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 are inspired by a Facebook post by a friend of my daughter. She had posted some clothing items for sale that still had the tags on. I am obviously not an avid shopper because when I do buy a new item of clothing I am excited to wear it and do so quite quickly. That isn’t to say that occasionally I’ll buy something that, after wearing for a few times, turns out to be uncomfortable, falls out of shape or some other thing that deems it useless and has to be decluttered or returned to the store. And that is always a disappointment. Anyway here are you missions for today…
Monday – Declutter something you have never worn or will likely never wear again.
Tuesday -Â Declutter something you’ll never read again.
Wednesday -Â Declutter something you have never really liked.
Thursday -Â Declutter something you have never used enough to warrant wasting the space on.
Friday -Â Declutter something you have never enjoyed as much as you thought you would.
Saturday -Â Declutter something you have never felt comfortable in/with/about.
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.
WED – My husband decluttered his recipe binder today & the trash is full of his discards!
THUR – My husband left 2 (empty) propane tanks (from previously decluttered grille) on the curb today
I don’t know if I have any clothing that I don’t like, it seems like I wear it all even if I skip a year sometimes 🙂
Your husband is really into this decluttering thing Peggy, lucky you!
Hi Colleen,
Thanks to your patient coaching, we are coming along the Decluttering Path 🙂
another THUR item: My husband set a spreader out to the curb tonight. I think we bought it to spread sand on our clay soil but it didn’t work for that. Still has tags on it LOL
I’m thinking about tackling our old file cabinet in the garage next. It’s the one with all the older paperwork. Our current files are in a nicer looking file cabinet in the living room. I use that cabinet as a “desk” to pay bills.
MON: I’m parting with 1 dress, 1 pair shorts, 1 purse, 2 pair long pants 🙂
I love this post! In my carpet beetle battle, I’ve been forced to declutter pretty much everything. The past few days I’ve been working on the fabric – OY! Here’s the thing, I totally love the IDEA of making things – but the reality of it… well… umm… not so much. I’m great at diving into projects, but then it comes to sitting at that sewing machine for hours – I just hate it, and inevitably these things end up with me feeling totally guilty and inadequate, trying to force myself to finish something because I already invested the time/energy/money in starting it, and finally giving up in frustration.
So my basement was just filled with half-finished quilts, and rag rugs, and throw pillows, and sewing projects, and on and on and on. Gotta say it feels incredibly liberating to let go of all that. It’s not just letting go of the physical stuff, but letting go of the idea that I “should” enjoy these activities that I just plain don’t enjoy. FREE YOURSELF!!!
Seems to me those carpet beetles are fast becoming a gift from heaven.
I was that way about exercise equipment….I would buy it thinking I would finally get that toned body I longed for…LOL…but after having it for a few weeks or sometimes just days I would start missing days using it for some reason or another…then it would be months…then maybe a year would go by and the only exercise I got out of that equipment was the guilt feeling of not using it…so…finally I freed myself of it…what I did not sell…I gave away…I felt as if I had lost 20 lbs…of guilt….
Hi Connie, this is a common problem in today’s society. That and gym memberships. My husband and I just walk. And fortunately we live by a harbour and ocean so out walk are very enjoyable. The beauty of big masses of water is that they are constantly changing so the walk is different every day.
ECL, Colleen and others call that ASPIRATIONAL clutter! We are all guilty at some time or other
But very liberating when you finally let go.
Are you getting ahead of the beetles now?
Colleen – yes, I believe they were sent from on high to show me the error of my ways! 🙂
Brenda – Aspirational clutter with a hefty dose of environmental guilt thrown in for good measure. I aspire to be a perfect “greenie” who will make beautiful and useful objects out of things that others would simply toss, because I feel sooo guilty about participating in the wastefulness of our culture. But ultimately, it’s a losing battle. Fortunately, I was able to clean the majority of the fabric, and I’ve found someone just entering her rag rug insanity phase, who is thrilled to have it. I’m delivering it all to her tomorrow! Yay!
So I’m definitely making progress, but still finding a handful of beetles every day. Next I have to tackle the closet under the stairs – be afraid… be very afraid! Seriously, that sucker is FULL of the clutteriest of the clutter. Once I get through that I will have pretty much completed my decluttering sweep of the entire house. So the next step will be deep, DEEP cleaning – which will probably include ripping up the 45 year old hideous avocado green shag carpeting. OY!
This weekend I will attempt to declutter all of those boxes where kitchen appliances come in.
SUch as juicemaker, blenders and so on. I keep them because of the warranty, but after those are expired there is no use in having them around.
I used to keep all of these boxes too when my husband was a full time military man. Now we aren’t likely to move so much so as soon as the item is out of warranty, and sometimes immediately, the boxes are flattened and put in the recycling bin. That is also inspired by the fact that living in a small apartment doesn’t leave room to store that kind of thing.
Another good list of mini-missions.
I’m helping my in-laws unpack in their new home, organise and declutter. At the moment I am focusing on sorting things into ‘like with like’ and clearing the easy stuff like, broken, expired etc. As my MIL has mobility issues at the moment, I just toddle back and forth to her room for decisions while I get on with the grunt work.
So far the mini missions have inspired me to donate: 3 books, 1 sweater, 1 t-shirt, and 2 pair of painful high heels. I’ve reached a point where it’s not worth it to feel bad just to look good.