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 the mini missions will have a two fold purpose, one to find something to declutter, as usual, and the other to force you to observe what you bring into your home. Sometimes we don’t notice the little things we bring in that can, over time, build up into a whole lot more clutter.

Monday – Declutter by beginning to use up a toiletry item that you don’t like so much. Observe what you bring in, in the way of toiletry items when shopping this week. Are they really things you will need quite soon? Are they items you are just trying out for the first time? Are they even necessary? Or are you stocking up while something is on a special that will likely be repeated in the very near future.

Tuesday – Declutter an item you were given but no longer want. If you find yourself considering buying something for another person this week ask yourself will they really appreciate it and do they really need it.

Wednesday – Declutter an item of clothing. And if you are tempted to buy something new in the way of wearables this week just walk away.

Thursday – Declutter a novelty item. This could be a trinket, a jewellery item, a gadget etc. If you find yourself at the shops, even just the grocery store, observe all the silly novelty items there are out there produced for no real reason but to entice people to purchase them. So much of this stuff simply ends up in landfill when the novelty wears off. Avoid these items in future.

Friday – Declutter a DVD or CD you have rarely watched or listened to. The next time you are tempted to buy one stop and consider whether you will really get enough use out of it to justify the space it will take up on the shelf. With digital music devices and online movie options, like Netflix, there is really no need to own tangible copies of such things anymore.

Saturday – Declutter a sentimental item that isn’t really all that meaningful. When you are at the shopping mall next consider all the items you see that can quickly turn from merchandise to sentimental item simply because someone else gave it to you or you bought it as a souvenir. Maybe this exercise will help you detach from more of the same things still lingering in your home.

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

Random Acts of Miscellaneous Kindness

(Little thoughtful acts for no reason but to make a complete strangers life a little easier.)

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.

First lets consider “the person you aren’t v. the person you are.

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 love 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 loveable characteristics and declutter all the stuff that goes along with this realisation.

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, or on the other had hope they don’t? 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.

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.

Most clutter is annoying, mostly in a subtle way that is just niggling in the background. However some clutter is more annoying. So let us work on that more annoying clutter today. Hopefully in the attempt we will all identify some items that we will feel much better for getting rid of. So lets begin.

Monday – Declutter some items from an overcrowded area. Perhaps the utensil drawer, office desk drawer, bathroom cabinet, sock drawer, linen closet… . Being about to use these areas with the hassle of overflow will make your life that little more pleasant.

Tuesday – Declutter an item that is annoying because you just don’t like it. Perhaps an unwanted gift, something visually unappealing, or just something you lost interest in a long time ago.

Wednesday – Declutter something that is annoyingly inefficient, such as any items that don’t work properly or doesn’t do a good job of what it’s purpose is. Perhaps a kitchen gadget that isn’t time saving, an electronic item that has lost some of its function…

Thursday – Declutter an item of clothing that is annoyingly ill fitting.

Friday – Declutter something that may be causing you, or someone else in the household an allergy problem. Dust collectors would be a prime target for this mini mission, such as trinkets, fabric décor items, old rugs, excessive cushions…

Saturday – Declutter something left behind by a previous member of the household. Check if they want it back and give them a deadline as to when it needs to be collected or out it goes.

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

Random Acts of Miscellaneous Kindness

(Little thoughtful acts for no reason but to make a complete strangers life a little easier.)

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 mini missions address items that you may not have considered decluttering in the past. You may not even consider the idea when you see what they are, but I thought I would make the suggestion anyway and allow you to give them some thought. I no longer have any of the items mentioned here and some I never did. With all of these items you could instigate a trial separation where you don’t use them for a month and see how you cope. If, like me, you have none of them them consider items closely related to them, for some you could declutter items stored in them.

Monday – Consider decluttering your home phone. Do you really need a static phone as well as a mobile for each person in the household?

Tuesday – Consider decluttering your second television or the third one if you have that many. Let’s face it how much time do we really need to waste sitting around watching TV or videos.

Wednesday – Do you really need an alarm clock when your cell phone can carry out this task. Consider decluttering it.

Thursday – Declutter a piece of furniture, especially if its only purpose is to hold items that need dusting.  Hopefully your previous decluttering efforts might have freed up such a piece by now.

Friday – Declutter a filing cabinet. Once you have decluttered your accumulated paperwork and have become realistic about what you really need to retain in the future, perhaps decluttering your filing cabinet, or at least downsizing to one with less drawers, would make sense. The lack of excess filing space may encourage you to stay on top of the paper clutter in the future, having no place to store it out of sight out of mind.

Saturday – I have mentioned this next item before but not often. Consider decluttering your second fridge or freezer. I know that some people use theirs for economic purchasing reasons but if that is not the case do you really need it. Many second fridges in Australia are used almost purely for storing beer and soft-drinks (soda), neither of which are good for you when consumed in large quantities and/or too frequently.

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

The following post was published previously however it has reached it’s comment capacity. As there are still readers who are enjoying participating Nicole has come up with solution of republishing it so the game can continue. Maybe reposting will also entice a few more players. Enjoy!

A guest post by: Nicole V

Do you know the word game in which a player begins with a word in a particular category (countries or cities, for instance), with subsequent players taking turns to say a new word that begins with the final letter of the previous word? Once a word has been given, it cannot be repeated and any player who is unable to come up with a word is out of the game. It is usually referred to as the ‘Last and First’, ‘Last Letter Game’ or ‘Last Letter Word Chain’ although I’m sure there must be other names for it. Well, I was thinking that it might be fun for us 365ers to try out something similar while decluttering, but I wanted to make it a more challenging game, one involving quick thinking and action and one in which anyone can come in at any time and make a quick play in real-time. I decided to throw down the decluttering gauntlet and wait to see who is the fastest 365er to take up the challenge. Here’s what I came up with:

1. I begin by decluttering three forks from a drawer.

2. Whoever is fast enough then continues the game by quickly thinking of and finding an item to declutter from any one category – either number or item or place – to play in. This could be eitherthree items (but not forks) or an item beginning with the letter ‘k’ or ‘s’ (the second last or last letter of forks*) or any number of anything (that is not a fork) from any drawer. If you select the number category, you have to declutter identical items. So, if Colleen is the quickest player who is able to continue the game, she could then either declutter three bowls or one (or any number) kettle orspoon or a non-fork item from any drawer in her home. She will then update the rest of us in the online comment thread.

*In the case of plural nouns, you can use either the last or second last letter of the word to continue under the item category – in the case of the forks, this would mean that the next item can begin with the letter ‘s’ or ‘k’. Thank you, Colleen, for your input regarding this.

3. The game continues with any 365er who is quick to identify something to declutter and comment about. There is no need for the item to leave your home immediately, you just need to identify it and earmark it for decluttering (whether you donate, recycle, shred, etc) as soon as possible. But you have to be quick on the draw as the categories will keep changing depending on how fast another 365er declutters something and updates the rest of us about it. If another 365er has read the latest update and quickly decluttered something and updated the online comment thread before you were able to list your item, you’ll have to either:

(a) Recategorize your item under one of the other two categories, if possible, or

(b) Keep that item and jump in on another round or

(c) Quickly look for another suitable item that relates to the current round and play it before someone else does.

4. To keep it interesting, items cannot be repeated in consecutive turns – if someone declutters shoes, the next person cannot declutter shoes as well (and must find another item that begins with the letter ‘e’ or ‘s’) but the person after that can. The number of items decluttered and the place or room that the item was decluttered from can, of course, be repeated in consecutive turns.

5. Be as creative and imaginative as you can possibly be (or get away with!) regarding the categories and have fun!

So, with apologies to Effie Trinket, all that’s left is for me to say: “Happy Decluttering Games and may the odds be ever in your favour!”