A Guest Post by ~ Deb J

As I have been following Colleen’s blog and the comments we make I realized something very pivotal for me. By decluttering my home, my clothes, my lifestyle my computer and my mind I am becoming unfettered.

I used to be restricted to having company only when we had time and energy to get out all the china and silver, and put on our “company best.” Everything had to be a production of monumental proportions. The house had to be spotless and so clean you could eat off the floor. This was a leftover from my upbringing, a result of being raised that everything had to be perfect. After all, everyone would be making an inspection and giving points. Right? At least that was what my mother thought. We no longer have the china and the silver. We realize that clean is fine and perfection is something that is never achieved because each person has their own idea of what perfection entails. Entertaining is now based on providing a place of relaxation and fun with a bit of good food thrown in. It can be spur of the moment because all a friend wants is time with you. They don’t care about the accoutrements.

I was restrained by a lifestyle based on what I thought others expected. The 
“Others” were everyone from my parents to people I had never met. Society has a way of making us feel that there is a standard to keep. I always chafed at this idea but felt I had to conform. I was an organized, minimalistic, introverted type person living a cluttered, unordered, noisy life. Everyone had an opinion of how I should live and what I should have. Life was a schedule of long work hours, assorted “must have” devices, assorted “must do” activities, and “must have” contacts. I now soar unfettered. My world is now made up of the work I love to do, the devices that actually make my life easier, the activities I want to be involved in and the friends I enjoy being with. A good walk down the streets of my neighborhood is just as beneficial as an hour at the gym and it has no cost. I don’t have to have a sculptured figure and be able to participate in a triathlon. I don’t have to have a job that pays $100,000 but requires putting in 60 hour weeks with a 24/7 pager and a title. I can be happier with a $50,000 job that requires only 40 hour weeks, has no title, has no pager and doesn’t require me to sell my soul for the company. I don’t need the money so much if I learn to live within my means and I stop thinking I have to measure up to some mythical person.

I am no longer tied down to the expectations set by Martha Stewart or Oprah or “Good Housekeeping Magazine” or my mother or my friends. I can spend my evening quietly with a good book. I no longer find myself involved in an activity every night in order to keep up with the myth. I don’t have to scrapbook every day of my life, take pictures of everyone in attendance at an event, attend every event, maintain a blog, text and instant message, follow every blog about every interest, keep up with the news 24 hours a day, listen to the radio or music all day long, and on and on and on. I’m free to be me not you or you or you.

I used to have a to-do list that never seemed to end. For every item I completed two to three more would crop up. I still keep a few lists. I have a list of things I’d like to have done to the house when we have the money. I have a list of chores I need to complete. I have a list of things I would like to do sometime just for fun. But those lists are just lists. Life can often get in the way of lists. I’ve stopped letting it bug me. I don’t let them tie me down. I’m learning to welcome interruptions because I have learned interruptions can disguise Heaven sent opportunities I would have never thought of.

I’m enjoying being unfettered. Life is so much better.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter one vessel that can contain fluid ~ drinking glass, fish tank, bottle, jar…

Today’s Declutter Item

Here are another set of slide clamps, 12 inch ones this time, also sold on ebay. Not every mans garage has to be full of tools regardless of what society might think. I’m with you Deb J to heck with the “rules” we’re doing things our way.

12inch Slide Clamps

Eco Tip for the Day

Be very selective about what you buy so that you are so satisfied with the product that you will use it until it wears out and not trade it in for something else soon after.

“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

Some time back I wrote a post ~ How many is too much ~ which addressed the issue of ~ what is clutter for one person is not neccessarily so for another. Last week I wrote a post ~ Over catering for guests ~ the goal of which was to get my readers thinking about how much stuff do you really need to keep in your home in order to cater for people who are only there a small percentage of the time.

In both these posts I give examples as to what I think is a reasonable amount of items to have for specific circumstances. However it is possible that many of my readers would agree in principal but may well be happy to possess more and in some cases even less than I stated. The suggestions I make here at my blog are a guide only and not some formula that is set in concrete that should be be applied to everyone.

For instance my suggestion last week on towels and sheets stated the bare minimum that I would be comfortable with. Some readers actually have less others more. I have more, although I would be very comfortable with the idea of reducing the numbers should the circumstance arise that I had less space to store them in. In fact I would happily declutter many items in my home in a heartbeat were I to finally find the perfect smaller home to purchase which was the original goal behind my decluttering mission. In fact many such items will likely be decluttered before then.

So basically what I am saying is your declutter goal may be minimalistic in nature while another person’s may simply be about not being embarrassed should guests drop by unexpectedly while yet another person may just want to be able to get to and from their bed without tripping over something.

The key is don’t have a static decluttering goal in mind and stay open to possibilities. In many ways I have reached points along my declutter journey that I hadn’t even envisaged before I set out. Such as…

• Realising I no longer had the desire to acquire stuff. What a freedom that was.
• When I became detached from pointless sentimental clutter . Another wonderful freedom.
• When I realised that so many of the things I had acquired in the past, expecting them to simplify my life, only made it more complicated.
• When I realised that having so many material choices didn’t make my life easer it actually complicated it.
• I believe that relinquishing my attachment to and desire for stuff has taught me to eliminate other control issues in my life.
• I would even say that the process of decluttering a family home has taught me to communicate better.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter one rarely used tool or gadget in you home.

Today’s Declutter Item

Who needs a napkin holder when they rarely if ever use napkins. This napkin holder stayed in my house so long not because it was useful but because it was handmade by my son in middle school. When asked he said he had no desire to keep it and didn’t expect me to either.

Napkin Holder

Eco Tip for the Day

Save on electricity by sweeping your hard floors instead of vacuuming them sometimes.

“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.

I have to admit that sometime my mini mission sound simple in theory but aren’t so simple to carry out. No 10 minutes simple anyhow. So this week I am going to make it really simple by name seven categories from which I only want you to declutter one thing. Should you choose to step it up a notch and declutter a few more then good for you.

Monday – Declutter one garden item ~ be that a sick plant, a garden gnome, a broken pot…

Tuesday –  Declutter one rarely used tool or gadget in you home.

Wednesday – Declutter one dust collecting ornament.

Thursday – Declutter one vessel that can contain fluid ~ drinking glass, fish tank, bottle, jar…

Friday – Declutter a pair of shoes you rarely use.

Saturday – Declutter a electric cable that serves no purpose.

Sunday – Declutter something made of paper.

Good luck and happy decluttering

Today’s Declutter Item

I have enough nice glass salad bowls that I don’t need to keep this cheap plastic one. Another donation for the thrift store.

Plastic Salad Bowl

Eco Tip For The Day

Cutting back on washing powder ~ combine a fraction of your regular laundry powder (1/4 for top loader or 1/8 for front loader) with 2 tablespoons of bicarb soda.

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

One of your fellow readers would like your opinion on something. Please read her message below and add your advice if you wish by leaving a comment for her. Thank you in advance for your help.

I have been on a mission to declutter my house. My house was never a disaster by any stretch of the imagination but in my opinion there was just too much stuff. It stresses me out. Since February I have been working though my possessions. I have removed clothing, nick-knacks, doubles of items, just general excess. I have removed more then 365 items and I am very proud of myself.

Recently I have started to tackle the toys. My house is a toy store, literally. There is not a toy at the store they we do not own a version of. I have two rooms specifically used as playrooms, one is a large basement. My friends tease me and strangers, like contractors make comments about the volume of playthings my two boys own. I did not buy most of them, they were gifts from my children’s very generous grandparents and other relatives. I know this has been discusses before but need some help and reassurances.

I am feeling very guilty about getting rid my children’s toys. My first two going are being sold on Sat and I feel like I want to cry, my stomach hurts. One of the toys being sold was never opened the other never played with. I choose these because there was no attachment to the toys for them or me. I figured they would be easy. Boy was I wrong. I think I feel guilty because these on some level are not mine to sell. But my boys are 5 and 1 not really old enough to understand or support my decluttering efforts.

I think I am also afraid that my disappearing toy act will cause them to become hoarders as adults. So, basically I just wanted to know if the readers here have any advice for mom with a guilty conscience. Thank you for your help.

Here is the advice I proffered to this reader while assuming that she was already taking steps to stop the plethora of toys coming in…

Involve your 5 year old in the decision making. Your 1 year old is clearly too young to care so won’t be affected either way. I always involved my kids and they never had any qualms about getting rid of the stuff they no longer played with. You will be teaching him a valuable lesson about letting go and not living a cluttered life.

You can give him two incentives to let go of things ~ 1. Tell him the cash earned from sold items will go into his bank account. Involve him in that process to a level he can understand. 2. Let him know that the toys he donates are going to children who wouldn’t otherwise have toys to play with. Children can be very generous when you explain to them that others aren’t as lucky as they are to have things.

Pick out the toys he no longer seems to play with that you don’t wish to keep for his younger brother. Choose which ones you would like to sell for him and ask him if he would like to donate the rest to children in need. Show him how his bank account is increasing with the funds from the sales and let him know he will be able to use that when he is bigger for things he needs. Also involve him in the donating process and express to him how happy he will be making less fortunate children with his kindness.

The Weekend’s Mini Missions

Saturday – Leisure activity items, be that sport, craft, digital media, reading material etc. There are nearly always items among these collections that are less utilised than others or in some cases not at all. To narrow down the selection makes the things you do use easier to find when needed. Superseded equipment is a good place to start the weeding out process.

Sunday – Declutter your excess linen. I fact rethink how much linen you really require to cater for yourself your family and a couple of guests. Some people seem to stock enough for the All Blacks (New Zealand) rugby team. This really isn’t necessary especially if you have a dryer and even if you don’t a laundromat is never far away should you have a houseful of people and the weather turns foul.

“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

The problem with long term decluttering is that you lose the heady gratification of sending car loads of stuff off to goodwill or recycling depots and you no longer find yourself staggering to the counter of the post office with arms full of ebay sales heading off to their new owners. Yes the house might be looking streamline but now that we have been honed into Olympic level declutterers, every now and then we still need a metaphorical shotput to throw or a marathon to pound out so we can still have our gold medal moment.

Slow and steady is always a guaranteed method to get across the finish line, but for today I’d like us to take on a challenge to stretch our muscles. This idea came from a recent post by Colleen where I stumbled onto the idea of “Lazy Clutter” and was defined as “no attachment, you just haven’t got around to getting rid of it”. I identified with this as I have plenty of space now in all my cupboards, but there are probably still things which don’t have any reason to stay either. The bar of deservedness (as in deserving to stay in my house) has risen and what was middle of the field a few months ago, is now sitting in a marginal position. It is just a few things, here and there, and over there, oh and over there too. Some of them missed first, second and third culls of that particular cupboard or drawer as they were found elsewhere more recently and returned to their correct place since. Maybe now that the cupboard has more room it stands out as the anomaly on the shelf. Maybe we’re just waiting for the right mini challenge to dig them out and send them on their way.

During this post I commented on Lazy Clutter and pondered the idea of getting some red X stickers made (as in CONDEMNED) and to slap them on everything that I felt constituted lazy clutter. Fellow 365’er Anita added that she uses dated post-it notes to do this and Fruitcake evolved/simplified my idea by saying she was going to use red tape. And just like that, the idea was launched on its maiden flight.

So your challenge is to grab some red tape – I’m using electrical tape as it is easily removable – and blast through the house and slap a piece on everything that wouldn’t be in your dream home anymore. You don’t have to eliminate it or list it on e-bay or freecycle it or anything else today or anytime in the near future if you don’t want to. You just have to slap on a piece of tape or a post-it note or a piece of paper and cellotape. Then you need to count up how many in your house and report back.

Those who know I am on a mission to eliminate a bookcase – well I don’t think there is enough tape on the roll to do that, so I’ll just count that as one, but the old glass measuring jug in the cupboard that I bypass for the newer one, that will also count as one. The vase in the bathroom that I have put off making a decision about, well today is D Day and the extra mop I have in the cleaning cupboard (I have no idea why I have more than one mop or where it surfaced from) that is getting slapped with a bit of tape too.

The purpose of this exercise? To get a visual idea of just how many items that have Lazy Clutter status, to see how many items I know I don’t really want but either haven’t gotten around to eliminating or possibly haven’t been able to justify getting rid of up until now or maybe have been avoiding making a decision on them.

So my fellow Olympic level Declutters…..on your marks, get set, GO!

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter excess kitchen items. This is one area of the home where people seem to think ~ “The more the merrier!”. For me it is the more the messier. I bet many of you could use up a lot of red tape in this area of the house. Especially if that red tape was to mark items you rarely use.

Today’s Declutter Item

Here are some items that had my imaginary Red Tag on for some time. They weren’t mine to declutter though but all good things come to those who wait. That’s one more box of stuff off to the thrift store.

Books etc

Eco Tip For The day

Keep a jug in your kitchen sink to save the water that would otherwise go to waste when waiting for the hot water to come through. This water can be used as drinking water, to fill the kettle, rinse dishes, water plants, rinse the sink etc.

“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

Many a time when I have put together the Monday Mini Mission posts I have included a mission about adjusting your possession to reflect your current situation. I mostly relate this to changes in locality, particularly ones that includes a climate change. For example thick winter jackets become clutter were you move to a warmer climate. I am very familiar with this concept having been through this process several time during the somewhat transient nature of my twenty five years of marriage.

There is another perhaps even more radical change that families go through that warrants some serious decluttering and that is when the children leave home. Yet in my experience no such transformation takes place in many households. Ten years, twenty years or even more later the home is still containing sufficient equipment to constantly cater to a full household. This isn’t so bad if there were originally just two children in the family but if there  were four or five what was once constantly useful has become clutter 90% of the time.

This post relates closely to Tuesday’s post about over catering for guest except that it often stretches further than just the linen closet, pantry and kitchen cupboards. Some grandparents houses contain enough toys, children’s books, board games, televisions, luggage, old unused sporting equipment, toiletries, stationery and even space than is sensible to maintain. This is especially so as age creeps up on us. It is simply a fact that as we get older keeping cleanliness and order just gets harder.

Now back to the concept of ~ “…what was once constantly useful has become clutter 90% of the time.” Once the children leave home there is a good chance that if they haven’t moved somewhere just down the street or across town they are going to want to come home to visit. Even with the possibility that they will eventually have your grandchildren in tow that doesn’t mean you need to have a houseful of stuff all year while most of it is only being used occasionally when family arrive to visit. With three or four adults in the home during visits to maintain order the household can run efficiently with less stuff for short periods of time.

Here are some examples ~

• You don’t need a ten seat dining suite. When the guests arrive sit the adults around the ~ smaller more appropriate for you ~ table and let the kids eat in front of the TV or bring in the outdoor setting in for them to sit at.  This will probably become one of the things the grandchildren love about coming to grandmas.
• You only need enough cutlery and crockery to cater to yourselves and your visitors at one sitting. They can be washed and dried before the next meal. If something needs reusing in the same sitting then give it a quick rinse.
• When the grandchildren come to visit I will almost guarantee they will bring plenty of entertainment with them. iPods, PSPs, Nintendo DS’s, perhaps a book to read and maybe even iPads or laptops. So there is really no need to stock enough toys to cater for them living there permanently. I remember visiting my grandparents when I was young and we always managed to entertain ourselves with the few toys they had to offer. We mostly made our own fun, digging in the dirt, pottering around discovering what was in the back sheds, helping bake, visiting other relatives, playing with the kids next door who we only saw two or three times a year and going to the local park to play on the swings.
• We discussed towels, sheets and other bedding on Tuesday so we should be savvy about that now.  In the event that lots of visitors converge at once they can always bring sleeping bags for the kids who can then camp out together on the lounge room floor or the sofas.
• One pot cooking is a great way to cater for guests with the odd roast dinner thrown in and a takeout meal every now and again to relieve the pressure of a kitchen that isn’t overflowing with equipment.
• People generally bring their own toiletries so there is no need to be overstocked in this area. An extra bar of soap or two should be all you need.
• When you had a houseful of kids attending school it always paid to carry a good stock of stationery items However those days are gone and now this equipment rarely leaves the home so just the few items you use all the time and a couple of spare pens is all you will likely need.

So if you are in this position ~ where the kids have left home or even if the kids have just moved to another stage in life within the home~ take a look around you home and determine what you really need 90% of the time and minimise the rest.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter tools or equipment you rarely if ever use. Consider that you could borrow these items when you are in need from those who do actually use theirs. In some cases these items are so expensive that it would be cheaper to pay someone to do the job for you when the rare occasion arrises rather than maintain ownership.

Today’s Declutter Item

Let’s face in the unlikely event that we were to have so many guests that we didn’t have enough wine glasses I am sure no one would mind drinking from our water glasses. These two glass are odd ones out and excess to our usual requirement so they are off to the thrift store.

Excess and odd wine glasses

Eco Tip For The day

Consider online magazine subscription rather than wasting paper.

“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

Most people enjoy having visitors occasionally, family or friends who stay longer than just a fleeting few hours. As a result we also like to be able to cater for those visitors with enough room and household items to keep them comfortable during their stay.  A comfortable bed, clean linen, bathing facilities, crockery and cutlery items and food to keep the tummy grumbles away.

There is nothing wrong with this in fact it is preferable to not being able to keep your visitors happy and comfortable or worse, not being able to accept visitors at all. But my experience is that many people over cater for these occurrences rather than just satisfying a need. Resulting in linen closets, pantries and kitchen cabinets literally bursting at the seams with enough household items to cater to a small army.

Lets take linen for a start. An average household of two adults and two children require no more than three bath towels each to satisfy their bathing needs. If two of each person’s towels are washed at one time that makes a full load of eight towels with one each left for their immediate needs. Given that most households have only one guest room that is inhabited for less than one month a year on average there is no need to permanently possess three more towels per visitor for these occasions. If four people are to visit at once two towels per person spread across the entire household would be enough the wash a load of eight with one each left in use. Therefor four extra towels is enough to be visitor ready at any time which is a total of sixteen towels.

A similar equation works for sheet sets. Given that visitors rarely stay longer than one week two sets per permanently occupied bed with one per spare bed ought to be enough. The once a week washing of the sheets could be alternated between family and visitors so there is always at least one spare set available. That is if you have two queen beds and two single (twin) beds in the house three sets of queen sheets and four sets of single bed sheets ought to be enough when catering for the family plus another couple.

Even if a family has no dryer and the weather turns foul it is always possible to utilise a neighbours dryer or use a local laundromat.

Kitchen cutlery and crockery also need not be over catered for. With the extra people in the house either the dishwasher will be turned on more often or you can utilise the extra occupants to assist you in hand washing the kitchenware. Both options give you a regular supply of clean dishes without having to own an over abundant supply. While the hand washing option is yet another opportunity to chat with your guest and before you know it the task is done.

As for food, with grocery stores never far away and in some cases  open 24 hours a day seven days a week there is no need to overstock. This may not be the case further out in the country but even in that circumstance a little forward planning should make it possible to bring in just enough to be adequately stocked for the duration of the visit without having to plough through the leftovers for weeks after the visitors have moved along.

If you have a tendency to overstock give some rational thought to how much you really need verses how much you feel you need. Take into account what is the greatest number of people who would normally visit you at any given time and how long they would usually stay for. Keep in mind that if you have other family near by you can always borrow some extra provisions if necessary.

Coming around to a new way of behaving may take a little adjusting of long held traditional thinking. My advice is to aways question such thinking as that is usually what causes homes to become cluttered in the first place. I am constantly questioning the way I do things, testing new ideas and  adapting to them or rejecting them as the case may be. As the saying goes “Nothing ventured nothing gained.” I feel liberated in my ability to question how I do things and adjust where necessary. It is so much more interesting to experiment with ideas than insisting on being set in my ways.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something that has been relegated to the garage because it has been replaced with a better model or has broken down altogether.

Today’s Declutter Item

This item had been relegated to the garage where it sat on the top of the shelve while I procrastinated about decluttering it. The reason behind that is because my dad made it for me. But the truth is I no longer have a need for it so I am ignoring the guilt of letting it go and sending it on it’s way.

Mini side table/magazine rack

Eco tip of the day

Try some home made environmentally friendly cleaning solutions. There are plenty of recipes to be found on the internet so why not give it a go. I am experimenting with a vinegar solution as an all-purpose surface cleaner at the moment.

“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.

I have been doing a bit of visiting lately and during that time I have been observing areas of clutter that seem to be familiar to nearly all homes no matter what level of stuff or tidiness therein. So this weeks mini missions will reflect those observation and consist of common clutter. I hope that many of you will find that you have already taken care of these areas as I have included them all often in past mini missions. If that is the case invent your own mini missions for the week.

Monday – Clothing items, be that shoes, general clothing, outer clothing, underwear or accessories. I know this subject gets mentioned over and over again but that is because it is an area the needs addressing by most people. Taking a look back at Mohamed Tohami’s recent guest post it would seem that most of those who comment here regularly have this area well under control.

Tuesday – Declutter something that has been relegated to the garage because it has been replaced with a better model or has broken down altogether.

Wednesday – Choose and begin to use up an item that you have more than enough varieties of. This could be something in your pantry, your bathroom cabinet, your store of cleaning products…

Thursday – Tools or equipment you rarely if ever use. Consider that you could borrow these items when you are in need from those who do actually use theirs. In some cases these items are so expensive that it would be cheaper to pay someone to do the job for you when the rare occasion arrises rather than maintain ownership.

Friday- Declutter excess kitchen items. This is one area of the home where people seem to think ~ “The more the merrier!”. For me it is the more the messier.

Saturday – Leisure activity items, be that sport, craft, digital media, reading material etc. There are nearly always items among these collections that are less utilised than others or in some cases not at all. To narrow down the selection makes the things you do use easier to find when needed. Superseded equipment is a good place to start the weeding out process.

Sunday – Declutter your excess linen. I fact rethink how much linen you really require to cater for yourself your family and a couple of guests. Some people seem to stock enough for the All Blacks (New Zealand) rugby team. This really isn’t necessary especially if you have a dryer and even if you don’t a laundromat is never far away should you have a houseful of people and the weather turns foul.

Good luck and happy decluttering

Today’s Declutter Item

Due to changes in our household this is one less garbage bin that is required. Through incremental changes we tend to generate less rubbish in our household these days. I donated it to the thrift shop.

One excess garbage bin

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.

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

If you have any doubts that you can change your habits of acquiring and keep stuff this link will set your mind at ease. It is always possible to retrain your mind to a new way of doing things no matter how old or set in yours ways you think you are. The desire to change is all it takes to get started.

Here is the link from Creative Affirmations.

The Weekend’s Mini Missions

Saturday – Declutter a Natural Progression item ~ Something that no longer fits, physically or intelectually or has simply been used up or worn out.

Sunday – Declutter a Location Inappropriate item ~ That is something the no longer suits your lifestyle since a location change. Perhaps snow gear if you have moved to warmer climes.

“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

* * * * * * *

Have you ever heard the expression ~ Can’t see the forest for the trees. Here is an explanation of this expression according to About.com…

Definition: overly concerned with detail; not understanding the whole situation

Explanation: Used when expressing that a person is focusing too much on specific problems and is missing the point.

When it comes to clutter though this expression manifests in reverse. That is, people can’t see the trees for the forest. Or explained simply in clutter terms ~ Can’t distinguish the individual items of clutter from the sheer bulk of their possessions. Or more to the point they are paralysed by the magnitude of the task of decluttering and can’t see that all they have to do is pick out one item here and one item there until they can begin to see the progress they are making.

This paralysis if mostly caused by one, more or all of the following restraints…

Emotional Attachment ~ When things have been acquired over a lifetime, either personally or given by a loved one, emotional attachments are often forged. Once all these items have amassed it is easy to think we are attached equally to it all of them and not realise that among the bulk (the forest) there are things (individual trees) that are of less importance to us than others. We therefore can’t bring ourselves to “rape” the forest when in fact all we are doing to thinning out the excess trees to allow the light to illuminate the remaining ones so they can thrive and the forest is better and healthier for it. Or in terms of possessions ~ remove the less loved stuff to allow you to see and enjoy the items you really love and have a tidier, cleaner, happier and therefore healthier environment to live in.

Worth ~ We often squander our money accumulating items that we ultimately don’t get the true value out of. As a result we tend to find them difficult to declutter without feeling we need to redeem some of that wasted cash. This is all very well and good if you get on and do something about it. But more often than not this is a real stumbling blocks for people when it comes to decluttering. They look at the sheer bulk of the task of selling these items and it adds a “too hard” factor to the equation and avoidance is the result. We also kid ourselves that all the items  in our possession are of value because we might need them someday or they might increase in value given more time.

The question to ask yourself is what is the value of your peace of mind. How much are you willing to pay for the serenity of having the task behind you and just being rid of the stuff. Wouldn’t it be better to donate it all or sell it off cheaply and quickly and get on with your life.

If you are willing to make the effort once again ignore the forest (bulk of the stuff) and start weeding out the scrawny trees (the items of less value). Donate them to charity and sell the rest. Or If you are able why not have a yard/garage sale where you can sell off the lesser stuff cheaply and only accept good offers for the better stuff. Should the better stuff not sell find another avenue for selling where you will redeem a better price. Auctions, ebay, CraigsList, advertise in the newspaper etc. This is a compromise that will earn you some extra cash but actually make progress on reducing the clutter.

Laziness ~ So often I hear the excuse of ~ “I really need to declutter but I am just too busy.” ~ only to later discover that the person proclaiming this is an avid reader, movie or television watcher, crafter or the like that spends hours consumed by their pastime and not so much their duties. This is all very well and good, everybody needs something to unwind by or enjoy doing but leisure time is just that leisure time should not be an all consuming monopoliser of your time or an avoidance tactic.

Once again the thought of all that decluttering (the forest) is unappealing so we retreat into our other pastimes whether deliberately or unconsciously. We delude ourselves that we are spending our time productively when really we are just avoiding the task and fooling ourselves that we are being productive.  Just ten minutes a day to put aside one item (the trees) is all it takes to get the job under way. That isn’t a lot of time to subtract from the other activities you enjoy doing. Use those activities as a reward once the task is done rather than a retreat.

So the moral of this story is to not focus on the entirety of the task at hand. Just find that one thing a day starting with the easy things first and before you know it you will able to appreciate the joys of living with less.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter a lazy clutter item ~ Something you have no real attachment to, you just haven’t got around to getting rid of it.

Today’s Declutter Item

Here is one of the things in my home whose removal was delayed due to wanting to redeem some of the money wasted on it. The time span between deciding to declutter it and actually selling it on ebay really didn’t bother me. I am simply satisfied that I did redeem some of my lost cash. The difference between this situation and the one I described above is that once I decided it was to go I put it aside to sell. The decision was made and the process begun and during the time between owning and selling it I am still busy decluttering other things.

Sizzix Cutting Die Organiser

Eco tip for the day

Hang your clothes to dry when possible rather than wasting power using a tumble dryer. A clothes line isn’t required, I mostly hang my wet washing on an airer either inside or out depending on the weather.

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