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 am going to give you some ideas on things to declutter based on the items I have admitted to myself that I rarely use and see no point in kidding myself they are worth the space they are taking up in my home. If you don’t have similar items chose some things you rarely use in your home to get rid of.

Monday – One set of crockery, my “good” set that is rarely used and not that good anyway. If my everyday set is good enough for me I guess it is good enough for those I invite to dine with me.

Tuesday – Some vases that are rarely used.

Wednesday – Shoes that I rarely wear that are too uncomfortable.

Thursday – Jewellery. Now that I don’t work and rarely dress up I don’t see any point in keeping so many of the pieces I made myself. The thrift store will benefit from the sale of these.

Friday – More craft items, also rarely used

Saturday –  Now declutter unused sports gear. In my case the ski clothes we no longer use. It is a good time to put it all on eBay here in Australia as we are going into winter. We kept these in case we had the need for heavy coats but we haven’t done so in five years. If we do have a need in the future we will pick some up cheaply at the thrift store.

Sunday – Clothes that although I still like the style of and feel good in rarely get used because they don’t fit in with my lifestyle these days. There is no point in taking up space in my closet if they aren’t being used.

Good luck and happy decluttering

Today’s Declutter Item

Well, just about everyone guessed almost correctly for the “What an I” quiz on Saturday. It was a New York Yankees sun visor. This was a pile of baseball items my kids were willing to part with that I have since sold to a friend I work with at the thrift shop.

Something I Am Grateful For Today

The wonderful three weeks we just spent in the USA. It was a special treat to meet both Cindy, my wonderful Wednesday contributor (and her family) and Willow, one of my long time readers/commenters.

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

Time for another What Am I quiz.

The image below is a fraction of a photo of  something I am decluttering. What do you think it is?

Take a guess and see if you re right when it appears as the declutter item of the day on Monday.

On Fridays at 365 Less Things I share my favourite web finds of the week. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I did.

We’ve discussed minimalism in decorating, but not everyone here is a minimalist. Here are two decorators’ take on the style.

This post about a family of four camping out of a Prius really spoke to me. We camp several times a year, and I’ve insisted that our van is a necessary component to success. Maybe not.

Zen Habits has 15 tips for decluttering that are great.

On the front page of her blog, Gretchen Rubin has written 5 Tips for Resisting Impulse Shopping. Sounds good to me!

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter an area where your items may have spilled over into someones else’s space. For example ~ Your clothes in your husbands side of the closet.

Today’s Declutter Item

Before sending this crossword dictionary off to the thrift store I had asked my dad if he would like it because his copy of the same book was getting very tatty. He said no as he didn’t mind his tatty and beside he had a lot of extra info written in the margins of his. So guess what? He called me the other day asking if I still had it because his had fallen apart. Too late dad that window of opportunity was already closed. I had already decluttered this book ahead of my scheduled vacation and he was about a week or two late.

Crossword Dictionary

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

A guest post by ~ Moni Gilbert

So you’ve caught the de-clutter bug and you’re slashing your way through cupboards, corners, shelves, nooks and crannies. And while you can see big inroads with your work, you also realize that on your journey to organization and simplicity you have generated a lot of chaos, which wasn’t really the vision. When this happens, people quickly turn to storage systems to combat the disorder, and swiftly things begin to look neat and organized again. Peace prevails, sanity is restored.

Storage solutions can be as simple as a utensil rack in the kitchen or extra shelves in the linen cupboard and whole industries have been built around creating effective wardrobes that utilize every last centimeter of space. It can be a series of storage boxes, vacuum pack systems, racks, etc. I find when I am flicking through storage catalogues or wandering through a shop specializing in storage solutions that I am like a kid in a candy-store. All these options and ideas to conquer disorganization and chaos! The problem is that we often use such storage solutions to move clutter from one place in the house to another storing it attractively but haven’t actually addressed the underlying problem ……………….. too much unnecessary stuff! Remember, organized clutter is still clutter.

My friend gleefully bought two handbag holders that hung from a coat hanger in the wardrobe, each held 7 handbags. Handbags aren’t my weakness but I am in no position to criticize as I have my own “vices” on the collection front. However the obvious question was……who needs 14 handbags? – and this wasn’t all of her handbags either, these were just the ones that were bought to match particular outfits. Just for fun we tagged them, to see how often they were used and a year later she realized that she didn’t even have most of the outfits that she bought them for anymore. So they all ended up auctioned on trademe (NZ version of ebay) along with the holder and the proceeds went to buying something else.

I was determined to buy a trolley designed to hold extra paraphernalia in the bathroom as the vanity cupboards were overflowing. I had measured the space available and carefully selected the model from the catalogue and was eager to do the purchasing when it occurred to me that it was an area I hadn’t actually de-cluttered. Suffice to say, by the time I removed the empty bottles, the expired medicines, the hair clippers that didn’t work, all the cleaning agents that had been shoved in there instead of being returned to the laundry shelves and realized that there were enough full bottles of shampoo and conditioner in there to last us months – we actually had plenty of room and didn’t need the extra storage trolley.

I have two friends who bought those vacuum seal bags that you store clothes or blankets in. A great idea.. Ironically the friend that lived in the warm North had more blankets and duvets (doonas) than the one who lived close to the mountains. So she decided to re-evaluate what she actually required and eventually donated a large number of blankets and quilts to the Christchurch Earthquake Disaster relief effort last year. However, the friend with the few blankets was attempting to store mostly clothes – and all from bygone eras and sizes. She got caught out when she asked the other friend for the now excess vacuum pack bags. She wrote out a stock take and quickly realized she wouldn’t wear the clothes even if she did get back down to those sizes. The final outcome was neither ended up needing any of the vacuum pack bags. But that’s not to say, someone with very little or no storage space, and living in a climate with extremes in temperature wouldn’t utilize them well.

So how do we know when we have crossed the line from a storage solution to attractively stored clutter? Only you can decide that. Don’t be surprised if a storage system that was going to be the answer to all your problems, is leaving the household a year later. Sometimes we just aren’t ready to let go of a particular area of our life and home, but as we peel back the layers of clutter elsewhere our ‘protected’ clutter begins to become more obvious to the eye and less necessary to us. Ask yourself, can I delay purchasing this storage solution for a month? If so, will I still need it? Am I simply trying to contain something that I just don’t want to sort out yet? Do I want to admit that I have too many whatever-it-may-be ? Am I just trying to make a quick fix in a tsunami of clutter I have unleashed on myself? If I revisited this collection of stuff over several weekends, would I be able to get rid of more stuff each time? Is its replacement worth more than the storage item would cost?

If the storage solution deals with, say, a laundry cupboard that has never had enough shelves, go for it. But if it is to support something that you just haven’t dealt with or is something you have an unnecessary emotional attachment to….then you probably should save your money, and work thru the issue separately.

I’m not telling you throw out precious items, or to leave valuable items unprotected rather than give them the storage they need. Only you can decide what your priorities are in your home. But a good indicator is that if your best friends tell you that you have way too many shoes, don’t buy an extra shoe rack. Or if you don’t actually know what is in those twenty storage cartons, don’t invest in that attic access ladder.

So my friends, I leave this in your hands to discuss. I am merely someone who is on the same journey as you are on, and this is only my opinion. I am open to other perspectives, or to answer questions. And if anyone in NZ would like a shoe holder that clips onto a wardrobe door…..mine has outlived its usefulness, and is free to a good home!

Today’s Mini Mission

Return something that you have borrowed from someone else that you should possibly have returned some time ago.

Colleen’s Decluttered Item of the Day

I so understand where Moni is coming from when she says… “I find when I am flicking thru storage catalogues or wandering thru a shop specializing in storage solutions that I am like a kid in a candy-store.” … I love storage solutions too. But without the clutter I don’t need the solutions. Now that I have less craft clutter I don’t need this set of storage bins to organise it in. It does take a little extra will power to let it go though.

You served me well storage system

“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

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

Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom

Recently I was so pleased with myself. I had done a great job tidying my desk, and I had sorted through all of Clara’s clothes, culling those that were to be saved for her younger sister and those that could go to the thrift shop. I did a great job and was pleased with myself, that is, until I looked at what I had left behind. 

Oh a big slap on the forehead! Yes, I had processed bills, permission slips, etc. And yes, I had sorted and folded a big ol’ stack of clothes, but that’s where I stopped. The clothes were still sitting in Clara’s room, and the overflow from my desk project was still sitting in a pile. How embarrassing!

Back in the bad old days of too much clutter, I never finished a project to completion: 90% done was 100% good enough for me, and once again, I had fallen back on my lazy ways. I had broken the rules of happy household living as defined by American advice columnist Ann Landers.

If you open it, close it.
If you turn it on, turn it off.
If you unlock it, lock it up.
If you break it, admit it.
If you can’t fix it, call in someone who can.
If you borrow it, return it.
If you value it, take care of it.
If you make a mess, clean it up.
If you move it, put it back.
If it belongs to someone else and you want to use it, get permission.
If you don’t know how to operate it, leave it alone.
If it’s none of your business, don’t ask questions.
If it will brighten someone’s day, say it.
If it will tarnish someone’s reputation, keep it to yourself. 

And my addition: If you leave it half done, you’re not finished.

Today’s Mini Mission

Ask a family member if they have anything you have given them that they really don’t want but keep because it was a gift from you. Give them permission to declutter it.

Today’s Declutter Item

I don’t need these two watches because I haven’t worn a watch in years so out they go. They have been donated to the thrift store.

Two watches I no longer use

“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

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

One of the things I love about decluttering slowly but surely is that I am not forced to make rash decision as to what should and shouldn’t be decluttered. With my goal of one item a day there is only one decision to be made each day. Some decision are made in advance and eventually the day comes where I think “That will be my declutter item on the day.” Some decisions are spur of the moment when I stumble across an item that I had missed before but am in no doubt that it can go. While other things get passed over time and time again and left until I am ready to make the final decision on. There are also things I know I want to declutter but am not ready to deal with the hassle right now and that is OK too because I am still running to schedule. One day their time will come when I have the patience and inclination to focus my full attention on them to complete the task efficiently.

There are so many things that weren’t even on may radar at the start of my declutter journey but now are easy to let go off. This is because as I continue down this path my attachment to stuff in general becomes weaker and weaker. I am more enthusiastic to unburden myself of the clutter than I am to keep it. Things had better be loved, useful and not in excessive amounts or they are out of here.

So if you have something you aren’t sure about pass it by for now and move on to something else. Being conflicted over something when there are easier fish to fry is a waste of metal energy. Later on you might look back at that item again and think, I really want this gone more than I want it here so out it can go. It is actually a good feeling when you come to these conclusions because not only are you letting go of more stuff but you have clearly graduated to a new level of detachment to material things. And that is something to be celebrated.

Today’s Mini Mission

Remove something from your yard that a neighbour might be able to see and think looks out of place or unsightly. Ask the neighbour if you aren’t sure and are game.

Today’s Declutter Item

This jewellery box was no rash decluttering decision. I had been contemplating emptying it and decluttering it for a long time. There was no hurry as there were plenty of other items to declutter in the meantime. Finally the task is done and the box is off to the thrift store. I am still finding avenues to sell some of the contents so they will filter through as declutter items in the near future.

Jewellery Box

“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

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.

I dug this set of missions up from the archives as it is a good exercise to help you find extra things you may not have thought to get rid of. So this week we are once going to remove some clutter that might be bothering someone else in some way. If you decide to take on this weeks missions be prepared for it to be confronting at times. 

Monday – Ask your partner/husband/roommate if there is something of yours in your shared living space that they wish you would declutter because they don’t like it. It is up to you whether you comply of course.

Tuesday – Remove something from your yard that a neighbour might be able to see and think looks out of place or unsightly. Ask the neighbour if you aren’t sure and are game.

Wednesday – Ask a family member if they have anything you have given them that they really don’t want but keep because it was a gift from you. Give them permission to declutter it.

Thursday – Return something that you have borrowed from someone else that you should possibly have returned some time ago.

Friday – Declutter an area where your items may have spilled over into someones else’s space. For example ~ Your clothes in your husbands side of the closet.

Saturday – Ask a family member if there is an area of clutter in your home that you might have overlooked that they think needs attention. This might possibly be an area that is OK to you but annoying for them.

Sunday – I think you have earned a rest today so take it easy and rest up for another week of decluttering to start tomorrow.

Good luck and happy decluttering

Today’s Declutter Item

The item for the day is an example of the opposite to the theme of this week’s mini mission. My husband had three die cast aeroplane models that I was not keen on dusting. I let him know that they were a nuisance to me. I don’t know if that had any impact on him deciding to declutter them or not but declutter them he has and this is one of those models. As you can guess I am glad to see the back of them.

Die cast aeroplane model

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

I received and email from Ideealistin recently bring a subject to mind that has been mentioned in passing here at 365 Less Things one or twice before. Ideealistin thought it was worth bring to the fore in the form of its own blog post and that is what we are doing today.

Here is some of what she had to say…

Hi Colleen, as I am sort of moving at the moment (since almost everything in the apartment has to be moved around, I came to the conclusion to consider it something similar to moving at least …), I am digging through everything and found a pair of glasses. Yep, yet another one. In the process of decluttering I think I discovered at least 6 pairs of glasses, tucked into various boxes. (bad sight since primary school …) I donated them all and will donate the ones I just found, too. (It’s very easy here, a big optometrist chain takes them) And I wondered if you might like to address the whole subject of donating old glasses in a post one day….

… Just imagining I had to live without my glasses makes me sad for the people who DO have to live without glasses because they can’t afford them. From a certain degree of defective vision one practically is disabled without glasses … Helping is the one (and important) point. But from the decluttering perspective I think glasses often slip through because it actually is smart to keep one old pair as a spare pair, but not all pairs that accumulate in the average spectacle wearer’s life.

Just a suggestion, but I think even the chance of some kid somewhere learning to read better because it can actually see what is written on the blackboard or somebody not falling because he can see where he is walking is worth that we privileged spectacle wearers rifle through our drawers and donate what doesn’t serve us anymore.

* * *

As a fellow Australian to a very special man by the name of Fred Hollows it would be remiss of me not to bring to the attention of my fellow declutterers that your old unused glasses could be life changing  for someone else. Please take a look at the work of The Fred Hollows Foundation does to restore sight to folks less fortunate than yourselves.

Not only does eye surgery help to restore the sight of those inflicted with unfortunate eye problems but there are also those whose sight would be easily improved simply with a pair of glasses. Glasses that they can’t afford to buy. Glasses that you might have going to waste in a drawer somewhere in your home. Even cheap reading glasses are useful.

All you have to do to improve the sight of a fellow human being is to donate your eyeglass clutter to an organisation that distributes them to those in need.

How to donate

• Australia ~ recyclingnearyou.com.au/glasses or www.lenscrafters.com
• USA ~ www.allaboutvision.com/resources/donate
• Canada ~ www.hakimoptical.ca/donate
• UK ~ www.vao.org.uk ~ recycling glasses
• Germany ~ Fielmann which is the biggest optometrist chain in the country accept donations.

If none of these sites work for you just google ~ donate eyeglasses ~ and I am sure something useful will appear. Also ask you optometrist if they take donations or know who does locally.

Today’s Mini Mission

Take a quick look in your dining space and find something to declutter. It’s that simple. Don’t fuss don’t hesitate just find that one thing and get it our of there.

It’s Friday at 365 Less Things, and since Colleen is still in the U.S. (Seattle, Washington now) I’m sharing with you my favourite comments from our wonderful and chatty readers and my best web finds of the week. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I did. -Cindy

Favourite Comments. Enjoy!

Dizzy made short work of the process of decluttering here.

Wendy gives hope to those to those who live with reluctant declutterers.

Faith made us all laugh with her bold retort to givers of unwanted gifts.

Favourite Web Finds. Happy reading!

I’ve always enjoyed the Minimalist Packrat, although this is a guest post, which combines Feng Shui and decluttering. 

Another post from the Minimalist Packrat, this one on collections and use-it-up decluttering.

In case you needed more motivation to buy less and think more about your choices, check out this montage of pictures  from someone who refers to his garage sale hobby as “junk in my trunk.” You got that right buddy! (Originally, this link did not work. Scroll down one entry, and you’ll see the photo collage.)

On the other hand, I liked Mr. Junk’s take on selling goods. Yeah, he says it harshly, but he tells it true.

Frequently Colleen and I are asked how to sell on Ebay. Here’s how they say it should be done.

Today’s Mini Mission

Take a quick look in the garage and find something to declutter. It’s that simple. Don’t fuss don’t hesitate just find that one thing and get it our of there.

Today’s Declutter Item

Yes there is still craft clutter to declutter but I am on track to get it all under control by June like I promised Lena. Here is my latest offering.

More Craft Items (Brads & Eyelets)

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

A guest post by Julia St. Charles

My mother’s home is full of “too good to use” items and random objects from babyhood and toddlerhood.

I’d love to write an open letter to young parents along the lines of:

Dear Young Parents:

If you are going to save mementos from your children’s early years, please do not save everything.  Except for handmade or heirloom items, like the baby quilt Grandma made, or the hand-knit layette from Aunt Barbara, give outgrown clothing to Goodwill — ordinary clothing will be both too physically aged and too far out of style for your imagined future grandchildren to use.  When you do pack away the hand-knit layette and handmade quilt, get storage advice from a professional so they are not opened 25 years later for the first grandchild, only to find they have been destroyed by moths.

Your children will let you know which favorite items they want to hang onto: that special Dr. Seuss book, that favorite Teddy bear.  You won’t have to ask. Please do not save each and every toy, birthday gift or other belonging “in case they want to take a walk down memory lane one day.”  Forty years from now your daughter will not want that card from her third birthday, whether the giver can be identified or not.  Keep only a few “milestone” birthday and Christmas cards if you wish, and try to limit those to people who are deceased, as that may be all you have left from them.

Another thing your child will not want is old schoolwork assignments.  Really, they won’t want those fifth grade math tests and report cards, no mater how many A’s they got.

Keep photos and very few “things.”  99% photos.  Your middle aged daughter will not want to inherit an attic jam packed with broken Barbies, musty toddler clothes and tattered holiday cards “for a special three-year-old!”   Think ahead: “will I be leaving an inheritance or a burden?”

Love,

Anykid

Today’s Mini Mission

Take a quick look in the bathroom and find something to declutter. It’s that simple. Don’t fuss don’t hesitate just find that one thing and get it our of there.

Today’s Declutter Item

Talking of children’s keepsakes… this is the last of my son’s Snoopy Collection. I gave it to a friend some time ago but misplaced the photo. So this will absolutely be the last photo of Snoopy stuff. Liam I am glad to say is very good at letting go of stuff.

The absolute last of my son's Snoopy Collection

“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

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