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.
We all have those items that we have procrastinated about for some time but are still lingering in our homes. At the moment the items lingering in my home are items we intend to sell on ebay but just haven’t got around to it. I also have some silver jewellery that I haven’t decided how to deal with yet. Anyway enough about me. Do you have any such items either awaiting sale or not dealt with for some other reason. This week is the time to deal with them.
Monday – Do something about selling a clutter items you have been meaning to sell for a while.
Tuesday – Declutter a sentimental item that habit says keep but your mind says is just wasting space.
Wednesday – Declutter an item you have known you no longer want but guilt has had you hanging on to.
Thursday – Declutter a something you have kept out of obligation but really wanted out of your house for some time. Perhaps an unwanted gift or a family heirloom you wish to hand on the responsibility to someone else in the family.
Friday – Declutter clothes of the wrong size that have been stored so long that they are out of fashion.
Saturday – Have a conversation with someone else in the house who is holding on to something that you know they don’t really want to keep but for some reason feels obliged to.
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.
This weeks mini missions are ideal for me, as you know my son moved back home recently. Everything seemed to fit nicely. Then, over the weekend he borrowed the van and went and collected a load of stuff from the basement of where he had been living – car parts, tyres etc all of which are now spread over our garage floor. So last night I asked him about them and none of them are useful to his car (from what I can gather, incorrectly bought or now surplus after upgrades to his car) so I’ve asked him to list them this week.
And we have one daughter’s last years Ball Dress (prom) that can probably be donated, and other daughter managed to end up with two dresses this year and one was listed on Trademe but didn’t sell and the auction needs re-listing.
Hi Moni, it sounds like you have Monday and Saturday covered. Well done. We have those two covered here too. Or at least the photos for ebay have been taken. I hope progress doesn’t end there.
My son stayed over on Saturday night and just the stuff he required for one night was daunting never mind if he ever moved back in. There was motorcycle gear all over my living room just for starters.
Colleen, procrastination is a big one for me. This is a good post. My problem is finding the energy to do something “extra.” There are things I would like to see done but I find it hard to have the energy for it when there are pther things I’m spending my energy on that are probably more important. You see, since you can’t see them it is only me that knows they needd to be taken care of.
Hi Deb J, in your situation sometimes a person just have to take care of their health and get to the other things when they have the energy. Worrying about what isn’t getting done in the meantime is a futile exercise.
Deb J – I read a quote here at 365 which hit a note with me “Set up systems and amounts of possessions based on my bad days, not my higher energy good days” -Gail. I’ve had to re-designed my daily routines this year as something with a higher priority came along. And while I get a bit frustrated that I’m not making the great strides in progress that I used to make, I have to remind myself that I’m easily 90% there already and thank goodness I had all that improvement done already.
Good quote Moni. I’m think I’m about 90% done too.
A blog –I can’t remember where–said “If Someday were a day of the week, it would be a very Busy Day.” Wouldn’t it though, lol. I think mine will have to be clothes. I plan to declutter one item at a time, as I wear each item. This revelation came after I put on a blouse Saturday and said why am I wearing this, it is way too big, and though I could fix that I don’t like it that much. This was after I had worn a different blouse for a while and decided that it was too hot even though it was short sleeved , and it would always be too hot except in cold weather, so why keep it. I also collected all my long sleeved blue chambray shirts worn when vegetable gardening and seldom needed now and 3 went in the rag bag since they were stained. So I guess that is 5 items down. I do plan to decide each time as I wear a clothes item. I know (from experience, sigh) that if I empty the closet, one of the kids or someone else will decide to come for a visit, and everything will go back in the closet probably in a less organized way. This will be a painfree method for me since I don’t think I still have anything that I don’t wear. So at least on clothes, maybe Someday is here, lol.
This all makes a whole lot of sense to me Nana. I do this with my clothes even though I don’t have an extensive wardrobe. If the items that I am not happy with need replacing I keep an eye out at the thrift shop for something I like. Usually nothing needs replacing desperately so I just bide my time until the right item presents itself.
Saturday I had grand success with my yard sale. The large items went and I was pleased. The few items that did get left, some I am happy to keep and the rest will be donated. 🙂 The largest was a credenza that had been in the guest bedroom that we used as storage for extra bathroom supplies (no closet in guest room or bathroom and no linen closet). At the very end of my sale, a young couple came back who had been checking it out earlier, so they ended up with it. There is still a chest of drawers in the guest room and I emptied that out and now it serves as bathroom supply storage. We don’t have guests hardly ever, but the bed is nice when hubby snores to high Heaven!!
In the sale were gifts from others, regret purchases, not-right-for-our style things, so it was great to see them go.
Last night hubby went through another box of his old work papers so a trip to the shredding company is in order.
Yesterday I did a major housecleaning, and as I look around I have a sense of pleasure in how the house is getting in order, it’s clean, the things that are out are things that I really love, I can find what I’m looking for. Just an overall happiness. We’ll be off for a trip later this week for a whole week and I’ll be happy to come back to an organized home.
Congratulations Michelle, I am so glad the sale went well. I am also chuffed that your house is coming together just as you would like.
As a procrastinator, I have many things that fit these mini missions. But, for Monday’s I’m good, I sold LOTS of my clutter at my yard sale last weekend and what didn’t sell was immediately donated to charity!
Wow another yard sales success, well done Shoeaholicnomore. I am so pleased for you. I bet the liberated space is very pleasurable.
It is indeed! I love having the space in my basement opened up rather than full of the stuff I’ve been “decluttering” but was waiting for the sale. 🙂 It’s lovely and we “made” $686 doing the sale! 🙂
I finally decluttered some old journals from my pre-teen, early teen years. I had held onto them for a long, long time and I was going through some boxes and found them. Flipping through reading random entries, I found myself embarrassed and horrified at some of the things I read. So in the trash they went. Really, if I died tomorrow – I don’t want anyone reading those (stupid) ramblings. Then I got rid of half my Barbie collection (other half is packed elsewhere). I had held onto them probably just as long, and my mother would be *horrified* to know I got rid of them. But into the donate bag they went. They just no longer held any power over me. I could see them as well played with toys, ready to move onto another life – away from me.
Well done Michaela. I understand what you mean about those journals. I think that often journals are used as a way to let feelings out, especially for young people. The idea of these thoughts being read by someone else once we are older and wiser is frightening at best. Sometimes I think about my young self and feel a little embarrassed at some of my behaviour, reading my thoughts from back then when I was immature would be mortifying. If I had such journals I would destroy them too.
Oooooh, you two are giving me the heebie-jeebies, just thinking about someone reading my old journals! I burned those things quite a while back and with much relief! LOL
I am really glad to be rid of them. When I was young, I used to write in them everyday. Then one time when I was on vacation with my father, my mom actually READ them. She then called me on vacation and screamed at me uncontrollably about things I had written. After that (I was 13 at the time) I never really trusted enough to put a pen to paper and write my thoughts like that. They sort of held bad memories, and I don’t need them hanging around to remind me. I have enough issues with my mom, but this is where a lot of it started. Sorry to get off on a tangent, but I’m glad going through the clutter forces me to deal with things I put off a long time. I am glad I’m at a point of my life I can toss this stuff and not look back. Its very freeing to take back my life LOL
Michaela, Colleen and Michelle – oh the philosophical musings of a teenager. God no, please don’t let those ever be exposed to anyone!!!!! Fortunately I didn’t keep my journals so its not an issue now……but having teenage daughters I encounter the “you wouldn’t understand” comment, and I have to explain yes I do understand as there’s nothing new under the sun and yes I went thru something similar back in the day (sometime between building the pyramids and stonehenge apparently) and I’m finding I’m having to verbalise all this stuff – oh the horror!
Ha Ha Moni, makes me glad I only had one teenage girl. And yes they do seem to think that we never were teenagers ourselves. Although I do think the era and resulting turbulences although very similar have their own unique challenges. I wouldn’t want to be a teen now for quids. I think their is an awful lot of expectation to “succeed” these days. It isn’t good enough just the be self sufficient and hard working anymore. One is expected to have a uni degree and a high paid “important” job before they get any credit.
Yeuch, procrastination feels like my middle name sometimes!!
I too have silver jewellery that I don’t wear and should get rid of but I can’t decide how, or exactly which pieces so it goes in the too difficult pile and back in the drawer, lol.
We have made a bit of an effort recently with the backlog of stuff and there is currently a pile of sports kit on eBay. Yay.
I have a confession though – I have caved in and bought some new clothes, which brings the total to still less than I had 6 months ago but not less than what I had 6 days ago. Oops. I don’t have a tumble dryer and I would rather have an extra pair of trousers or 2 and a few more undies than a tumble dryer so that’s my excuse anyway.
I am also struggling wth the kitchen gadget thing – I wish I could get one gadget does all!!!! I really fancy a juicer and a small dehydrator. I grow a lot of my own food and want to eat more healthy so would like to get back into juicing (my old juicer got given away years ago after I stopped using it), making smoothies and drying herbs and stuff to make teas. I am procrastinating over these decisions at the moment cos I don’t want more gadgets but I really do want to use my gardens produce!! Argghhh, decisions, decisions….. Think I will go on the prowl to see if I can find something else to chuck out so I could justify it as a 1 in 1 out thing….. Hmmm, I spy a tagine for starters , the slow cooker does almost the same job…. 😉
Hi Fruitcake, I am with you on the dryer theory. The one formula I use to decide when I have enough clothing is that I don’t run out before washing can be done and dried on the line. I do wash regularly though. If that means a smaller load then I use the quick 30 cycle on my machine which means much less water and power so is likely as environmentally friendly as a full load.
As for the kitchen gadgets ~ decluttering isn’t about reducing what you own to the point of not having the useful items that you would use often. Why not borrow a juicer from a friend or relative that isn’t using theirs. That way you can judge whether you really would use it.
I hang-dry a lot of my work slacks and blouses. I read somewhere that hang-drying clothes inside actually creates humidity in the home, which we REALLY need in Colorado. Little did I know I was doing a good thing. LOL