Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom

Cindy

I’m about half way through the book The Hoarder in You by Dr. Robin Zasio. Dr. Zasio is a psychologist who specializes in anxiety and compulsions with a sub-specialty in hoarding; she is a consultant on the TV program Hoarders.

Early in the book, there’s a box: Do You Have Hoarding Tendencies? Of course, I answered “no” before I read the checklist. In fact, according to Dr. Zasio, I do have some. Well that’s a disappointment. Here is her list along with the paragraph that follows and my answers in blue:

1. Do you have a hard time parting with items, even if you never use them or they’re broken? No.
2. Do you have many items around your house that don’t have a permanent home? No, but I did before I started decluttering.
3. Do you tend to make pile of things, to be dealt with at a future time, and these piles often linger for more than a few days? Hey, has she been looking at my desk? The rest of the house is okay.
4. Are there areas in your home (the dining room table, for instance) that must be cleared off before they can be sued for their intended purpose? Possibly yes, although generally those items are being actively used up until the time that the table needs to be cleaned.
5. Do you save things often because you are concerned about how you will feel if you need them in the future and no longer have them? Rarely.
6. Do you often save things without a clear idea of how you’ll use them in the future? Only art / craft type items.
7. Do you still have items that you once bought with the intention of giving them away as gifts? Yes, from the generic kid gift box that no longer gets used. Blue Santa, here they come!
8. Do you have boxes of possessions that have moved with you from home to home but you’ve never gone through? No.
9. Do you often buy multiples of the same items because you’ve forgotten you have it? Only very rarely.
10. Are you helpless when faced with a “good deal,” even if it’s a good deal on something you don’t need? No.
11. Do you take free things, like shampoos from hotels or packets of soup crackers, that you never wind up using? Yes, I sometimes take them, but yes I use them too.

The more questions you answered yes to, the stronger your hoarding tendencies, and your environment is likely cluttered accordingly. If you answered yes to all of them, it does not mean you are a hoarder; many of us have hoarding tendencies, but because they are kept in check, things don’t escalate to the point where your life is greatly affected. Still, the more you have, the more mindful you need to be of your habits so your environment does not cause you undue stress.

I wonder, how many of these tendencies do you have, and what are you doing to keep them at bay?

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter a canvas wall art piece that you don’t love.

Today’s Declutter Item

These multi-purpose tools can be mighty hand but keeping one in my handbag or pocket can become complicated when trying to board and aircraft. As a result it was constantly left at home where there are plenty of other individual tools to use. Hence it didn’t get used much.

Multi-Purpose Tool

Eco Tip for the Day

Loath as I am to bring attention to sales catalogues I find it my duty to inform you that you can probably access them online rather than receive them in your mailbox. In Australia catalogues can be accessed at www.lasoo.com.au . So to my Aussie readers who haven’t yet put a NO JUNK MAIL sign on their mailbox bookmark this site and go yet yourself that sign. If any readers know a web site in their country for this purpose please fell free to share. Personally I would prefer just not to read catalogues at all.

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

On Saturday while writing my gratitude list it occurred to me that one could apply the feeling of gratitude to their decision making process while decluttering. It really is a very simple concept. If the item you are considering doesn’t make you feel grateful that you own it then it probably isn’t something that you need to keep.

There are many reasons to be grateful for things that you own. You might be grateful that an item makes a task easier. You may receive pleasure from the beauty of another item which is also something to be grateful for. Other items may bring you warmth, comfort, joy, security, happy memories or their purpose may be purely utilitarian but help keep your home in order. All these are good reason to be grateful and retain certain items.

Why not give this test a try. Just remember the gratitude must relate to the present. If you find yourself keeping things because you are grateful that they were useful in the past ~ the past being months or years ago ~ then it is time to let them go and just be grateful that you got your money’s worth out of them. Similarly if you find yourself thinking you will be grateful you kept this or that item only when you find a use for it in the future ~ a future that may or may not occur ~ then I think you need to reconsider this decision.

Just imagine your household only containing items that you are grateful that you own. How wonderful would that be? Everywhere you turn and every time you use something you get a warm fuzzy feeling of satisfaction and thankfulness.

* * * * * * *

Quick question :~ Are any readers having problems with accessing 365 Less Things at the moment. I am seeing no problems at my end but one of my readers is. Please let me know if you are experiencing problems so we can investigate what could be causing it. Thank you.

Today’s Mini Mission

 Declutter craft fabrics that you haven’t had inspiration to use in a long time.

Today’s Declutter Item

Now here is an item that I was grateful to have while it was useful to me. I was also grateful that it cost me next to nothing and I more than got my money’s worth out of it. Now that I have decluttered so much I no longer have a use for it. I have given in to a friend who hopefully will appreciate it as much as I did.

Storage Bins

Eco Tip for the Day

Don’t throw those old sheets, towels, blankets and pillow in the trash donate them to an animal shelter, humane society, wildlife rescue service, kennel or veterinary surgery.

For a full list of my eco tips so far click here

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.

After reading today’s title you are probably thinking ~ Isn’t everything we declutter material possessions ~ and you would be right. When I say material here though I mean fabric. So you guessed it this week’s missions are all going to be things made from fabric. Let’s see if I can come up with six things made from fabric that you might have to declutter.

Monday – Declutter some old curtains that haven’t been hung in a while. I don’t have any curtains in my home because to me they are just dust collectors. I prefer blinds than curtains which I can just wipe down quickly with a duster. My vertical blinds must have some sort of dust repelling quality to them as they don’t collect dust at all.  Gotta love that!

Tuesday – Declutter craft fabrics that you haven’t had inspiration to use in a long time.

Wednesday – Declutter a canvas wall art piece that you don’t love.

Thursday – Declutter an item of clothing that you don’t feel good in. Be that because of  fit, visual or comfort reasons.

Friday – Declutter any sad old linen pieces. Old towels, sheets, pillow slips, hand towels, handkerchiefs, cloth diapers, wash clothes etc.

Saturday –   Declutter some old cleaning rags that have been used too many times already. Perhaps you could repurpose some of those linen items mentioned above into new rags. Personally I use microfibre and some of mine are getting very thread bare and therefore ineffective so will be tossed this week.

Sunday - Sunday is reserved for contemplating one particular item, of your choice that is proving difficult for you to declutter. Whether that be for sentimental reasons, practical reasons, because the task is laborious or simply unpleasant, or because the items removal requires the cooperation of another person. That last category may mean that the item belongs to someone else who has to give their approval, it could also mean there is a joint decision to be made or it could mean that the task of removing it requires assistance from someone else. There is no need to act on this contemplation immediately, it is more about formulating a plan to act upon or simply making a decision one way or another.

Good luck and happy decluttering

Today’s Declutter Item

I am surprised to be still finding kitchen utensils that I am prepared to declutter. We only need one pizza cutter, I don’t julienne vegetables and I only kept the middle size scone cutter because that is the only one I use.

Kitchen Utensils

Eco Tip for the Day

Drink tap water in preference to carbonated beverages. It doesn’t take a genius to work out how much better that is for the environment. Your waistline and your teeth will thank you for it as well.

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

It’s time for the change over of seasonal clothes and an opportunity for the simplest decluttering of all: Decluttering without even trying. When you get your clothes out of storage (or, in my case, when I stop using the lower hanging bar [hot weather] and start using the upper hanging bar [cool weather]), turn all the hangers backwards. At the end of the season, anything that is still turned around the wrong way is something you no long wear. Congratulations! You just decluttered your closet without even trying.

The Weekends Mini Missions

Saturday - Declutter something from your basement, attic or garage.

Sunday - Sunday is reserved for contemplating one particular item, of your choice that is proving difficult for you to declutter. Whether that be for sentimental reasons, practical reasons, because the task is laborious or simply unpleasant, or because the items removal requires the cooperation of another person. That last category may mean that the item belongs to someone else who has to give their approval, it could also mean there is a joint decision to be made or it could mean that the task of removing it requires assistance from someone else. There is no need to act on this contemplation immediately, it is more about formulating a plan to act upon or simply making a decision one way or another.

My Gratitude List for This Week

• I am grateful for the book I just finished reading. (The Shack by William P Young)
• That my daughter is home.
• That my daughter has been cooking for me all week.
• That I learn new things everyday and hopefully am becoming a better person for it.
• I am grateful to be free to explore my own possibilities.

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!

Henave has worked out how much easier it is to stay tidy just owning less. Read about it in this comment.

I hope Jane was right about this comment.

Wendy B has the right routine to avoid early morning panics when she had a job in the city. Read about it here.

Jen tells us how she is going to extent the November Challenge right into the new year. She also confirms her reasons for knowing why putting everything away makes life easier in the long run.

Favourite Web Finds. Happy reading!

In this link from One Good Thing by Jillee you might discover ways to reduce the volume of things in you need to stock in your pantry. When my brown sugar runs out I will be buying me a small bottle of treacle for sure but I am not going to bother mixing it I will just add them both to any recipe that calls for brown sugar.

Here is a great article ~ How to teach your kids to live simply from over at Midway Simplicity.

This link was sent to me by Snosie it has 10 good tips on things you can declutter fast.

If you aren’t convinced that small home living is for you then take a look at this post sent to me by Ideealistin.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something from your dining area.

Today’s Declutter Item

I bought these with the aspiration of using them as a crafting tool but never did. I tried selling them on ebay, no success. I offered hem to an acquaintance in a Facebook group I am part of ~ she said yes but never messaged back to arrange pick-up. So they went ~ where I should probably have taken them in the first place and saved myself so much bother ~ to the thrift shop where they sold in a heartbeat.

Shape Cutters for Cake Icing

Eco Tip of the Day

Be familiar with all of the recycling possibilities in your area. Local government websites usually have lots of information on this. Also word of mouth is another way of finding out.

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

Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom

Cindy

My mother is a famous procrastinator, at least according to my father. He once bought her a t-shirt with a letter printed on it that said, “Ken, I promise to stop procrastinating. Later. -Rosalie.”

Considering that I think my mother never stops moving and doing, I’m not really sure what he was talking about. Maybe’s she’s changed over time. I know that in terms of procrastination, I can change from week to week.

What I find is that procrastination doesn’t save time; it creates work, clutter, and distraction.

Obviously we can’t do every single thing we think needs to be done the moment we think about it, but have you ever found a “to do” on your desk and realize it’s been there a month? How about two months or a year? I have. If it’s been there a year, maybe it never really needed to be done in the first place, or maybe you’ve got a bill or responsibility that is way, way overdue.

Simply in looking around my own house, here are some ideas about how procrastination creates trouble:

• Clothes left in the washer sour and have to be rewashed. Clothes left in the dryer wrinkle terribly and have to be ironed.
• Dishes left unwashed attract bugs.
• Paper left undone creates late notices from the bank and a feeling of shame and disorganization.
• A pile of stuff by the door that needs to go to the thrift store looks cluttered, encourages mess, and may start to shrink as people sneak items back out of the pile and into the house, where they’ll eventually have to be re-sorted again.

One of the things that amazes me the most about procrastination is often how quickly the job can be taken care of. Obviously, I’m not talking about cleaning the whole garage in 5 minutes. But you can pay a bill, hang the dry clothes, load the dishwasher, and put the items for the thrift store in your car, all within about five minutes.

Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.

A stitch in time saves nine.

If it only take 5 minutes, do it now and do it right.

Today’s Mini Mission

 Declutter something from your living room.

Today’s Declutter Item

Here is something that has been taking up plenty of space in my shed for some time. The friend I was giving it to finally came to pick it up and I am glad to see the back of it.

Corner Display Shelves

Eco Tip for the Day

As Cindy’s post indicates ~ Don’t leave tasks linger for so long that you have to redo them such as drying the washing or folding it. This can cause you to have to waste more electricity, time and wear and tear on your appliances.

“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