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’s missions are inspired by what I store in my bathroom. If you have more than one bathroom focus on the one with the most clutter or spread them over both. No offence ladies but it is usually the females in the house with the most bathroom clutter. Be they the mother figure or the daughters from teenage up. However all but maybe Monday’s apply to the guys as well. So lets have at it.

Monday – Go through your makeup items. Declutter any you don’t use anymore.

Tuesday – Declutter any toiletry products you aren’t likely to use because you tried them but didn’t like them. Shampoos, conditioners, bady wash, moisturisers etc. Perhaps donate them to a women’s or men’s shelter.

Wednesday – If you have more towels than necessary declutter a few. They take years to wear out so you won’t be leaving yourself short. Donate good ones to a thrift shop and shabby ones to an animal shelter or the like.

Thursday – Declutter as many items as possible cluttering up your shower recess. Only keep in there what you use very regularly, as excess items get mouldy and soap scummed which can cause odours and harbour germs.

Friday – Declutter any decor items in your bathroom that only serve to collect dust and mildew. Particularly those waxy candles attracting dust on the side of the bathtub. Artificial flower arrangements are also big dust and mildew attractors.

Saturday – Declutter any drugs or first-aid items whether stored in your bathroom or elsewhere.

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 accept free promotional products that you have no use for. Accepting these just encourages the continuation of this practice while the environment would be healthier without the manufacture of cheap throwaway or needless items like these usually are.

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

Doodle

I have done so well with de-cluttering my stuff over these last 3 years. I have got rid of a lot, and not regretted any of it. It has also taught me to think more carefully about what I bring into the house. But I still have one aspect of de-cluttering that doesn’t get any easier for me:

I am really bad at actually getting the pile of stuff I have declared can go out of the house.

I mean really bad – I defer and defer and then procrastinate some more. I’ve worked out that for me it is around fear of regret and loss, even though experience tells me I haven’t once regretted anything after it has gone. But every time I take things to the charity shop, I occasionally feel overwhelmed with irrational regret for a few days and it is that few days experience that makes me defer the final decision because I don’t enjoy living through it.

I have no idea why I feel this: I know all the theory about sentimental attachment and loss etc, but when it happens, it isn’t enjoyable.

The human mind is a complex thing is it not? Sometimes analysing why we feel how we do is good, but other times, I find it more helpful just to accept this quirk of how I am and find ways to work around it. A case of ‘feeling the fear and doing it any which way I can’.

A couple of times, with stuff I need to go and I want to go but I seem choked over the final parting, I have either:

• asked a friend to take it for me. That’s quite a good tactic. Don’t ask me why that is easier, but I have discovered it is, so I use it!
• arranged collection by a charity that particularly touches me (in this case, our local Hospice), that helps me let go when I know they really need the money.
• Taken the one thing out of the pile my feelings seemed to be focussed on and got rid of the rest with no problem.

Ultimately , at some point, having the stuff hang around for (sometimes) months eventually tips the balance and I get desperate just to see the back of it and that overcomes the other feelings.

I’m not asking for help or suggestions, lol, this is how I am and how I deal with it effectively.

I am just sharing some self awareness of what I find difficult in case it helps anyone else reading who thinks we all find it easy.

At the end of the day, although I have found this at times difficult, I have let go of two thirds of my own possessions in the last 3-4 years.  I love lightning the load. And sometimes I briefly remember some of the things I got rid of that took me months and feel great that they are gone and out of my life.

 

What do you find most difficult and what strategies can/do you use to combat this?

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter anything with words on. Book, magazine, T-shirt, old bill…

Eco Tip for the Day

Don’t leave lights on in unoccupied rooms even if you are only vacating them for a few minutes.

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

Does your clutter say more about the person you aren’t than the person you are. Or perhaps the person you were, rather than the person you are now.

Lets take “the person you aren’t v. the person you are first.

Do you have outfits in your wardrobe that are the latest fashion but don’t really suit your taste or your body for that matter? Are there also pretty but uncomfortable shoes in there that you avoid using and when you do it is torture. Do you have ingredients in your pantry, shelves of dusty cookbooks or files of unused recipe clippings, and a kitchen full of rarely used utensils, pans and gadgets? Do you have craft supplies for a hobby that you loved the outcome of but have no aptitude to participate in? Do you have pretty, cups, plates and dishes in a china cabinet for fancy dinner parties that you never host?

I could go on and on with other examples but I think you get the idea. Can you see yourself in one of these examples or, after reading them, can come up with other forms of aspiration clutter around your house. If so, ask yourself, “Am I that person or do I only wish I was because it represents someone else’s ideal?” Make a better fist of trying this persona on for size by participating for a while. Long enough to come to a conclusion. Or give it up and be the unique person you really are with your own assets and lovable characteristics.

Question two ~ Does your clutter say more about the person you were rather than the person you are now.

Are there sporting items idle in your home from back in the day when you participated in that sport? Perhaps equipment that you keep telling yourself you might use again someday. Do you have half a closet of clothes that used to fit you and hope will again someday? Do you have old ingredients in your pantry for dishes you can no longer eat because of digestive sensitivities. Do you have a room or closet dedicated to toys and children’s clothes from back in the day when your children weren’t grown and left home. Do you have shelves of books you used to have the time to read once upon a time but now you don’t.

Once again there are more and more examples that I could come up with. I am sure each of us have at least one example of this kind of clutter that we just haven’t got around to disposing of. Then there is the case of not admitting to ourself that we have moved past that phase and are unlikely to ever return.

Take a look around your home and see if you can find examples of these kinds of clutter. I have two drawers full of beading supplies that I doubt I am ever likely to return to. I use the findings to repair broken jewellery for the thrift shop I volunteer at, but aside from that I haven’t actually used any of it for ages. At the very least I need to reduce these supplies, at the most I should let go of nearly all of it except what I really do use. I’ve decided to use some of it for a craft project I have in mind but after that I think I will find an outlet to dispose of what’s left. In fact I have an idea in mind.

Can you be honest with yourself about your aspiration, or past life, clutter? Let us know if you identified any and what you are going to do about it.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter a tool of some sort. Be it craft, kitchen or garage.

Eco Tip for the Day

Challenge yourself to put every piece of recyclable material in the recycling bin no matter how small.. It is easy to be blasé about small pieces of paper or plastic but so long as they can be recycled they are best kept out of landfill.

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.

Monday – Declutter a piece of memorabilia. Something that doesn’t mean as much to you now as it once did.

Tuesday – Declutter a tool of some sort. Be it craft, kitchen or garage.

Wednesday – Declutter anything with words on. Book, magazine, T-shirt, old bill…

Thursday – Declutter a use-it-up item that you just aren’t using up regardless of good intentions to do so.

Friday – Trim back something, either by quantity or size, that is taking up more room than you’d like. Yesterday I tripped down some wallpaper samples that I intend to use for card making. They were large and awkward but now they fit in with the rest of my papers.

Saturday – Do a task that will result in something leaving your house. Last week I finished edging some material for a friend which I will give back when I see her next. I also sold one of the items I listed on ebay. And I finally delivered an old broken sewing machine to a man who refurbishes them.

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

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

Here is a great comment from Kimberley that I didn’t want anyone to miss…

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter some paper clutter ~ magazines, paperwork, old tax papers, expired warranties…

Eco Tip for the Day

Organise your weekly menu prior to grocery shopping. This will help avoid extra trips in the car to the store.

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

One of the ebay items I am procrastination about.

Do you ever find yourself juggling with the decision whether to donate or sell certain items you have decided to declutter. For me the items I most want to sell are items I feel the need to recoup some monetary loss on. Items that were relatively costly but I never did get much use from. These are items I most definitely want to get out of my house but my thrifty side says ~ “Sell, sell, sell!”  ~ while my I can’t be bothered with all the selling nonsense side says ~ Donate it and just get it the heck out of here, quickly and painlessly.

I have several craft items that I am juggling with this decision about right now. And I have had many such experiences in the past. What do I usually end up doing? I think it is about 50/50 sell v donate. And then there are the times when I have listed an item on ebay and it didn’t sell so I donated it anyway.

You would be forgiven for wondering why it is that, after all this time, I still find myself struggling with this decision from time to time. The answer with that is that question is that my desire to make some money back is equal to the amount I dislike going to the trouble of listing items on ebay.

I have done the pros and cons list and they come out about even…

• Making some cash v feeling good about making a donation
• Not having to pack up the item v Using up some of those pre-used packaging materials lingering in the garage cage.
• Getting it out of here quickly v the tantalising anticipation of receiving bids and the joy of a successful sale.
• Having to go to the post office v The extra exercise and nice harbour side walk to the post office.
• All that bother v the cash in hand.

You know what I am going to do. Finish off this post and just list the darn things instead of wasting the next hour browsing Pinterest for more craft ideas when I have so many going on in my head already. Why waste my brain space procrastinating while I waste my precious time faffing about doing nothing important.

See you, I have work to do.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter plastic items, excess shopping bags, kitchen containers, broken toys…

Eco Tip for the Day

Try to replace at least a couple of meat meals a week with plant based offerings.

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

The story of Adam and Eve, I believe, is about more than just defying Gods wishes and giving into temptation. Even many religious people believe this to be a made up story, a parable if you will, to make a point. Or even several points, if you read between the lines.  One clear lesson of this parable, that I see, is to be satisfied with what you have and not be forever wanting for more or other things.

Given the age of this story, even if made up, it is obvious that people have been inherently greedy for a millennia or more. So why is it that no matter how much we have we are always wanting something else. This gets me to thinking about another things that the nuns taught us about in Catholic School, and that is purgatory. This is a place, we were told, where sinners go when they die to suffer for their sins before being allowed into heaven.

Here is the definition as per my Apple Macbook dictionary…

purgatory |ˈpərgəˌtôrē|
noun (pl. purgatories)
(in Roman Catholic doctrine) a place or state of suffering inhabited by the souls of sinners who are expiating their sins before going to heaven.
• mental anguish or suffering: this was purgatory, worse than anything she’d faced in her life.

It has occurred to me more than once since my school days that it seems that we are already inhabiting such a purgatory. This state of never being satisfied with what we have is certainly a form of suffering in my opinion. It is a state that I am sure many of us would happily live without. It is a constant state of ~ This one next thing, or being just a little more financially comfortable, will make us happy. Then when we reach that state we once again find a new “one next thing or state of financial security” that will make us happy sometime in the future. Preferably sooner rather than later. If that isn’t a form of suffering then I don’t know what is.

My declutter journey has certainly eased this suffering for me, but the demons still come to visit now and again. Financial security is my Achilles heel but the desire to acquire can also creep up on me at times. I must say that I get far more long term satisfaction from letting go of things than I ever do from acquiring them. Maybe there is a lesson not to be missed from that experience.

And I don’t need to tell you that the more we resist these temptations the less we need to declutter.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter shabby fabric items other than clothes. Worn out napkins, rags, table cloths, cushion covers…

Eco Tip for the Day

Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. The more we refuse to acquire, therefore reducing our consumption and reusing what we already have, the better caretakers of the environment we become. And the less recycling we need to do.

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.

I didn’t have a theme for this weeks missions until I realised as I wrote Friday’s mission that most of the items I had mentioned in my list were items that tend to accumulate. Although I suppose clutter in general accumulates but many if the things I mentioned here tend to accumulate over and over again. Sometimes slowly and unnoticed until you eventually realise how numerous they have become. So lets get to reducing their number this week.

Monday - Declutter some digital clutter. Perhaps photos, emails or documents that are no longer needed.

Tuesday – Declutter shabby fabric items other than clothes. Worn out napkins, rags, table cloths, cushion covers…

Wednesday – Declutter plastic items, excess shopping bags, kitchen containers, broken toys…

Thursday – Declutter some paper clutter ~ magazines, paperwork, old tax papers, expired warranties…

Friday – Declutter out of date items ~ drugs, first aid items, pantry foods (spices for example), makeup…

Saturday – Declutter other items that have begun accumulating around your home recently. Perhaps, stationary items, books, hotel toiletries, freebies, unfinished projects, more of any of the items above…

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

Where possible, have family members take showers one after the other so as not to require wasting water getting it hot.

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

Recently my parents put a deposit on a property in a gated retirement community. I have to say I am very proud of them for taking this step. Mind you, it isn’t a fait accompli until the home is built and they have moved in, but being open to the idea and making the first move is a wonderful thing.

The home my parents are currently living in has become far more than people at their stage in life to should have to maintain ~ inside and out. In my opinion, the home itself has become their biggest item of clutter. Too many rooms to keep dusted, vacuumed and fresh, to much yard to mow and gardens to weed. Now they have decided to trade that in for a smaller premises, with added security and with lots of extra amenities thrown it ~ that they don’t have to maintain.

 For many people taking this step can be very difficult, sometimes only taken when fate steps in and deals them a painful blow, so to speak, which forces their hand. Often, once taken, these folks wonder why they were so reluctant because the outcome was far better than they had envisioned. Sadly I have also heard of many cases where the previous dwelling was the actual cause of that painful blow, due to its unsuitability for the persons mobility or reduced capacity to deal with the responsibilities involved.

My husband and I have already made such a move in our middle age. Better sooner than later I say, than wearing oneself out on unnecessary household duties.

I am glad that my parents have, through choice,  moved from house to  house throughout their married life making it less difficult to make this next move. but this isn’t the case for many people. Some having lived in, raised their children in and intend to die in the same home for just about their entire adult lives. I can only imagine how difficult it must be for them. And for some it is never necessary to make the move.

Like my parents, my husband and I have also been temporary dwellers in several homes. To us a home is where the heart is and the heart can be very transplantable in our case. Like Marco’s blue polo shirt in the post I linked to yesterday, the difference ii a polo shirt v the polo shirt. We are happy with a home to live in not needing it to be one particular house.

Has your home become your largest item of clutter. And if not, this question sure puts into perspective how trivial all those other smaller items of clutter are. Even if your current home is really quite suitable for you now is a good time to practise not being attached to material things by letting go of those little unimportant items.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter a something you have kept out of obligation but really wanted out of your house for some time. Perhaps an unwanted gift or a family heirloom you wish to hand on the responsibility to someone else in the family.

Eco Tip for the Day

Give consumable gifts. Preferably one from sustainable sources.

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

Doodle

I do love the mantra, a place for everything and everything in its place. This is a good rule to live by when dealing with an excess of stuff. But it is just as important to ensure that the place you give something to ‘live’ is also at the logical point of use, and easy to access.

We live in a small space so inevitably, we have our armchairs in front of book/storage shelves and these need to be moved if we want to get something behind them. One thing that has been annoying me for a while is that somehow, my filing system has ended up behind my chair (and therefore now behind a sofa – see last post ‘Would I buy it now?’).

Although on paper you wouldn’t think it takes a moment to move the chair/sofa, the reality is that is doesn’t happen and paperwork piles up unfiled. I also had an ‘in-tray’ next to my chair that I no longer had room for – and to be honest it only acted as an  – “can’t be bothered, let’s dumps it here for months” tray anyway and looked messy.

So on my unscheduled mass de-clutter day, in the middle of everything else, I decided to ruthlessly weed two 3 feet (1 metre)  shelves of paperwork to take up half the space and look for a new home for my paperwork…and no in-tray would be it had to be done straight away or diarised and filed.

Which led me to my 1950’s retro cupboard…. that was full of craft stuff:

I’ve had various crafting hobbies over time, but in recent years have been learning to down size the stuff I keep and to recognise hobbies I have gone off. A year ago I bought a 2^nd hand cabinet for my crafts stuff with the commitment that anything that couldn’t fit in there had to go. It’s worked really well. So well in fact it has made me see that after 10 months, I am no longer that interested in making stuff.

So, enthused by the changes I needed to make, I got ruthless with the contents.

This is just the bottom cupboard  pre sort out, the storage space above looked much the same:

All my craft stuff has now been reduced to just the bottom cupboard:

Now the top 2/3rds of the old crafting cabinet is my new office 😀

A month on, and not one bit of filing has hung around for days – it can be put away very quickly and easily. You will note from the photos that I have also labelled a lot of things with printed labels. This helps not just me, but if anything should happen to me, anyone else who needs to sort my paperwork and find vital stuff.

Anyone else got things they use regularly that never gets put away because there is no convenient place for it/ or too much effort to put it where in the place designated for it?

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter an item you have known you no longer want but guilt has had you hanging on to.

Eco Tip for the Day

Use the stairs rather than the elevator. This of course has the added bonus of a little impromptu exercise.