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 it is that time of year again where family and friends come together to celebrate one occasion or another and sometimes a little of each. So now is a good time to eliminate some stuff messing up our homes that we wouldn’t want others to see. So lets see if there is some little tweaking we can do to make our task of presenting a home, in its best light, a little simpler.

Monday –  Declutter some of those dust collectors that make cleaning day a bigger chore than it ought to  be.

Tuesday – Declutter some things sitting on surfaces in the bathroom. Cleaning bathrooms is a big enough chore without having to move things to do the task.

Wednesday – Declutter some excess items in the room that would be used to accomodating guests. It can be awkward enough living out of suitcases in an uncluttered space, the task becomes more difficult when there is no clear surface to put guests’ things on.

Thursday – Declutter some items from the entrance to your home. Either the front lawn, the porch, the entry way etc. You want your home to make a good, welcoming,  first impression.

Friday – Declutter some excess, less used, items from the kitchen. This will make it easier to get at the things you do use, making food prep easier.

Saturday – Declutter any stuff cluttering up the dining table. This clutter is bad enough at the best of time but when guests are in the home it makes catering more difficult than 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.

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

This post was contributed to 365 Less Things by Deb J

Gift wrapping is one of the big “chores” of the Christmas/Hanukkah season.  A later post in this series will talk about alternative gifts for adults but for those who take part in gift giving among family and friends decluttering wrapping supplies can make a big difference.  Every year as you walk through the stores you see a big assortment of wrapping papers, bows, bags, gift tags and gift boxes.  I remember a time when we had a huge storage tub of wrapping supplies we would buy in the after Christmas sales and hold over for the following year.  We no longer have any of that.  We are gift wrap free and have been for about 10 years.  Of course, as I have shared before, we no longer give gifts as our family and friends have decided to “get out of the habit.”  Still, I’d like to share some ideas we used once we realized how much time, money, space and effort came with shopping for and storing wrapping supplies.

I think the biggest change we made was when we decided to no longer store wrapping supplies.  We decided to pick a theme color each year for paper, ribbon and bows.  We bought one huge roll of paper, a huge roll of ribbon and made our own bows.  Most of the time, we bought white paper or craft paper and then came up with the “color of the year” for the ribbon.  I especially liked the year we used craft paper and plaid ribbon. Even the gift tags were made of “craft paper” card stock with a swipe of color around the edges by a marker and tied on with thin strips of the ribbon.   Whatever you decide, it is much cheaper to buy supplies in bulk with the idea of buying only what you need for the one year. 

Many people have resorted to using gift bags.  We found a place where you can buy various sized ones in one color.  Then you can embellish them with stamping, stickers, rick rack, ribbon, etc. to fancy them up.  I know friends who make bags out of the paper sacks they get at the grocery store.  You just turn them inside out and either cut them to size or use them at their original size.  Lunch sacks work well also.

I think the best idea I have seen is a friend who made a variety of bags out of holiday fabric.  Every year she gives gifts in these bags.  She tells the receivers she will gladly take them back if they don’t want to reuse them.  She has found really cheap fabric in after Christmas sales and takes her time over the year making up the bags.  Another friend uses fabric to make pillow cases and then gives away gifts in them.  Nothing like giving two gifts in one.  She especially likes to make the cases in material that reflects the recipient.

Do you have any cheap, easy ideas for holiday gift wrapping that helps you with the prevention of storing wrapping supplies from year to year?

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 we are going to focus on the decluttering a few items that are cluttering up the master bedroom in your home. Your bedroom should be your sanctuary and clutter can make you feel less than relaxed in a space that should be tranquil for you. So lets see if you can find a few things to make it a more pleasant place to be.

Monday – Declutter items that have accumulated in or on your bedside table/cabinet, nightstand or whatever you call it.

Tuesday – Declutter a few of those scatter cushions you pile on and off your bed everyday, all the while collecting dust and dust mites.

Wednesday – Declutter out of date makeup and lotions on your dressing table.

Thursday – Declutter anything lurking under your bed.

Friday – Declutter costume jewellery that you never use anymore.

Saturday – Declutter a couple of less loved clothing 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

This blog post is by Moni Gilbert who is coordinating this series of posts.

As we enter the Silly Season I would like to kick off a series written by Deb J, Andréia and myself entitled “365-ing The Silly Season”.  So often women plan their holiday seasons to the nth degree with the goal of the ‘perfect’ day and while the home might look grand, the menu perfect and all the little details might be delightful, is there a tired, stressed out woman behind it all?   I would like to suggest the gift of going a little easier on yourselves.   Trust me, no one will notice the difference if you omit a few things.

I’d like to encourage you to decide what is actually important to you as far your preparations go, cull some not so important details and reduce your menu by an item or two.  I’d like folks to think about how their expectations and preparations would appear mapped out on the calendar.   If every single day in December has a huge to-do list on top of all the regular workload and commitments, add an escalated social whirl, its a recipe for stress.  Set yourself a limit of how many ‘extra’ chores you can realistically achieve in a day and stick to it.  It is realistic to have time to yourself to relax in the evening in the weeks leading up to the holidays.  Explain this new arrangement in advance to your family, they might have suggestions of what they’d be happy to forego or volunteer to do in your place.

What would you be prepared to forego this year?

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something that was really useful in the past but hasn’t been used in a long time. Maybe its time in done for you.

“If we do not feel grateful for what we already have, what makes us think we’d be happy with more?” — Unknown

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 – Declutter an unfinished project, either by finishing it or letting it go. These are a mental burden. Once done they can either be passed on or enjoyed, but either way they are no longer weighing you down with aspiration.

Tuesday – Declutter an unwise purchase.

Wednesday – Declutter your junk drawer if you have one. If not some other drawer that holds a little clutter.

Thursday – Declutter some paperwork.

Friday – Declutter something that was really useful in the past but hasn’t been used in a long time. Maybe its time in done for you.

Saturday – Start a use it up challenge on something.

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

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 see there are still some readers participating and enjoying Nicole V’s blog post …Let The Games Begin. So I thought just for the fun on it we would do another set of alphabet mini missions. I’ll nominate a letter for each day and you find something to declutter in your home starting with that letter. So, let the decluttering begin.

Monday – Declutter something beginning with letter P.

Tuesday – Declutter something beginning with the letter B.

Wednesday - Declutter something beginning with the letter S.

Thursday - Declutter something beginning with the letter R.

Friday - Declutter something beginning with the letter C.

Saturday - Declutter something beginning with the letter L.

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

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 have had a very satisfying day organising and decluttering an area or two of my craft supplies. As I organised I was inspired to declutter more in order to make things fit nicely into containers and the larger space. I find this method of decluttering to be one of my favourites. That is the be determined to make things fix and in doing so decluttering things I might otherwise not have even though they really aren’t necessary or meaningful to me.

So do you have some areas where the stuff stored in them doesn’t fit very well. Try decluttering some so the organisation of the area works better. This weeks mini mission are designed to inspire such decluttering. Some of these tasks may take longer than the ten minutes allotted to mini missions but hopefully you will be inspired nonetheless.

Monday – Declutter a drawer so that it is not only easy to shut but also easy to see what is stored there.

Tuesday – Declutter a shelf in a cupboard so that it is easy to organised and maintain that way.

Wednesday – Declutter a storage container that hold small objects.

Thursday – Declutter and organise a bathroom cabinet.

Friday – Declutter and organise a kitchen cabinet.

Saturday – Declutter and organise your fridge of freezer.

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 the TV on during the day just for company. You may laugh but I have know plenty of cases of people doing this.

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 could be wrong but I am sure that there are more than a few items that are common to most households. Kitchen clutter, paper clutter of all sorts, clothing, toiletries, shoes, toys when children are in the household… . This week though I will base by mini missions on some of the, perhaps less common, clutter items that I got rid of quite early in my decluttering journey. I’ll also give the reasons why I didn’t feel inclined to keep them.

Monday – Declutter something you don’t care to maintain. I decluttered a silver tea set very early on. I hated to have to clean it, so although it was a gift I let it go.

Tuesday – Declutter some sort of sporting equipment that you no longer enjoy to use. I decluttered my bicycle a long time ago. I did test ride it a couple of times to prove to myself whether I would ever use it or not and no won out.

Wednesday – Declutter keepsakes that you never bother to look at. I got rid of all sorts of these things early on and probably could still let a few of them go. I must get that box down and take another look. The fact that it is a box in the top of the closet goes to prove how much it matters.

Thursday – Declutter something you keep just because most people have one. I decluttered out BBQ soon after I began by declutter journey. It is almost sacrilegious to not own a BBQ in Australia but we just never used ours so out it went. Five years latter and we have never replaced it or missed it for that matter.

Friday – Declutter everyday stuff that you have way too much off. I culled stationery items in the early days, we had way more than we would ever need around the house. And once again, five years later we still haven’t had to buy more. How many paperclips, thumbtacks and staples does one need in an almost paperless society.

Saturday – Start a use-it-up mission on excess gift wrap and cards that have been lingering for a while. In future it is easy enough to  purchase a gift bag on the same outing as buying the gift. So you don’t have to stock these items in the house.

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

Well it’s that time again, another change of season. Although Spring has sprung in the south and Autumn changing the colours in the North it is only this week the I have really started to delve into my more summery clothes. So I am going to assume these changes are happening for most of us to one degree or another.

So now is the time to reassess clothing from both seasons. Declutter clothes that were ignore during the season just gone or you persevered with as the season was ending but are too shabby to keep for next year. And as you bring forward those clothes for the upcoming or current season turn their hangers around on the rod so you can easily identify the items that are being passed over as the season progresses.

And as the seasons come and go certain items of clothing we own may start to become less flattering for our maturing tastes and figures. So let those items go as well. I know I will be doing that as I gradually retrieve my summer wardrobe from the box they are packed away in on the top shelf of my closet.

Footwear from both seasons will also be assessed. Those too shabby will likely end up in the trash, while anything still in good shape but disliked will be donated to charity. I don’t think that I will have any charity items but sadly my favourite pair of boots have worn through the bottom and are not of that kind that can be resoled.

Other seasonal items that can also be assessed at this time of year are gardening items, sporting equipment, recreational equipment and bedding. Perhaps even some cooking items may be seasonal to you, and require using up so they don’t linger on the shelf for months unused.

This year I have the unusual situation of moving from Winter into Spring and then back again into Winter before Summer has barely had a chance to assert itself. So the clothing situation is a little more complicated for me this time around.

There are so many variations on climate throughout the world, so timing and choices are different. I remember my time living in the top end of Australia, where the climate is tropical. There was no clothing change there as were wore summer clothes all year round. The only difference was a few degrees in temperature and how wet or dry it was. That was the simple life.

So what else is there that you need to assess as the seasons are changing for you in your part of the world?

Today’s Mini Mission

Find a single use gadget and really rationalise whether it is useful to you or not. And when you come to the conclusion that it isn’t declutter it.

“If we do not feel grateful for what we already have, what makes us think we’d be happy with more?” — Unknown

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.

Among all the clutter in our homes there are always thing that we would definitely be glad to see the back of, whether we realise it immediately on not. So lets get rid of a few of those things this week. The question you should be asking yourself when you encounter these things is ~ Why haven’t I gotten rid of these things sooner. So lets see what we can find.

Monday – Declutter something that you haven’t used in a long time and probably never will.

Tuesday – Declutter something that you never did care for but kept for one bad reason or another.

Wednesday – Declutter something that instead of making your life easer just wastes valuable space.

Thursday – Declutter an unwanted gift, and don’t tell me you have to keep it, because you don’t.

Friday – Find a single use gadget and really rationalise whether it is useful to you or not. And when you come to the conclusion that it isn’t declutter it.

Saturday – Declutter something that makes you cringe when you see it in your home.

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