Isn’t it baffling that no matter how much you reduce your belongings and simplify your life, there still seems to always be an endless to-do list. I think it is highly possible, at least in my case, that while I am un-complicating one area of my life I am filling that void with something else.

Actually as I write this, I am sure I published a post on this very subject not so long back. Nevertheless I am going to prattle on about it again today. If for no other reason than the fact that I obviously didn’t listen to my own advice the last time. 

Sometimes even the things we enjoy in life can begin to feel like a chore.  The effort of manoeuvring other activities just to fit them in can be exhausting. And then there is the physical clutter that sometimes manifests due to them.

I don’t actually know  where I am going with this post so I am just going to give some examples of things on my to-do list that are just draining me at the moment. Things that I aspire to getting around to doing but are actually just causing clutter in my life that I don’t need.

First Thing: On my balcony I have a louvred cabinet door and three picture frames. I can see the potential in them, which is why I “rescued” them from the gutter in the first place, but I really don’t have the inclination or possibly even the skills to do anything with them. But what they really are is aspirational clutter making my balcony look unattractive and harder to clean. They have to go. Should I find the time and inspiration later I am sure I can acquire replacements  just as easily as I acquired these.

Second Thing: I really enjoy creating my handcrafted cards and using up my supply of craft materials. However there are a lot of materials among them that  I don’t like enough to warrant the space they waste in my home. Allowing those to linger is making the decluttering process far too long winded. At the same time I find it hard to say no to interesting papers etc that I can see potential in.

Solution: On Monday I made a pledge to not bring in any more paper crafting materials for two months and I am going to stick to that pledge no matter what. In fact I hope to stretch that pledge out longer once the two months are up. Also I am going to round up a collection of materials among what I already own and donate them to my local thrift shop.

Third Thing: I have been taking on far too much responsibility and not delegating enough when it comes to my art space since taking it over in April. It is time I stopped being such a control freak and gave myself a break. One of these responsibilities has been to bring the space in line with the new standards of presentation. That is the reason for props such as the picture frames and louvred door mentioned in the first thing above.

Solution: I have started delegating and am resisting any temptation to acquire any more merchandising items. Especially ones that require upcycling.

Forth Thing: There are a few tasks on my to-do list that are unavoidable yet I have been procrastinating over them. Although avoiding them is not causing clutter in my home it sure is causing clutter in my head.  In my experience, doing is usually far less painful than procrastinating, so heaven knows why I still find myself doing it at times.

Solution: I pledge now that these tasks will all be completed by the end of next week.

I love repurposing, I love crafting, I love organising, I love helping others and I love to be thorough… but one needs to know where to draw the line. As it is impossible to be everything to everyone all of the time.

Are there areas in your life that need decluttering? Are you overtaxing yourself, even when it comes to the things you enjoy? If so maybe it is time to cut yourself some slack and take a break from it all.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something that was given to you that you no longer wish to keep.

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

Eco Tip for the Day

Don’t accept free promotional products that you have no use for. Accepting these just encourages the continuation of this practice while the environment would be healthier without the manufacture of cheap throwaway or needless items like these usually are.

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 Peggy on Friday and wanted to share it here so people, who don’t read the comments, might see it. It is comments like this that inspire me to keep on blogging. I am just lucky that I get them on a regular basis. So thank you Peggy and all those 365ers who write in to tell us similar stories. So without further adieu her is Peggy’s comment…

“When I think about the things I have managed to pass along or repurpose, I am amazed!  The dollhouse (sold), an unused medical test kit (returned to lab), unused Sephora gift bags (returned to store), foam roller, unused toiletries, and clothing to Goodwill, old eye glasses & unused Restasis to eye doctor office, organizing containers to work, old sheets, blankets, & towels to veterinarian, and lots more gone! Toiletries and cleaning supplies used up and not replaced.  Books donated to library and favorite coffee shop.  My husband has joined in little by little, parting with some old magazines, a cheap pocketknife, etc.  He “shopped” our elder daughters mountain of boxes for her old laptop.  Our younger daughter then fixed the old laptop up for him so that he can use the internet (win win).  He is going to “shop” these boxes again for an earphone cable, even though he could buy new for about $7… I suggested this, to avoid possible duplication.

These things are just remembered examples of the many things out the door and not replaced, or repurposed instead of purchasing new.  So many little pockets of space cleared!  It is much easier to see what IS needed because there is less excess.  We are in no way “finished” with our decluttering journey.  However, I am so grateful to be this far along and to have changed my thought processes with regard to stuff… I wonder all the time what our home must have looked like and how it functioned before I started to understand what you are teaching here.  I know that our home functions better the more we rid ourselves of the unused and unloved items.   🙂

Today’s Mini Mission

Do a quick perusal of your outdoor area and declutter a few things that won’t be used again after this season comes to a close.

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

Eco Tip for the Day

Just follow Peggy’s example, on how to pass things on instead of throwing them in the trash, and that will be helpful to the state of the environment.

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’ve been racking my brain today, trying to come up with an idea for a blog post, without success. I thought of a few experiences I have encountered during the week in reference to clutter. However these thoughts didn’t amount to enough content for writing a whole blog post. So I decided I would just put these thoughts to you and see what comments ensue. The conversation in the comments section is often as stimulating and inspiring as a post anyway due to my clever and engaged readers. So here goes.

1. I was thinking of how I hold on to some things longer than I ought to, because I just hate waste. Last week I finally put an old t-shirt in a bag to become rag at the thrift shop. The problem was that, from a distance, the t-shirt looked perfectly good, but get up close and tiny holes were visible in the lower front. I hate this about t-shirts, the way those wholes wear through. The general theory is that it is from being sandwiched between your pants button and hard bench tops. Which for me is very possible because I craft so much at my kitchen bench. But I digress, I felt inclined to continue to wear the t-shirt because it was mostly good, but I had to admit that, up close, I probably looked like a bit of a slob. Who else has trouble parting with things that are mostly good but in reality “mostly” isn’t good enough in public?
2. Another area in which I hate to see waste is when crafting. I like to use up materials until what is left is of no use to anyone. At the same time I find it hard to turn down the offer of free or near to free materials that I know I could use. As a result I have snippets of ribbon, card stock, patterned papers etc just waiting for that little element of a project that will see them used up. Meanwhile more stuff comes in the door. As a result I sometimes feel like I am taking two steps forward one step back. So lately I have been tailoring my projects with the goal to use up lots of little bits and pieces. For example I might make a batch of six cards. While the design is the same, each card will be slightly different than the other due to the fact that I am making the elements for the card from scraps. I have also been expanding my product range, at my retail art space, by creating small items that are perfect for using up scraps. At the same time I refuse to purchase any new materials, it is make do or go without. Now I finally feel I am making inroads into reducing my craft supplies. Do my crafty readers also have issues with lots of little bits and pieces of scrap materials and what do you do to declutter them from your stash.
3. Do what you can to find ways to responsibly declutter items that you think are of no use to anyone. There is always a charity or company out there who has a use for your stuff, by either rejuvenating it or recycling it. Let Google find such places for you or use good old word of mouth. You might be surprised what you can learn from conversations with others. Sometimes it is possible to just stumble on to such information when you least expect it. Today I arrived home to my apartment building to find a folder sitting on the ground near the entrance. It belonged to a bedding recycling/reconditioning company. I looked around and, sure enough, saw two guys loading a mattress into a truck. I thought “Good for you!” and also “Kudos to the people who had the decency and initiative to find a way not to let that mattress go to waste.” Has any of my wonderful readers found great ways to send their unwanted stuff to be repurposed or recycled? If so tell us about it.

So that is what I have been pondering when it comes to decluttering this week. So now I am interested to hear your ideas on the subjects.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something you wear.

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

I was at my son’s house on Sunday to pick up some packaging he wanted us to put in our recycling and trash as he had bought a new sofa and his bins were full. He also had several items to give me to take to the thrift shop.

As I was sitting enjoying a little time chatting with my step-granddaughter my husband and son were packing up the car. She suddenly noticed what looked like some sort of plush toy jutting a little from one of the bags destined for the car. She asked if she could see what was in it and my son said no that we needed to get the stuff to the car. She began to get upset thinking that he was decluttering something that may be hers.

I am not sure what the item was but he insisted it was just some old toy of his that he no longer wanted, but she was not convinced. As my son left the room with the bag her bottom lip dropped and I thought this was the perfect time to have a little conversation with her about why it wasn’t important as to what was in the bag.

I said, “Did you recognise the thing in the bag as one of your loved toys?”, and she said no. As I know her pretty well by now I then asked, “Don’t you think that whatever that toy was, if you loved it so much, wouldn’t you recognise it even from the little you could see?” And she said yes. I explained to her how she can sometimes get a little too attached to some of her things but if that was something that she loved her Mum and Liam wouldn’t dream of decluttering it. And she seemed satisfied with that.

I then went on to explain what happened to the old toys and clothes that she had grown out of and were decluttered. I explain how some of them where bought at the thrift shop for little kids who’s parents couldn’t afford new toys, and if it wasn’t for her kind donations those kids would have no toys. I also explained how, no matter who bought the items, that the money went to a charity who used the money for a good cause. Sometimes to help people in need. Sometimes to help starving people overseas. Sometimes to fund research to find cures for things that made people sick. And even other to help save endangered animals like the pandas she loved so much.

By now she was no longer upset and said wait here and she ran off into her bedroom. I thought for one incredible moment that she was going to her room to find something else of hers to give me to take to the thrift shop. Alas she went to get her iPad mini to play games with me. My husband later said she probably got it to distract me so she didn’t have to listen to my raving on anymore. But I prefer to think that I succeeded in making her realise that giving was living and she was now ready to move on to something fun we could do together.

But seriously, it is never too early to include your children in the act of decluttering. I don’t know what that toy was in the bag, but I do hope if it was some old thing of Liam’s or something of hers that  she had chosen to give away a while back. As you know I don’t think it is a good idea to declutter anyones stuff without their agreement. And having a discussion with your kids about how what they donate can help others is a great way to encourage them to let go of things they don’t really use. Like adults they can tend to cling on to stuff otherwise, just in case.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something that is brown.

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

Gift giving and receiving can be a touchy subject for 365’ers and their relatives. The best compromise to date, is the gift card or vouchers. However, reports show that $1 billion dollars worth in 2013 weren’t redeemed and $2 billion dollars worth in 2014. No wonder retailers love gift cards! Money for nothing!

This made me consider the gift cards that were floating around my kitchen drawer and decided to use these as part of my decluttering mini-missions. It turns out I had three – one for $25 to a supermarket, one for $20 at the shopping mall and one for $100 dinner at a local restaurant.

The restaurant one (received Jan 2014) was due to expire later this week so we made a booking. As for the supermarket gift card (May 2014) – it isn’t my usual supermarket, which is why I didn’t have an arrangement in place to redeem it and the shopping mall one is fairly recent (Nov 2014) but I didn’t have anything in mind for it.

Why do so many gift cards expire?   Why did what amounted to cash sit in the drawer?   Dollar notes wouldn’t lie around for 6-12 months.   Colleen noted that once upon a time such things would have been a gift from heaven for the average family, especially the grocery card.

Colleen brought to my attention an interesting angle.  Why do we keep so many ‘just in case’ items in our house, if we struggle to use up virtual money, surely this proves we don’t need to keep stuff we don’t use.

So how do we avoid expiring gift cards?

Keep gift cards in your wallet, not the kitchen drawer and try to plan purchasing around them.   My usual supermarket sends loyalty vouchers twice a year and I wrap it around my loyalty card so it gets used at first opportunity.  If it isn’t a store that you frequent, note the expiry date and load a reminder into your phone.   There are also sites such as Cardpool.com, Swapagift.comand GiftCardRescue.com to sell or trade, but as I live in New Zealand I checked on Trademe (like eBay) and people are selling their cards there too.

Another idea I feel deserves mention, for small residual amounts left on a card, instead of letting that money expire, use it to make a donation.Websites such as…

Charity Choice ~ www.charitygiftcertificates.org/GCE/default.aspx

and Gift Card Giver ~  http://plywoodpeople.com/projects/gift-card-giver/

…stockpile cards and combine them into higher-value gift cards that are donated to the needy and worthy charities.

Is there something as a gift card giver that I can do to make it easier for the receiver to redeem?   Low end cards got the thumbs up in my research.  A $25 Wendy’s gift card is more ‘do-able’ than a $25 gift card to an expensive fashion store which will require the receivee to spend more than they were gifted to buy anything. Cards that required the receivee to travel out of their way to redeem were listed as the next most likely to expire and ‘unlikely candidate’ also got a mention ie if Grandma isn’t an iPad aficionado, don’t give her an iTunes app card..

So what did I do with my remaining two gift cards?   I don’t actually need anything at the moment but my daughter is off to Tech this year and needed to set up an iCloud account which required her own Apple ID which in turn required some sort of credit card to attach to the account.   As she doesn’t have a Visa card, she was unable to complete the setup.   I had a moment of inspiration, what if I used the two gift cards to purchase iTune gift cards to load against her AppleID? I purchased two $20 cards and a chocolate bar, both of which were gratefully received.

I’m not sure what to call this….re-gifting-gift-cards? Re-purposed-gift-cards? Re-redemption-cards? The gift-card-that-kept-on-giving?

I wasn’t keen on the swapping this bit of plastic for a new bit of plastic, but on the other hand I didn’t receive gifts that I didn’t need and I am grateful as I was able to use them to create a solution and saved me parting with cash.

 As for the restaurant voucher, I’m looking forward to dinner on a balcony overlooking the white sand of our local beach, and even better to express her appreciation my daughter has offered to drive us to and from the restaurant, as long as we don’t mind travelling in her ancient two door small Nissan Pulsar with no air-con and listening to her music. Eminem is a small price to pay compared to a taxi in the holiday season in a beach town and it means my husband and I can both enjoy a bottle of wine that was also a gift.

So 365’ers, what gift cards and vouchers do you have lurking in your home that you could set a goal to use up over the next week or two?   Do you have any clever suggestions for gift cards whether as the giver or the receivee?

Today’s Mini Mission

Wednesday – Declutter and item of clothing. I decluttered a dress, not because I wanted to it simply worn out. Split down the back worn out and not worth repairing because the fabric had worn so thin.

I am sure I have talked about this topic numerous times but it is worth repeating over and over again. Two situations in recent times have brought both sides of this subject to the fore again for me.

Situation 1 ~ Many times over the last few years I have given advice to my friend, who I just helped declutter, to slowly start getting rid of her stuff. She even reads my blog sometimes. One of the pieces of advice dished out was to have a plan for where to offload her unwanted stuff. However aside from giving me craft items and her friend, who is a teacher, craft and stationery items and she gave paper shredding to the vet., she still had no real plan in place until the crunch came and she had to move.

At this point she discovered a thrift store mere blocks away where she could drop off stuff. This made the bulk of her decluttering easy. Then we began decluttering toiletry items such as hand creams etc. I suggested investigating local women’s shelters, at which point she told me that a friend who lived in a flat upstairs works at such a shelter. My first thought was ~ “So, why oh why, had you not thought to utilise such a convenient way to shift this stuff.” But it occurred to me that many people just don’t think the same way I do.

I then also set an example of how you can give other stuff away right on your own doorstep, by hanging a bag of partly used notebooks on the apartment fence in clear view of passersby. They were gone within the hour. I put a free sign on them of course so people new they were meant to be taken.

Situation 2 ~ I was reading a comment from Wendy B. on Monday where she tells how she is giving away stuff. Here is what she wrote…

“I guess our reason is We Don’t Want To Move It. Ian is a man on a mission. The other day he called up the Boy Scouts and left a message — do they want camping gear? The reply was “Yes, we’ll even come and get it”. He is currently rounding up tents and backpacks and sleeping bags (definitely Thursday mission) Earlier this morning he pillaged the plumbing and electrical boxes and drawers and we have 2 boxes of stuff to offer to the Habitat ReStore. For my part, I’ve gone through the seed boxes and given away or thrown out all the flower and veggie seeds we will never plant. We are on a roll…”

As you can see, Ian and Wendy are both thinking ahead. And some pretty logical and clever thinking indeed. They are looking at their stuff, deciding what needs to go and then thinking who might best benefit from their donations. As you can see from her comment they found very good homes, very quickly for their stuff. And this is a very good example of using your imagination or, in my opinion, logic to work out places to offload your stuff.

Let me give you a few more examples.

• There are plenty of people less privileged than yourself. Whether in you own neighbourhood or in other countries. So naturally they would benefit greatly from your donation of all sorts of things. Things such as old eyeglasses which most optometrist will collect and send to charities who deal with this sort of donation. Thrift shops will send clothes that they can’t sell on the local market to companies that send overseas. Mobility aids such as crutches, wheel chairs and the like are also called for. And there are many more examples.
• There are charity craft groups who make clothing for premature babies and clothes, blankets and toys for underprivileged children.
• There are also sporting groups who will take equipment.
• Magazines can go to doctor and dentist surgeries or any waiting place where a little light reading would be enjoyed. Also mens and women’s shelters and schools would also benefit from these.
• Schools can save a lot of much needed funds through receiving donations of all sorts of stationary and equipment.
• Sheets, blankets, towels and pillows to animal shelters, vets and pet and wildlife rescue charities.
• Even stained clothing can be donated and accepted by charities to be sold as rag.

The list goes on and on but as you can see the options are logical and generally easily accessible.  Once you have an idea all you need then is your computer search engine or the phone book to find a perspective beneficiary in your area. You can see some more suggestions here.

All you need to do is identify an item you intend to declutter and consider who might best benefit from it and go from there. 80% if stuff will usually be accepted by a thrift shop but as you can see there are plenty of other options for that 80% as well as the other 20.

Today’s Mini Mission

  Return something that belongs to someone else.

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

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

Well folks I have spent the last two days hectically decluttering and organising for my friend and I have to say it was hard yakka (Australian for hard work). Call me strange but I really enjoyed it and was a little sorry to have to drag myself away so soon when there were still things to be done. I am very happy to be home with my husband though. And extremely grateful for my wonderful apartment that, considering I haven’t done my weekly clean for the last two Mondays’, was there to welcome me home looking tidy and cleaner than I expected. It will be Monday before I bother to do much in the way of housework because it still looks so good.

But I digress.

I really enjoy decluttering because of the space it opens up and the reduction in general cleaning it results in. However I also love to organise. I love the flow of it and the results and spending two days doing that has revitalised me as much as exhausted me. The only thing I regret is not taking before and after picks as I felt that was too much of an invasion of privacy. It is enough that I am writing about it without naming names. But I can assure you the transformation was nothing short of amazing.

My friend has been so open to the process and cooperated wholeheartedly. Although I have to remember that the pace I do things at is not the pace that most normal human beings operate under. I can be a dynamo in the relentless pursuit of a finish line. Which is ironic considering my own slow approach to decluttering. However my home, when I started my declutter journey, mostly consisted of hidden clutter where as my friend’s, although not a hoarder case, was in an obvious state of too much in and not enough going out, to the point of dysfunctional.

I am please to say that my friend can now begin to take a slower approach. Although I think she is keen to tackle a few more obvious jobs before truly slowing down to the fine tuning. And there is plenty of fine tuning to do. As I am now intimate with contents of her home, I will be sending her weekly missions to achieve.

Now let me tell you about some of the tasks I have tackled over the last two and a bit days.

I arrived in Sydney at about 3:10pm on sunday and my friend picked me up from the train station to go to IKEA. Her closet had fallen apart in the move and she needed another to begin the reshuffle. Once that was achieved, not so simple because the boxes of parts weighed a ton and we had to not only get them into the SUV but out again and into the apartment. I am glad she lives on the ground floor.

Before unloading a space had to be cleared in the bedroom which required the take down a reassembly of her bed which had structural integrity issues after her attempt to assemble it earlier. I also changed her mind about where the best spot was to place it in the room. Once this task was complete it was off to dinner. Once home again we decided to tackle the new wardrobe because there would be no time in the morning as she had to go to work. Job complete we had a nice hot cup of tea before turning in for the night at around 10:30pm.

Then, for me, it was up at 6:30am on Monday to welcome the new day as my friend left for work. Alone to face the monumental task my first full day was spent doing some serious fitting in of stuff still packed in boxes and plastic crates. Every room was cluttered with hastily placed loads of stuff and too much furniture to comfortably fit the space. As a result my first day was spent following a cascade effect style of organising. This had to go there before this went there, so I was going from one room to another putting things away and shuffling things about. It was a whirlwind of continual improvement and I was in my element.

Tasks ranged from unpacking boxes to deconstructing furniture that we had, the previous night, decided weren’t going to fit. There was also the washing machine to set up before doing a few, much needed, loads of laundry. There were items that needed cleaning before putting into place and some serious dusting to continually do in order to begin the new uncluttering life in cleanliness. I was given carte blanche to make any decisions on placement, although I did run ideas by my friend via text messaging. By the time my friend returned home there was already much more visible floor space in every room than when she had left in the morning. We then went out to dinner, but on our return there was a shelf full of items that decluttering decisions were now to be made on. She performed admirably with that task and yet another crate full of stuff was ready to go out the door. By which time I was about ready to drop. Fortunately navigating my way to the bed was much easier now.

Day two dawned and I was itching to get started on the craft room, it was still piled high with stuff however there was plenty of furniture into which to organise it. That isn’t to say that I ignored the rest of the house. Oh no, as the floor cleared in there, other possibilities opened up elsewhere and although I focused most of my attention in the craft room I deviated off on other projects here and there.

I arranged, rearranged, labeled, repurposed furniture and piled up a massive quantity of stuff for my friend to adjudicate on once she returned home for the evening. Fortunately, as I have mentioned before, my friend and I do very similar crafts, so deciding what was useful and what wasn’t was a fairly simple task, so no time was wasted procrastinating over what I should fit in and what I thought she would be willing to part with. The only interruption to my hectic pace was the cat who had decided that she would like extra attention and kept climbing into my lap whenever I sat to work. And sitting there wasn’t enough, if I didn’t pet her she would nip at me and gently stick her claws into  me. In the end she found herself at the receiving end of a gentle tap on her nose with a sheet of Halloween stickers, when her attention seeking actions got somewhat out of hand. Needless to say, when she fell asleep in the chair I wanted to work in I let her have it and fetched a dining chair instead as I was just grateful for the chance to work in peace.

The changes were obvious to my friend the minute she walked in the door. However there was that massive pile of potential clutter, I had amassed during the day, to be sorted through before the day was done. A home cooked meal and a bottle of sparkling rosé later and we were ready to tackle the task. I joked that this would have to be complete even if it took till midnight. She quickly made choices while I listen to her reasoning and assisted where I could. At one point she was deciding whether to set aside some free grocery store cooking mags when I gently chimed in with all the logic of the, then upcoming, Tuesday post titled ~ Why keep cookbooks. She soon agreed to this logic and threw them onto the recycling pile without even glancing inside.

This task was finally complete as the clock ticked closely to 11:30 pm, by which time I could barely keep my eyes open and thinking was a struggle.  Two ibuprofen, some teeth brushing and goodnight wishes later I collapsed into bed, exhausted yet happy.

With much of what I needed doing done we had a more leisurely start to Wednesday morning. After much needed cups of coffee my friend cooked us a hearty breakfast of bacon, eggs and fried tomato. Then it was back to the task. Firstly I relocated a bookcase into the hall to be used as her transition point for future decluttering. She then packed another two boxes and two bags of clutter into the SUV to be later delivered to the thrift shop while I made a couple of trips to the recycling bin. This required climbing up onto the fence to compact the contents down with my foot in order to fit it all in. I was feeling a little guilty for taking up most of the precious little recycling space the apartment block was afforded. But it had to be done and I am sure no one else was in greater need of that space than we.

The next task was to rearrange some of the living room furniture in order to open up the space. Then while my friend unpacked yet another box into furniture in this space I helped buy wiping and dusting. And then the one box of kept items, from the previous nights sorting, had to be shuffled into the craft space before we called it quits for the morning in order for me to prepare for my journey home.

To be continued….

Today’s Mini Mission

Work on a collection of similar items so that you might be able to eliminate the excess and reduce the size container/piece of furniture they take are housed in. (I said I wouldn’t bring crafts into this weeks missions but craft is an area where I hope to achieve this this week. In fact I am hoping to eliminate one or even two small wheeled storage carts in the process.)

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

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

Find Part I here if you haven’t already read it.

I forgot to mention that at the end of Saturday’s effort we were sitting together in the craft room talking a little about the progress of the day, and my friend was lamenting that she wished things had been different and this task could have been a lot easier. I don’t recall exactly what I said but I assured her that I was proud of the progress she had made and how well she was doing with the decluttering process. It is always best to look forward and not dwell on past mistakes, just make things better in the future.

Sunday dawned and I had only half a day left to help my friend with this feverishly fast pack and declutter. So we got right to it with me finishing up in the craft room while she continued to tackle the bedroom. I soon completed my task in the craft room and began packing up the back of the SUV with the first load of the day to go to the new address. Once that was full, delivered and the vehicle empty yet again we began filling it up with a load to go to the thrift shop.

As I bundled up stuff and transferred it to the SUV my friend continued in the bedroom. By this time she was getting more and more ruthless with her stuff. At one point she brought two items out to me stating that it took a big effort for her to part with them. These items had been the last things given to her by a dear friend who had passed away recently. They were things she knew she would never use and was keeping for the sentimental value. By this time, after listening to my logical reasonings about letting go of attachment to stuff she had come to the conclusion that she didn’t need to keep these items in order for her to remember and cherish the beautiful friendship she had shared with this lost loved one and had decided to let them go. I was very proud of her and not just a little surprised that she had already risen to this level of decluttering awareness.

Soon after, she brought out yet another two items that were a token of the progress she was making. She was, at that point, boxing up a collection of unicorn figurines. These had been amassed over a long period of time but she had decided to begin a trial separation on them by leaving them boxed up at the new apartment. The two items were the first items of the collection that she had decided she could live without and had brought them to me to add to the donation pile. I enquired if she was sure she was ready to part with them and she assured me she was. Of course I conveyed a genuine “Well done!” and we continued on with the task.

With the SUV filled again with the load for the thrift shop we drove off together to deliver them and to deliver her from that big burden of ownership. Oh what a relief it was to take such a huge chunk out of the mass off belongings that was to be unpacked at the new address.

We then picked up some lunch and went home for some much needed nourishment and a short rest from our labours. At this point it was time for me to freshen up for my bus and train journey home. I almost wished I could stay and continue to help but my darling husband was eager for my return and my wonderful daughter had invited us for a delicious roast chicken dinner.

But that is not the end of the saga.

To be continued…

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter kitchen gadgets that weren’t so useful.

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

Eco Tip for the Day

Donate or sell under utilised items in your home in the hope that it will prevent someone else, who might have a use for them, from having to buy new.

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

The hurricane method of decluttering, as Moni dubbed it, is when one rips through the house decluttering a vast amount of stuff all at once. A person’s hand is often forced into this action due to a sudden change in circumstances which makes a big declutter necessary.

A hurricane declutter was exactly what I was helping a friend with on the weekend. She had been thinking of moving but found a new place quicker than expected, and just when her best friend was leaving for an overseas vacation. She phoned me in a panic on Wednesday last week begging for my help. I quickly agreed and took a three and a half hour train and bus trip to her home on Friday. I ended up staying until 1:30pm on Sunday. This was enough time to finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

At first we tackled the kitchen together, me pulling things out of the cupboards for her to wrap and pack into boxes. We decluttered items along the way. We kept it simple with a choice of keep or go. One word choices that saved time. We did not add any in-between choices of maybe or trial separation. We didn’t have time for that. It was only easy choices of let it go or keep (at least for now).  Secondary choices would have to wait until she has moved in.

Once we had enough for a trip to the new place we loaded it up and went on our way. She then dropped her friend at the airport and returned with a nice SUV (loaned from this same friend), for us to load and transfer with. Meanwhile I stayed at the new place and unloaded the boxes. Boxes were expensive and limited so we decided it was prudent to unpack as we went rather than waste more money.

After the kitchen was done my friend started on her bedroom while I got going in the craft room. Now, just to give you some perspective here, she owns way more craft supplies than I ever have, so you can imagine the monumental size of the task I had ahead of me. Fortunately we do the same sort of craft so it was easy for me to recognise what was worth keeping (at least for now) and what I needed to ask her to make decisions on. This went amazingly smoothly and she was very good at the decision making process. She even gave me her excuses for her choices. As before, we had no time for ifs, buts and maybes so there was a vast amount of stuff that made its way to the new house. Several SUV loads in fact. Which is why I am going back next week to help sort it out and to assist in more decluttering.

Meanwhile my friend was being ruthless in her bedroom. She donated no less than eight garbage bags of clothes to the thrift shop. Keeping in mind that she had no idea what thrift shop to use or what sorts of things they would accept. Luckily she quickly found one quite nearby that would take anything she had to offer. She was also ruthless at tossing out old make-up, expired toiletries and even some sentimental items. She packed as she went, keeping aside only the things she would need for the next few days.

After numerous trips to the new place we began to see that light at the end of the tunnel. And at nightfall on the Saturday we called it quits for the day and went out for a a easy dinner and some much earned rest.

To be continued…

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something a loved one gave you that you don’t need and is just collection dust. This doesn’t mean you don’t love the person just not the item.

Eco Tip for the Day

Take public transport where possible. It is better for the environment and actually more relaxing than tackling the commute yourself.

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

Hello everyone!

How are your challenges going?

My original 3-week’s challenge has ended, but I will keep going for another week as it has only now begun to get a little harder and I’d like to find some more hidden clutter to get rid of. The pace is getting a little challenging meanwhile, but I will do it for the rest of July!

For me, it has been a success so far. I kept decluttering my 20 things a day and even got rid of some more (all together another week’s worth). Mostly sewing supplies, photos, paper and office supplies had to go, but I also got rid of the odd item of clothing, dishware and a couple of books.

Meanwhile, the difference is visible. I could fit some more stuff (wool stack, photos,…) into our cabinet in the living room and alongside with the other decluttering opened up quite some space in our storage/laundry room that way.

Most things I got rid of weren’t valuable at all and I made excessive use of a cardboard box with a “for free” sign on the sidewalk. Pens, pencils, jewel cases, file binders and other doodads found a new home that way. Most of my sewing supplies went to a friend who will make good use of them and a couple of other items went to the charity shop. A couple of broken things went straight to the bin. Despite my frequent decluttering, all the stuff was not only drawn from their hiding places but actually also sent on its way to a new home.

I feel really great about having done this challenge (although I’m not quite done as I mentioned! 😉 ). My home is not perfect now, especially as I have to sort through my paper work and also give my computer a good declutter. But – and it’s a big “but” – the clutter spreading in the apartment has really slowed down. Things don’t spill as easily from drawers or cupboards, I got rid of almost all underused items that have been here as a back up of my favourites and only cought dust (e.g. my second hair brush) and I’m down to much more reasonable numbers of “use it up” supplies.

I think, it’s astonishing quite how many items I could so easily let go. After all, I have been decluttering for years and most of the items I got rid of in the last weeks have been there from the very start. More than 500 completely unnecessary items went and to see how relatively small the impact was nonetheless made me realize just how many items must be around still. So, no matter that we are just living in an apartment and probably own less than many other people, there was still a whole lot of stuff I can’t even remember the minute I got rid of it. So, I will continue in this pace for July and after that continue decluttering on a daily basis, though one item will be fine as well. The new state of the apartment feels so much better than before and I think strapping another 500 or so items will do only good!

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter a few pieces of jewellery that you no longer find the desire to adorn yourself with.

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