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.

For this week’s mini missions I have focused on items that collect dust. I am sure I don’t need to tell you yet again about the allergy issues surrounding dust collectors.  I could come up with enough missions for a month on this topic alone but here are six for you to be getting on with.

Monday – I have given the bookworms a bit of a reprieve for a while because I felt I was forever picking on them but the break is over. Books are big dust collectors and also can become quite musty when kept in damp places without good ventilation. So this week how about decluttering ten books from your collection that you are least likely to read again.

Tuesday – Declutter excess plush toys and then wash and air out the ones you keep. This is probably more than a mini mission but it is a job that needs doing occasionally.

Wednesday – Declutter a couple of trinkets, knick knacks or whatever you like to call them.

Thursday – Declutter at least one fabric item that just sits on or drapes over furniture or hangs on a wall. Cushions, throw rugs, curtains, embroideries etc fall into this category. If they aren’t being used chances are they are collecting dust and slowly perishing.

Friday – Declutter a dusty old box of stuff that hasn’t been opened for years. If it has had so little attention then you don’t need or love the contents enough to keep it.

Saturday – Declutter a piece of exercise equipment that you probably ought to be using but aren’t. If you can’t do that then start using it.

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

One for the warmer months. Wet yourself in the shower then turn it off to soap yourself then on again to rinse.  Word is that an average of 60 litres of water are use to take a shower. Imagine how much less it could be using this method. I have been doing this during the summer and lo and behold, without my knowing it, my husband had been doing the same. Any wonder out water bill was so low.

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.

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

As anyone who has been reading here for a while knows, I have decluttered a lot of craft stuff over the last four years. My goodness, it actually has been more than four years now that I have been blogging about decluttering. Anyway, I had a tonne of paper crafting supplies which I reduced down to an amount I was happy with. I had designated a space I wanted them to fit into and achieved that goal. You can go to my Before and After page for a look if you haven’t already seen the results.

I did not declutter them all my supplies I spent very little time using them for the last few years. This is because I have always been a crafter and always will be. I love making stuff, creating with my own two hands. Both my parents are good with their hands, making and mending and it seem to run in the family. So I knew that one day my attention would return more fully to my creating, so there was no way I was going to let the best of my craft stuff go.

Well that time has come. I got creative again after christmas when I made my yearly supply of birthday cards. Then one day while taking a walk I saw a notice in an art space window. We have a project happening here in Newcastle called “The Renew Newcastle Project” the concept is that the owners of empty retail spaces loan their space to this project. Artist apply for the spaces and if lucky get to set up a gallery/shop there at next to no cost. So one of these spaces occupied by the NANA gallery had a notice in their window looking for people to volunteer to do four hour shifts manning their gallery. In return the volunteer is able to display and sell their own works. I jumped at the change and have been creating and selling my handmade cards there for about six weeks now. Each week my cards have become more and more popular.

Now don’t get too excited, I sell them really cheaply so I am not making a fortune. But I now have an outlet to sell what I make. This means that I am ploughing through my overstocked craft supplies at a faster rate every week. Decluttering, making money and loving every minute of being creative. I am also really enjoying the four hour shift, interacting with the other makers and the public. I make do with what I have on hand, actually designing around that, so that I am not adding to stocks of paper, ribbon, embellishments, etc. I do buy white & black cardstock as this is the base for many of the cards and also small tools but there is way more going out the door than is coming in. And what has come in is only stuff I have an immediate use for. No more buying stuff just because I like the look of it and “might use it some day”. That is what gets most crafter in a cluttered mess. That and having a limited outlet for the finished product.

So if you are a crafter, take it from me, only buy what you are going to use immediately. Only buy tools that are versatile and are guaranteed to be used over and over and over again. Know your own style and don’t buy random supplies and tools because they seem interesting. Consider the purchase for a good while to be sure it meets that criteria. And let go of all those things that you haven’t used for years and aren’t likely to. There are old folks homes, craft groups, schools, daycare centres etc etc etc, that will be more than happy to take your unwanted stuff off your hands.

Joyful creating and happy decluttering to all those crafters out there.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter an item that is only an alternative to another similar item that you now realise you don’t need multiples of.

Eco Tip for the Day

Don’t leave tasks linger for so long that you have to redo them such as drying the washing or folding it. This can cause you to have to waste more electricity rewashing and ironing. Need I also mention your wasted time and wear and tear on your appliances.

For a full list of my eco tips so far click here

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

Today I just want to share with you a couple of post from other bloggers that I enjoyed, and a comment from one of your fellow 365ers.

1. A great article ~ For many people, gathering possessions is just the stuff of life.  I found the link to this article in the Becoming Minimalist Newsletter . In Joshua’s newsletter I also enjoyed his lead article ~ Answer softly, answer clearly. He and I follow the same approach when it comes to this article. However the real point to it is to follow the same principle when dealing with similar realtime situations. I must say though that the same online delivery system used by the offending person becomes a Godsend for the time it affords one to formulate and deliver a response. I suppose in realtime the strategy of think before you open your mouth is all one has to fall back on. It is too easy to jump angrily to ones own defence in this situation. I know I am guilty of that at times but am working towards taking a few deep breaths and being a bigger person.

2.  Michelle sent me this post to share with you. I found it a little amusing but others might find it a little blunt. Either way it is good common sense.

3.  And a shared declutter story ~

I just had my partner give me 5 weeks home alone the dog went to his boarding place – a happy home with more dogs of his breed and I decluttered and destuffed. On my computer screen I have the Mantra: A place for everything and everything in its place There was once a time when I had that because we had very little income, yet lived comfortably What I began to realize a year or more ago, that the place to put things was filled with stuff which was no longer necessary Now I am getting back to that situation, where there is room for the things I do want AND I also made decisions that I would no longer think about doing all the myriad crafts, arts, fun things, etc for which I’d been saving equipment but never used, My life is some simpler. When I go to a store and “things begin singing to me: ‘buy me’ “ I remind myself that I do not need it and have no place for it I have a friend who will not bring a new thing into her home without taking something else out of her home This includes a book, a piece of pottery, what-have-you. She is a good role model Years ago, at a spiritual retreat, the leader warned us: If you take up this discipline, you will have to remove something from your life. There is still only 24 hrs each day. This also applies to “stuff” I enjoy reading your blog, I read others and they all help me to stay focused. I am not entirely there yet, but getting closer. Maybe 85% of the way Thank you for your words ~ Mary Farley

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something that the kids have grown out of or that belongs to a child that has left home. Get their permission first of course.

Eco Tip for the Day

Watch less television. Find something to do for amusement that doesn’t require electricity in place of at least one session of your weekly television viewing. This of course will only work if the television gets turned off and not watched by someone else in the family. Perhaps you could instigate an old fashioned games night.

For a full list of my eco tips so far click here

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

I received the following comment from Willow yesterday…

“I like to do the mini missions when I am cleaning different rooms in my house. For example, as I was cleaning the bathroom, I decided to declutter the baskets we use to keep things organized (like my makeup, nail files). I pulled out all the old expired little medicine bottles and we were able to get rid of several which I will put in a plastic bag and recycle at the local police station tomorrow. It’s amazing what I find as I’m cleaning.”

I was amused by the comment and inspired to write this post at the same time. The reason for my amusement was that I had decided to answer some comments while at the same time hoping that one might inspire a blog post. Willow’s was the very first comment I read which gave me exactly what I needed.

I was also amused because she and I do the exact same thing – Start cleaning and end up finding areas of our homes to declutter. Today while I was cleaning I opened the under sink cupboard in the kitchen to get out some cleaner and ended up decluttering two hand soap bottles, to the recycling bin, that I had put aside in case I found a use for them, which I hadn’t. I also relocated my cleaning rags and sponges to an empty drawer. This effort left me with two empty baskets which I relocated to under the bench on the balcony. These baskets get repurposed over and over again. I think I have owned them for most of my married life.

The drawer that I relocated the rags and sponges to had become vacant when I relocated the spices that were in it to my wonderful new pantry drawers. Remember me saying how dysfunctional my pantry was, well it isn’t anymore. Three annoying deep shelves have been replaced by Five very functional soft close drawers of various depths. That won’t be the last reorganising in the kitchen either as the master cabinet maker will be back soon to complete the work he has started of changing my pots and pan/small appliance cupboard into a set of three drawers including a utensil drawer. I will post some photos when it is all complete.

But I digress. So often when I am cleaning do I get sidetracked into a little unscheduled decluttering. I am usually keen to get to the end of my cleaning but when a decluttering opportunity presents itself I just can’t help myself. It gives me a very satisfying feeling that spurs me on with my cleaning once I am done.

I suppose the moral of this story is ~ Always keep your eye out for a decluttering opportunity and don’t let the chance go by when it presents itself. And if it inspires some chain reaction decluttering, all the better. It is a great thing when a little decluttering ends with a whole bag of stuff in the trunk of your car ready to take to the thrift shop.

Today’s Mini Mission

 Declutter an item you realise you no longer love enough to keep now that you would rather space and simplicity over stuff.

Eco Tip for the Day

Don’t forget your reusable bags when going shopping. I keep a folded one in my handbag at all times so I am never get caught short. I think it has substituted for about 100 plastic bags by now. Worth its weight in gold I’d say.

For a full list of my eco tips so far click here

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.

As we travel further down the road to minimalism certain things that were, or at least we thought were, useful become clutter as we realise that we really don’t need them. It is all part of the process or should I say progress. Here are some missions that will help you identify some of those items as well as others that build up while you aren’t noticing.

Monday – Declutter a storage container or organising system that you no longer need due to your decluttering. This week I am decluttering a drawer organiser that I no longer need.

Tuesday – Declutter an item you realise you no longer love enough to keep now that you would rather space and simplicity over stuff.

Wednesday – Declutter something that the kids have grown out of or that belongs to a child that has left home. Get their permission first of course.

Thursday – Declutter an item that is only an alternative to another similar item that you now realise you don’t need multiples of.

Friday – Check to make sure useful recyclable items aren’t building up in your home, glass jars, takeout containers, shopping bags, plant pots, biscuit tins, cardboard boxes etc.

Saturday – Start a use it up challenge on something. Even I still find these items at time. Jam or a condiment that wasn’t so popular, shampoo that wasn’t great, other toiletries you just have too many 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

Drink tap water in preference to carbonated beverages. It doesn’t take a genius to work out how much better that is for the environment. Your waistline and your teeth will thank you for it as well.

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

Deb J

 Herbs and spices!  How many do you have?  Do you use them often?  How old are they?  As you can see we have way more than we need.  The majority of these are seldom used and some never used.  They have been around way too long in my book.  It drives me nuts but this is another place where Mom has her ideas and she isn’t going to change.  I’ve tried.  Some of these moved with us 5 years ago.  Yes, that’s right!  Five years ago!!  I wish it would all disappear.

I think we would be much better off if we tossed it all and just bought things as we use them and then in small amounts.  We are blessed to live where we have these stores with spices you can buy according to weight.  If you need a tablespoon of something you have never used before you can go there and buy it.  I like that.  You don’t have a bunch of something it turns out you don’t like.

My spice collection

If you only use it once or twice a year for some special recipe you don’t have to have it sitting around getting old.

I’m on a campaign to lessen the amount of spices we have and the age of them.  Wish me luck.

Today’s Mini Mission

This one may be more than a mini mission but that would depend entirely on how out of control you allow this area to become. The area for today is the desk top.

Eco Tip for the Day

Be very selective about what you buy so that you are so satisfied with the product that you will use it until it wears out and not trade it in for something else soon after.

For a full list of my eco tips so far click here

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

Have you ever enjoyed one of those TV series where the two main characters have a love interest in each other that takes episode after episode to come to climactic fruition. The build up is intoxicating. It is almost a shame when they finally succumb to their lust for each other. In fact that is often when the series also comes to its finality and if it doesn’t the show is never really as appealing from that moment on. It is like fairytales where the endings are “…and they lived happily ever after. Clearly the teller these stories know that the buildup is more interesting and tantalising than the actually partnership beyond that point.

Well your decluttering can be like this. I revelled in the joy of each item I sent on its way rather than lamenting daily not being at the end of my decluttering journey. Even now that I am almost fully decluttered I still look for items on a regular basis to send on their way because I know, from experience, that the less stuff I have the easier it is to keep in order, the less time I waste choosing between items and the more breathing space I have in my home. It still gives me a thrill to flirt with the idea of living with even less. 😉

So don’t look at decluttering as a chore, think of it as a thrilling adventure that will lead to a satisfying climax.

And for those of you who are thinking “Does this mean that the end of our decluttering journey will be an anticlimax?”, the answer is no. I means that once you make the conquest you can settle down into a very comfortable, happy and loving relationship with you stuff, not wanting to ever return to your past lifestyle.

So enjoy the journey and reap the rewards.

Today’s Mini Mission

Another obvious clutter magnet is the junk drawer. I am pleased to say I don’t have one of these.  “Why do junk drawers exist anyway?” Surely all the things we put in there have a home elsewhere but we are just not putting them away properly. Maybe once it is emptied you should remover the drawer for a week and attempt to learn to live without it. 

Eco Tip for the Day

If you do iron clothes don’t turn on the iron to do one thing. Designate a regular iron session so you aren’t wasting electricity reheating the iron over and over again.

For a full list of my eco tips so far click here

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

It seems that these days I do a lot of talking about the benefits of decluttering but very little on ways to go about it. This is probably because I know I have a lot of readers who are well seasoned declutterers by now, and they know this stuff. But the fact also is that new readers find my blog all the time and may not be so informed about such things. So today I am going to mentions my favourite and most successful ways that I have managed to give away my stuff.

I am not going to write about selling stuff today only about giving it away, because quite frankly that is usually the quickest way to go about it. So here goes…

• Thrift Shops ~ This is by far the method I have used most to reduce my clutter while at the same time helping others. Even before I started my “One thing a day” mission I had already been frequenting the thrift shop that I currently volunteer at. I did a little investigating to find a store near my home that would take a wide variety of stuff and it is the store that I gave and still give most of what I declutter. A simple lookup in the Yellow Pages online was how I found the store and it has been a God send to me. Prior to my volunteering there, I would put my daily decluttered item  in my transition point in the garage and when I had a car load to donate I would load it into my little hatchback and take it to the store. It was a joy to see it go and also to know I was helping both the charity, their shoppers who found these bargains, and also, through the charity, the trouble souls who without their suicide hotline might not be alive today. These days I just drop off the things I am decluttering on the day I go to do my shift. I have also made some lovely friends as a result. Thrift shops will often also pick up larger items such as furniture, mattresses etc.
• Freecycle.org ~ This is another great method for giving away your stuff. It is an online sharing site where people, with stuff to give away, list their items with a short description and location. People looking for these items can then send you and email to say they would like to be the recipient and you can then decide who to give the item/s to. You them give them your address to pick the item up from. You don’t even have to be there, just put the item on the stoop for them to collect when it is convenient.  It was rare that I didn’t get at least six people wishing to take the stuff I was giving away. One of the beauties of this site is that you can give away items that are broken. Simply describe the item and its condition and there are usually people out there who have the skill to repair and reuse these things. I gave away several broken items as well as perfectly good ones that for one reason or another I didn’t think suitable for the thrift shop. There are Freecycle groups all over the world. Perhaps there is one near you.
• Curb Side  or the Feebie Box~  This method has also been very successful for me. In fact I used it just this week to give away some mini fluorescent light globes. (I have been switching to LEDs because they are better for the environment.) In this case it was a freebie box in the foyer but curb side is the same principle. You take the item you wish to give away and put it at the curb in front of your home. Or, as in my situation, in the foyer or other communal area of an apartment block, with a FREE sign on it. You could also take these items to your work place or community group. I have found that these items are claimed in very short time. I love to check on them just to see how fast they disappear. I put my light globes in the foyer at about 8am, when I knew there would be plenty of foot traffic down there, and they were gone when I went back down at around 10am. I am guessing they had been gone for a while at that point.
• Friends or Family ~ There was a mass exodus of stuff from my home when my kids moved out. Even stuff I wasn’t really planning on giving away. They would tell me if there was something they wanted and, if it didn’t matter much to me or I wasn’t using it all the much, I would allow them to take it.  Also, most of my friends knew I was decluttering and if they had a need for something they would often ask ~ “You aren’t getting rid of INSERT ITEM HERE by any chance are you? And quite often I had just such and item I was happy to part with. Also I would ask friends and family if they wanted things if I thought they might be interested. *Vicki K has reminded me to tell you about utilising your cell phone camera to send photos, to family and friends, of items you are giving away. This is a quick and easy way to get a response to your enquiries. If people aren’t interested then you know you can swiftly dispatch the items to the thrift shop.
• Targeting Specific Recipients ~ There are some items that you just know would be greatly appreciated by certain groups, for example ~ Schools can’t get enough free stationary or craft supplies. Animal shelters appreciate blankets, pillows and towels. Painters make great use of your old sheets. Playgroups will happily take your kids old toys. We even have a Bicycle Ecology Centre here in my city that takes old bikes and bike parts. They recondition bikes and either give them to those in need or sell them to fund the project. I think you get the idea. There a many places who have a specific need for you stuff and with a little imagination I am sure you can come up with some in your local area.

I think that covers my favourite ways to give away stuff. If you have a method other than these that have worked for you please tell us about it.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter or put away an item from your car, even it it is just a trash that is lying around in there.

Eco Tip for the Day

Food takes a lot of resources to produce so never let it go to waste. Have a few recipes handy that are great for using up left over bits and pieces, like curry, quiche or bubble & squeak.

For a full list of my eco tips so far click here

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

One thing that came through in the comments to yesterday’s post was…

“A place for everything and everything in its place.”

The thing is that there is always a logical place for everything within a household but if those places are jam packed with stuff, putting everything in its place can become a nightmare.

Who hasn’t, at some stage in life, had the plastics cupboard avalanche. Or the overstuffed linen closet where every time you pull out a towel you end up with three or more at your feet. Or the utensils drawer that you have to rustle everything around in order to get it shut. I know I have. Although it never stopped me from putting everything it its place it sure made it harder to do so.

People tend to love variety, resulting in them continually buying new stuff whether they need it or not. What many don’t realise is the how much time can be wasted in the choosing and in the difficulty housing them. When housing the stuff gets too difficult the mess begins to spill out into the living areas of the house. Baskets full of washing while the closet is still stuffed to overflowing. Stuff cluttering up kitchen benches making it difficult to prepare food, tops of desks without an inch of the surface showing. Books, magazines and newspapers, intended to be read, heaped into piles on the floor rather than neatly stored on shelves. Expensive cars parked in the street because the garage is full of stuff… I think you get the picture. There is no longer room for everything and the excess is in places it ought not to be.

If you find yourself at a blog like mine then you have come to the realisation that something has to give. You either resign yourself to live amongst the stuff, but clearly you aren’t happy to do that or you wouldn’t be here. Or alternatively you do something about it. The first thing is to resist the temptation to acquire. Meanwhile you can begin to reduce what you already have.

When they say money can’t by happiness, they mean the stuff you buy with money won’t give you sustainable joy. Having a comfortable,  healthy, inviting, easy to maintain home to be proud of also won’t guarantee happiness but it sure seems more likely to lead you in that direction. Having a place for everything and everything easily put in its place is a nice way to live. So why not give it a go.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter a couple of things from a category that you have too many of. Something that might take years to ever need replacing. Too many towels, too many shoes, too many sheets, to many crockery items…

Eco Tip for the Day

Save electricity by not turning on electrical appliances, like irons, hair straighteners etc, too long before you use them and by not leaving them on while you decide to take a break during the task.

For a full list of my eco tips so far click here

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