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.

This week I have decided to have the mini missions revolve around the Disassociation Series that I have published over the last couple of weeks. Each day I will choose one of the clutter categories and it is your mission to choose an item from the category to part with. Your choice can be as easy or as difficult as you choose but I suggest being brave and eliminate an object that has been a millstone around you neck that you will be glad to see the back of.

Monday – Re-read this post – Disassociation Part 1 ~ Guilt Clutter. Now choose an item in your home that falls into this category and move it to your discard pile, list it on eBay, freecycle it or get it out of the house as quickly by whatever means possible before you change your mind.

Tuesday - Re-read this post - Disassociation Part 2 ~ Obligation Clutter. Now choose an item in your home that falls into this category and move it to your discard pile, list it on eBay, freecycle it or get it out of the house as quickly by whatever means possible before you change your mind.

Wednesday - Re-read this post - Disassociation Part 3 ~ Aspirational Clutter. Now choose an item in your home that falls into this category and move it to your discard pile, list it on eBay, freecycle it or get it out of the house as quickly by whatever means possible before you change your mind.

Thursday - Re-read this post - Disassociation Part 4 ~ Security Clutter. Now choose an item in your home that falls into this category and move it to your discard pile, list it on eBay, freecycle it or get it out of the house as quickly by whatever means possible before you change your mind.

Friday - Re-read this post - Disassociation Part 5 ~ Sentimental Clutter. Now choose and item in your home that falls into this category and move it to your discard pile, list it on eBay, freecycle it or get it out of the house as quickly by whatever means possible before you change your mind.

Saturday – I have given you enough emotional stuff to deal with for one week so today you can take it easy. Just declutter one item of you choice.

Sunday – You have earned your day of rest today so sit back and enjoy it. I hope you managed to part with something from each category or at least one thing a day. Today you can reflect on your accomplishment and be rested for the new week to come.

Good luck and happy decluttering

Today’s Declutter Item

I got an unexpected phone call today from a young man who had seen our sale ad for the futon below. He needed something in a hurry because he was tired of sitting on the floor. He arrived soon after, gave me $50, tied the futon to the roof of his care and went happily on his way.

The futon was my sons bed for several years but really wasn’t suitable any more. Actually I am not sure it ever was but he chose it. I normally wouldn’t include an item that has been replaced but it is a good example of maintenance decluttering so I decided to let this one through as an item of the day. One in one out, no trying to incorporate it into the house somewhere else.

Something I Am Grateful For Today

The space that was liberated in my garage today. The new bed has been in place for a couple of months now and the futon has been cluttering up my garage. So I am very happy to see the back of it.

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

Media blitz might be a bit of an exaggeration but it is more media attention than I thought I would ever receive. After the first nervous attempts I have become more comfortable with it. My favourite piece so far is the one below which I wouldn’t have even known about except for one of my neighbours telling me. I got quite a laugh when I saw it.

Media Links

ABC Radio interview ~ Tony Delroys Nightlife 27 July 2011

Newspaper Article ~ Newcastle Herald 28 July 2011

Multimedia Slice Show ~ Newcastle Herald 28 July 2011

Another newspaper mention ~ Newcastle Herald 1 Aug 2011

I am not sure why The Newcastle Herald chose all the photos of me laughing. I look a bit like a crazy lady but I suppose I make it look like decluttering can be fun. It did also concern me that they kept saying I threw away 365 things. Nothing could be further from the truth as only 67 of the 365 things ended up going into the recycling or garbage bin.

Don’t worry readers the attention hasn’t gone to my head. I am still the same crazy Aussie who will be nagging you again next week to get rid of your stuff. I’m not letting you off that easy. 😉

My favourite five comments has turned into ten this week.

There were so many great comments and so many new readers adding to the conversation that I just could not resist doubling my quota for the week. My choices this week may seem a little indulgent at times because there are a lot of lovely thank yous among them. But each thank you message comes with a unique story from the writer that I thought had a lot to add to the conversation.

This comment comes from Ann who despite the fact she has been laid up for months with an Achilles heal injury has not let that stop her from decluttering. She has tackled all those nasty little jobs like sorting photos and the file drawers etc that quite frankly I have been avoiding for some time.

Wendy left a heartwarming Comment about how she used the gently gently, slowly slowly approach to turn the clutter situation in her home around despite the all the set backs along the way. He husband Ian is a little cheeky but I am sure she can whip him into order. 😉

In this comment Robyn talks about her pledge to downsize and the joys of passing on some of her much loved items to people who she knows will appreciate them.

Inspired by the post Disassociation Part 2 ~ Obligation Clutter Marianna joined in to share with us some great advice that her grandmother once gave her in relation to gifts in this comment

I have always said that the comments form my readers are a great part of my blog which is why I choose my Favourite Five on Fridays. This was proved last week when Chelle came to Andréia’s rescue with this comment. I was a little busy and hadn’t seen Andréia’s request for some TLC when she was feeling discouraged.

Esther a new reader had some great decluttered children’s gifts ideas to share with us in this comment . Now if I can just find the time to add the to the guide.

Janine another new reader discovered my blog via one of the radio interview I did last week. She tells us her strategy to join the one thing a day decluttering trend in her comment.

Okgirl tells us how she replaces aspiration with donation in this comment. Sure sounds like a good trade off to me.

And last but not least this comment from Gisela tells us how 365lessthings is finally the answer she has been searching for when it comes to decluttering.

And here are my favourite five blog posts/web finds for this week.

I have to confess I was a little indulgent here as well by adding a couple of blogs by some lovely ladies who I met over the last week or so.

I particularly liked No. 3 on this list from Mark and Angel Hack Life ~ 20 things to stop doing to others

If you want to know where your money could be better spent than on recreational shopping, take a look at this post by Francesca of Tasmanian Minimalist ~ I am sorry to shock and upset you

The Change Blog ~ What’s motivating you the carrot or the stick. It would be interesting to know what is your carrot and/or your stick when it comes to decluttering.

I met a lovely young lady at a lunchion I attended last Friday who has recently started her own blog about cooking, baking and entertaining her name is Megann and her blog is called Meganns Kitchen. So if you like a good recipe go and take a look at what Megann has to offer.

Also last week I did a live interview on ABC Radio with a lovely lady called Sara Cottman she runs her own professional organising business and her web site is www.horder.com.au . She made me feel so comfortable during the show and she really knows her stuff. Anyone in the Sydney area who is thinking of hiring a professional organiser why not look Sara up, her business is call Heavenly Order.

Today’s Declutter Item

This was one of those eBay sales that didn’t go as well as I would have liked. I listed them with a starting price of $20 and they didn’t sell. Just for some perspective, skate shoes usually sell for not less than $120 in Australia. These shoes were second hand but barely used. Because they didn’t sell eBay offer a free re-list option so I opted for that and lowered the starting price to $10 and they sold for $12.00. It was hardly worth the effort but I don’t mind making an extra effort when selling something of my son’s. He is sensible with his money and every little bit counts. 

Used Nike Skate Shoes

Something I Am Grateful For Today

The sun was shining and the birds were singing and I found some time to do a little walking. The postage on the shoes above cost the exact amount I expected it to and now they are out of my house. I am also grateful that I am on a bit of an eBay roll at the moment, some successful and some not so much but either way it is helping things exit my house. I like progress especially when it means that things that I have been marking time on are now being decluttered. Some of them aspirational, and that is a monkey off my back for sure.

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

Sentimental clutter, the final post in the Disassociation Series. Last but not least that is, because this one can be the most insidious of all of the categories of clutter. It sneaks up on you and binds itself to you like a barnacle to a rock. It can be a beautiful thing and a ball and chain all at the same time.

Don’t get me wrong I am not saying that all sentimental items are clutter. I own sentimental items that I have no intentions of ever parting with and I don’t consider them clutter. I have also decluttered many items that had sentimental value that I wasn’t compelled to keep once I decided what was more important to me, the item or the space. There were also sentimental items that never saw the light of day and under those conditions one has to ask the question ~ How much sentimental value does it have if…

• I never look at it.
• I don’t care to put it out on display.
• I still recall the event, person or place without ever viewing the item.
• it is more trouble to care for it than I care about it.

Sometimes, I think, we feel obliged to keep these items simply because we went to the trouble of collecting them in the first place and have had them for so long. But as *pol put it so eloquently in a comment this week ~ …this living for today lifestyle is so much EASIER than living with the memorabilia and what-ifs! Everything can breathe. I can breathe. If you feel you are being suffocated by your stuff then why not sort the wheat from the chaff, decide what pieces really mean the most to you and eliminate the rest.

The slow and steady approach to decluttering is a good way to weed out the sentimental items that really don’t hold that much importance to you. To declutter one a day or even one a week is less of a wretch than trying to declutter several at once. Ease in it! Pick an item that you really could live without and send it on its way. Once you feel OK about that move on to another item and do the same. Before long you start to realise that this exercise isn’t so bad after all and you are feeling no residual effect in the way of regret. Choose wisely though and only eliminate when you are sure and ready.

Just to clarify what I mean when I say sentimental item. This is an item that you hold some sort of emotional attachement to. It could be anything form the beautiful china from a passed loved one to a piece of driftwood you collected on a vacation years ago or even a kitchen utensil that you no longer use but was once so helpful to you. We hold allegiances to these items for what they represent while at the same time realise that we want to live a life with less clutter. That trick is to determine which way the scales fall for each individual item and make your choice.

I just read this statement by Peter Walsh which is so relavant to this post that I just had to add it. ~ Holding onto important items from the past is not a bad thing – unless remembering the past becomes more important than living your life today.

Tip: If you are on the fence, so to speak, about letting go of items that brings memories? Why not take photos of them, frame the photos together to enjoy and part with the clutter. You can also scan paper clutter items and save them to your computer where they take up much less real space.

Today’s Declutter Item

Oddly enough this item holds sentimental value for me. I rarely use it these days but I feel a little indebted to it because of its years of good service. Do I have space in the kitchen for it, sure I do. But my kitchen become more user friendly with every item I remove form it. The less cramped my cupboards are the easier it is to find the useful items I use regularly. So I am breaking my ties with this item and letting it go.

Rotary Grater

Something I Am Grateful For Today

I am grateful for the cluster of little shops up the street from my house. It is within walking distance and when I have no idea what to have for dinner I can go up there and ask the friendly butcher what is good today. Then I can go to the little greengrocer to buy any veggies I need to go with it. I could also go to the Sara Lee outlet for a cheesecake dessert. It is all very convenient when one doesn’t have the car and I am helping keep the “little guy” in business.

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

Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom

Dan and I were sitting in the living room recently. He looked around with great satisfaction and said, “This is the new messy.” I wasn’t sure what he meant. I looked around too. There were a couple of things on the coffee table that didn’t belong, a stray pair of shoes, the dog beds were sort of tossed to the side, and a project of mine that I had basically abandoned but not put away was sitting on the floor. I said, “It is kind of messy in here. What do you mean?” He replied, “I mean, if we have company, we could have this room completely together in an hour, including dusting and cleaning the floor.”

The new messy. I like it. Believe me, I’d had more than my fill of the old messy, where we couldn’t have company because it would take too long to get the house together.

How did we get there, and more importantly, how can you get to the new messy in your own home?

One day at a time, one item at a time.

Your house didn’t start looking like a toy store, a book shop, a paper factory, or a junk shop in one day, and it won’t be remedied in one day. It’s taken me more than a year to get to the new messy. It may take you six months or three years, but once you get started, eliminate one or two items a day, and you keep after it day after day, your situation will improve.

What will the new messy look like to you? Will it be defined as being able to sit on the sofa without moving a pile of items? Finding something in a drawer the first time you look, in the first drawer you look in? Having company stop by and being able to say without flinching, “Won’t you please come in?” Or maybe it’s being able to downsize to a house half of your current size or being able to actually count the number of items that you own without running out of numbers? Whatever your goal, you can get there one day at a time, one item at a time.

Today’s Declutter Item

I seem to be finding that I need less and less kitchen storage containers these days. Or is it just that they actually haven’t been used for some time and I am only now coming to terms with letting them go. Getting some return on your items can make it a lot easier to part with them. I sold this Tupperware container for $10 on ebay. The lady who bought it lived locally so saved $10 in postage by picking it up. She ended up giving me a tip so I actually got $14.00 for it.(Thank Carmel)

Another Tupperware piece sold on ebay

Something I Am Grateful For Today

Last week and today I have been trying to figure out some link issues that two of my readers have been having. In the process these two lovely ladies have written such beautiful stories and thank yous to me about their declutter missions and how my blog has helped them along the way. It is gratifying to know how my unique approach to decluttering has worked for people that could not find the solution any other way. I have received many lovely stories and thank you messages over the last 18 months and I am grateful for each and every one of them. It is very time consuming to produce a post five days a week and respond to all the wonderful comments I receive. But let me tell you it is a labour of love that is well worth the effort. Thank you all for keeping me company on my journey.

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

You are probably wondering how does security fit into the clutter equation, and of course I am going to give you my answer to that. Sometimes we keep our clutter because we want to be secure in the fact that it will be there just in case we do need it one day. We may think we will need it to remind us of loved ones or good times and don’t want those memories to slip through our grasp. We may think we need it because it may actually come in useful one day. And in extreme case we may think we need it to stave off some impending disaster that might befall us.

Either way we keep things for the secure feeling they offer us.

But tell me this, will you really forget the ones you love or have loved in your life just because you rid yourself of a trinket that you are tired of dusting. In some cases this can be an object the you don’t even like and never have but for the memories it holds. I can assure you that the thing holds nothing, it is you that holds those memories. If, by some unfortunate fate, your memories fade, the knowledge of what that thing represents will probably fade with it.

That being said, there is nothing wrong with holding on to things that hold significants for you but do you need to cling to twenty objects that represent the same significance? Would not one of two or your favourites suffice? When I first began my 365 less things challenge I owned numerous items that were given to me after my Grandmother died. I have since reduce those item to two. The cup I used at her home when I was little and the Crucifix that stood on her coffin during the church service. I still use the cup and the Crucifix stands on my bedside cabinet. But even without those items I know my memories of her would still be strong and clear.

As for the “I might need it some day” clutter. My husband has a tool in the garage for bleeding the brakes on his motorbike. It is something that he uses very infrequently, doesn’t take up much room, can’t be substituted by anything else and saves us money. Therefore it would be silly to get rid of it. However, I have a rotary grater in my kitchen that I only use for one recipe, a sharp knife could perform the same task, it is kind of bulky, and I have several other graters, so I think it is about time I got rid of this item.

Ask yourself the following question when it comes to these kinds of items…

• Have I used it in the last three months?
• If I am not using it now what are the chances that I am going to use it in the future.
• Could I get by without it even if I eventually did started doing the thing that it is useful for?
• Could something else I own perform the same task?
• Do I use it often enough to warrant the space it takes up?
• Could I borrow one from a friend or family member should I “need” one in the future?

The fact of the matter is that you have come to my blog for a reason. You have most likely already decided that you have got to a stage where you would rather a life without your clutter than to keep it. You and only you can decide what stays and what goes. Begin with the easy things and let momentum drive you forward. Once you start to see the difference your steady decluttering is making, you may just become more ruthless with the things you once thought you couldn’t live without.

Then there is the extreme case. Maybe you have got to the stage where you feel you need to hoard all kinds of things that aren’t being used because you would feel insecure without them present. In this case perhaps it is time to do the Clutter Image Rating Scale to determine the extent of your clutter and whether you need to seek professional help. Hoarding is an illness not a life choice so please if you think you are in too deep seek help.

Today’s Declutter Item

We sold this chest of drawers for $30 through the community message board at my husband’s workplace.

Chest or Drawers

Something I Am Grateful For Today

I am grateful that four and a half years ago we chose the townhouse we are now living in as our new home. We wanted to live in this area but there were no houses available so we settled for this townhouse. Little did I know how much happier I would be in a smaller home. Isn’t it amazing how one can change their mindset from being envious of their neighbours for their bigger homes to being grateful that those big homes aren’t mine to clean and care for. If it wasn’t for this choice I dare say I would still be swimming in clutter. Thank you hand of fate.

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.

Since the blog has had a influx of new subscribers lately, due to a little publicity, I thought I might focus on the basics for today’s mini missions. After all, the basics are an everyday thing, not just where we begin our journey. Decluttering isn’t something we get better at with experience but just something that we must do if we want to dig our way out of the quagmire of stuff. It is always just about finding the next thing to cut your ties with no more and no less than that. So today I will simply give you some places to start looking. 

Monday – Before you get started on your declutter journey you need to have areas set aside to put the items you are disposing of. You will need a donation area, a selling area, possibly a return/give to friends and family area and of course room in the garbage bin for those no good to anyone items. I use the garage for donation and my craft area for ebay sale items. I use anywhere that will annoy me if I leave things there too long for the family/friends items, this way I will get sick of it being out of place and return it as soon as possible. Set up your areas today and put the declutter items in the appropriate places until you are ready to pass them on or sell them.

Tuesday -Pick a drawer any drawer and find something in it to declutter. It is ok to get carried away and declutter the whole drawer but it isn’t necessary. One thing at a time will make a big difference in the long run.

Wednesday -Today, go to the kitchen for your declutter item of the day. It is usually very easy to find a useless item lingering here. Don’t let the old demon that says “I might need this one day.” interfere with your choice. If an item hasn’t been used for a long time and can be easily substituted for something else you own then you just don’t need it.

Thursday -The linen closet is a place the holds many items that are excess to our needs. You only need so many sheets, towels, pillow shams, face clothes or any of the other miscellaneous items you keep in there. Choose something from this stash to donate to charity. Thrifts stores and animals shelters can always sell or use this kind of thing.

Friday – Today we will go through the underwear drawer. There are always those items that you don’t like so much, that just get kept for a rainy day in here. How often does that rainy day ever come and who wants to wear something uncomfortable or unflattering at anytime. I am sure you can find something to declutter here.

Saturday – I have a coffee table in my lounge room which is now quite uncluttered but even so things gravitate to it over time. I am sure if you have a coffee table or maybe lamp tables in your living room there will be something lurking there that could be decluttered. Find something there is your mission for today.

Sunday – Today is a good day to reflect on what you have achieved already but there is also time to find one more thing. I suggest finding an item of clothing in your closet that you know you are never going to wear. Why let it hang there going to waste when you can donate it to charity where someone may give it a whole new lease on life.

Good luck and happy decluttering

Today’s Declutter Item

Today’s item isn’t any old item it is also the answer to Simple Saturday’s What am I puzzle. The person who was the first to recognise what it was is Jo, one of our regular readers. Anita, Ann and Snosie also came up with the correct answer. Well done ladies! I am ashamed to say that I have owned this candle snuffer for about five years and have never used it once. 

Candle Snuffer

Something I Am Grateful For Today

I am grateful for whatever turn of fate suddenly had my blog receiving publicity. This gives me a chance to help even more people than I have helped already with their declutter mission. I am also grateful that I have my wonderful existing readers who are willing to share their wisdom with those who have arrived after them.

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