Way back in the early days of my decluttering mission I wrote a post about keeping it simple. I stand by those words to this day and have pasted them below for you to study again. Here they are…

• Do SIMPLE things to improve your way of life.
• Keep your spending SIMPLE .buy what you need not things that just clutter up your space.
• Eat a more SIMPLE diet choose fresh ingredients that aren’t enveloped in wasteful packaging. Choose recipes that are SIMPLE to create using ingredients that can be used in subsequent meals so nothing goes to waste.
• Enjoy SIMPLE pleasures like a walk in the park, a coffee with a friend or a wander through a museum instead of spending all your free time shopping.
• Keep your decluttering efforts SIMPLE by concentrating on one SIMPLE task at a time so you aren’t overwhelmed.
• Keep the decision making SIMPLE so you don’t waste time and energy agonising over what stays and what goes. My Declutter Decision Making Guide can help with this.
• Make housecleaning SIMPLE, the less stuff you own the less work there is involved in maintaining a clean and tidy home.

And where am I at today April 22, 2014?

I have done simple things to improve my way of life.

I have kept my spending simple by not buying stuff I won’t use.

My grocery cart is evidence of how I have kept my diet simple. Simple in its ingredients. You won’t find much in it other than fresh food.

Every day, whether pending, I enjoy the simple pleasures of life. Going for walks with my husband, riding my bike, going up to the roof of my apartment and enjoying the views of the harbour, having coffee with friends…

And as you know I have always kept my decluttering simple by mostly adhering to my average of a thing a day for the first 365 days and then at a slightly slower pace after that. And yet even at that pace my husband and I smoothly moved our belongings into a two bedroom apartment. And the decision making actually got easier as I went along even though I thought I was doing the easy stuff first. It just so happened that as I realised the joy of living with less I found it easier to part with stuff.

Oh, and I can vouch for the fact that being decluttered has sure made housecleaning easier. Also many other tasks around the house have simplified too because I can quickly get at what I need for them. No more overstuffed cupboards making it hard to get at stuff.

Choices have become easy because there is simply less stuff to choose between.

Being eco friendly has even become simple because now it is just habit. It is also a fun challenge to find other ways to be so.

During the decluttering process we also started the search for a home to live in. The one we finally found has also simplified our lives. I hardly use the car because nearly everything I need is within walking distance. Exercising is a joy because of the sights along the way. Our home is much small making housework simpler.

I love my new simpler life and I would recommend it to anyone. And if you would like your life simpler to just make that one first step today, then another tomorrow and another the next day and before you know it your life will be simpler too. For those of you well into your journey remember that you can take it as far as you want.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter some out of date paperwork.

Eco Tip for the Day

Encourage family, friends and anyone who will listen to refuse, reuse, recycle and reduce.

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.

Monday is here again and we all know what that means, mini missions. When I sat down to write this post I racked my brain for something original but I have put together so many mini mission posts by now that there can’t possibly be anything I have missed. So I decided to be specific instead. You won’t need to think of anything other than ~ Do I have too many of these?

Monday – Declutter a pair of shoes.

Tuesday – Declutter some out of date paperwork.

Wednesday – Declutter a purse, wallet, handbag, carry bag or backpack.

Thursday – Declutter old keys that you no longer remember what they belonged to.

Friday – Declutter excess hotel toiletries you have accumulated from vacations or business trips.

Saturday – Declutter a piece of jewellery you haven’t worn in a long time.

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

If you only need a little light to find your way in your dark home, turn on the switch that connects to the least amount of globes. When I sit in on my bed to type my blog posts I turn on my walk-through wardrobe light. It only has one globe while my bedroom has two.

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.

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

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

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

Monday – Choose a nook in your home where you would like more space. Perhaps a kitchen shelf or a drawer somewhere. Declutter a thing or two from that nook to achieve your space goal.

Tuesday – Declutter something that you aren’t using that could be helpful to someone else. Old eye glasses to be used for charity, children’s and baby clothes, a pair of runners, craft supplies to your local school or perhaps a tool or two to a Men’s Shed in your community.

Wednesday – 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…

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

Friday – Declutter some old paperwork, receipts or prescriptions lying around in drawers or on desk tops.

Saturday – Start a use it up challenge on a product or food item you don’t like so much but it would be a shame to waste.

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

Put the right things in your recycling bins. Living in an apartment I find so many things in the communal recycling bins that don’t belong there. This makes sorting labour intensive and the wrong plastics can spoil a batch.

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

Doodles blog post yesterday got me thinking about how out of character my decluttering method is to my usual behaviour. Of the seven sabotaging behaviours Doodle mentioned in the post, I am not guilty of any of them when it comes to my decluttering over the last four years. Although there certainly are a few that I would previously have thought I was susceptible to.  Lets go over them.

1. Do you focus on how much there is left to do rather than how much you have achieved?

This is something I would most certainly have done in the past. I would be constantly looking at the volume of the task and lamenting what is left to be done. Wishing that I was doing just about anything else.

2. Do you find your self apologising a lot to others and calling yourself lazy and other derogatory names rather than defining yourself in more positive language and a ‘work in progress’.

This I would be unlikely to have done regarding keeping house. I have been good about keeping a tidy home throughout my entire married life (I lived at home prior to that). As an adult I have always been a hard worker, thanks to a good upbringing. “A job worth doing is worth doing well!” was one of my father’s favourite sayings.

3. Do you throw away essential things that then prove how risky decluttering is?

This is also not something I would ever do. I am too tight fisted to waste anything so getting rid of useful stuff would never happen unless I definitely didn’t feel the need to keep it.

4. Do you create such a mess when decluttering that you give up half way through a task and have made everything worse.

I would be unlikely to have done this either. I am a finisher once I start a task.

5. Does being a perfectionist stop you from doing small 15 minute tasks; one drawer or one shelf at a time. Is it all or nothing; an entire room or it’s not worth it…but you can never bring yourself to face a whole room?

I am a perfectionist that is for sure which is why I am also usually an organised person. Therefore I would have set a goal and stuck to it because failing would be out of the question. Being organised also meant that my task oriented internal time clock helps me to know how much I can get done in a day and be tidy again at the end of it, ready to begin again the next day until the task is done.

6. Are you easily distracted, starting off one task in the kitchen, wondering off to the bedroom to put something away and start sorting the  laundry on your floor  which leads you to the bathroom to put dirty clothes in the laundry bin when you spot the sink needs a clean…

I am prone to do this during my usual daily meandering through the house doing things. But when there is a major task to get through I can be ruthlessly single minded.

7. Over complex or unrealistic plans of where or how  you might get rid of stuff.

Here is where my perfectionism comes in again. I do like things to go to the best home possible which can complicate the task. However previous experience put me in a position to carry this off quite easily. And then as time went by I learned of a few extra outlets to utilise when it came to rehousing my stuff. So although in other peoples view I would seem to complicate this task, to me it was a case of just sticking to a plan.

All that being said, it was a shock to me when I came up with the idea to declutter a thing a day. I suppose it was my previous experience of doing it all at once that put me off going through that again. I was determined to make it easy on myself. And lo and behold I embraced the method from the get go. Never looking back.

Anyone who knows me personally will vouch for the fact that I am like the Energizer Bunny. Flat out is the only speed I know. So for me to decide to reduce a household of stuff for four people to the amount that would fit into a two bedroom apartment, at the pace of one item a day, was ludicrously out of character. So if you think you don’t have the staying power to declutter your home at such a slow pace, think again. If I can change my mindset in an instant you can too. The desire to make it easy on myself usurped any of my other personality traits that said get it done in a hurry.

My father had another saying ~ ” There is smart lazy and there is just plain lazy.” Smart Lazy is being clever enough to find and easy way to complete a task effectively. And that is always more admirable than being just plain lazy and not achieving anything.

In this case I think I have done a great job of being smart lazy. Wouldn’t you like to be smart lazy too?

Today’s Mini Mission

 Declutter something from a bedroom.

Eco Tip for the Day

If you grind and percolate fresh coffee why not use the grounds as fertiliser rather than using not so environmentally friendly alternatives. The coffee than also serves two purposed reducing its carbon footprint.

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.

We are going to spread our mini missions throughout the house this week. Choose whatever you’d like to declutter from the rooms /spaces that I mention below. I might even try this myself this week. It could be a challenge but when it comes to clutter I never cease to be amazed where it appears and that it seems to be endless. Lets see what you can come up with also.

Monday – Declutter something from your living room, lounge, family room or whatever you would like to call it.

Tuesday – Declutter something from your kitchen.

Wednesday – Declutter something from a bathroom in your home.

Thursday – Declutter something from a bedroom.

Friday – Declutter something from your study or craft area.

Saturday – Declutter something from the garage, attic or basement.

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

Try to replace at least a couple of meat meals a week with plant based offerings.

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

Here is an item that served me well for some time that I recently decluttered.

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

This week I am not going to make it very easy on you. But it is up to you as to how easy you take it on yourself. If you can’t manage the missions declutter something a little simpler for you. Don’t force yourself to let go of something you aren’t ready for.

Monday – Declutter something you have been procrastinating about letting go of for some time.

Tuesday – Allow yourself to declutter something someone gave you, that you don’t really want, but have hung onto out of obligation.

Wednesday – Declutter something that triggers fond memories but is never displayed where you can see it.

Thursday – Make the effort to list an item for sale that you are been wanting to rid yourself of but haven’t mustered the effort to bother with.

Friday – Declutter an item that once served you well but now you never use. You probably won’t ever need it again some day.

Saturday – Declutter something you use so infrequently that it really isn’t necessary.

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

Hang your clothes to dry when possible rather than wasting power using a tumble dryer. For me a clothes line isn’t required, I mostly hang my wet washing on an airer either inside or out depending on the weather.

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