an area of your choosing, one that may be unique to your own clutter habits maybe it is the back veranda, the pet toy box, the kids school bags or the like and give that area a good clean out.

Good luck and happy decluttering

 

Today's Declutter Item

Today’s Declutter Item

And the baseball clutter just keeps appearing out of the woodwork and I keep finding it new homes via Freecycle. This bobble head was happily collected by a lovely lady named Jane and I am sure her grandson’s will love it.

Things that made me happy, made me laugh, made me feel grateful, fascinated me or I thought were just plain awesome.

• A sunny day on Saturday ~ it had been a while coming.
• The day after cleaning day ~ When I can sit back catch up with my computer work and enjoy being surrounded by a clean and tidy home.
• Getting around to doing one of those long awaited decluttering tasks ~ Once these tasks are dealt with I wonder why I procrastinated so long about it in the first place.
• Getting around to doing my mountain of ironing. ~ I had been ignoring that task for some time.
• How plants still manage to grow in my garden regardless of the neglect they received. ~ Unfortunately they aren’t all plants that I want growing there.