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 is here again and we all know what that means, mini missions. When I sat down to write this post I racked my brain for something original but I have put together so many mini mission posts by now that there can’t possibly be anything I have missed. So I decided to be specific instead. You won’t need to think of anything other than ~ Do I have too many of these?
Monday – Declutter a pair of shoes.
Tuesday – Declutter some out of date paperwork.
Wednesday – Declutter a purse, wallet, handbag, carry bag or backpack.
Thursday – Declutter old keys that you no longer remember what they belonged to.
Friday – Declutter excess hotel toiletries you have accumulated from vacations or business trips.
Saturday – Declutter a piece of jewellery you haven’t worn in a long time.
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
If you only need a little light to find your way in your dark home, turn on the switch that connects to the least amount of globes. When I sit in on my bed to type my blog posts I turn on my walk-through wardrobe light. It only has one globe while my bedroom has two.
It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow
It’s still Sunday here in the UK. But I had a decluttering urge and am pleased to see that I have managed every single item on your list except the keys. But I’ve substituted half a dozen cds of drivers for machines we no longer have. Will that do? 🙂
Hi Gillie, well done and nice substituting of the key mission. I am about the list on ebay a plotting cutter whose only CD driver is no use to me anymore because it is windows based and we have all Apples in the house. The real problem is that in order to download a new driver for it I have to purchase Abode Illustrator which is more expensive that the machine. I am not very impressed with this situation and the company will be hearing from me.
Perhaps you could download a demo of Adobe illustrator (I think use can use them for 30 days?). Then install the driver. Unless it needs to run IN Illustrator. There are Freeware programs similar which may do the job too. Gimp (like photoshop) and Inkscape (illustration). It may be worth checking out, unless you would rather declutter the cutter. 🙂
Hi Ruth, we have checked all that out. What I will do though is scour the internet for old drivers from back in the day when Inkscape was used as the graphics program. The cutter is old so I don’t see why old drivers won’t run it. I have also email the company to register my disgust in this issue.
Colleen, I guess I won’t have much on the lists to declutter this week. I only have 2 pair of shoes and one pair will go as soon as the podiatrist can order me a new pair. This will happen once I have had my three foot surgeries. All the paperwork is up-to-date. I don’t carry a purse, backpack or anything else so have none to get rid of. We have hotel toiletries and the keys went out the door a couple of years ago. I wear no jewely (allergic to it) but Mom has a bunch I wish I could convince her to declutter. BUT, I am working on other things and one went out the door today–scrapbook cardstock. The recipient was very glad to get it because she is busy making scrapbooks of her 10 month old.
Hi Deb J, I am not surprised that you no longer have any of the items on this week’s missions. Well done passing on the cardstock.
It is Easter Monday here and I am out of town for the week so I can’t do much but when I get back I have tax documents for our business due to be destroyed. Apart from that I’m covered.
Enjoy the break Moni. We had a nice quiet Easter at home. My daughter cooked baked fish for us for lunch on Good Friday.
Hi Colleen,
Wow, what a great list. I got lots of these tasks done this past week. I cleaned out and shredded “old” paperwork. I donated all my purses except the one I use every day( a crossbody) and a black “dress-up” purse. I cleaned out our old keys and helped my neighbor do the same. I labeled all the keys in the kitchen drawer with little inexpensive tags. I never take toiletries home from vacation. You taught me that years ago :-). As far as jewelry is concerned, I gave my neighbor many unused pieces last week for her yard sale.
Mary Hunt, who has a website called Debtproof Monthly, once wrote that she’d rather have a really nice pair of earrings she wears most days rather than many pairs she has to sort and store. I follow that thinking and have very little jewelry. I wear the same earrings, watch and necklace almost every day. I consider it my “signature look”. I like it!
I’m working on the shoes…….
You were more than a step ahead of me on this weeks missions Ann. Well done. I like Debtproof take of earrings. That idea will help me part with a few more of mine.
I chuckled to myself when I saw you suggested to declutter old keys. I saw on Pinterest where you frame the keys of past homes and hang them on your wall. To me that is taking clutter out of the draw and displaying it on the walls.
The 2 kilos of hotel shampoos I returned home with are being used up, I have not purchased shampoo for ages. With five adults in the house, I’m sure if they want special shampoo they can purchase their own, otherwise there are cute little bottles to use.
I have a pair of Nike sports shoes that are superfluous to my needs, I have not parted with them because even though I don’t wear them now, I may find a use for them another time in the future.😉
The paperwork! Thanks for the reminder Colleen, I have a small pile sitting in from of my chair that needs attending to. You think by seeing it every day I would do something with it. Not today though, the sun is shining and I want to get out into it. Cheers
Hi Wendy, be warned I will be talking to you about the toiletries tomorrow. 😉 And an I might need them one day sports shoes??? I must say though I had one pair of runner that I kept until recently on the off chance that I might need a pair for something. One weekend I decided to walk to Hamilton in them to see if I would ever be likely to get use from them. By the time I got home the sole had fallen off one. My hubby said I could probably get a new sole put on but they also hurt my toes so in the bin they went. A classic case of use it or lose it to perishing.
Oh and keys, I found a couple while looking for earrings to declutter. They belonged to my friends quilt shop. She has now closed it down so neither of us will be needing those.
Today I tried to donate a bunch of puzzles to an elderly care facility. I walked in, an older gentleman walked up to me and said Happy Easter and asked if he could help me. I told him of my donation. He said and I quote, “Oh, we don’t need any puzzles. We’ve got boxes of puzzles. If you have puzzles, don’t bring them here.” I felt seriously deflated. 🙁 So I took them to my MIL and suggested that maybe the next time she went to visit her sister (in a facility suffering from Alzheimer’s) that she could take them there. Tomorrow I have several boxes of stuff to donate and I’m looking forward to getting rid of that!
When I had hubby go through those boxes here a month or so ago, he had a whole bunch of keys and I was going to throw them away and then I laid them out on the table, no plan intended, but I think I’m going to paint them and make a wind chime or something else with them.
I could probably manage a pair of shoes, but I just went through handbags three weeks ago and donated two. I could probably stand to get rid of some jewelry too.
I offered some old puzzles on Freecycle a while back Michelle, and had several people offer to come get them. Perhaps you could try that for yours.
For Monday (shoes) I have added a pair of older uggies to my suitcase. I am travelling to Tassie in May and will wear them a few times more, then toss them before returning home.
For Tuesday (paperwork) I commit to shredding a minimum of 10 things.
I just added an excess wallet to my donation bag for Wednesday. This belonged to my late mother, so there was a bit of sentiment attached. But, it is in good condition, I am not using it, and someone else can have it.
Thursday – old keys, well, there are a few of those around here, and quite possibly the things they go in are here too.
For now I will just collect them together into a single small baggie for later trying in all the possible locks.
Friday – we have a few hotel things, and quite a lot of sample toiletries. I made a little basket of them for the bathroom a while back and we have been on a use-it-up mission with these.
On Saturday I will go through my earrings. A long time ago I used to wear studs, which often made my ears itch. I still have lots of pairs of them! Not for much longer. Some will be for tossing, some for donating.
Including one of the screw together plastic bead containers that currently holds them.
Great effort with the mission there Stephanie. You get a gold star this week for sure. 🌟 I am pleased that my mission suggesting have triggered so enthusiastic decluttering. Good for you.
Too bad about the puzzles Michelle. Did you make sure the old fellow you talked to wasn’t suffering from Alzheimer’s and didn’t really know what he was talking about. 😉 I am sure someone would want them. I have a puzzle here to take to the thrift shop tomorrow. It isn’t mine though, a friend gave it to me along with some other stuff to donate. I am happy to do this for anyone who cares to bring their stuff to me because often the alternative is that they get thrown out. The easier I can make it for people to donate the more likely they are to do it.
I got a kick out of Monday’s mini mission of decluttering a pair of shoes. That should be easy. I don’t know any women that can’t identify at least one pair of what I describe as “hurt like hell” shoes, haha!
Excuse the pun, ha ha! Got a kick out of… a pair of shoes. I may have one hurt like hell pair but the are my fanciest pair for better than good rarely used but kept non the less. I am beginning to think I will never wear them again though. We will see if they last another year.
Once again, great mini-missions! I love that you were specific, makes my job that much easier. I have a pair of shoes that I haven’t worn in over a year, they will definitely go to a local charity this week. I save up hotel toiletry items and take them to the Salvation Army Shelter a couple times a year – they are always in need of such things. Thanks for the great reminders Colleen!
Hi Barb, I dare say if those shoes haven’t been used in a year then you just don’t like them for some reason. Well done you coming to that realisation and letting them go. I only have one pair to declutter but unfortunately they need replacing so that doesn’t really count. I am pleased to say that I got more than my $4 worth of wear out of them. They were good leather flats bought at the thrift shop.
So I’m playing catchup with this weeks decluttering. I’m donating 1 dress handbag I have not used in years, 2 pairs of winter/fashion boots gently worn, lots of costume jewelry (I just have too much) I’m sure I could donate more but I’ll save that for another time. This morning I dropped off for donation 2 bags of clothing belonging to my adult daughter and 1 box of excess China and 2 decorative plates I took down from the dining room wall a few weeks ago. I used the existing nail to hang a picture that was in my upstairs hallway, as I didn’t think the placement did it justice. Guess what, my husband or daughter have yet to notice any change in the home decor.
Great effort Anna, well done. Kids and husbands sometimes notice but done make any comment. They are probably secretly thinking it is a big improvement. Or possibly they are just wondering what is different about the place. So long as you notice that is the main thing. Go back and gloat over the empty spaces occasionally, I find that to be great inspiration to make the next step.
Thanks for the reply Colleen. I think you are actually giving my family too much credit in that the changes were noticed. In fact my complaining about other plates on a different wall (my husband purchased in 1975) made her remark that she didn’t like the other 2, so that is why I chose those to donate. I bought them, so they are mine to do with as I like. Has anyone ever delt with baseball card collections that belong to someone else? I just hate the room that they take up! But like you always say, they are not mine to discard; however this is my home that I must clean and maintain. Ugh!!
Hi Anna, I have most certainly had to deal with a baseball card and memorabilia collection. All I did was keep suggesting that said collection was too large and mostly got little attention. Luckily for me it was mostly in a box in the garage. What is out on display is only the most loved. Over time my husband also came to the conclusion that some of it had to go. He let go a little at a time. Luckily for me, I had a friend who was keen to take any items that my husband wasn’t bothered to try to sell. She also bought some of the items.