Mini Mission Monday is about finding ten minutes a day to declutter. To make it easy for you, each Monday I set seven declutter missions, one for each day of the week for you to follow. It takes the guess work out of decluttering and makes it easy and “fun” for you to achieve some quick decluttering

We are going to do a declutter tour of our houses this week and visit one room a day. While you are in each room do a little visual declutter. What I mean by that is, aside from the mini mission item you are removing you might spy an area or two that needs more attention later on. Make a list of these areas so you remember where and what they were for when you have a little extra time up your sleeve. I will leave the item up to you to choose but I want something removed from each room I mention each day.

If by some lucky chance you don’t have seven different rooms in your home and have a lot less housework than some, chose seven different function areas. Even in a small living space we designate spaces for paperwork, cooking, bathing, relaxing, sleeping, dining, storage etc so concentrate on each of these areas if you don’t have separate rooms.

Monday – Bathroom (Perhaps you have some old make up brushes you no longer use)
Tuesday – Dining Room (Perhaps you have some excess linen in the buffet)
Wednesday – Living/Lounge Room (Are there old magazine in your coffee table drawers)
Thursday – Bedroom One (There is nearly always old clothes that are hiding in the back of the closet)
Friday – Bedroom Two (Children’s old toys may be found here)
Saturday – Kitchen (There is always something lingering here, unused gadgets particularly)
Sunday – Laundry (Cleaning products that didn’t perform well or old cleaning rags are often found here)

Good luck and happy decluttering

Don’t forget to leave a comment telling us what you managed to achieve with your mini missions.

Today’s Declutter Item

These little plastic bottle held beads and hotel shampoo. I was saving them to put more beads in but have convinced myself that I need no more beads unless I use something else up. I will use the one in one out method to keep things under control in the craft room. So these bottles are useless to me and unfortunately they went in the bin because there is no recycle mark on them.

Things that made me happy, made me laugh, made me feel grateful, fascinated me or I thought were just plain awesome.

• I had fun at a surprise birthday party of a good friend. ~  It is so nice to be a part of the celebrations of life.
• I looked after a friends dog and she gave me a clutter free thank you gift of two plants for my garden.~ I needed a little inspiration to do some gardening now that the weather is colling down.
• Roast chicken dinner.
• The cooler nights of Autumn.
• Chatting with an old friend from America on Facebook ~ it was great to hear from her.

Wow, it was a busy comment week but I narrowed it down to five for you. I hope you enjoy them.

Hanoush in response to Don’t let it linger-Donate ~ …Oh, and totally agree with donating… Read more

Cindy in response to Annabelle ~ Annabelle, I agree with Colleen that it’s best if you stay away… Read more

Debra F in response to Excess Abundance ~ Sometimes the hardest lessons to learn and the simplest… Read more

Loretta in response to Declutter Update ~ While I don’t think most of us can live with 100 items… Read more

Liina in response to Declutter Update ~ This is really inspirational! I love the idea of your project… Read more

Fave Five Links this week

Exconsumer ~ Nostalgia sentiments and stuff

Simply Being Mum ~ Faminimalism simply being mums story

Uberless ~ 3-steps-to-minimalist-bliss

Minimalism Defined ~ What-to-do-when-you-live-with-non-minimalists

Willow’s Cottage ~ March-begins-with-small-things

Today’s Declutter Item

Finally starting to reduce the amount of crafting supplies. Every birthday card I make every celebration someone asks me to create invitations for is one step closer to a less cluttered craft area.

Things that made me happy, made me laugh, made me feel grateful, fascinated me or I thought were just plain awesome.

• Lots of chats with the neighbours ~ The time just flies then you realise you are half an hour late to start cooking dinner. Having an efficient decluttered kitchen helped put me back on track.
• Soap that comes in cardboard boxes with no individual wrapping.
• Getting my tea party invitations made and delivered.
• A refreshing shower at the end of the day ~ followed by a cup of tea.
• All the wonderful minimalist bloggers out there who contribute to our collective wealth of knowledge.

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

This week I have decided to feature five recent comments from five readers that are new to commenting here at 365lessthings

Virginia in response to Natural Progression Decluttering~ I try to use everything until its gone… Read more

Katie in response to Moving Fantasies ~ I think it depends with furniture as willow pointed out … Read more

Holly in response to Day 273 Why am I still clinging ~ I’ve only just recently found your blog… Read more

Debra F in response to Moving Fantasies ~ I love this post. We just moved 7 weeks ago… Read more

Happy Clam in response to Don’t let it linger-Donate ~ I had a second adidas running jacket that I bought… Read more

This is my five favourite links for this week.

Not Easy To Be Green – Can-good-intentions-save-the-planet

The Cat’s Meow – Room-for-living

Elegant Simple Life – Breathe-in-beauty

Realsimple – How to recycle or reuse anything

Becoming Minimalist – The-domino-effect-of-simple-living

Today’s Declutter Item

This binder is one of those rare object that went in the garbage bin. What I don’t understand is why I kept using it when I had several other perfectly good binders sitting unused in a drawer.

Things that made me happy, made me laugh, made me feel grateful, fascinated me or I thought were just plain awesome.

• Avocado on toast for lunch with a cup of tea. The simple things in life are often the best.
• A pleasantly cool overcast day.
• When walking along the shore of Lake Burley Griffin on Tuesday I spotted no less than 18 different bird varieties – Black Swans, Galahs, Sulphur Crested Cockatoos, Wood Ducks, Magpies, Pee Wees, Willie Wagtails, Crested (top knot) Pigeon, Superb Fairy-wrens, Rosellas , Plovers, just to name a few.
• Ignoring my desire to avoid an unpleasant task and just getting it over and done with. I am talking about the ironing.
• That my country is not on the edge of a tectonic plate and we have only one nuclear reactor (Used for medical science).

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

Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom

My husband surprised me this morning by telling me that a recruiter from Microsoft had contacted him about a job. I think I surprised him even more by saying, “In Washington State? Go for it.” Truth be told, I surprised myself. I have lived in Austin, Texas for almost 30 years, virtually all of my adult life. I like my life here, but the summers are brutal, my husband is terribly allergic to pecan trees for six weeks every spring, and the statewide politics make me grind my teeth in frustration.  Washington is cool and rainy with no pecans, and the politics are much more to my liking. I happily whiled away my chore time fantasizing about how different life would be if we moved from the Southern Central United States 2200 miles (35oo Km) to the Pacific Northwest. (Believe me, I only imaged the good stuff and ignored all the negatives.)

It wasn’t long at all before I started dreaming about the packing, and you’ll be happy to know that these thoughts didn’t terrify me. (Thanks to decluttering, of course.) What I started thinking of was how much more stuff I would unload if the alternative was to haul it across the country. I imagined sorting through everything, considering everything. Frayed underwear – out. The plastic pitcher with the almost cracked handle – out. The living room sofas and on the one on the screen porch – definitely out.  So then I started thinking, “If these things aren’t valuable enough for me to take across the country, are they valuable enough for me to hang onto right now?” I’m not a minimalist by any means, but stuff that you don’t value is stuff that you don’t need, right? I wondered: In a perfectly decluttered house, would you be able to move without decluttering more as you packed?

I talked to Dan about this. His conclusion was that moving is an extreme event and that requires more scrutiny than day-to-day life.  I think he’s right, but I also think that if you’re stuck on something, asking yourself, “Would I be happy to move this across the country?” is a helpful criterion.

I want to know what you think: Is the ideally decluttered house ready to be packed and moved at any moment, or does moving realistically necessitate a deeper level of decluttering?

Today’s Declutter Item

As insane as this may sound this is an empty box. At some point we decluttered the broken amplifier but the box was still wasting space in the garage.

Things that made me happy, made me laugh, made me feel grateful, fascinated me or I thought were just plain awesome.

Cindy’s post reminded me of the wonderful years we spend in Seattle and I have dedicated this gratitude list the that experience.

• The opportunity to get to know the real Americans – Who were quite different from the stupid prejudice opinions we had been lead to believe.
• Living in a different country and all that has to offer – Like driving on the other side of the road.
• Enjoying our first winter Christmas.
• Cinnabon, garlic fries, Taco Bell, soft pretzels, brownie mix (Ghirardelli of course), toaster strudels, the endless variety of ice-cream … – Not Hershies though because they have no business calling the chocolate.
• Baseball

This list could go on and on these are just a few of the things that came very quickly to mind.

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

I am sure we all have multiples of certain items cluttering up our home. Items that a certain number of would suffice but we have several more than necessary. It occurred to me last week that I have a set of everyday glasses in my kitchen cabinet. This set has four sizes one of which never gets used. So why am I keeping them? What amazed me also was – that they have been staring me in the face for the last 14 months and I hadn’t even noticed this excess. That got me thinking about what else is lurking around my home that has escaped my notice. I am sure you also have items like this and my mission this week is to help you find them. So lets get started.

Monday – Take a look in a kitchen cabinet and see what you can find. The kitchen is a classic place where we stock more than we need of many items, like my glasses.
Tuesday -Do you have more pairs of reading glasses and Sunglasses than you need or even wear. Perhaps you still have reading glasses that are not even strong enough for your eyes and more.
Wednesday – We all know the bathroom cabinet is a collection point for excess toiletry products. Pick one product that you have too many varieties of and concentrate on using up one bottle/jar at a time until you reduce the quantity. These products do deteriorate over time so best not to let them sit there going off.
Thursday – Do you have any recipe books that you haven’t looked in for some time. With the endless availability of recipes on the Internet there is no need to have these cluttering up your kitchen cupboards or bookcases.
Friday – One of the first places I decluttered was my utensils drawer. How often do we buy a new utensil because the old one really isn’t performing optimally any more. We keep the old one “just in case” but only ever use the new one. It’s time to get rid of that old one. Let’s face it we can manage without any so we really don’t need a back up.
Saturday – The linen closet is another place where we tend to have more of some items that we could possibly need. I remember a time when I had about fifty facecloths (the result of my grandma-in-law being an avid crocheter). Personally I prefer to approach this from a natural declutter angle because things wear out and these items will get used eventually. However you may have a linen closet bulging at the seem and really need to free up some space.
Sunday – We can’t do a “too much of a good thing” mini mission without out including the Tupperware collection. I know I have sent you to this area over and over again but I know I keep finding more and more of these to declutter and I imagine you can too. So have another look, you may be surprised.

Good luck and happy decluttering

Today’s Declutter Item

This mini skateboard park was a toy once enjoyed by my son.

Things that made me happy, made me laugh, made me feel grateful, fascinated me or I thought were just plain awesome.

• Sitting writing my blog while my foot is resting against my husbands foot in a silent natural embrace.
• Swinging open the doors in the morning and letting the fresh air into the house.
• Shutting the doors and turning on the air-con when the temperature passes 35ºC – What can I say I’m adaptable.
• Having a BBQ at the neighbours – I love socialising and I love it when someone else cooks for me. Win Win!
• The new Club chocolate with cashews and cherries.

It was very remiss of me to forget to put a link the The Cat’s Meow blog on Saturday. I have since rectified that but because it was a bit after the event I would like to add it here again today. I hope you will go and check out her blog. Just click on the banner below.

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

Wow! It was difficult this week to condense down to only five comments because there were so many good ones and a lot of AH HA moment for our readers and for me too. I would like to feature much more than five but these are the five I have chosen…

Laura in response to Adam and Eve and rampant consumerism – …Colleen’s essential point is correct… Read more I was particularly please with Nurchamiels response to this comment. Learning these lessons when you are young is so important.

Anne in response to Friday’s favourite five – …I injured my foot this week and was ordered to stay off from my feet. Instead of feeling sorry for myself, I… Read more.

Katharine in response to Defining Sentimental Clutter- Ah, “the fear of the regret in the future”… Read more

Andreia in response to The Perfectionist Trap - Yesterday, when I was clearing our living room, my husband said… Read more

Liz Mylar in response to The Perfectionist Trap - I just came to the same kind of conclusions and have been decluttering… Read more

This week I have had to cram at the last minute to find my favourite five links because I have been ignoring my RSS feeds and had a digital sabbatical. I think I have come up with some last minute gems though. Enjoy!

Be more with less – 25-reasons-you-might-be-a-minimalist

Small Notebook – Are-you-making-your-to-do-list-too-hard-find-out-why

Raptitude – Why-your-fears-wont-come-true

Work Happy Now – 4-tips-to-help-you-stay-happy-present-and-productive-at-work

The Change Blog – Positive-habits-to-cultivate

Today’s Declutter Item

Pokemon cards, I hate these things and am glad to see the back of them at last. Products that are designed to prey on little kids in this manner are a blight on society. I know these are strong words but that is what I think. To me they are a form of underage gambling and that is just wrong.

Things that made me happy, made me laugh, made me feel grateful, fascinated me or I thought were just plain awesome.

• Hearing the magpies warbling when I woke up this morning not to mention my husband standing there with a cup of tea in his had for me.
• One motorbike has finally finished its overhaul at the mechanics and I can have my car back at last.
• Even though my mum and dad had to postpone their visit there is an upside – I get to go the Canberra with my husband for a couple of days next week.
• Anthony Bourdain – No reservations – love that show.
• I recorded an interview about 365lessthings for an Australian radio show called Future Tense today – I must admit I am glad it is over but I think I did alright.

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

Just so you all know, I appreciate each and every comment I receive and I hope no-one ever feels left out from my favourite five. I chose them for all sorts of reasons but mostly because I feel we all have something to learn from them.  I hope you enjoy the five I have spotlighted for this week.

Andreia in response to Day 91 Stocking up of obsessing - I used to paint. Not canvas, but plaster figures… Read more

Andreia in response to Mini Mission Monday - Hi Colleen! I did the same with our tools… Read More

Katherine – I wanted to feature three comments that Katherine has posted this week. Once you read them all you will have to appreciate the difficulties she faces with how little space she has. I feel she deserves to be applauded for her can do attitude and her positive outlook – Comment 1 ***  Comment 2 ***  Comment 3

It has been a good week for great down to earth minimalist post. I had this roundup of five chosen by Wednesday. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Raptitude – Everything-in-its-place-finally-and-forever

A Guy Name Dave – American-style-consumerism-will-seal-your-fate

Not easy to be green – Reusing-the-gateway-to-hoarding

Om Freely – On-Creating-New-Habits

Small Notebook – 10-ways-to-simplify-without-becoming-a-minimalist

Today’s Declutter Item

These rose scented rosary beads were a souvenir from our first visit to Rome. Liam decluttered these from his room recently. I am sure someone will be happy to find them at the thrift store.

I am grateful from anything that brings me joy. Below are five things that gave me joy since my last post.

• The lessons I have learned – Some lessons can be harsher that others but so long as we learn something from them we have gained from the experience.
• Trying a new cafe.
• Multi-tasking – Watching video lessons on the computer and ironing at the same time got two unpleasant tasks out of the way at once.
• Leftovers
• Hubby and I went out to see a comedy act at the local entertainment centre – A night out and a good laugh what more could you ask for.

This week  I have been glad to see some new additions to our fold of commenters. There have also been a few comments from some fairly recent new-comers which is also great but quite a number of our old faithfuls seem to be on vacation somewhere. Where have you all gone I am missing you.

Kathleen in response to Mini Mission Monday 21FEB – Perfect! It’s funny when I finally have a chance to get back to my decluttering project… Read more

Kelley in response to Mini Mission Monday – I can’t do the mini mission this week because… Read more

Loretta in response to Excessive clutter…– I definitely suffer from lethargy, being a naturally idle person… Read more I loved this response from Loretta simply because she was so up front about her idle streak and I like people who are honest with me and with themselves.

Jayme in response to To Sell or Not to Sell – Great post! I learned the hard way of using a site like Craiglist… Read more

Susan S in response to Mini Mission Monday – Thank you, Colleen, for this week’s mini-missions… Read more

Here are the five post or web sites I enjoyed reading this week. I hope they are useful or inspiring to you.

Psychology Today – The procrastination equation/201101/crazy-procrastinating maybe

Slow Simple Conscious – When-did-shopping-become-a-verb?

Listen Feel Breathe – Can-one-word-change-an-entire-mindset

Small Notebook – Loosen-the-grip-of-more-stuff

1000 Awesome Things –Unpacking-the-last-box

Today’s Declutter Item

Magazines for the recycling bin. I no longer subscribe to magazines for two reasons 1.) They can be hard to part with ounce they enter my house. 2.)They are just far too expensive here in Australia. The price was an instant cure for my craft mag fetish.

I am grateful from anything that brings me joy. Below are five things that gave me joy today.

• Treating a friend to lunch for her birthday and giving her one of my handmade cards.
• Hearing the magpies warbling as I drank my first cup of coffee this morning.
• Choosing two items out of my wardrobe today that I had never thought to wear together before. They matched perfectly and I can’t  think why I hadn’t thought combined them before today.
• Getting a phone call from my girl telling me she got a pay rise today because she is doing a good job. It is nice to know that there is at least one boss left in Australia who knows how to treat his valued staff. I am also pleased that my daughter has a good work ethic.
• Google maps – There is go much to discover about your city before you even leave your lounge room.
  

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

The five comments I chose to share with you all this week

Anne in response to Creating Enthusiasm by Changing your Thinking – Another important issue with decluttering is the support from others…Read more

Cat’s Meow in response to Decluttering Anxiety – I used to be like that too. Trouble finishing the task… Read more

Jo in response to Space Solution -  The thing that most amazed me about this process was… Read more

Nurchamiel in response to Simple Saturday – That reward-system sounds good, but I think I will try to do it without… Read more

Jo in response to Try!!!! -Being a perfectionist, oddly enough, can also contribute to not starting… Read more

This weeks posts that I have enjoyed. There are only three because I have heeded my own advice this week and ignored all but a couple of my RSS feeds.

A Guy Named Dave – Hoarders-ascetics-and-the-american-dream

Slow Simple Conscious – Challenging “it’ ll do” I loved this post. My son and I were just having a conversation on this subject very morning I was made aware of this blog when the writer left a comment on my blog.

Be More With Less – 5 simplicity diys you’ve been too scared to try.

Today’s Declutter Item

I am grateful from anything that brings me joy. Below are five things that gave me joy today.

• The excitement of a good thunder storm right overhead. Flash Bang!
• Oatmeal, brown sugar. all-bran, cream and blueberries. Yummmmm!
• Spotting the unicorn. – A graffiti artist has been painting unicorn stencils in my area and I have been having fun spotting them when hubby and I are out walking.
• Less interruption from builders today.
• A nice long Facebook chat with Cindy.
  

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

Jo in response to Friday’s Favourite Five – …I love reading the grateful lists. I started making my own lists… Read more

Gail in response to The Black Hole – What has helped me the most in eliminating (nearly) “black holes” is a superficial study of feng shui… Read more.

Patricia – Dear Colleen, This blog came into my life at the perfect time… Read more

Deb J in response to Too Much Clutter, Too Little Time – One thing I am learning is that I have too many things on my list of things to do so… Read more

Anne in response to Creating Enthusiasm by Changing your Thinking – Another important issue with decluttering is the support from others…Read more

Five favourite links for this week

About.com – Feng shui basics The link was inspired by Gail who’s comment appears above.

Miss Minimalist – The-minsumer-movement-a-quiet-revolution

Guy Named Dave – Honesty-and-bravery-are-almost-the-same-word

Daily Disciplines – Meditation- The benefits of slow

The Slow Movement

Today’s Declutter Item

The kids have graduated high school now so they won’t be needing graph paper any more.

I am grateful from anything that brings me joy. Below are five things that gave me joy today.

• Getting my Craft Robo cutter to do what I wanted it to – It took a lot of coaxing and the odd swear word but we got there eventually.
• Figs heated for twenty seconds in the microwave with a drizzle of honey and served with a dollop of cream – The simple things in life are often the best.
• A trip to the art store – It is fun having an art student in the house I could browse in that store for hours yet resist temptation.
• The morning kiss from my husband before he leaves for work – It is a nice way to start each day.
• After a week of 40°C  plus temperatures today’s 33 seems almost cool in comparison.
  

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