I received the following comment from Whisper last week which I think holds an important lesson when it comes to decluttering. Whisper wrote…

“A month or so before my move, I tried a half-cull of my jewelry (suggested in The Minimalist Packrat) – getting rid of a piece for every piece I was keeping. I don’t think I managed to be completely 50/50, but it really helped me reduce to a more manageable level. This was after 3 or more less than productive culls where I just looked for things I didn’t want. It took the irritation of my unproductive attempts to try a new way. Another example of frustration ending up helping.”

…and here is my response…

“What you are saying about culling your jewellery by half rather than just choosing the pieces you really didn’t want makes sense to me too. I use a similar approach with many things in my home. Instead of considering what I don’t want I think about how much less I do want. The desire to minimise usually usurps the desire to keep certain things I still feel slightly attached to.”

Instead of focusing on the things you think you want to keep or don’t want to keep focus on what you want the ultimate outcome of your decluttering to be. Like Whisper, if you want to reduce a certain category by half focus on reducing by half and don’t allow half hearted interest in certain items to convince you to keep them.

Take my kitchen for example. I have revisited the decluttering task in my kitchen over and over again. My kitchen items probably take up only two thirds of the space they used to. I have chosen to keep several things in the past just because they are aesthetically pleasing, suit my tactile nature or just in case I need them one day. But what I really want is to reduce the items to at least half of the original quantity.

I don’t need three different sets of bowls that can perform the same task just because they are all lovely in there own special way. I also don’t need four casserole dishes that haven’t been used in twelve months. I could keep two just in case and declutter the rest. I know that I can always replace them guilt free by picking up secondhand ones at the thrift store in the unlikely event that I might someday have a need for them. Not that I think this will ever be necessary. Now that I think about it I believe most of the items I have mentioned came to me secondhand in the first place.

So to put this plan in a nut shell ~ Just choose your goal and only keep the items that you want, need or like the most to fit with that goal. If your desire to declutter is strong enough this really won’t be a challenge.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something that you keep in case of an emergency that never arises. Perhaps your first aid box needs decluttering or maybe you kept that pair of crutches from a previous injury like I have. Granted, I have used my pair on three separate occasions, but three times in seven years doesn’t justify keeping them.

Today’s Declutter Item

As per today’s mini mission here are the crutches I am decluttering today. Hopefully my optimistic attitude of not needing them again in the future will hold true to reality.

My Crutches

Something I Am Grateful For Today

I wasn’t looking forward to housecleaning yesterday but it feels so good now that it is done. I am grateful that the task is made easy by the fact that there is so much less to dust and shift after all my decluttering. I find time to deviate off the usual tasks to accomplish a  few extras because if this.

“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.

This week I have come up with seven categories of items that are a little obscure. Things that may be hiding somewhere around your house that has escaped your notice so far. As usual, if you can’t find any of these items then declutter something else.

Monday – Parts for something you no longer have. It might be bike parts like my item for today or perhaps computer parts, parts to an old vacuum cleaner, sewing machine, kitchen gadget… I am sure you all have something.

Tuesday – Something that you keep in case of an emergency that never arises. Perhaps your first aid box needs decluttering or maybe you kept that pair of crutches from a previous injury like I have. Granted I have used my pair on three separate occasions, but three times in seven years doesn’t justify keeping them.

Wednesday – An odd souvenir or novelty item that was acquired on the spur of the moment and is still cluttering up a shelf somewhere. (I would like to mention here that we never bought any souvenirs while on vacation in America.)

Thursday – A fashion accessory or obscure clothing item that no longer matches anything.

Friday – Fiddly little kitchen items that have fallen under the radar but aren’t useful enough to keep.

Saturday – Single use gadgets that you really don’t have a single use for. (Perhaps an egg slicer. Ha ha Cindy this one is for you.)

Sunday – Art or decorator items that you long ago tired of but they hang there on your wall or sit on a shelf out of habit and no other reason.

Good luck and happy decluttering

Today’s Declutter Item

My son had kept these bike parts from his old bicycle after his accident. His bicycle was replaced with a new one and he figured these parts would be better utilised by the bike ecology centre here in our home town where they refurbish bicycles and resell them (in some cases give them away) to the public.

Bicycle Parts

Something I Am Grateful For Today

Getting through some of my to do list. Taking advantage of the nice sunny day to get some washing done. Going to the movies this afternoon. And I won a meat tray at the club on Friday night so I had a cheap grocery shop this week.

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

10 Rules of Thumb to Get and Stay Organized

A guest post by Mohamed Tohami

Mohamed Tahomi

“Electricity is really just organized lightning.” – George Carlin

Think about that quote for a second. Electrical power is the backbone of modern industrial society, and is expected to remain so forever.

Standup comedian George Carlin, describes electricity in a brilliant, funny and shockingly true way.

If you organized lightning you’ll have the same electric form that you get from the flow of electrical charges in an electrical wire.

This fact made me think of the true POWER OF ORGANIZING.

We all know that organizing our lives, spaces, work, etc is beneficial. But have you ever thought that through organizing you can acquire or create what is equivalent to electric power in your life?

The same way decluttering gives you a sense of relief and accomplishment, organizing shapes what matters most in a form that leads to increased productivity and easiness

Organizing your life leads to more FLOW!

When you organize your life, you’ll achieve more things faster and you’ll find it easier to navigate through and deal with all aspects of your life.

Organization is more productivity, more easiness and hence more flow.

Think of an organized wardrobe, for example. You’ll easily find your way to what you like and feel confident wearing. And you’ll do that faster than you used to. With a disorganized wardrobe, you will find difficulty to find your best matching items, you’ll feel frustrated every morning and you’ll forget about items you purchased and really look nice wearing.

Here are 10 rules of thumb to get and stay organized

 1.Don’t allow things to pile up:

“If you really think about it, each task would only take you a minute or two to complete. However, if you let them all pile up for days or even weeks at a time, they become an overwhelming burden.” – Andrea Dekker of Simple Organized Living

Clutter or chaos is easy to deal with on the spot. But when it piles up, you will need more momentum to start an organizing task.

So, start now while it still takes only a minute or two.

“Clutter is postponed decisions” Barbara Hemphill

2. Avoid everything multiple:

Don’t do many things all at once. Start with a drawer, when you finish it go to the next item in your life. Avoid everything multiple.

It exhausts the mind and consumes time.

Divide the work into digestible tasks and deal with one task at a time. Otherwise, you will get exhausted easily and quickly, and the chaos will take over again.

3. Barter:

For every new thing that comes into your life, throw out an older corresponding item immediately.

That works very well with new items of clothes. When you shop for new clothes, keep in mind that you are going to throw or donate older items.

That’s a good way to avoid feeling guilty after shopping.

Like organizing leads to flow, the secret to organizing is to keep an eye on the flow in your life. Chaos and disorganization happens when the inflow of material is at much higher rate than the outflow.

4. 75% full: 

When a storage area is 75% full, think of decluttering and organizing immediately. Don’t allow the storage area to be full while you have something new that you don’t know where to keep or store.

“Take action when your storage system is 75% full.” – Werner Tiki Kustenmacher

You’ll most probably find a lot of outdated items that you can get rid of easily.

When you have more room in your storage area, you’ll make space for new objects to enter your life and that will bring you more enjoyment.

5. The one place:

Werner Kustenmacher in his book, How to Simplify Your Life, shared a golden principle of tidying up: “everything has its place – one place.”

Keep a specific place for each item that you use or deal with frequently.

How many times did you forget where you placed your keys?!

Got the point?

90% of all people regularly have to search for lost objects. (study conducted by the opinion research institute EMNID in Bielefeld Germany, on behalf of Simplify Your Life book)

If everything has its well known ONE place where you keep it, you’ll decrease the rate of your forgetfulness dramatically.

6. Keep an eye on your desk

The desk where you work is probably the most important place where you should start organizing immediately.

It’s been said that: “An orderly desk is an orderly mind.”

When you work in an organized environment, your mind will be clear, focused and able to do better work.

7. Give room for some disorder

 Staying organized requires some work. Constant monitor for your environment might lead to tiredness. And this can lead to you giving up on organization completely, which is not good.

 When you feel tired take a vacation. You need at a certain point to give up and accept some chaos and disorder in your life.

 Find the ideal balance between organizing and disorder.

Chaos will occur at any chance. So, you’ll always have to pay attention. That’s why you need to give your attention some rest to keep going.

Any empty space attracts superfluous objects like magic.

8. Always ask the golden question

“If it were stolen, would I replace it?”

Ask yourself the question above to decide whether you need an item or not. I see it as a super brilliant and effective question to make up your mind and get rid of things that you no longer need, but think that you might get to it one day.

As a rule of thumb: you need only half as much as you own.

9. Start with the horizontal areas

When you organize start with what is clear to the eye. Start at the horizontal surfaces

Deal with anything that is not in use or should be stored somewhere accordingly.

When your eyes are at ease with your surrounding environment, you’ll be encouraged to dig into the hidden or covered areas.

10. Go for quality over quantity

Don’t organize or deal with anything that’s not top quality.

Get rid of anything that you’re not 100% satisfied or proud to own.

The poet Somerset Maugham once said: “It’s a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it”

Don’t keep low quality items hoping that you might get down to it someday. That day probably will never come.

In his blog, Midway Simplicity, Mohamed Tohami shares simple living ideas that fall midway between extreme frugality & radical minimalism and the hoarder’s extreme fear of deprivation. If you’re looking for more mainstream simple living ideas that are not too harsh for your lifestyle, then give a visit to Tohami’s Midway Simplicity blog and start enjoying more with less.

Today’s Mini Mission

Saturday –  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.

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

Favourite Comments. Enjoy!

There were so many great comments this week and I do apologise if I missed some of them. They come in thick and fast these days and I have trouble keeping up at times. I know though that if I don’t get a chance to respond one of my wonderful 365ers will step in and encourage or give advice. Thank you all for making 365 Less Things such a great community.

Loved these two comments (here and here)  from Deb J. She has taken her mom along on the ride to declutter and has not only changed herself along the way but has transformed her mother altogether when it comes to letting go.

Wendy B is not only decluttering her own home but has transformed the local Seniors Centre as well recently. She proves in this comment that communication is key to a good declutter. You can read the condensed version of Wendy’s Senior Centre declutter in the comment strand starting here.

Jude tells us in this comment how she applies the simple approach to all the bigger tasks she tackles.

Loved this comment from Wendy B on Fewer v Less. She makes me laugh on a regular basis.

In this comment Maggie asks for help about what to do with her much loved popcorn tins. If anyone has any suggestions please help Maggie out.

Favourite Web Finds. Happy reading!

Gemma from Miami has developed a site dedicated to thoughtful gift giving. Although not all of the gifts are entirely clutter free there are a vast number that are the perfect way to say I love you, happy birthday, Merry Chirstmas… without the clutter but jam packed with fun, indulgence or adventure. Take a look for yourself here at www.meaningfulgiftideas.com

Katharine sent me this link to share with you. It deals with more than just material clutter. Enjoy! well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/30/making-progress-against-clutter/

Here is a link to a TEDx Tacoma video that enforces the idea of one small step makes a big difference. My husband and I actually attended TEDx Tacoma while on our vacation in April.

I had to share this post from Spendwisemom as she is really speaking my language here. A bargain is only a bargain if it is useful to you or exactly what you want or need. Settling for second best just because it is cheap is often a recipe for discontent. I still love a bargain but only on things I really need.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter rarely if ever used craft items.

Today’s Declutter Item

When I wrote today’s mini mission I really had papercrafting items in mind but then I had some mending to do and while choosing thread for the task I suddenly came to the realisation that I had far too much thread. Considering the amount of sewing I do these days I really don’t have to keep multitudes of the same colour tread or colours I have no fabrics to match. I will give a friend first choice at these and then the rest can go to the thrift store.

Cotton Reels

Something I Am Grateful For Today

Getting some items crossed off my to do list. Things backed up while  I wasn’t around and it is nice to feel like I am getting on top of it.

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

A month ago I asked my readers to send in their requests for post subjects. Lisa sent in the following request,  a subject which I have covered many times before but is always worth revisiting.

Here is Lisa’s comment…

Okay, so I read most of the answers and then stopped. 🙂 So, I kinda feel like I am always decluttering and bringing bags of bags of stuff to the thrift stores and other places, but when does it end? When do we have the right amount of stuff? I just can’t get over that I can still take garbage bags full of stuff out our home.

And here is the  response I left for her…

Hi Lisa,
it ends when you are ready, when you reach the level of simplicity that works for you. I can assure you that the goal posts will just keep moving as you realise more and more, through this experience, that you need a whole lot less than you ever thought you would. Trust me I speak from experience here. I wasn’t sure I would have enough stuff to declutter to keep me going for the first 365 days 0f my pledge to remove one thing a day. Boy was I wrong, two years and three months later I am still decluttering. And it isn’t because a whole lot of new stuff has taken its place, because it hasn’t, it is just that I don’t need the stuff and the more I declutter the more aware I become of that fact. My cupboards are emptier and maintenance is easier and I am loving it and I’m not done yet. So keep at it, you will know when you are done. It is well worth the journey.

Having said that, I have more to add. Only occasionally do I wonder, when will I be done with this decluttering task. As this thought crosses my mind another quickly comes in to take its place and that thought is this ~ How incredible is it that I keep discovering that I can live with even less. I don’t care how long it takes to reach the end of my journey, I don’t even know where that is. What I do know is the I am a changed person for having started down this path.

Before I began I loved getting new things and I enjoyed shopping. Like most people the novelty soon worn off the old stuff and I was left with the desire to replace it with something new and exciting. Now I am free of that need and happy to be so.

Prior to this slow approach to decluttering I was organised, my house was tidy and my finances were in good shape but…

• The cupboards were full of things I didn’t need. I thought I wanted them but now I know better.
• I spent more time cleaning than I needed to because there was more things to dust and more items to move in order to mop and vacuum. There were also those periodic cleaning tasks required due to the hard to get at places packed with stuff we didn’t need.
• I wasted money on things I didn’t really need.
• I wasted space on things I didn’t use.
• I was harsh on the environment by adding to the supply and demand of products that were unnecessary.

Decluttering used to be about removing the stuff I didn’t use or that the kids had grown out of or that we just didn’t like anymore only to eventually be replace with more stuff we soon stopped using, fitting or liking. Now it is about actually reducing permanently, having more environmentally sustainable habits and the freedom of the desire for stuff. I am liberated.

Join me on my journey, you won’t be sorry you did.

Today’s Mini Mission

Now that I don’t work and rarely dress up I don’t see any point in keeping so many of the jewellery pieces I made myself. Perhaps you have jewellery that could be decluttered today or maybe some other fashion accessory that not longer suits you or your current lifestyle.

Today’s Declutter Item

Now I know you are probably all thinking ~ Hasn’t this women told us to declutter jewellery about a dozen times already and now she comes out with this stash. What the… I know, I know! But jewellery doesn’t take up much space and I had bigger fish to fry OK! 😉 😆 I have to admit this is only about 1/3 of my stash. I have long ago decluttered the precious jewellery pieces that I never wear and the box I kept it in but I was in no hurry with this lot. I am sure I will declutter more of it before I am done but all in good time. Just remember “one thing a day”.

Letting go of some handmade jewellery

Something I Am Grateful For Today

I had a lovely day at the thrift store today, see all my friends there that I haven’t seen for three weeks. I tagged and prices all that jewellery from photo above and several pieces had sold before the day was out. Ahh, the joy of letting go.

“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 – A Review of the Basics

Cindy

Why 365 Less Things?

Let’s get the grammatical question out of the way first and promptly. Yes, we know it’s supposed to be 365 Fewer Things, but it’s not. That’s all there is to it. (Can you believe that Colleen regularly gets comments from readers telling her she’s named the blog wrong? Do they think they’re the first to notice? Declutter this worry from your mind: You’re not the first.)

Now on to the meat of the matter: Why does 365 Less Things exist, and how can it help you?

I truly don’t know the origins of the 365 Thing A Day challenge. I saw it the first time on Unclutterer in a comment that Colleen had written. (Thanks to my friend Janet K. who referred me to Unclutterer, without which my life certainly would have been different over the past two years.)

The idea was simple: Declutter by getting rid of one thing each day.

I thought, “I can do that,” and I’m still doing it almost two years later. My house was a disaster of surface clutter (clean cabinets and drawers, messy counters and floors). Once I started, I couldn’t stop! On average I’ve decluttered three things a day, and it seems like I could go on for another two years.

Decluttering just one thing a day is such a small challenge. It’s so easy to find just one thing. You can take a random approach, open a cabinet or cupboard, and grab one thing, or you can be much more methodical and start in one location, systematically working your way through the house, garage, attic or basement, shed, yard, your neighbor’s side yard (oh wait – you better stop!)

Decluttering one thing a day allows you time to decide the best way to dispose of an item: sell, give away, recycle, trash.

Decluttering one thing a day allows you time to think hard about sentimental clutter and items that you think you “should” keep but don’t want to.

Decluttering one thing a day allows you time to realize the error of your ways in acquiring goods –  whether you shop too much, garage sale too frequently, or never pass up a treasure when it’s bulky trash day in your neighborhood – and slowly amend those ways so you don’t re-clutter at the same rate (or faster!) than you de-clutter.

Decluttering a thing a day is like the saying, “A  journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step.”

What one item will you be decluttering today?

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter those shoes that you rarely wear that are too uncomfortable, you just don’t like or don’t fit your current lifestyle.

Today’s Declutter Item

So here are my declutter items for today. The shoes that I rarely of don’t use. One pair are too uncomfortable, one pair don’t suit my current lifestyle and the other pair I haven’t worn in so long I don’t even remember what they went with. Either way they are out of here.

Shoes I don't use

Something to be grateful for today

The beautiful sunny day that we have experienced here today. I took the opportunity to take a walk in the sunshine. I saved some gas too by walking to the post office and the dry cleaners. Win win!

“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

Well hello everyone! You probably didn’t even miss me while I was off enjoying my USA vacation for the last three weeks but now it is time to get back to reality. Housework to do, meals to cook, washing machine working overtime, children asking for money, husband already going away on a business trip, posts to write… so much for simplicity hey!

Actually I live the good life really but I have to admit I often take that for granted. I think that will be my challenge for the next little while, to quit my bitchin’ and focus on counting my blessings. Perhaps I need to pay a little more attention to my gratitude list.

What did I learn while I was away?

I didn’t miss any of my stuff while I was away. This was no surprise though. In fact I love travelling light. I will be writing a post about that soon. All of those things around the house that we find so useful or beautiful are soon out of sight out of mind when there are better things to occupy our time.

Living with the basics had me thinking at times about what stuff I could get rid of when I got home. Living out of a back pack for three weeks makes you realise that much of the stuff around your home is just not necessary. Although both situations are very different because at home I have to cook, make may own bed, clean and deal with everyday living there is still a lot of stuff that is just there because I have the room to store it. You can be sure I will be keeping that in mind as I get back into the decluttering. The kitchen is high on my list of places to purge.

My house is bigger than I realise or need. After living in hotels and b&bs for weeks on end it becomes clear when I get home how big my house really is. Even though it is smaller than the average home in Australia there is more space then is needed by us and more area that I would rather not have to clean too for that matter.

I really do not like shopping. We had a list of things we wanted to get while we were  in the land of cheaper prices and a list of things other people wanted us to pick up for them. I did not manage to find much of what was on my short list and my Keen shoe shopping was a dismal failure. My husband got some much needed items at lower than Australian prices and we stocked up on skate shoes for our son after much texting to ensure we got what he wanted. Our daughter scored some cosmetic items and our mothers will be happy with the craft items they requested. All this took up valuable time that we could have spent doing more interesting things though and that did not sit well with me at times.

Making new friends and leaving them behind is sad. Cindy and I had a blast together while I was in Austin. My husband and I had some lovely meals together with her family and Cindy and I had a lovely walk around the lake near her home and she gave me a little tour of her local thrift shops and the local botanic gardens. I wish I could have stayed longer and that she wasn’t now so far away. Miss you Cindy!!  🙁

I also got to meet Willow, one of our long time 365ers. We had a lovely lunch together and chatted for hours. I looked back to see when she first starting commenting here, it was way back on the 15th of May 2010 only about two months after I started blogging. Willow and her husband met us at the Getty Center in LA on the day we flew out. I highly recommend going there if you are ever in the area. Not only was there some geat art but the site and the views were amazing.

So folk I am glad to be back and am looking forward to reading and responding to your comments again. Thanks for hanging in there and chatting with each other in my absence.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter some vases that you rarely if ever use.

Today’s Declutter Item

I am staying on track with the craft decluttering. I gave these stencils to the lady at the craft store up the street from my house. I tried selling them both on ebay and to a local crafter without success and that was as much effort as I could be bothered putting into selling. They are gone now and that is what matters.

Brass Embossing Templates

Something I Am Grateful For Today

Finding out that we don’t have to move to Adelaide. I kind of like it right where I am for now.

“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