Clutter is very much about being keener to acquire than to let go. We acquire things we need or want but once their usefulness to us has expired we hang on to them. I feel that there are three main reasons for that and they are laziness, fear and indifference.

Laziness of course refers to having the stuff there, being aware that it is a problem but refusing to deal with it because you just don’t want to make the effort.

Fear is all about thinking you might need it some day and keeping it just in case.

And indifference is being aware that you have clutter but don’t mind, don’t care or even like it that way. It can also be that you don’t even notice because you like being surrounded by stuff. 

I don’t intend to elaborate on that, the purpose of this post is to have a discussion ~ inspired by a situation in my life right now ~ about the insanity that acquiring can be.

So here is my story. As I have mentioned here more than once, I have an art space where I sell my handmade cards and, at the moment, beaded spiders. My space runs as an artist collective of, at present, six artist/crafters. Our price range begins at $1, for a handmade origami gift bow, and goes up to as much as $500 at times for and original acrylic painting. So as you can see our creations are many and varied as are our members.

There has been some contention recently, both internal and external, about the integrity of the value of an artists labour and real art v kitschy craft. And one of the issues is that people coming in to the venue, which also houses ten other art spaces, might opt to purchase one of our least expensive items rather than opting to buy something of greater value, either within our collective space or the venue as a whole. It boggles my mine that anyone would think they might be losing the sale of, for example, a $200 fashion item to a $5 string of origami cranes. I could elaborate more on this situation but that would just be expressing my emotional turmoil and discontent, so I will leave it at that as a lead into my the point about the strangeness of acquisition.

So let us assume that no one in their right mind is quietly making the choice between a $200 or $5 purchase and that they are purchasing the $5 item…

1. …because they actually like it or…
2. …they feel obliged to buy something while in the space and just choose the cheapest item they like the look of.

The second reason above is one of those situations where the better choice would be to buy nothing.

This of course got me thinking about the futileness of acquiring stuff just for the sake of it. It brings to mind the clever marketing many companies like Tupperware, and the like, who almost exclusively sell their products via party plan. In the past even I used to felt obliged to buy something when attending such parties. The host is your friend, they have provided a delicious spread for the event, and how much of a heal would you look if you just walked away satiated, entertained and empty handed ~ well orderless but same thing.

Then there is recreational shopping, where you just go shopping with no real need in mind and end up finding all sorts of things you didn’t know you “needed” and go home with a whole lot of potential clutter on your hands.

All these scenarios above are where most of the clutter comes from in your home. Combine that with the three reasons I also stated as to why it is not being removed and you can end up with quite a mass of clutter on your hands.

So the moral of this story is, don’t acquire for the sake of acquiring. Stuff doesn’t make you happy, at least not for long. If you curb your shopping habits you will also reduce the likelihood of clutter buildup in your home. And removing clutter only to replace it with more clutter gets you no where on your decluttering mission. That is the first lesson in avoiding clutter and it won’t do your bank account any harm either.

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 we are going to focus on the decluttering a few items that are cluttering up the master bedroom in your home. Your bedroom should be your sanctuary and clutter can make you feel less than relaxed in a space that should be tranquil for you. So lets see if you can find a few things to make it a more pleasant place to be.

Monday – Declutter items that have accumulated in or on your bedside table/cabinet, nightstand or whatever you call it.

Tuesday – Declutter a few of those scatter cushions you pile on and off your bed everyday, all the while collecting dust and dust mites.

Wednesday – Declutter out of date makeup and lotions on your dressing table.

Thursday – Declutter anything lurking under your bed.

Friday – Declutter costume jewellery that you never use anymore.

Saturday – Declutter a couple of less loved clothing items.

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

This blog post is by Moni Gilbert who is coordinating this series of posts.

As we enter the Silly Season I would like to kick off a series written by Deb J, Andréia and myself entitled “365-ing The Silly Season”.  So often women plan their holiday seasons to the nth degree with the goal of the ‘perfect’ day and while the home might look grand, the menu perfect and all the little details might be delightful, is there a tired, stressed out woman behind it all?   I would like to suggest the gift of going a little easier on yourselves.   Trust me, no one will notice the difference if you omit a few things.

I’d like to encourage you to decide what is actually important to you as far your preparations go, cull some not so important details and reduce your menu by an item or two.  I’d like folks to think about how their expectations and preparations would appear mapped out on the calendar.   If every single day in December has a huge to-do list on top of all the regular workload and commitments, add an escalated social whirl, its a recipe for stress.  Set yourself a limit of how many ‘extra’ chores you can realistically achieve in a day and stick to it.  It is realistic to have time to yourself to relax in the evening in the weeks leading up to the holidays.  Explain this new arrangement in advance to your family, they might have suggestions of what they’d be happy to forego or volunteer to do in your place.

What would you be prepared to forego this year?

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something that was really useful in the past but hasn’t been used in a long time. Maybe its time in done for you.

“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.

Monday – Declutter an unfinished project, either by finishing it or letting it go. These are a mental burden. Once done they can either be passed on or enjoyed, but either way they are no longer weighing you down with aspiration.

Tuesday – Declutter an unwise purchase.

Wednesday – Declutter your junk drawer if you have one. If not some other drawer that holds a little clutter.

Thursday – Declutter some paperwork.

Friday – Declutter something that was really useful in the past but hasn’t been used in a long time. Maybe its time in done for you.

Saturday – Start a use it up challenge on something.

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.

I see there are still some readers participating and enjoying Nicole V’s blog post …Let The Games Begin. So I thought just for the fun on it we would do another set of alphabet mini missions. I’ll nominate a letter for each day and you find something to declutter in your home starting with that letter. So, let the decluttering begin.

Monday – Declutter something beginning with letter P.

Tuesday – Declutter something beginning with the letter B.

Wednesday - Declutter something beginning with the letter S.

Thursday - Declutter something beginning with the letter R.

Friday - Declutter something beginning with the letter C.

Saturday - Declutter something beginning with the letter L.

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

So, it is 10:09am and I have just sat down to have my midmorning coffee. And as per usual I’m comfy on the sofa with my laptop in front of me about to open Facebook and have a game of Cookie Jam. Yes I know, “What a waste of time!”. However downtime is downtime and we are all entitled to that. A little mindless activity to while away your relaxation time is totally acceptable in my book.

The other thing I do during my downtime is browse Pinterest for craft ideas. Oh, how I can waste hours on that. But it more often than not inspires me to jump up and get creating soon enough.

All that being said, and the reason for today’s post is, that one of my readers, Sally, sent a email last week asking me to write a post about alternative downtime activities to avoid resorting to online shopping.

A harmless game that doesn’t cost a cent and in no way clutters up your home is one thing. Cruising the internet for creative inspiration another, but online shopping, that is a whole other kettle of fish. Sometimes very costly and cluttery fish at that. Especially costly if indulged in by people who can ill afford to be wasting their hard earned cash or who already has a cluttered home.

Now don’t worry, I am not going to suggest that you could spend your downtime decluttering, because to most people that would come under the category of work. And even I am not that keen to declutter. Although I have been known to enjoy it enough to consider it downtime in itself, but would still not list it as a downtime activity.

Anyhow, I have stated my two downtime pointless indulgences but I am sure there are many more. For example…

• Reading
• Knitting or other easily portable craft
• Catching up with friends on Facebook.
• Meditating
• Watch some inspiring YouTube videos ~ Ted Talks or similar.
• Browse recipes online for later inspiration when organising a weekly menu plan or to get out of that ‘same old same old” cooking rut. (I should take my old advice here.)

…just to name a few. Also I googled ‘Alternative activities to avoid online shopping’ and found this little gem…

www.365lessthings.com – Day-157-alternatives-to-shopping

And also this one

How to Program Your Mind to Stop Buying Crap You Don’t Need

I confess I have been known to browse and buy from both old school craft stores and online ones as well, but for the most part, when it comes to shopping of any sort, just thinking about where I would fit an item and how much stuff I already own is enough to put me off buying things.

So does anyone else have some downtime activities that helps them relax that doesn’t involve online shopping. Why not share your experience in the comments.

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

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.

I have had a very satisfying day organising and decluttering an area or two of my craft supplies. As I organised I was inspired to declutter more in order to make things fit nicely into containers and the larger space. I find this method of decluttering to be one of my favourites. That is the be determined to make things fix and in doing so decluttering things I might otherwise not have even though they really aren’t necessary or meaningful to me.

So do you have some areas where the stuff stored in them doesn’t fit very well. Try decluttering some so the organisation of the area works better. This weeks mini mission are designed to inspire such decluttering. Some of these tasks may take longer than the ten minutes allotted to mini missions but hopefully you will be inspired nonetheless.

Monday – Declutter a drawer so that it is not only easy to shut but also easy to see what is stored there.

Tuesday – Declutter a shelf in a cupboard so that it is easy to organised and maintain that way.

Wednesday – Declutter a storage container that hold small objects.

Thursday – Declutter and organise a bathroom cabinet.

Friday – Declutter and organise a kitchen cabinet.

Saturday – Declutter and organise your fridge of freezer.

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 the TV on during the day just for company. You may laugh but I have know plenty of cases of people doing this.

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

Hi folks, well after reading the heading of this post you are probably wondering what on earth I have written about. So lets get started.

My home isn’t clutter free. People probably think it is but it isn’t. After all I have never professed to be a minimalist and doubt I ever will aspire to that. The bulk of the clutter that I planned to get rid of is gone. And, as you all know, we achieved our goal of moving into a small apartment almost two years ago now. My wardrobe doesn’t hold a lot of clothes, my shoe selection is minimal compared to most, we have books but not a lot. We don’t have excess toiletries, linens, stationary supplies, paperwork or food supplies and the kitchen holds very few items  that don’t get used often.

However, there is still some clutter in our home. I have an abundance of craft supplies, despite my feverish crafting habits of late. We still haven’t finished culling photographs, which is one of the tasks I raved on about a lot back at the start of my decluttering. There is a variety of coffee making implements high up in one of the kitchen cupboards that don’t get used. And my wedding dress still wastes space in my wardrobe. Those last two things are ones I haven’t been given permission to dispose of yet or they would be gone. And the keepsake box probably holds some items that we probably don’t care much about but I haven’t taken it down to look through it for a while. Keepsakes are probably all clutter really but if we enjoy that little trip down memory lane every now and again then they aren’t clutter to us. And then there is the stuff that just isn’t mine to part with so I don’t touch it.

There are three reasons why there is still some clutter in our house. Clutter that has been lingering for a long time too. Reason one is that I believe that all parties who have any ownership of the clutter also has a say in whether it stays or goes. Reason two is that, there are some decluttering tasks that I am still happy to put off until I feel inclined to deal with them, such as photographs. And reason three is that, like the less loved keepsakes, I really don’t care if they remain because they don’t take up much space.

All in all I am very happy with the clutter level in our home. And yes I do still declutter items every now and again. And yes the craft clutter in general is lessening despite the fact that I add to it for certain projects. And yes there are still items I would be happy to part with. And the one thing that keeps the level of clutter down is the fact that we don’t buy much in the way of material things these day.

So what clutter do you still have in your home that you don’t mind being there or just don’t care to deal with yet? Or perhaps you need some advice on why and how to get rid of some things that really do irritate you. Share your thoughts with us and we will give you our advice or opinions.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something you keep just because most people have one. I decluttered out BBQ soon after I began by declutter journey. It is almost sacrilegious to not own a BBQ in Australia but we just never used ours so out it went. Five years latter and we have never replaced it or missed it for that matter.

“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.

I could be wrong but I am sure that there are more than a few items that are common to most households. Kitchen clutter, paper clutter of all sorts, clothing, toiletries, shoes, toys when children are in the household… . This week though I will base by mini missions on some of the, perhaps less common, clutter items that I got rid of quite early in my decluttering journey. I’ll also give the reasons why I didn’t feel inclined to keep them.

Monday – Declutter something you don’t care to maintain. I decluttered a silver tea set very early on. I hated to have to clean it, so although it was a gift I let it go.

Tuesday – Declutter some sort of sporting equipment that you no longer enjoy to use. I decluttered my bicycle a long time ago. I did test ride it a couple of times to prove to myself whether I would ever use it or not and no won out.

Wednesday – Declutter keepsakes that you never bother to look at. I got rid of all sorts of these things early on and probably could still let a few of them go. I must get that box down and take another look. The fact that it is a box in the top of the closet goes to prove how much it matters.

Thursday – Declutter something you keep just because most people have one. I decluttered out BBQ soon after I began by declutter journey. It is almost sacrilegious to not own a BBQ in Australia but we just never used ours so out it went. Five years latter and we have never replaced it or missed it for that matter.

Friday – Declutter everyday stuff that you have way too much off. I culled stationery items in the early days, we had way more than we would ever need around the house. And once again, five years later we still haven’t had to buy more. How many paperclips, thumbtacks and staples does one need in an almost paperless society.

Saturday – Start a use-it-up mission on excess gift wrap and cards that have been lingering for a while. In future it is easy enough to  purchase a gift bag on the same outing as buying the gift. So you don’t have to stock these items in the house.

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

Well it’s that time again, another change of season. Although Spring has sprung in the south and Autumn changing the colours in the North it is only this week the I have really started to delve into my more summery clothes. So I am going to assume these changes are happening for most of us to one degree or another.

So now is the time to reassess clothing from both seasons. Declutter clothes that were ignore during the season just gone or you persevered with as the season was ending but are too shabby to keep for next year. And as you bring forward those clothes for the upcoming or current season turn their hangers around on the rod so you can easily identify the items that are being passed over as the season progresses.

And as the seasons come and go certain items of clothing we own may start to become less flattering for our maturing tastes and figures. So let those items go as well. I know I will be doing that as I gradually retrieve my summer wardrobe from the box they are packed away in on the top shelf of my closet.

Footwear from both seasons will also be assessed. Those too shabby will likely end up in the trash, while anything still in good shape but disliked will be donated to charity. I don’t think that I will have any charity items but sadly my favourite pair of boots have worn through the bottom and are not of that kind that can be resoled.

Other seasonal items that can also be assessed at this time of year are gardening items, sporting equipment, recreational equipment and bedding. Perhaps even some cooking items may be seasonal to you, and require using up so they don’t linger on the shelf for months unused.

This year I have the unusual situation of moving from Winter into Spring and then back again into Winter before Summer has barely had a chance to assert itself. So the clothing situation is a little more complicated for me this time around.

There are so many variations on climate throughout the world, so timing and choices are different. I remember my time living in the top end of Australia, where the climate is tropical. There was no clothing change there as were wore summer clothes all year round. The only difference was a few degrees in temperature and how wet or dry it was. That was the simple life.

So what else is there that you need to assess as the seasons are changing for you in your part of the world?

Today’s Mini Mission

Find a single use gadget and really rationalise whether it is useful to you or not. And when you come to the conclusion that it isn’t declutter it.

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