Sometimes we can find it hard to just get up and go. Things happen in life that we would rather just hide away from and instead of getting on with it, we fall in a heap and feel sorry for ourselves. Sometimes the catalyst for this behaviour seems quite trivial to some but can be a big deal to you when you are living it from your perspective.

Trust me though, curling up in a ball in front of the television isn’t the solution to anything and it certainly doesn’t make you feel better about yourself. Giving up only adds to your woes and makes life even more unbearable. What you have to do is push yourself out of the doom and gloom and find a purpose.

How does this relate to decluttering? It is very easy to see the mess around you and think it’s such a huge undertaking that you don’t know where to start. But like every situation in life it starts with one step. Push yourself to do ten minutes a day then wallow in your achievement and be glad of the progress you have made no matter how small. You may be so pleased that you will do twenty minutes a day next week. There is no limit as to how big or small the steps have to be so long as you are taking them. Immerse yourself in the task at hand and that will give you some temporary relief from your woes.

Since last Friday I have made the effort to start posting to my blog again and catching up on the decluttering I missed while my son was in ICU and it makes me feel human again. Liam’s progress is slow and even seems like it is going backwards at times but I feel better when I push myself to achieve regardless of what sort of day we have had. If I can make that sort of effort under these trying circumstances, I am sure you can join with me and soldier on with your decluttering.

ITEM 308 OF 365 LESS THINGS

Poor old Ted he has seen better days and I have finally got the OK from my daughter to let him go. Bye Ted and thanks Old Grandma for the good times that were had with this bear you made so many years ago. We will always remember you both.

5 Things I am grateful for today

1. A new day and all the possibilities it brings.
2. Sunshine to get the sheets dry.
3. Coffee – I am just about to have one, I wish you could all join me we could have such a wonderful chat together.
4. Whistling – I found myself doing it along with the I Dream Of Genie theme today. It is such a cheerful thing to do.
5. A lovely evening with good friends
   

I can not stress enough times that no matter where you are on the journey of decluttering every little bit of progress counts. Whether you are just finding the floor or you have been downsizing for years every little piece of clutter gone is a step forward. Progress doesn’t always have to be measured by how much stuff you have removed. It can also be measured by how well you have stemmed the tide of stuff coming in and by the valuable lessons you have learned along the way. So if you ever feel despondent about your progress remember to consider all aspects of what constitutes success and keep on keeping on.

Below I have pasted some comments from other readers who are all at different stages in their declutter journey but are getting results and making progress that they are justifiably pleased with.

Sarah:-this morning I spent about 15 minutes, amazing how fast it was, really, cleaning out all the odds & ends and scraps of gift wrap I had stored for years, some of it very ugly. It’s in the paper recycling now, and the closet looks great!

Rebecca:- BTW – you totally inspired me, so I did some re-arranging and sorting and I now actually have some counter space in the kitchen!!! I moved about 6 boxes of crap downstairs, and have a big pile for eBay/Freecycle/donations.

Seriously, it’s more counter space than I have ever had EVER… at this house or any previous abode. This could get addicting…

Rebecca Again:- So, at the moment, my porch is full of stuff waiting for various FreeCyclers to come take away, the kitchen is still clean (well, judging by the photo of your kitchen I’m sure it wouldn’t measure up to your standards, but it’s clean by my standards!), I’ve washed four sets of drapes, and have three more to go.

I’m starting to suspect that there are many other things that can be cleaned… like throw rugs and pot holders… I think I’m gonna buy myself a mop. Any suggestions as to what kind to get?

Thanks again for the remedial cleaning tips!

Rebecca is on a roll:- Link here to her latest comment.

Paola:- Thank you for inspiring me Colleen: your posts are so practical and meaningful and your example seems so easy to follow (and in fact, I believe it is), that you always push me farther, and make me want to do something more in my journey toward minimalism.

Anna:- I read somewhere (decluttering is one of my favourite subjects!) that you should always try to keep an empty shelf. I love this idea and now have one in my wardrobe, and one shelf in the under cupboard stairs. I can’t remember the original significance of it….something along the lines of having room to embrace new opportunities perhaps.

Whatever the reasoning it does feel pretty good

Willow:- The first time it really hit me that there was too much stuff around was when I emptied a parent’s stuff into mine. The garage couldn’t hold the car any more. Then four years ago we moved into a very small house from the largest one we’d ever lived in. It was over crowded and so uncomfortable! With this most recent move three years ago, I’ve determined to love the open spaces! It seems like every week if not every day I see something else that just isnt’ going to ‘make the cut’ to stay in my house any longer. Slowly but surely…

Di:- Like you, I think I’m at the stage where the obvious clutter is gone and now I’m tackling the stored and out of sight clutter. I keep going through the same drawers and closets and getting rid of more and more stuff with every inspection. I keep wondering if I’ll ever be done or will this be a continuous process. At times I get weary, but then I get renewed motivation and energy and go at it again.

Di:- When I think of simplifying, I think of how my shopping has been incredibly simplified since embarking on the minimalist journey. I haven’t been to the mall in at least two years. And since we cook mostly from scratch and 3 1/2 months ago we decided to go vegetarian, grocery shopping has been so fast, easy, and inexpensive. I check for the weekly sale items mostly along the perimeter of the store, except for a few staples found in the aisles. I love it!

ITEM 291 OF 365 LESS THINGS

I am not even sure where this was hiding but my husband found it and added it to the donation pile.

5 Things I am grateful for today

1. Decluttering Inspiration – I have found a few areas I need to get working on this week and some good ideas for future post.
2. Pumpkin Soup – One of those delicious yet simple and healthy recipes to turn to on a cool day.
3. A beautiful sunny day – I am going to go out and trim some bushes soon and enjoy the sunshine. Even my garden gets the one step at a time treatment.
4. Watermelon – So refreshing after my time out in the garden.
5. Finding something I wanted when I wasn’t even looking for it.

Use this button to link to Day 287 The future of 365lessthings and have your say on what direction you would like my blog to go in once the 365 days are up. Don’t be shy, I really would like your input. Once you are there just leave a comment. Thanks!

While answering a comment yesterday the old saying “Out of sight, out of mind” popped into my head. I have talked at times about how decluttering makes it easier to clean your home; having fewer items to clean and fewer things to move so you can clean under them certainly makes the job easier. This is the obvious clutter. What about those items that are hidden away out of sight.

By the time I started my 365 Less Things challenge most of my clutter was out of sight because I am a bit of a neat freak. The hard work of making our belongings fit in to this smaller house was already done in the two years prior to this quest.  Nonetheless, “out of sight” certainly wasn’t “out of mind” for me. I knew that the storage areas of our home were packed to capacity and something had to be done. I needed to have enough space in the cupboards to get things organized and easy to find, and I craved a little more open space around me where there was furniture whose only purpose was to store more stuff.

Slowly but surely our cupboards and wardrobes are all starting to become more like transition areas from where things regularly come and go rather than permanent tombs for items we no longer need or want. There were several pieces of storage furniture that are no longer filling up rooms and giving me those open spaces I craved. And the lessons I have learned along the way have cleared my mind of craving more things that would just waste the precious space I have worked so hard to find.

Not matter what stage you are at – whether you are still trying to find the floors or working on stuff hidden behind doors – every little thing that goes is one step closer to a lifestyle that you can be comfortable with physically and mentally. You may want to work quickly at first to find those floors then settle down to a slower pace but keep at it and don’t give up because trust me it is worth every effort you put into it.

ITEM 286 OF 365 LESS THINGS

I know some of you are probably thinking “Oh bah humbug Colleen” but if you knew my husband you would know he isn’t the kind for wearing ties never mind ones with snow men on. I am not even sure how we ended up with it in the first place.

5 Things I am grateful for today

1. Enough sunshine to dry the sheets – It kept threatening to rain but I think Mother Nature was just teasing me.
2. Cappuccino – I know coffee isn’t good for you but I don’t care.
3. Cheap Tuesday – More naughty food but pizza won’t kill me, or will it.
4. Documentaries – If I am watching TV I would rather it be educational if not I’ll settle for funny.
5. The freedom to stand up for what you believe in – Another one of those things we take for granted at times. Even when we have that freedom we don’t always have the nerve to do it but when the two align it does feel good.

With fear that lately I have started to sound like some of the nuns I remember from my school days, preaching hell and damnation day in day out, I thought I might write something a little more upbeat today.

I’d like to point out the joy that can be found in decluttering your home. This joy can be appreciated from day one, not just at the end of the journey. See if you can identify with the joy of…..

• A Fresh Start – It is never too late to begin a new phase in your life. Cut yourself some slack and don’t dwell on the past. Acknowledge the things you got right and learn the lesson of your follies but either way do not dwell on the regrets, just enjoy the fresh start you are making.

• More Space – It really does feel good as the clutter starts to disappear and you begin to feel the freedom of the empty space growing around you. This feeling can be appreciated from the very first item and increases over time. Take a moment to focus on that freedom with every little piece of clutter you choose to remove and the process will be one filled with joy rather than dread.
• Less Maintenance – It stands to reason that the fewer items cluttering up your home, the easier it is to keep your surroundings clean and tidy. Every item you remove is one less thing you need to maintain in any way whether dusting, cleaning or storing. Also house cleaning will be simpler if there are fewer items to be moved in order to access the surface under them such as benches and floors. And ya gotta love that!

• Guilt Relief – We generally carry a burden of guilt for every item associated with the waste of money involved with its acquisition and lack of use. For every one of these items that leaves our home there is a relief from that guilt so long as we have learned the lesson of needless waste.

• Giving Back – Whether we sell items to grateful buyers on eBay, donate items to charity, give items away to friends and family or find a way to recycle them there is an good feeling that accompanies that action. Focus on these good feelings and it will spur you on in your quest.

• Appreciation – You will find that you have a higher appreciation for the items you choose to keep and their role in your household.

• Being Environmentally Responsible – For every unnecessary item you don’t purchase and for every item that you liberate to someone who might need it, you are doing a small deed to save the environment. For every item that is manufactured there is a cost whether in natural resources or carbon emissions, so the less you contribute to the supply and demand of these products the better hope there is for our planet’s survival.

• Simplifying -There is more to this topic than the title implies. I will elaborate in a separate post tomorrow but rest assured there is plenty of joy to be found by simplifying.

ITEM 284 OF 365 LESS THINGS

A few more odds and ends for the donation box

5 Things I am grateful for today

1. Sick pay – I couldn’t work yesterday as it is a bit hard to sell furniture without a voice.
2. Freedom of choice – This is something we take for granted in Western society.
3. Roast dinner – They are so easy to make and so yummy to eat.
4. Art – This is something everyone in my family enjoys and can share the interest.
5. Kisses – They really are the cure for everything.

On July 21st Kelly was kind enough to point out to me that I had the same item decluttered on Day 152 and Day 183 and I thought today was a good day to explain how this  happened. I chose to explain this now because my husband I are flying out to Italy today for a month long vacation of exploring and soaking up the culture.

“So what does my vacation have to do with this duplication” you say, well I will tell you. From day 64 of my 365 less things challenge I have been trying to get ahead of myself by a month so that when this time came I would still have something to blog each day. I knew when I started blogging about my challenge on Day 64 that I would be going on vacation and wanted to continue during that month without a hitch. So I have to admit that for the last 177 days I have sometimes decluttered more than one thing a day to be able to achieve my goal.

As you know I take a photo of every item I declutter but that doesn’t mean that I use that photo on the day the item is decluttered. Usually I will put things aside for several days before I get the camera out and take several photos at once. Then I upload them to my husbands Flickr Page and use them sometimes to match with the post I am writing other times just randomly. As I use the photos I then add a description on Flickr noting the day the photo was used.

That is how I managed to use the same photo twice.  I obviously forgot to add the description when I used the photo the first time. I have since added a different photo to Day 183.

All that being said. I have tried to put in place enough posts to keep you reading until I get home. Three lovely ladies have been kind enough to write guest posts for me so I hope you enjoy their contribution. Two of these ladies have blogs of their own and all three often leave thought provoking comments that inspire subject matter  for subsequent posts and I felt they had something to offer you. I have had to do a lot of shuffling to get everything in place so please forgive me if sometimes things don’t flow the way they should. It has been a hard slog trying to get this all organised before I leave.

I will be checking in at internet cafés and on my husband’s iPod Touch as often as possible so please keep sending in your comments I will answer them as often as I can. I will miss not talking to you all everyday but I know I am going to have a wonderful time “alone” with my husband for the next four weeks. It is our first long vacation without the kids so we are going to live it up. So arrivederci i miei amici I will talk to you soon.

ITEM 241 OF 365 LESS THINGS

These curtain rod end aren’t much use to us anymore because we don’t hang curtains

I took a quick look around in the garage today and there is still a lot to go before I am finished with my decluttering mission. The garage has become a bit of a holding area for stuff that I haven’t dealt with yet. There are things out there that will go and things out there I would like to go but are not mine to decide on.

• A box of snoopy toys – these are going but I’m not sure how. They belong to my son and I would love to be able to sell them on ebay and make a few dollars for him but I am not sure that this is a likelihood.
• A box of wooden coat hangers – we don’t have enough hanging space for them now but I am saving them for when my daughter moves into her own place.
• 2 boxes of household items – also for my daughter.
• The box of my son’s t-shirts I’ve mentioned before – I hope one day he will get over those and let me get rid of them.
• 2 boxes of baseball souvenirs – I’m not even going to go there.
• A box of photo frames – bargains I just couldn’t resist when I was working in the craft store back in America.
• A box of sentimental stuff of my husbands – Clearly I have no say on this but I think he mentioned going through that just recently so there is hope.
• 3 boxes of Christmas decorations – that is about half as much as what we used to have but I still need to pare that down to about half again.

As you can see 365 days was never a stretch when it came to how much time I would need to complete my decluttering mission. It is now day 240 and I still have a long way to go. The beauty of it is I still have 125 days left to continue to slowly and deliberately work towards my goal. The lessons I have learned over the last eight months have been so valuable that I am not concerned whether I will be fully decluttered at the end of the year or not. I am just looking forward to whatever wisdom there still is to gain from the experience.

So far I have learned not to re-clutter by becoming very aware of only buying things I need and not being tempted by retail pressure. That alone is worth the effort. I have had plenty of time to become accustomed to knowing what is important to me and what isn’t when it comes to my possessions.  I have no regrets about the things I have let go because I have afforded myself the time to make educated choice on what to let go. And to top it off I believe I have been a help to others on the same journey as me. A win win situation I’d say.

So if you are getting impatient with your efforts, stop and think about how far you have come and the benefits of what you have achieved and be happy.

ITEM 240 OF 365 LESS THINGS

A little more electronic gear that is no longer used

Guess what folks, we are halfway there 183 things down 182 to go

Thanks to all of you for joining us on our journey to declutter one thing a day for a whole year. Your support has kept me going with my blog when at times it would have been easier to continue on in silence. We all know that wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun though. Your comments have given food for thought on a number of subjects and have been a great help not only to me but your fellow readers as we all learn as we go. I hope you will stay with me as your company is greatly appreciated.

There are times when my husband has said we should be counting one book at a time or one cup at a time …because we might run out of things before the year is up. I don’t think that is going to happen. If anything there may still be some things left when we approach the end and we will have to extend the finish line. Either way I am happy with our progress and the world is a better place every time we recruit one more person to this way of thinking.

Buy LESS – Waste LESS – Produce LESS – Pollute LESS

I will leave you with this little gem from Tiny Buddha…

“When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.” -Lao Tzu

Somewhere along the lines, we’ve gotten it into our heads that a full life involves abundance. We’re told to visualise it, fixate on it, and open up to receiving it because we deserve it and we can have it.

The missing part of that equation is whether or not excess will actually make us happy. The answer is no–not if you weren’t already happy–because happiness is an inside job…Read more here

THANKS AGAIN MY FRIENDS

ITEM 183 OF 365 LESS THINGS

Just some old refillable pens that no longer get used so I will put them in the donation box. Hopefully someone may want them

As you would know if you have been reading my blog this week, we are concentrating on one word a day. Today the word is…

S L O W

By SLOW I mean *** back off a little *** take it easy on yourself *** take it easy on those around you *** do things at a pace that allows you to to be fully present *** give yourself time to make good decisions ***need I go on.

In this day and age of “multi-tasking”, over achieving, higher education and generally just keeping up with the Jones’s, it is very easy to cram your life full of expectations and activities that you think are necessary to appear successful. We are always in a rush to get somewhere, impatient with everything that might slow us down and sometimes resulting in road rage and accidents.

We no longer expect to have to wait for anything in this instant gratification society. I cop attitude everyday in my job just because a piece of furniture someone wants to buy is not in stock in our warehouse and they may have to wait for four weeks to take delivery. It’s a piece of furniture for goodnesss sakes not a heart/lung transplant. The world isn’t going to fall apart nor is your health going to suffer if your new giant LCD television has to sit on your coffee table for a couple of weeks.

See what I mean, my writing tells you I am getting more worked up about this subject as I speed through it letting my emotions get the better of me. That is what happens, we are so focused on cramming all the things into our lives that we have no time for anyone who might slow us down. Sadly in some cases that “anyone” is our family, our own children.

I for one don’t like to play this game but I am not going to suggest for one minute that I don’t get sucked into it on a regular basis but I try not to take it out on everyone around me. I have discovered that being in a hurry is mostly a state of mind, you don’t get things done faster or get anywhere quicker just because you are stressed out about it so there is no point rushing. As the saying goes “The more haste the less speed”.

What does this have to do with clutter and decluttering you might ask. Plenty…

• If you try to rush the decluttering process you are likely to make rash decisions that you will regret in the future.
• If you insist on getting the job done too quickly you may burn yourself out with anxiety when things aren’t moving fast enough for you and you will give up.
• Accumulation of clutter can happen when you are in too big of a rush to look for something and end up purchasing a duplicate object to one you already have.
• When you feel rushed, you get frustrated and more likely to take that out on those around you.
• If you are in too big of a hurry to reach the finish line you may be neglecting others around you who also need your attention.

So give yourself a break, slow down and do things more deliberately with care and consideration. When you find yourself rushing and thinking ahead STOP, calm yourself and get back in the moment. I am sure you will be more satisfied with the results.

ITEM 175 OF 365 LESS THINGS

Just one more kitchen item out of the way.

Hi everyone,

How did you all go with the Use It Up challenge? I am quite happy with my efforts, not only because I got rid of a few things but it also encouraged me to do a bit of craft.  I was excited about getting through as many “left over bits” as possible. My plan is to keep going with the challenge for myself until I have depleted a lot more of my craft supplies and a few more toiletry products.

Here is the list of things I used up…

• A box of adhesive tabs (craft supply)
• The last of a roll of Terrificly Tacky Tape (craft supply)
• The last of a tube of craft glue
• A bottle of shower cleaner
• A small bottle of body wash
• The last of a bottle of UnDo photo cleaner
• A sample bottle of face cleanser
• The last of a jar of hair sculpting paste
• A bottle of metal cleaner

There were only two items that I used slightly differently from their intended purpose. I used the shower spray  for cleaning the kitchen bench tops and the toilet as well as the shower. I had bought the metal cleaner to polish up a silver tea set. Then I decided I didn’t want to keep doing that painful task for the rest of my life and gave the tea set away. I used the rest of it to clean my stainless steel kitchen sink and my ceramic cook top.

Now I am curious to know what you all managed to Use Up over the last two weeks. Please send in those comments I am expecting big results.

ITEM 171 OF 365 LESS THINGS

Today’s offering is of course the items from the Use It Up challenge. I got a little over zealous and threw away the first couple of containers but then remembered to keep the rest.

If you have been reading my blog for a while you will know that my take on decluttering is ” slow and steady wins the race”. One of the advantages to this approach is that you can start with the easy stuff and as time goes on you become more ruthless and eager to reduce your clutter more and more. The job gets easier as you go because what seemed like hard decisions at first become simpler and comfortable for you.

Betty Jo from Joy With Less has discovered this and she recently wrote about it in her post The Little Things. Here is an excerpt of what Betty Jo wrote..

Like Betty Jo has discovered, decluttering is a process one that gets easier as you go if you give yourself the time to get comfortable with the areas you find challenging. Learn as you go, get ruthless when you are ready and youwill find out how liberating it can be.

ITEM 167 OF 365 LESS THINGS

This vase hasn’t been used for a long time, someone else may use it more than me.