Deb J

I’m puzzled. I have a bunch of puzzles as you can see. I don’t want to declutter them because I enjoy working them more than once. Along with reading, working puzzles is a way to relax for me. The harder they are the better but I also like them when they are pretty or show places I’d like to visit or have fond memories of.

They looked crowded and cluttered where they were. I have been trying to decide where to put them so they would be out of site yet easy to pull out. I found several places—my almost empty closet shelf, inside one of the cupboards, in the extra closet in Mom’s bathroom. I didn’t like any of those ideas. It just meant more stuffed into places that were decluttered and looking nice.

I had a great idea. Why do the puzzles have to be in those boxes that take up so much room? Maybe I should find some type of storage with a drawer for each puzzle. Nah, who wants to spend money on something like that? Not me! So what do I do? Ah, put them in Ziploc bags we already have too many of and then in a box. I like the way it turned out and it looks nice too.

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Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something in the beauty, body pampering or toiletry range.

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

Doodle

Those of us who have been decluttering for a while, know the general principles laid out below:

1)If you haven’t worn it for a year, then it possibly needs to go.

2)Don’t buy clothes you need to lose weight to look good in.  Don’t keep clothes there isn’t a realistic chance of fitting into in the next year.

3)If you haven’t touched an unfinished creative project for 2 years, it’s fair to say you probably never will.

I think these are great principles but of course, there are always exceptions to the rule and I’ve just experienced 2 of them, so I shall confess…

Here’s a picture I embroidered 23 years ago and it’s been stuck in a bag ever since waiting to be framed. I’ve dithered over whether to get it done many times, and then back in the attic it has gone.

Don’t these indecisions hang over you eh?

But last month I finally got it done and it now hangs on my mantle piece.  And the relief of that decision being done and dusted is immense.

So what was the dithering about? I guess for a long time I had little money to spare for such luxuries as framing. And then some of the time I wasn’t sure how much I liked it and then there was a slight problem with the embroidered mount that wasn’t easy to resolve and put me off trying. And finally, I could never face the decision making process of what sort of frame would look good. All this took up TWENTY THREE YEARS!

And now it is done and I so love it and it is giving me much pleasure every time I walk into the room. It is the only embroidery I have ever done, as like my mother, me and needle work are not natural bedfellows. But I was very poorly at the time I did it and there wasn’t much else I could find to occupy my time that I could actually do. It represents one of the first times in my life I took an irrational fancy to doing something unfamiliar and let myself do it with finding a 100 reasons to not just follow my feeling. That was the start of the road to recovery.

My other experience is that last year I fell in love with a dress in a nearly new shop and bought it even though it was a size too small. Now we know that breaks the cardinal rule don’t we. Buy clothes for now, not some never never time in the future when we think we will lose weight like we’ve been promising ourselves for  along time…

Then, very unexpectedly, given various health issues I have had over a number of years, I took up running in the Autumn, following a marvellous beginners program called C25k (couch to 5k) which gets complete couch potatoes running 5K (3.1 miles) in 9 ish weeks.  Yesterday I tried on the dress. It fits and really suits me.

I guess that’s why we have the saying ‘exceptions to the rule’.  I shall ensure it remains an exception though!

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter a décor item. Anything from curtaining to floral arrangements to cushions or figurines.

Eco Tip for the Day

Stop using fabric softener some experts say that it is a waste of money and not that good for your clothes. Try using white vinegar instead. Not only will it remove chemical residue in your fabrics but will also help control mould and mildew in your washing machine. If you like to add a nice scent to your wash load add a few drops of essential oil.

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

Have you ever noticed how when you buy something it requires you to buy something else to go with it. You buy a new dress and then decide you need shoes to match. You buy a new cookbook and realise you need some extra utensils and ingredients to make the recipes. You buy a piece of sporting equipment and you need to by a storage bag, another piece of equipment, maintenance equipment and supplies. You buy a leather garment and you need leather conditioner. You buy a bike and need a pump, an oil can, a helmet and a basket…

I could go on and on about this for hours. And the same goes to changes in your life. A young person gets their licence and then they need a car and all the stuff that goes with maintaining it. You have a child and I haven’t got space here to list all the things that usually accompanies this wondrous occasion. You change hairstyles and then you need different products and styling equipment. You start a new hobby witch requires tools and supplies. You change careers and a different set of equipment and dress code are necessary. And once again the list goes on.

It is no wonder then that our homes end up so cluttered with stuff. Even less of a wonder when with the passing of each phase we then store them away in case we need this stuff again someday. Meanwhile we have moved into another phase and acquired all the stuff that goes along with it.

People often ask me if I ever regret getting rid of things. Well sometimes an occasion arises where it would have been good had I still had an item on hand, but I usually improvise and manage without it. I have long ago learned that most of the things we acquire along this journey of life are just conveniences and we can get by happily without them.

Hence why I have little regret for letting things go and no desire to rush out buying stuff to equip me for a new phase of life. That is not to say I don’t buy anything at all, but what I do do is give it long and considered thought. I also test run ideas before taking the plunge. But that is a post for another day.

So what I am getting at with this post is…

When moving from one phase to another in life, as this is inevitable, declutter the stuff that worked with your old life and think very carefully about what you will use in the new one before rushing out to reclutter your home. And be wise to the pitfall that one purchase leads to another and another. Choose wisely.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter a fashion item. Be that clothing, accessories, shoes or maybe just a magazine.

Eco Tip for the Day

Use some sort of reusable splatter guard when heating in the microwave. This can be rinsed off and used over and over rather than wasting paper towel or plastic wrap. I use a large plastic microwave safe container lid when reheating most dishes or a glass casserole dish with a lid when cooking from scratch.

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.

This weeks mini missions are broad ranging. Each mission gives you a wide variety of items to choose from. I will be very surprised if you can’t find something for each category this week. And don’t tell me you decluttered something of the sort last week. Last week was last week and doesn’t count this week. 😉 Good luck and happy decluttering.

Monday – Declutter something food related. Whether that be for serving, preparing or eating.

Tuesday – Declutter a fashion item. Be that clothing, accessories, shoes or maybe just a magazine.

Wednesday РDeclutter a d̩cor item. Anything from curtaining to floral arrangements to cushions or figurines.

Thursday – Declutter something in the beauty, body pampering or toiletry range.

Friday – Declutter a hardware item. Anything form a power tool to a nail or a large as a plank of wood.

Saturday – Declutter something outdoorsy. Camping, sporting, gardening etc.

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

Eco Tip for the Day

Don’t switch on lights to do something in a dimly lit room unless it requires fine motor skills.

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

I have been receiving and reading some good post by other bloggers lately that I feel the need to share with you. Here is a great one that Cindy sent through to me…

www.inc.com ~Want to be truly productive? End each day like this. By Kevin Daum

Please read it before reading on.

I particularly liked his first suggestion…

“1. Finish one “organizing” project. Busy people always have some organizing project they have yet to get accomplished. It might be cleaning out an old file drawer or clearing your email. Whatever it is, schedule 20 minutes at the end of the day and tackle it.  Even if you get partway done you’ll feel like you started to accomplish something.  Within a week at most the task will be done and you’ll feel lighter inside.”

Why not consider what you want to declutter during the day then take those 10 minutes at the end of the day to physically remove it to your transition point. This idea is in line with yesterdays post of separating deciding from doing. Take your time to make the decision during the day then do the task and enjoy the satisfaction right before relaxing and turning in for the night.

Quite often, even if you have no decluttering item in mind when the day starts out, you will encounter objects during the day that will come under scrutiny. Give yourself the rest of the day to make the decision as to whether an item can stay or go.

Also, as Kevin suggests, doing a small portion of a large task will give you satisfaction and inspiration to continue, if only in increments. Doing a big task in small chunks can be far less gruelling than trying to tackle it all at once.

You can then rest well in the satisfaction that you have accomplished another step in your decluttering journey.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter old videos, DVDs, records or CDs you no longer watch or listen to.

Eco Tip for the Day

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

Here is a guest post from July 2013 by Linda Bailey from housekeeping.org that I thought was worth repeating for the lessons it contains. Enjoy!

So I tend to bite off more than I can chew. A few months ago the opportunity to have everyone out of the house for a weekend seemed like the perfect time to do some major cleaning up. I had high hopes. I was going to tackle the worst room in the house. It was filled floor to ceiling with boxes from the move and just had enough floor space to walk a thin path around it. Since the move had taken place some five years before I had the brilliant idea that it would be no sweat to clear out that area.

But where to start? I mean of course you wanted to start near the door so you could make sure you had room to actually get things in and out but What then? Well, I started out at the door. To the right of the door was a large bookshelf filled with odds and ends and stacked on top of the shelf were old boxes. I managed to get a step ladder and started from the top. The boxes were very heavy and I barely made it safely to the floor with them. I imagined they were books or something equally as hefty. As I opened them I discovered they were VHS tapes. Boxes and boxes of VHS tapes.

The hoarder in me wanted to save them as I had invested a lot of money completing my collection but I was reminded of my vow to stop collecting things. Things are not important. People and memories are. If I really wanted to remember a particular video I could just take a photo of it and remind myself to look it up later. I did, however, go through the boxes and take out the recordings of my family. I did not want to toss out memories, just junk. That took me some time and I hauled the boxes down the stairs and out to the street.

Moving on, I went through the rest of the bookshelf. I had three boxes with me. One was marked Goodwill, one was Trash and the last, smallest box was Keep. I went through those shelves ruthlessly tossing almost all of the junk into the goodwill pile. Broken dishes, bits of paper and so on went into the trash. That went quickly and I was relieved. Beyond the bookshelf was a walk in closet. It wasn’t the biggest closet, about the size of a twin bed. However it was packed with old clothes and more boxes, big ones.

I got the boxes down one by one. The first few largest ones were filled with blankets. Twin, King, Queen, quilts and throws and everything in between. Some I recognized as belonging to my great-grandmother and I set them aside. Others were down and were perfect for winter. The rest I threw in the Goodwill box. Although it is good to have extra blankets on hand I though three large boxes full was going a bit overboard. Especially when we had not used them in five years. Throw pillows, stuffed animals and other small soft things were in the next box. Then I got to the hard part. Boxes of photos and papers.

The photos had to be kept, of course, although I was not going to volunteer to sort through them and create an album. The papers were old enough that they could be tossed safely and I tossed as quickly as I could. A box of my old things from college was next and I couldn’t help but hold on to a relic or two. A small box of old comics went into a pile for eBay along with a few collectable toys.

All the dust was really starting to make my eyes water and I dragged some things downstairs for a break. Gathering a mask and washing my hands I ventured back into the never ending closet. The clothes were next on my list. I brought up trash bags and just started to go through the clothes one by one. Easter dresses, graduation gowns, old sweaters, Halloween costumes and anything else you probably would not miss packed the closet. The packed bags filled the floor of the closet and I was forced to drag everything out to my car before continuing. Exhausted and only halfway through with the closet I called it a night.

The next day I started up again. I finished the clothing leaving only a few outfits to decorate the bare walls. Before I could move on however I had to address the growing pile of bags and boxes in my living room. Far more than could fit in the trunk of my car I had to figure out a way to get them to Goodwill. I finally got my neighbor to drive a load up in the back of his pickup and we managed to get the whole thing done in one go.

When I returned to finish up the room I felt defeated. I had barely scratched the surface in a day and a half of steady work. On top of that the break from the family had been cut short and they were due back any minute. I forced myself to straighten up and make sure the walking path was navigable again. Thoroughly disgusted I felt like I had wasted my time. But then I thought about how much I had gotten rid of. Hundreds of pounds of junk was no longer in my house. Even though it might not look like much, it was that much less I would have to deal with in the future.

The experience also inspired me to tackle my own closet. It was much smaller and less daunting then the one I had already done. With only an hour or two of work I was able to get my closet in great shape and feel like I had accomplished something.

Beyond just cleaning up that closet I also learned a valuable lesson. Even good stuff that is stored away becomes bad stuff eventually. There is no sense in keeping things you are not going to use. It only makes it that much harder on you later. Now I have started to just throw/give away things that do not have to be kept. I try to get at least one bag a week in my trunk and off to Goodwill. This helps me to keep the clutter from building up again. Hopefully one day I can get the clutter in my home under control, but until that point I will try my best to not add to it.

I have started to think of clutter like the chains in Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol. Every day we build a new link in the chains that bind us when we continue to let junk build up in our lives. The only way to break free is to stop building the chains and start working to undo them.

Author Bio:

This post is contributed by Linda Bailey from housekeeping.org. She is a Texas-based writer who loves to write on the topics of housekeeping, green living, home décor, and more. She welcomes your comments which can be sent to b.lindahousekeeping @ gmail.com.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter an item of costume jewellery.

Eco Tip for the Day

Take a few lesson on sewing and/or simple handyman tasks. This way you can repair things rather than throwing them out and buying a new one. My local hardware store give free lessons or repairing and repurposing, maybe yours does too.

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

I want you all to read this post by David @ Raptitude.com before going on.

Take from it what you will but this is how I applied the concept to decluttering.

Before doing any decluttering decide on your options for disposing of your clutter.

• Do some investigating and make a decision on where you can donate your clutter so you have this option in place prior to choosing which items are to go.
• Decide if eBay is an option for where you can do your selling.
• Check if Freecycle is available in your area and decide if that is another good option for you.
• Decide if putting your stuff aside for a yard sale would work for you and arrange the space required to store it before doing any decluttering of sellable items.
• Test the curb side decluttering method and decide whether that is also an option for you.
• Decide if a garbage skip is required to clear junk clutter and make the arrangements for one before you begin doing the dirty work.
• Decide on a staging area for storing your decluttered items prior to doing the selling, donating or giving them away. This way you can make your decisions then remove the items from their wasted space in your home until the next step is taken. You will feel like you are making progress even before they are totally gone.

Making the decisions on how and where you can offload your clutter will make the doing so much easier. With these arrangements made  you are left with plenty of mind space to make your choices of what you are prepared to let go. And if making those decisions still proves a little hard you can simplify your choices further by just following my mini missions.

Trying to decide, choose and do at the same time can be very frustrating and ultimately defeating. I had success with my decluttering process because I already had a donation site chosen, had sold the odd thing or two on eBay, was experienced at curb side decluttering and had a large garage for my staging area. And although I had plenty of successful garage sale experience I knew that, at one thing a day, I did not want to store things for months until I had enough for such a sale. So the decisions were made which just left me with the task of choosing what to part with. Disposing of them was a cinch making the process go smoothly. This gave me the confidence to stick to my task and achieve my goal.

So if you are in a pickle trying to decide, choose and dispose of things all at once. STOP. Then…

• Decide ~ (where and how to get rid of your clutter so you have a simple system in place to follow, then…
• Divide ~ choose, at your own pace, what no longer fits in your life and then…
• Conquer the clutter for good, by sending it on its way.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter an item of clothing that you no longer wear.

Eco Tip for the Day

Save a tree ~Stop junk mail. It mostly contains advertisements for stuff you don’t need anyway.

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.

This weeks mini mission are based on the kinds of items that I notice were donated at the thrift store last week. Specifically items that we seem to receive an copious and endless supplies of.

Monday – Declutter at least one glassware item.

Tuesday – Declutter an item of clothing that you no longer wear.

Wednesday – Declutter an item of costume jewellery.

Thursday – Declutter old videos, DVDs, records or CDs you no longer watch or listen to.

Friday – Declutter some items of crockery.

Saturday – Declutter at least one book it is doubtful you will ever read again.

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

Eco Tip for the Day

Consider secondhand when making purchases.

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

I was chatting with my mum yesterday and we were discussing the imminent arrival of my niece’s baby who will be my mother’s second great granddaughter. We were both hoping that she would be born yesterday (12th of February here in Australia). Then my mother would have a daughter, a granddaughter and a great granddaughter all born on the 12th of February. (She also has a niece born on that date as well). She said “I must look up the family history book and see if there are any other relatives born on that date.”  To which I replied  “It would be better if you had the family tree on-line because then you could just do a document search for the date which would save you hours of scouring the book.” Which brings me to my decluttering point for today.

Before my decluttering mission began in earnest I used to own folders and folders full of scrapbook/papercraft magazines. I often used to pour through them for hours trying to find examples of certain occasions that I was planning to document. The thing is, it was much more effective to google for such examples on the internet. The search engine would take me immediately to numerous examples in the blink of an eye.

It is the same for just about any subject that one would be inclined to save magazines for. It is much easier to just do an internet search for what you want. So why keep all those shelves full of dusty paper versions of something that takes up no more space than a laptop and saves you time and possibly a dose of hay fever to boot.

So let those magazines go and cancel your subscriptions. It will save you space, time and money.

Today’s Mini Mission

Reposition or relocate something that has become unused due to inconvenient placement.

Eco Tip for the Day

Cancel those magazine subscriptions. The internet is a far more efficient tool for keep up with any subject matter.

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

I received the following statement in a comment from Michelle yesterday…

“This blog is just awesome. I feel better in my surroundings, things are easier to clean and keep organized. I think I’m saving money because I’ve been trying to use up what we already have. Thanks so much, Colleen, for your encouragement and support.”

I get messages like this quite often, sometimes from people who were sceptical that they could reach their goals and it is very satisfying. Not just for myself, that my blog is helping others, but more so, I get to share in the joy of their success and realisation of the positive effect it has on their lives.

Many people start out just wanting to reduce the amount of stuff in their homes. Others want to be able to receive guests at short notice without feeling embarrassed about the state of their homes. Some really are bogged down deeply in clutter while others like myself want to be able to downsize to a more minimalist existence. But one thing is for sure that nearly everyone of them are pleasantly surprised at how freeing it is, and how much easier it is to maintain their homes with less stuff.

And quite often, like Michelle has mentioned, people also realise that this new uncluttered, less materialistic lifestyle has a positive effect on their finances.

One of the most unexpected effect on my life is the appearance of my grocery cart when I go food shopping. The fact that my son has also moved out in that time made a big difference but now my cart is mostly full of fresh meat and vegetables. This is the eco friendly behaviour my decluttering quickly turned me on to. I buy so few cleaners, very little processed food, fewer paper products etc.  Just one more reason to to praise the effects decluttering can have on life.

So if you have any doubt that the effort is worth it then doubt no more.

Today’s Mini Mission

Pull out some old hobby equipment and test your desire to rekindle the interest in that pastime. If the desire is strong enough you will find the time and effort, if not let it go.

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