One thing that came through in the comments to yesterday’s post was…

“A place for everything and everything in its place.”

The thing is that there is always a logical place for everything within a household but if those places are jam packed with stuff, putting everything in its place can become a nightmare.

Who hasn’t, at some stage in life, had the plastics cupboard avalanche. Or the overstuffed linen closet where every time you pull out a towel you end up with three or more at your feet. Or the utensils drawer that you have to rustle everything around in order to get it shut. I know I have. Although it never stopped me from putting everything it its place it sure made it harder to do so.

People tend to love variety, resulting in them continually buying new stuff whether they need it or not. What many don’t realise is the how much time can be wasted in the choosing and in the difficulty housing them. When housing the stuff gets too difficult the mess begins to spill out into the living areas of the house. Baskets full of washing while the closet is still stuffed to overflowing. Stuff cluttering up kitchen benches making it difficult to prepare food, tops of desks without an inch of the surface showing. Books, magazines and newspapers, intended to be read, heaped into piles on the floor rather than neatly stored on shelves. Expensive cars parked in the street because the garage is full of stuff… I think you get the picture. There is no longer room for everything and the excess is in places it ought not to be.

If you find yourself at a blog like mine then you have come to the realisation that something has to give. You either resign yourself to live amongst the stuff, but clearly you aren’t happy to do that or you wouldn’t be here. Or alternatively you do something about it. The first thing is to resist the temptation to acquire. Meanwhile you can begin to reduce what you already have.

When they say money can’t by happiness, they mean the stuff you buy with money won’t give you sustainable joy. Having a comfortable,  healthy, inviting, easy to maintain home to be proud of also won’t guarantee happiness but it sure seems more likely to lead you in that direction. Having a place for everything and everything easily put in its place is a nice way to live. So why not give it a go.

Today’s Mini Mission

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…

Eco Tip for the Day

Save electricity by not turning on electrical appliances, like irons, hair straighteners etc, too long before you use them and by not leaving them on while you decide to take a break during the task.

For a full list of my eco tips so far click here

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

I thought this was a good comment from Sanna last week regarding how being decluttered makes life simpler.

Sanna wrote ~ “I’d add that it’s simpler to have a “cleaning day” as well. My home still gets messy, especially when bf and I are both very busy at work. Dishes and laundry still tend to pile, I have to admit. However, a few years back it would take hours – or even days – to get everything back into shape after some busy weeks and even then there would be piles left, stuffed in cupboards, under sofas or in the bedroom, just because we would be too exhausted to manage getting through all at once. Now, the mess is just superficial, which means that even if we feel we drown in chaos, we usually can achieve a tidy and clean home in just about two hours (including laundry and dishes), without hidden clutter left.”

Part of my response was this… “By the way I am curious. I often wonder how, when people are busy at work, they still manage to get their homes in a mess. It always seems to me that they aren’t there most of the time so why does the mess happen. You prove that having too much of everything could be a big part of the problem because when the excess is eliminated suddenly the biggest part of the mess is eliminated as well.”

I have found that, when you have a limited amount of things that you use regularly, you have to stay on top of the cleaning in order to have what you need when you need it. Therefore the laundry needs to stay up to date as does cleaning the dishes…

Many people resort to buying more items when keeping up isn’t working, but they are generally only digging themselves into a deeper hole. Avoiding work doesn’t make it go away it just makes it pile up so it gets even harder to deal with later. Not only that, things get lost in the mess which wastes even more time. And then there is the constant misery of knowing the mess is there waiting for you to deal with.

There is also the panic in the early morning because you can’t find that shirt you need for work, you then discover it crushed on the floor, unwearable. Hanging clothes when they can be worn again makes them easy to find and keeps them wearable. And arranging what you are going to wear the next day prior to going to bed makes for a less stressful start to the day. Have you ever noticed how when the day starts out bad it usually follows along in the same vein. So any wonder when you get home you are completely drained and just want to flop down and do nothing. Then dinner needs to be cooked you can barely move in the kitchen for dirty dishes piled up all over the place.

Just thinking about it makes me frustrated.

Like Sanna, have you noticed it has become easier to keep your home in order because you now have less stuff? Tell us about it.

Today’s Mini Mission

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.

Eco Tip for the Day

This eco tip was sent in my Cheryl. I’ve been trying to have less in my freezer so to fill up the space and save energy I’ve been filling milk jugs with water (not to full) and putting on the bottom and putting some boards on top. Fills up the air space and also makes it easier to get things out of the freezer.

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 – 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

Doodle

Are there things you do to sabotage your de-cluttering goals?

I got the idea for this post after reading “No More Clutter” by Sue Kay. She suggests the following as ways we undermine our decluttering efforts:

1. Do you focus on how much there is left to do rather than how much you have achieved?
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’.
3. Do you throw away essential things that then prove how risky decluttering is?
4. Do you create such a mess when decluttering that you give up half way through a task and have made everything worse.
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?
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…
7. Over complex or unrealistic plans of where or how  you might get rid of stuff

I have definitely at some point done all of these except for 3) The good news is,from my experience, that once you bring these behaviours from your unconscious to conscious level, all these traits you can train out of yourself and create new habits.

When working on my own stuff, I now consciously choose to tackle decluttering in small bite size chunks. If I am in the mood for a few hours sorting, I finish one bit before starting the next session, because I know how my energy for the task can suddenly go.

Of course, when working with clients, I work differently because we know we are going to be keeping going for 3-4 hours per session: I’m there as the energiser and motivator, attuning to each clients individual needs, so we won’t be giving up after 20 minutes. This does mean I can empty whole wardrobes and larders at the start rather than doing small chunks. In this instance, it is down to me to ensure the pace we work at balances with the time I allow at the end to leave the area we are working in   a far better state than when we started.

We create piles on the floor for things that need to be put away elsewhere in the house. Then we do that all at the end, rather than lots of too-ing and fro-ing distracting us from the task in hand.

A significant proportion of my clients apologise a lot and feel bad about themselves with regard to their clutter. I always gently challenge that view of themselves, because there are always life reasons why things have become too much and now they are taking steps to change: they deserve to praise themselves and believe this is the start of change.

In my own home, I find it very helpful to set an alarm/kitchen timer for 15 minutes to tackle an area I just can’t face: it means I make a little breakthrough and am then rewarded by being allowed to stop. Occasionally of course, it gets me going and I keep going long past the 15 minutes. But it is ok to stop at 15 minutes. It’s a technique I pass on to clients too.

Do you recognise yourself in any of the above 1-7 list? If you recognise any of them as the way you used to do things, how have you changed?

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something from a bathroom in your home.

Eco Tip for the Day

Here’s one way to save paper. Write your grocery list on the fridge with a whiteboard marker and then photograph it with your cell phone and take that with you when you go shopping.

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

Related articles across the web

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

When I began decluttering it was all about downsizing to fit into a smaller home. However it didn’t take long to realise that decluttering resulted in simplicity. Here are some ways in which my life has become simpler due to my decluttering.

• Decluttering displayed items means less dusting making housework simpler.
• Decluttering items inside cupboards and drawers makes it simpler to keep them organised and tidy.
• Less stuff in general makes it simpler to keep an entire home tidy.
• And when the house is tidier it is also simpler to clean the surfaces because there is less stuff to move out of your way.
• Simplifying your housework means it is simpler to find time to do other things you enjoy more.
• The less clothes I own the simpler it is to decide what to wear.
• The less stuff I buy (because I don’t want to become cluttered again) the simpler it is to save money.
• The less stuff to choose from in any category the simpler it is to find the items I need when I need them.

And now that I have reached my goal of living in a smaller place in a wonderful location it is…

• Simpler to keep fit because it is a delight to go out for long walks and enjoy the scenery and atmosphere.
• It is simpler to get from A to B because most of what I need is within walking or cycling distance which means no getting the car out and trying to find parking spots. And public transport is in abundance here also.
• It is simpler to get to a cafe that sells good coffee because there are so many handy to my location.
• It is simpler to go to the movie theatre, the beach and restaurants because they are also within walking distance.

I am sure I could go on but I will leave it at that for now.

What have you found to be simpler in your life because of your decluttering? And what possibilities or opportunities have opened up in your life for the same reason?

Today’s Mini Mission

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.

Eco Tip for the Day

If you are one for ironing just about anything ~ sheets, underwear, pyjamas, tea towels etc ~ do yourself a favour and give it up for the sake of the environment. Electrical energy won’t be the only energy you will be saving.

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

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

Deb J

I’m puzzled. I have a bunch of puzzles as you can see. I don’t want to declutter them because I enjoy working them more than once. Along with reading, working puzzles is a way to relax for me. The harder they are the better but I also like them when they are pretty or show places I’d like to visit or have fond memories of.

They looked crowded and cluttered where they were. I have been trying to decide where to put them so they would be out of site yet easy to pull out. I found several places—my almost empty closet shelf, inside one of the cupboards, in the extra closet in Mom’s bathroom. I didn’t like any of those ideas. It just meant more stuffed into places that were decluttered and looking nice.

I had a great idea. Why do the puzzles have to be in those boxes that take up so much room? Maybe I should find some type of storage with a drawer for each puzzle. Nah, who wants to spend money on something like that? Not me! So what do I do? Ah, put them in Ziploc bags we already have too many of and then in a box. I like the way it turned out and it looks nice too.

*****************************

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something in the beauty, body pampering or toiletry range.

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 weeks mini missions are broad ranging. Each mission gives you a wide variety of items to choose from. I will be very surprised if you can’t find something for each category this week. And don’t tell me you decluttered something of the sort last week. Last week was last week and doesn’t count this week. 😉 Good luck and happy decluttering.

Monday – Declutter something food related. Whether that be for serving, preparing or eating.

Tuesday – Declutter a fashion item. Be that clothing, accessories, shoes or maybe just a magazine.

Wednesday РDeclutter a d̩cor item. Anything from curtaining to floral arrangements to cushions or figurines.

Thursday – Declutter something in the beauty, body pampering or toiletry range.

Friday – Declutter a hardware item. Anything form a power tool to a nail or a large as a plank of wood.

Saturday – Declutter something outdoorsy. Camping, sporting, gardening etc.

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 switch on lights to do something in a dimly lit room unless it requires fine motor skills.

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