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’s mini missions focus on areas of your home, top to bottom, inside and out. Here’s hoping you can find something for each day to declutter.

Monday – Declutter something hanging on a wall or from the ceiling.

Tuesday – Declutter something in a closet.

Wednesday – Declutter something from outside.

Thursday – Declutter something from inside a drawer.

Friday – Declutter something that is located on the floor.

Saturday – Declutter something from on top of a piece of furniture.

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

Minimise the paper products you use in your home, such as paper towel, printer paper, wrapping paper, note books…

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

I came across a hyperlink to an article last year about hiding clutter in the home in “secret” spots. Intrigued and curious (why would the writer ask readers to hide their clutter, instead of getting rid of it, I wondered?), I went on to read the article. It turned out to be about hidden storage for items at home (think: platform beds with storage drawers and hidden cabinetry), rather than squirrelling away or stashing your clutter out of sight, which was my first impression upon reading the title.

This led me to wonder whether anyone would have followed the tips given if the write-up had actually been about ways to hide your clutter, which in turn led me to question whether people follow decluttering advice to the letter or if they tweak it to suit their needs or even ignore certain aspects of it, depending on which stage of the decluttering journey they are at.

When I first came across Colleen’s blog, I was taken by the simplicity and ease of her one-item-a-day decluttering method. It was something that I could do immediately – there was no complicated manual to decipher, nothing to purchase and no preparation was required in order to get started. I decluttered my first item that same day and told my husband about it and he was soon on board. I have read a plethora of decluttering and organizing tips in online articles, as well as in magazines and books and have found many helpful and interesting bits of advice. Some of the information was irrelevant to me – not because it was bad, per se – it was just unsuitable for me and the circumstances at that time.

An example that comes to mind is some sporting equipment that had not been used for ages (for far longer than the usual one-year period that is often cited, for allowing something to take up precious space in your home and in your life), and that remained where it was, in good condition, but with absolutely no indication whether it would ever be used again. And one evening, a spontaneous decision was made, to take up that particular sport again; and a couple of days later, the items were being used. It has been about nine months now and they are still being used on a weekly basis.

You know how you always read that you should declutter first before buying storage solutions? Well, we were still in the throes of decluttering when I felt that the existing limited storage was not only not working for us, but was making our home look gloomy. Although we had gotten rid of a great deal of stuff, we were by no means done. I felt disheartened as I couldn’t give the belongings that were “keepers” a proper home and I felt that having a place for them would also enable me to see the actual progress that had been made. So, we took measurements and went out and purchased the absolute minimum amount of storage that we were willing to have. It was a tremendous boost for me as I could actually see everything being neatly put away for easy retrieval and I could see space opening up across our home. It was thus worthwhile to cherry-pick and create a “customized decluttering package” for ourselves.

So, I’m interested to know whether there were any decluttering principles that you tried, which did not work for you. Was there any advice that you read which you ignored or deliberately went against? Or did you adapt or modify anything? What did you do and why?

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter some paperwork that you keep because you think you should, when in fact a digital copy would suffice. Scan the items and save them to your hard drive or a cloud. Papers such as manuals, old school papers, bills more then two payments old…

“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 leave lights on when you aren’t in a room. It takes no longer than the blink of an eye to switch lights on and off, so make the effort to save every precious second of electricity.

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.

This week our mini missions are all about the items we keep, not because we want to, but because we feel we should. As I have written about many a time, obligation is not a good reason to keep something. In fact it is bad enough that we have things cluttering up our homes, but feeling we can’t let them go adds yet another element of irritation. So let’s see if we can get some of that obligation clutter out of our homes this week.

Monday – Declutter something that you feel should be kept for sentimental reasons even though it doesn’t spark joy in you to see it.

Tuesday – Declutter something someone else gave you but you no longer want.

Wednesday – See if you can think of an item to declutter that you rarely if ever use, that you keep only because it is a society norm to have one in your home. I don’t have a coffee table, a barbecue, a handbag to match every outfit, eyeshadow or plastic wrap.

Thursday – Declutter a family heirloom that you don’t want to keep. See if there is another family member, no matter how far removed, that would appreciate this item more than you.

Friday – Declutter some paperwork that you keep because you think you should, when in fact a digital copy would suffice. Scan the items and save them to your hard drive or a cloud. Papers such as manuals, old school papers, bills more then two payments old…

Saturday – Declutter things your children made for you. You don’t have to keep everything just your favourites will do. It doesn’t pay to teach kids to be over sentimental about such items.

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 are like me and love to craft, consider the possibility of searching for materials from thrift stores to make your projects. You might be surprised what you can pick up secondhand in such places.

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.

I received a comment from Amelia last week saying how much she enjoys the mini missions, particularly the ones that focus on what things are made of.  I am sure we all have our favourites when it comes to the missions. I know that some of you like me to be exact about the items so you don’t have to put much thought into it. Well this week I am going to honour (honor) Amelia’s request and make the missions about the colour of things. I put it to the test by picking a colour and looking around the room and it is amazing how the colour stands out when you are searching for it. So this week you can all wonder around your houses with you colour radar on and see what you can find to declutter. Have fun with it.

Monday – Declutter something that is red.

Tuesday - Declutter something that is green.

Wednesday - Declutter something that is brown.

Thursday - Declutter something that is blue.

Friday - Declutter something that is white.

Saturday - Declutter something that is silver.

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

There is no miracle cleaner the will make cleaning your home anything but work. Just like miracle diet pills can’t replace healthy eating and regular exercise to maintain healthy weight. What you need in both cases is a good attitude to put in the effort that is required to achieve good results.

So if you have a large space in your home dedicated to bottles and jars full of specialised cleaners for every surface then you are most likely deluding yourself. Not to mention wasting a lot of space and money.

I encountered just such a situation recently and it left me shaking my head in amazement. I am not going to go into more detail than that but it sure got me thinking. And yes, I have written about this subject in the past, with a list of the limited number of cleaners I have in my home along with convoluted details on where and how I use these items. So I am not going to go into the details again here today but I do suggest that you take a look at what you are using. How many of those items are just multiples of the same thing and multiple brands of those same things. How toxic are they ~ these are usually ones that “require no scrubbing” but a hell of a lot of rinsing. And trust me proper “thorough rinsing” can turn out to be more complicated than scrubbing.

When it comes to the surface cleaning of my home, sinks, counter tops, showers, baths, windows, hard floors and even spot cleaning the carpet, I use a solution of white vinegar, water and a couple of drops of dishwashing liquid. And I have a bottle of toilet cleaner with a bleach element that I use very sparingly. I can assure you that I have tried all those other “fancy” cleaners and they have all been a disappointment. The only miracle ingredient that I know of is effort. And anyone who knows me will vouch that I have a lovely clean home.

So stop wasting your time, space and money trying new cleaners. They are usually just a lot of advertising hype. And some of that hype borders on false advertising. Start a use it up challenge on all those extra bottles and jars and in future simplify your cleaning supplies.

Allow me to make one little extra remark. Cleaning is not such hard work when you have less clutter. So clearing the clutter is much more effective than wasting your hard earned cash of mythical miracle workers.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter shabby linens that have hung around too long waiting to be used as rags.

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

Sometimes when it comes to clutter it takes a major event to force you to deal with it. Sometimes we chip away at the clutter slower even than a thing a day, letting go of an item here and an item there. As we all know at that pace there is often just as much stuff coming in and all you are doing is marking time. Then something happens or you make a decision that finally forces your hand.

We have at least two long time readers and their spouses who have found themselves in the position where they decided to downsize their homes. In both cases these couples have been reading and decluttering along with us here for some time. I dare say they even thought that they had done a pretty good job of letting go of their excess stuff. But the prospect of trying to fit into a smaller dwelling with what they have left is not at all desirable or probably even a possibility. My brother and sister-in-law also put themselves in this position and did a remarkable job to prepare themselves, over twelve months, for a move from what had been their family home for many many years to a new city and a new two bedroom apartment.

I am sure that each of these couples learned to become far more ruthless with their declutter decision making when the stakes were this high. There are so many things that we all find sentimental and vaguely useful enough to cling on to until such an event occurs. In fact in some cases I wouldn’t even be surprised if people sometimes make these big potentially life changing decisions intentionally to force their hand. I guess I was just fortunate enough that, both my husband and I, had the foresight to glance further into the future than most and decided to get on with the task well ahead of time.

It is my experience that many people, when they learn that I write a blog about decluttering, express a desire to also declutter. They want this, they may even need it, but for some reason just can’t bring themselves to do it. I am sure many of you can relate to that. Even I had thought about the idea and chipped away at it for a couple of years prior to actually getting started in earnest. Then the thought struck me to take it easy and declutter slowly but consistently, rather than having to do it in a big scary rush some day in the future. This epiphany literally happened for me in the blink of an eye and I never looked back.

I have encountered several people who procrastinated over starting their decluttering journey, then one day just found their trigger to get started. Fortunately, for them, this meant that the task was done ahead of any big life change that would have found them floundering with a monumental task with a deadline. And that trigger can be the strangest of things. Observing someone else who was forced to undergo a downsize under pressure is just such inspiration. In at least one case the person simply found an easy way to make some money out of their stuff and that was inspiration enough. For others it was just getting to the point that enough was enough and things had to change.

Sadly I also know more than a few people who ignored the desire to declutter, then found themselves in the very stressful situation of trying to make fast painful decisions of what to keep and what to let go.

For those who have found this blog and are still procrastinating please don’t be that last person I mentioned above. Begin now with the easy stuff, find a variety of good ways to send your clutter on to be useful to someone else, recycle what you can and throw away that which is not useful to anyone. The decisions do get easier over time. Get your home in order now before your hand is forced. Because you just never know what life has in store for you just around the corner.

Today’s Mini Mission

Sometimes we buy a new item of clothing without letting go of the items that it replaced. Items that are a little shabby. So now is a good day to let go of some of those items.

Eco Tip for the Day

Recycle all that you can.  Don’t make excuses, don’t be lazy, just do it.

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’s set of mini missions is all about those things that build up until you can’t help but notice. You generally notice when you feel like the clutter is closing in on you again but you don’t understand how that happened. So I have listed some areas for you to check on and declutter if necessary.

Monday – Declutter a couple of items you have just lost interest in. Don’t be concerned about what they cost or how little they were used. Just get them out of your life if you have no use for them.

Tuesday – If you are like me and keep the odd, seemingly useful, container and then later on find they are building up and not being used then declutter a few today. Jars, plastic containers, cans, folders, plastic sleeves…

Wednesday – Sometimes we buy a new item of clothing without letting go of the items that it replaced. Items that are a little shabby. So now is a good day to let go of some of those items.

Thursday – If you have children declutter some items they have grown out of.

Friday – Declutter some entertainment items that you no longer care to enjoy. Board games, digital games, outdoor fun equipment etc

Saturday – Declutter shabby linens that have hung around too long waiting to be used as rags.

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

When I began helping my friend, S, declutter, there were decades of paper archives: phone bills, utility bills, bank statements, medical papers, taxes papers, magazine clippings, newspaper clippings, catalogs, travel memorabilia, recipes, greeting cards, letters, and hundreds of photos (organized by year). Much of this was stacked in boxes in the garage or office with various other locations for smaller boxes or bags. It was a nightmare of unorganized, mostly unneeded paper.

Looking over the mess, it was apparent that this was going to be a huge undertaking. How did this happen? Why would someone let things get this bad? It all comes down to priorities, understanding and dreams. Too many times we feel we don’t have time to deal with something at a specific point in time. Once we put it off, things tend to pile up and become something we really don’t have time for. Other times we may not know what we need to keep and what is no longer important. We often cut out an article or copy down a recipe with thoughts of using it soon only to find that months or years later it is still in a pile of to-do’s. Referencing saved articles, magazines, newspapers, and recipes seldom happens.

The first step in decluttering my friends mountain of paper was to open all the boxes just to see what was in them. It turned out that in this case most of the boxes were all a jumble with no organization whatsoever. Ugh! This represented more hard work. What needed to be done was to deal with one box at a time and sort all of the paper into piles of like topics. All of those piles then needed to be sorted to decide what to keep for tax or other official purposes. Once all this was done the shredding started. Hour after hour of shredding at intervals produced over 14 big trash bags.

When it came to the photos, while sorted into years, nothing else had been done to them. Tossing all the photos that were blurred, too dark, too light, duplicates or with poor composition was the first task followed by sorting according to event. Since S is a scrapbooker, she now has her photos ready to be placed in layouts.

S has no children that would have inherited this mess but here would still be someone who had to deal with it all. Paper is now one thing that will cause fewer issues for the person who is left with the job. Having been through the death of my father and dealing with all that entails, I am glad I was able to guide S to declutter the paper.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter some wall art or empty picture frames you have never use. Another thing my son let go of last week.

I received the following message some weeks ago. I am not sure now who the author was but please feel free to identify yourself if you recognise it.

“I just read an interesting book called the KonMari method of Tidying Up. Her take is that for lasting change you have to do  the whole declutter in one  go, although her “go” can be 6 months. I don’t necessarily agree with her but it was an interesting read. I’d love to hear your opinion if you have read the book.”

I personally have never read any of Marie Kondo’s books but several of my readers have mentioned them in the past. One concept that my readers mentioned, that appealed to me, was the idea of being grateful for the  service of each and every item that is being decluttered, and then happily let it go. That is regardless of how much or little of a service they have been. I like this idea. It is positive and I dare say uplifting. Which is a far better attitude to approach decluttering with than negativity.

Lets face it being negative gets you nowhere. Right? From the very beginning I approached my decluttering process as a positive move. A move towards a new way of living and consuming. I focused on the positive change rather than the scale of the task. After all, how hard can it be to set aside one thing a day. Sometimes in the first year I had to restrain myself from decluttering more than just that one thing. A thing a day was the challenge after all and I wanted to stick to the guidelines.

There have been so many things that have passed through my hands over the years as I slowly reduced my belongings. For many of them I was truly grateful for their service. Others, not so much, but that is OK because I am still grateful for whatever joy I received from them. From these items I learned the purchasing pitfalls to avoid in the future. I also learned a lot about what kinds of things I had a hard time resisting in the past. Once these things are identified it is easy not to make similar mistakes.

Through this blog there are so many ways that I have tried to nurture a positive attitude towards embarking on the task of decluttering your home. If you still need some more inspiration I would recommend reading one of Marie Kondo’s books. And if my local library ever stocks any I will also read them. Here are a few on-line articles about this Japanese decluttering expert for you to get an idea of her methods and philosophies.

• Konmari method declutters homes and changes lives
• Konmari method closet cleaning
• tidyingup.com

So be grateful and happy decluttering.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter some items of jewellery you don’t like so much. My mother-in-law was doing this.

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.

Just for something different, as I have never done this before, this week’s mini missions are based on what me and my family have been decluttering. This includes children and in-laws. It is always exciting to see those you love embracing int the idea of living with less. So here goes.

Monday – Declutter of CDs or DVDs. My son was doing this last week.

Tuesday – Declutter some craft supplies. Easy to guess who was doing this, me of course.

Wednesday – Declutter some items of jewellery you don’t like so much. My mother-in-law was doing this.

Thursday – Declutter some clutter in your home that once was someone else’s clutter. The jewellery mentioned above was just such clutter.

Friday – Declutter some wall art or empty picture frames you have never use. Another thing my son let go of last week.

Saturday – Declutter something you have been unsuccessfully been trying to sell. I did this with some items that have lingered too long in the art space where I sell my handmade cards.

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

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