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.

If you were around last Holiday season you might remember Nicole V making up a fun set of mini missions relating to Christmas. This year she has updated it so you can all have another shot at finding seven items to decluttering to match this theme. So here it is.

Mini Mission Monday – A-hunting we will go 

By Nicole V

Since Christmas is fast approaching, I thought that this week’s mini missions could take the form of a Christmas or festive season scavenger hunt of sorts. The letters of the alphabet, festive items, poems, stories, colours, carols, the 12 days of Christmas and Boxing Day will all be used in a merry mix of decluttering inspiration. Be as creative as you like and do let the rest of us know what you’ve decluttered.

Monday – Declutter something (festive or non-festive) that begins with any of the letters in the word “Christmas”. If you are game or are having a slow day or are simply an overachiever, then by all means declutter one item for each letter.

Tuesday – Declutter any item related to the season – this could be anything pertaining to

decorations, music, entertaining, gifts, or something from your festive to-do list, etc.

Wednesday – Pick any Christmas poem or story and declutter something associated with or related to it. It could be something mentioned in a line of the poem or story or a theme or anything, really.

Thursday – Declutter something in one of the colours associated with Christmas. Apart from the traditional colours of red, green and gold, this could also include silver (“Silver Bells”), white (“White Christmas”), and blue (“Blue Christmas”), etc.

Friday – Declutter something associated with any Christmas carol. It could be anything

mentioned in the carol or reminiscent of it.

Saturday – Pick a number from 1 to 12 and declutter that number of items. They do not necessarily have to be identical or festive items. If you really want to challenge yourself, go ahead and declutter 12 items.

Sunday — Declutter something from a storage box or from any “boxy-looking” item (such as your refrigerator, pantry or cabinet) in your home. You could also get rid of an item that you might have boxed up for a certain period of time as a “separation test” or simply declutter a box or container that you no longer need.

Good luck and happy decluttering

So it seems that most of the excess in my home is crafting items. Not that that would come as a surprise to most of my long term readers. So once again today my decluttering turns in that direction.

This brings to my attention the problem of acquiring things that end up partly used or, worse still, not used at all. This often happens when one encounters things that they like the look of, and acquire them with the intention of using them in the future when an occasion or inspiration arrives.

Often the compulsion to acquire such things in the moment is the fear that if you don’t take the opportunity, then and there, that the item/s won’t be available in the future. Given we tend to do this over and over and often end up rejecting them at a later date. You would think we would learn from our mistakes. Yes we have success with this occasionally when we actually do use the thing’s but more often we don’t.

So what we need to do is resist the temptation because even if we miss the opportunity, so what! There are far more worthwhile things worth regretting in our lifetimes then whether we didn’t by that pretty dress or that lovely piece of scrapbook paper, etc. Because my experience is that something as good, if not better, will come along in the future to purchase when you actually have a use for it. And hopefully you might never have a need to purchase it at all, saving money and space in your home.

Anyway that is enough about that. Just give it some thought in relation to your stuff.

And here are my decluttering efforts for the last three days.

1. The first batch of Christmas cards I am sending out this year. You may wonder why I would consider them to be decluttering items. That is because I made so many cards to sell last year that not only have I had more than enough for my shop and to fill other orders I still have leftovers at home and expect not to sell all the stock I have. So sending these out reduces that excess just a little.
2. Cheap stamp pads that aren’t good for crafting.
3. Excess ribbon that I put in with the Freecycle giveaway before I delivered it this week.

 

“If we do not feel grateful for what we already have, what makes us think we’d be happy with more?” — Unknown

So once again I have been into the craft supplies to find some items I am happy to relinquish. I listed them on Freecycle.org and they were claimed and should be collected on Thursday by a lady who is getting them for a friend who loves to scrapbook but lives on a low income. I so love it when my excess stuff goes to those who otherwise could not afford to enjoy them. In fact it makes it easier to let things go that I might otherwise cling on to. I hope to make a connection with this person so that in future I might be able to gift them some more of my crafting supplies. 

“If we do not feel grateful for what we already have, what makes us think we’d be happy with more?” — Unknown

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.

The easiest things to declutter are the ones that are obviously clutter so lets take a look around our homes and see if we can find six such items that are no longer useful in our lives. Free up the space for a little breathing room.

Monday – Declutter something you just don’t like.

Tuesday – Declutter something that hasn’t been used in a long time.

Wednesday – Declutter some of a collection of things that don’t fit nicely into the space provided.

Thursday – Declutter some excess of any large collection.

Friday – Declutter a next to useless single-purpose-gadget.

Saturday – Declutter something from a past you that no longer fits with your lifestyle.

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.

The item for day three is a batch of cleaning rags etc, from my laundry, that don’t perform very well. What use is a cleaning rag the doesn’t leave you with a perfect finish. So these are going in the bin. I’d donate them but that would only be foisting the problem onto someone else. 

The items form day four are a selection of greeting cards that I have filled out ready to post for the December birthdays. They may not seem like a declutter item to you but the truth is that I have been so slack at posting birthday cards this year that the stash I have has become like clutter to me as it is so slow moving. So actually getting around to doing this feels like decluttering. I hope to be more organised next year so I reduce my stash to a reasonable amount so it doesn’t take up much room in the house. To explain my slackness in the this area of my life I would like to point out that it takes Australia post about a week to get anything anywhere these day and my Google calendar has been set to remind me a week in advance about upcoming events. When it comes to sending cards one needs a two week reminder in order to fill out the card and get to a postal box in order to mail it and then there is the procrastination factor. Well that’s my pathetic excuse anyway.

I forgot to mention yesterday why it is, after so much decluttering has been done in my home over the years, that there is still excess stuff to be removed. And here is my explanation. 

My original goal was to reduce my belongings in order to fit into a smaller home. This goal was achieved with a little wriggle room. However I would like a little more than just wriggle room so the two bedroom apartment, that I now live in with my husband, feels a little cluttered to me. So this new goal of removing one thing a day for 30 days, and possibly more, is all about minimising further.

I imagine that this will involve a few harder decisions than before as I had reduced many areas to a point that I was happy with. Therefore I will have to get even more ruthless as to what I really get good use out of and what I don’t. I say this might be harder, but in reality I am keener to free up space than I am to keep things so it probably won’t be all that challenging for me. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Now a little about todays item. This pair of multi blade scissors was purchased, not so long ago, secondhand from a thrift store. I have a policy with items purchased this way and that is…

If it is cheap and secondhand then it is an eco-friendly purchase. If it used utilised enough within a certain amount of time then it can go back to where it came from.

I had purchased these scissors for crafting purchases for $1 at the thrift shop. They didn’t perform the task adaquately that I wanted them for so now they are being donated back.

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

It has concerned me for a while that my posting here at 365 Less Things has been very sporadic, and that even has begun to occur with the Monday Mini Mission posts. I put this down to a couple of things. One is personal commitments that seem to take up so much of my time of late. And the other is that my interest in writing about decluttering has waned with my lack of a decluttering goal. 

This goal concept has always been a thing here at 365 Less Things but I didn’t realise how much of an encouragement it was for me until recently. With the lack of an actual goal to work towards when it comes to decluttering I have become a little bored of the task. That isn’t to say that I haven’t been decluttering at all, because with my constant decluttering of craft supplies the task certainly seems to be continuous. However sometimes it is so continuous that it seems never ending which becomes both tedious and feels futile. A problem which I have encouraged so many other readers to overcome by focusing on the one thing a day method. Ironic right?

So, I have decided to start to declutter one thing a day again. My goal at this point will be 30 days in duration and we shall see where it goes from there. I will be going to Japan just after Christmas for a couple of weeks over which time I will be taking a break but I dare say I will commence again on my return.

My intention is to go back to my original format of post my thing a day. Perhaps not every day but at least more often that my pathetic effort of late. But we shall see how that works out.

Join me in my quest if you please by also committing to the goal of one thing a day for a period of time. It gives you two goals, firstly the thing each day and also the long term goal of whatever period you choose to stick to it for. You might be surprised as to how inspiring that turns out to be.

So my thing for today is an evening gown that has been in my closet since before my original challenge began over seven years ago. I guess I thought I would eventually use it but since I have another gown, that also hasn’t been used in quite a while, I most certainly don’t need two of them for those very rare special special occasions. So here it is and out it goes.

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.

How many times have you kept something because you thought you might need it someday. Have you ever stopped to think maybe you never needed it in the first place. If it is an item that you might only need someday then chances are, if it is an item that only makes a job easier but you could manage without it, then it isn’t worth the space it is taking up. So lets see what we can find this week that you really won’t need someday.

Monday – Declutter a kitchen gadget that you use rarely but could easily manage without.

Tuesday – Declutter a tool from the garage or shed that is use too rarely to allow to clutter up the space.

Wednesday – Declutter an item of clothing that is used rarely if ever.

Thursday – Declutter excess sheet and towels that would only be needed should you house a much larger number of people than maybe even your house would allow comfortably.

Friday – Declutter crockery and cutlery that would only be required under the same circumstances as the Thursday mission.

Saturday – Declutter medication from your cabinet that you bought to have on hand when you needed them but now are out of date.

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

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.

The things we do usually require stuff. So this week we shall declutter items that relate to the things we do. Or maybe more to the point items we once used for the things we do, or did, but now just sitting around cluttering up our space.

Monday – Declutter something you use for cooking.

Tuesday – Declutter a sporting or recreation item.

Wednesday – Declutter something you clothe yourself in.

Thursday – Declutter something related to your beauty routine.

Friday – Declutter a hobby item.

Saturday – Declutter something related to your work.

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

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’ve done it before and now we are doing it again. What is our clutter made up of and can you find an item for each day this week that is made from a different material. I bet you can. I look forward to comments about how clever you have been and extra points for thinking outside the box.

Monday – Declutter something made from plastic.

Tuesday – Declutter something made from wood.

Wednesday – Declutter something made from paper.

Thursday – Declutter something made from fibre.

Friday – Declutter something made from glass

Saturday – Declutter something made from metal.

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