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.
So what are we going to get rid of this week. I think it is time for a little decluttering in those out of the way places that are easy to ignore. So lets get started.
Monday – Declutter something from the garage, back yard shed or car park storage space.
Tuesday – Declutter something from the basement or attic  if you have one.
Wednesday – Declutter something from the guest room.
Thursday – Declutter something from under a bed, if you store things there. If not choose a place you store seldom used items in.
Friday – Declutter something from a high self in a cupboard or closet.
Saturday – Declutter something from the depths of a kitchen cupboard that is hard to reach the back of.
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 leave your car idling for unnecessary periods of time such as when you pull over to use your cell phone. 10 seconds of idling uses more fuel than restarting your car.
It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow
Good mini missions – I had to go up into our attic area last week and see that new boxes have migrated up there, I’m guessing my husband shoved them there a while back when I asked him to tidy up the garage floor. There were already a few boxes up there that had items I’d decided it was the right time to instigate their exits. Looks like I have a few extra boxes. That should keep me busy this week.
Hi Moni, it sounds like you don’t need 365 Less Things’ help to find things to declutter this week. Have fun with those boxes.
Colleen – I didn’t get started on the attic area today as it was a pretty full-on day, but the internet contractor guy did have to go up into the ceiling area to organise running wires for the new lines and he commented he usually dreads going into peoples roof space as they’re usually chock full and hard work to move around in. LOL that was exactly what it used to be like!
Hi Moni, I bet that contractor was please with you. I have never ever put anything up in the ceiling space in our houses. I suppose because my parents never did it, it just never occurred to me to do it either. I am glad about that is here in Australia it would probably be full of red back spiders and cockroaches.
Oh Gads!! Red back spiders?!?! Now, you have scared me more than ANY scarecrow ever could!!
I’m visiting my sister and her husband before they head overseas for five months. They live on the tenth floor of a two bed room unit.
Two years ago I visited her at her three bedroom house of 25 years before she headed overseas for the birth of her first grandchild .
On both occasions there has been stuff to declutter. This time though, the suggestion of disposal is met with less resistance.
A comment was made by my sister the other day, ” she could not remember any of the items that had been taken to the thrift shop two years ago”
I will be doing all these mini missions this week, not at my place , at my sisters.
Sometimes it helps when some else questions you need to keep coffee jars…
Cheers
Hi Wendy F, I hope you are having a fun time but don’t be away too long I’m hanging out for a game and a coffee. When will you be home. Good for you help your sister with her decluttering. That’s what sisters are for. Which reminds me, it is about time I phoned mine.
I dont know if this counts but I have just had a phone contractor here to install ‘vdsl’ lines and a new modem. Our old modem was very old and sluggish so we had to move it to the kitchen bench jackpoint about a year ago as it wasnt putting out enough signal to the main living areas or something like that. Our phone/answerphone is also a bit old and also uses the kitchen jackpoint. The problem was that both had big chunky power plugs and both couldnt fit in the double power point, so I had to have a multi box sitting on the kitchen bench too. Looked really messy. Well, the contractor put in a new jackpoint beside the tv and the new modem will sit on the entertainment area/docking station area. I have just taken away the old modem router and multi box, my kitchen bench is finally completely clutter free and streamline. I may treat myself to a new smaller house phone (without answer phone) once I have a few other maintenance items taken care of.
Hi Moni that sounds great. Don’t you just hate it when you have to put up with an eyesore like that. I am looking forward to doing a little bench top decluttering in my kitchen this week too. The cabinet maker should be back sometime to fit the new drawers beside my stove. All the utensils will be moving into one instead of hanging on their rack on the bench top. I will be glad to finally have them out of sight. So I know exactly how you feel.
Colleen – I have often thought I would like kitchen drawer #2 and #3 to be converted into 3 shallow drawers. Currently drawer #2 is my knife drawer and it doesnt need to be regular depth. Drawer #3 is mostly empty, I want to store my utensil in there, rather than hanging above the cooktop. But we’d have to remove the hanging bar thingee, which would show the screw holes, which would mean pulling off the tiles and replacing with a glass splashback, which would prompt replacing the cupboard doors. All part of the plan eventually but cheaper to leave the utensils hanging for now.
Hi Moni, that sounds like a well thought out series of fixes to me. I was originally only going to do my pantry but them I decided I would greatly benefit from modifying the cupboards beside the stove as well. I am excited to have my new utensils drawer. And since you mentioned the glass splashback, that is on the list to do as well. Cleaning cooking grease out of tile grout isn’t my idea of a fun thing to do.
Moni, isn’t it great when you can get rid of things like that off the kitchen bench? Ours is pretty clear now and it is so nice to be able to look at the kitchen and see such clean, uncluttered benches.
Great missions – I’ll have to work on them.
This weekend a friend took 5 items that I have not been able to sell and as she was looking around our attic, she remarked what a lot of crap we have up here. I laughed because she would not believe how much crap was up here just a few weeks ago!
I finished my scarecrow body and sewed the face, which I am forwarding a picture of to Colleen, because she may need a laugh!
Hi Michelle, did your friend inspire you to find something else to declutter from up there or did you just want to give her a slap? 😉 .
I rushed straight over to my email to find the photo. I think that will definitely scare the crows. Thanks for sharing, I’m always up for a good laugh. Well made!
I mighta wanted to give her a slap except that she was right!! Her comment did inspire me to at least put together the boxes for donations to various locations. One to the regular charity shop, one box with puzzles that I think I can donate to an elderly care facility, and one with VHS tapes that I just recently found a place to take those. I also loaded our old kitchen light fixture (we now have recessed lights) and an extra kitchen cabinet that I had taken off my mom’s hands because I thought it would be handy but turned out not to be. I will take those to Habitat for Humanity at lunchtime. So it did get my butt in gear to get things done.
Ha ha Michelle, it is because she is right that makes you want to slap her. I am glad it has the effect of inspiring you to get on with getting the items out of there. I inspire myself by putting them somewhere where I can see them all the time. I don’t like things lingering where they don’t belong so I get them out of here ASAP. Fortunately I don’t have much to get rid of these days but I also have less space so the waiting items really stand out here.
What a great selection of Missions Colleen!
A while ago a friend visited my home office/study to bring back my old computer that he had fixed.
He remarked “wow, you really know how to fill a room”. And yes, it is true, that room (and truthfully, it is not the only one), does have a lot of assorted furniture and shelves in it (all full). Reasonably neat and tidy, but definitely full.
Seeing todays mission plan made me laugh and remember the comment.
I really know how to fill an out of sight space too LOL Luckily we don’t have an attic.
This might get to be the week of Maxi Missions – a declutter of multiple items from those places.
Mission done! 10 less items in my garage.
Admittedly they are now in my car … but are off to the thrift shop first thing in the morning when I do the post office run.
6.5 metres of fabric are also leaving my craft room in the form of an Aussie Hero quilt (I just finished the last stitches), on its way to the Middle East.
Hi Stephanie, it seems both you and Michelle are getting your clutter pointed out to you by others. Oh well, it least it gets you thinking about out. I also had a lot of well organised clutter before I began my mission to let it all go. Now even in my smaller home I have some empty drawers. Just keep on slowly working to a point where you are happy with what you have. And don’t let anyone else dictate what that limit is.
Well done with the garage mission. I should go down to my garage cage and see if I can also find something to declutter. There is plenty of spare space in there but I am sure there is also a few things that won’t get used. I’ll check it out tomorrow.
Stephanie and I seem to have blunt friends, eh? My friend’s remark did motivate me to get boxes together for donation, one to the regular charity shop, one with puzzles for an elderly care facility, and one with VHS tapes because I have found a place that will take those. My friend forgets that my house is a 2 bed/1 bath, finished attic, but no garage. She has a 3 bed/3 bath, fully finished basement, and a two and a half car garage. If she tried to stuff her things in my house, it would look like a mess too, but I’m working on it. 🙂
My husband and I had to move some things around and I have discovered that I seem to have an obsession with chairs! Some of those guys need to go out the door to new homes too!
Whooops – sorry about the multiple post, I was clicking too fast and thought I had lost it. I guess I just lost my mind!
Michelle – I have noticed that when I told people that I’d taken up decluttering, they straight away expect my house to look like something out of a magazine. If I said I’d taken up running would they expect me to be marathon level?
Moni – that is awesome! I love your remarks! You are correct – I think she did expect that there would be not a single thing out of place. I’m pretty sure my house will never be magazine perfect. 🙂
Great mini missions again Colleen! As I read through them I was already picturing what I’d get rid of in the shed, the attic, the guest room, on an upper shelf and so on. The one area where I don’t have to worry about is under the bed. I’ve never stored things under beds, with the exception of a table leaf under the guest room bed(nowhere else to put it). I’m so glad I never got used to storing things there – one less area to declutter. Yay!
Barbara in Northern California
Hi Barbara, it is a good sign that you are getting a handle on your clutter when you can visualise the items for your mini mission without even going into the area. I sure it means you are aware of what is there and surely that is a good sign that there isn’t so much you can’t remember. Good for you and have fun with the missions.
As for under the bed spaces. We have two beds in our apartment and both have things under them. Like you things that won’t fit anywhere else. A large cutting mat, an styrofoam pole I use the fix my back when it goes out, my mat cutter that has to lay flat when not in use and a synthesising keyboard of my son’s. I hope that last item leaves sooner rather than late (long story).
Colleen, these are great mini-missions. I love the obscure places you thought of. I’m glad we don’t have most of these places so don’t need to work on them. Instead I am still working on getting more things out of the craft drawers. We now have 3 sacks of towels and such to take to Goodwill. Happy dance.
Hi Deb J, I don’t have many of those places either. No attic, no basement, just a small cage in the garage, no deep kitchen cupboards thanks to the cabinet maker, I do put things under the bed but they aren’t clutter just too big for any other home.
As for the craft drawers. I really haven’t achieved a good set up for my craft stuff yet and my manic crafting lately is just making the matter worse. I may have to slow down with the crafting a do a little organising. Good luck with your craft decluttering though.
Colleen, I hope you are soon able to figure out a storage system for your crafts. It can really become a pain if things get too crazy when you are in a storm of card making. I wish I could send these craft units I have to you. You would love them.
Thanks Deb, I am going to work on that once I get my Mother’s Day Card stocks made for the art space. And the kitchen cupboard will be finished this Friday which may give me other options.
Monday’s mission complete! My husband cleaned and organized the garage over the weekend. He found a wooden crate going to the dump and a metal fireplace shield that moved with us “just in case” we needed it at the new house. We find it is not needed for the stove we have here. My husband came up with the brilliant idea to give it to the stove shop in town, for him to resell as a used piece of equipment. Needless to say, the shop owner was thrilled to have it and we felt good it didn’t go to the dump in the metal pile! 🙂
Hi Kim, I am so pleased not only that the fire shield went to the store for resale but that your husband to come up with the idea. Those ideas and the execution of them is usually left up to me in my home. That is OK though because I am not the one going off to work everyday.