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 all about bringing your attention to items that have a tendency to unnecessarily build up, be decluttered and build up again. I made that sound like this happens without our being responsible for it but we all know that we are. We succumb to the temptation to replace perfectly serviceable items with something new whether we need it or not. Lets see how many of these items you can find to declutter in your home. But more than that, become aware that you are doing this and consider a change in this behaviour from here on.

I am not going to mention clothing or shoes in this list because that would be the most obvious choice for this category. However give some thought to your habits in this area and consider what you might do to improve on your initial choices that might help help avert this happening in the future.

Monday – Declutter a decor item that has been stashed away out of sight. ~ Do you find yourself refreshing your decor with an endless parade of decorator items. I would suggest displaying meaningful/sentimental items rather than hiding them away in a closet somewhere. You will be less inclined to dismiss and replace them so easily.

Tuesday – Declutter any pet toys that are overabundant in your home.  ~ Do you buy a new toy to amuse you pet with on a regular basis when their old toys are still in reasonable condition. Slowly they build up and then you find yourself throwing away the oldest or less loved items whether they are worn out or not. Think of the money you could save.

Wednesday – Declutter excess bath towels and in future only replace them when they wear out ~ Judging from many of the linen closets I encounter, during visiting friends and relatives, I would say the people generally replace towels on a far too regular basis. Not because they are no longer capable of the task of drying but simply because they are considered decor items that are to be replaced when tired of.

Thursday – Declutter any kitchen utensils or gadgets that you don’t use often enough to warrant keeping. ~ Who isn’t on the lookout for something that can make our workload lighter. When it comes to the home the kitchen is a major source of this focus. The problem is that many of the gadgets on the market don’t live up to their promise to lighten that load. The utensils drawer ends up with three different styles of peelers, can openers, potato mashers etc and the shelves are packed with all manner of electric gadgets. I must say that some credit has to be given to anyone who still believes on home cooking rather than caving into buying, not always healthy, prepared meals, but be sceptical about the usefulness or such gadgets.

Friday – Declutter any stationery items that are overstocked in your home. Especially if they were purchased for their novelty factor. Cute pens, pencils, erasers, notebooks, thumb tacks, paperclips etc. ~ You may think this is an odd thing to suggest but you might be surprised at how often inexpensive items such as these are purchased when they aren’t needed.

Saturday – Declutter any children’s toys that are neglected, broken or perhaps never were enjoyed.~ Children don’t need more and more toys they need to be left to use their imaginations with a smaller selection. And they aren’t a substitute for quality time spent with parents and friends. If you find it necessary to allocate a room in your home just to store toys then you most likely have too many.

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

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

A few years ago I began the task of digitising our family photos. I used a service to digitise our negatives and was making great inroads arranging our photos in year and month folders, when I ran into two problems.

One, my external hard drive was knocked off the desk by the cat and all was lost. Fortunately my brother-in-law had copied about 3/4 onto his computer while preparing a digital photo frame for the grandparents but I have the tedious task of working out just what is missing.

The second problem is that around that time my decluttering unearthed two shoe boxes worth of photos that could be duplicates, copies given by friends, ones removed from the original photo albums and even envelopes of photos obviously unopened after being developed.

At the time the project was interrupted and I decided to focus my attention on my decluttering over the household rather than a storage bin filled with photo boxes, negatives, CD’s, albums etc.

Over the last two years this storage bin has been relocated around the house a number of times, awaiting a time when I could re-visit this project uninterrupted. I’m not entirely sure that time is now, but I do know that the storage bin is now sitting in my garage beside my computer desk.

I’m confident that when I re-begin this project I will be thorough and eventually we will have all the photos sorted and a digital set for safe keeping but in the meantime it really is a disorganised muddle.

What I am not so sure about is what happens to the originals – I don’t think I want them destroyed. But on the other hand I don’t want a library of albums either and I am not keen on scrap booking or decoupage. I’m confident my teenagers won’t want their baby and childhood photos displayed around the house. I am also a bit cautious of relying solely on technology.

Now that the negatives have been digitised onto CD’s, can the negatives be hiffed?

Our photos include a few copies of great grandparents and the odd great great grand parent, I am thinking of having those made into a photo book so information can be saved for future generations. However the bulk of our photos are of our children up until the advent of the digital camera.

I am interested in knowing if any 365ers have tackled a similar project and what gems of wisdom they could share with me or any clever advancements in technology that could help.

Today’s Mini Mission

Grab a file of paper that needs sorting and take care of that while watching television. You could also use this time to sort printed photos.

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

One of the things I have discovered with decluttering is that house chores are not all that hard and don’t take that much time. You might laugh and say I am lying and a couple of years ago I would think that myself, but it is not so.

First of all we always have to consider, with house chores, the amount of stuff that we have to a) put away; and b) clean on shelves. That is the key. If you have 3 full wardrobes of clothing your laundry day (or days) will be nightmarish. If you pair down your clothing and that of your family there is a lot less to use, but there is also a lot less to clean.

In the kitchen I have also found that rule to be true. I used to have so many plates that our family could eat for 2/3 weeks without doing the dishes. Of course that is not hygienic nor it is advisable, but with too much of something it gets hard to keep a clean sink, for instance, because the excess in cutlery, china, glasses, cups will end up out of place and cluttering up the sink (even if they are washed) or on your table. As I have a small kitchen, any clutter screams out at me because it robs me of precious space.

As I have two small children I had struggled a lot with toys. Toys in the spare room, toys in the living room, toys everywhere. Sometimes I had the urge of just walking away from the toys… However the toy mess was my fault. The kids had no proper place to store the toys, no system. You see, even young children will learn to use a simple system. Set an easy place for them to store their stuff. A box under the bed, a shelf on the lowest part of the closet or wardrobe accessible to them and make it easy for them to take the toys out and put them away. If one system does not work, try another. Don’t fret about small stuff, get one or 2 boxes and sort by general type of toy. As long as it put away, don’t concern yourself with details (like arranging minuscule lego pieces into order – it is not going to happen!), just get it organized. Set an example and they will follow (not everyday – it is not perfect, but for the most part). My room is always tidy, my shoes are in place and I don’t have stuff strewn on the floor, so they follow my lead. 

I learned that sometimes we see good ideas on TV shows and sometimes we don’t. About 7 years ago I saw a Peter Walsh show where he suggested a box for shoes under the bed. I bought the box, but it did not work for me. I am visual and I like things easy and it was hard to remember what shoes I had and to put them away at the end of the day. Now I have an open closet, I can see all my shoes I paired them down a lot and put them away as soon as I get home.

I do a little everyday. My kids put away their toys, I don’t leave clothing lying around the house and the messiest we get here now is when I don’t do laundry for 3 days (with children laundry is everyday to keep on top of it). At its worst it takes me 3 hours to get the house in order. At its best, about 30 minutes. I am thankful that I have a housecleaner that comes once a week, but that is for bathrooms and heavier cleaning. However, if I could not have that luxury, my husband and I are pretty confident that we could take care of the house ourselves. And declutter a lot more to make it even easier.

Today’s Mini Mission

While watching something on commercial television jump up in the ad time and find something to declutter in your living room. Perhaps go grab a handful of DVDs, go through a coffee or side table drawer or perhaps you have a pile of magazines near your chair that you could sort through and find something to declutter.

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

How much time do you waste in your day then profess to have no time to get your house in order. No time to begin decluttering that stuff that is making it difficult to keep your house in order.

We are all entitled to downtime. I am not going to argue that fact. The question is has your downtime taken over. And do you actually feel better or worse for it. I know that when I have been sitting idle for too long not doing anything useful I start getting agitated and feel the need to get up and make myself useful. I think it is a guilt feeling from being slothful. Once again I am not talking about rest time I am talking about wasted time when enough rest has already been had.

As this weeks mini missions show it isn’t hard to find a little time every now and again to fit in a little delcuttering or perhaps you could even use the time to do some much needed quick tasks around your house. In the time it takes to boil the kettle and brew the tea I can manage to empty the dishwasher. During add times on television I can put away the folded washing. The washing itself can be folding while watching television, as can ironing, sorting papers, doing a decluttering of your jewellery box or make-up kit. You can even pull out a drawer, bring it into the living room and declutter while watching your favourite show. You can clean the rubbish out of your handbag while waiting for an appointment. There is sure to be a rubbish bin close by to throw the trash into. And with a little imagination you can find many periods where time can be better used.

This morning I was feeling listless so I did the ironing. I felt much better for it. This evening while my husband was watching a movie, I wasn’t that interested in, I did some reorganising and a little decluttering in my craft room. I must admit I am a little “different” because I actually enjoy organising and decluttering so I wouldn’t consider this task a chore, but you get the idea. I enjoy the challenge, thinking outside the box and, of course, the end result. And of course I enjoy my actual downtime when I take it, happy in the knowledge that I am keeping up with my household chores.

Lets go back to that ironing I mentioned. I don’t know anyone who enjoys ironing. I don’t have a lot of it and can easily ignore it in the laundry cupboard for weeks before clothing items are needed or my husband runs out of hankies. (Yes I iron the hankies, not linen, underwear, jeans or t-shirts though so please don’t judge.) When I say ignore, I mean the items that do require ironing won’t run down for a while. But one thing I hate worse than ironing is feeling like I have neglected a task until desperation sets in. Especially when I know that I have had plenty of opportunity to get on with the task sooner. It makes me feel lazy and inefficient which permeates my downtime.

I know from experience that many people feel a similar way about their lack of effort to declutter. They know they need to do it, that they want it done but can’t bring themselves to make the effort. And often their downtime is marred by that fact that they know this task is being neglected because the evidence of this is staring them right in the face. Goading them and nagging when they should be relaxed and tranquil. Hours and hours are wasted feeling far less than tranquil in the effort to avoid something that would take much less time to solve.

So don’t waste those spare minutes here and there where you can achieve more than you would expect. I have been following my own advice about this to the letter over for the last week and I have achieve things that have been waiting around for me to do for weeks if not months. Nothing that important but nevertheless things that have quietly been nagging me to get them done. Not only can I go on my vacation content with my achievements but when I get home I will be able to ease on into routine with

Today’s Mini Mission

While brushing your teeth open your peruse your toiletries and/or make-up in your bathroom and declutter something that you no longer use or is out of date.

“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.

This week our mini mission theme is all about how little time need take to declutter one thing a day. In fact you could combine all of the following missions into your daily routine and not even notice the effort or time used to achieve quite a bit of decluttering. I will share with you six short waiting periods where you can find a few minutes to achieve some decluttering.

Monday – While waiting for the kettle to boil, the coffee to brew or between cooking steps, use that time to find something to declutter in the kitchen.

Tuesday – While brushing your teeth open your peruse your toiletries and/or make-up in your bathroom and declutter something that you no longer use or is out of date.

Wednesday – While watching something on commercial television jump up in the ad time and find something to declutter in your living room. Perhaps go grab a handful of DVDs, go through a coffee or side table drawer or perhaps you have a pile of magazines near your chair that you could sort through and find something to declutter.

Thursday -Grab a file of paper that needs sorting and take care of that while watching television. You could also use this time to sort printed photos.

Friday – If you are ready ahead of time to go out for work or leisure use that spare few minutes to sort through a drawer anywhere in your house.

Saturday - When you have been sitting for a long time at home, are bored with what you are doing or a just need a break form something you have been working on for a long period, get up and have a wonder around the house and find something to declutter. I do something similar all the time. Often when I am writing my blog posts and I am stuck, I get up and find things that are out of place and put them away. This way nothing is ever out of place for long and the rambling through the house is an opportunity to stretch my legs. 

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

Yesterday in one of my paragraphs I wrote these words regarding stuff ~ …acquiring it, for most people, is much more fun than having to deal with the task of getting rid of it. However with the right attitude the decluttering can be far more rewarding than the acquisition of the items in the first place. ~ Which brought to mind my friend in Sydney who I helped declutter recently. Now there is a lady who had the right attitude.

She had acquired so much stuff over a long period of time. We had also discussed her starting to declutter well before she suddenly had to move. Yet she had done nothing about it. Then her hand was forced and all hell broke loose, luckily I was available to come to the rescue. But that aside, I was pleasantly surprised at just how open minded my friend was to decluttering.

Now you have read most of the story here, here and here but I feel inclined to elaborate further as a result of Wednesday’s post. When I went to help my friend I imagined that she would be reluctant to get rid of a lot of stuff and I could see us packing most of it up and moving it to her new place. I thought this especially about the sentimental items she had, and there were a lot of them. You see she is a very sentimental person and therefore, much of what I would consider just stuff, she attaches significance too. I don’t know what makes some people like this and others not but I often wish I could rescue those that do from the heartache of sentimentality. Mind you a lot of sentimentality is born of heartache in the first place but that is a whole other post to consider writing.

Anyway, my friend had the right attitude. She had decided that enough was enough and she didn’t want to continue living that way. So much stuff, the usually kind of clutter, sentimental stuff, aspirational stuff and simply excess stuff, when out the door in droves. This, as you can imagine pleased me no end. We made such great progress that first weekend and that is why I was happy to go back and help her the next week. While I was there on the second visit she was at work both of the full days that I was there and in the evenings she was tired and reluctant to make an effort with the decluttering. Understandable but a little disconcerting for me nonetheless. I felt it didn’t bode well for the future where I would leave her to carry on with the task alone.

Well once again I was proved wrong. The last night I was there was the eve of a day off for her and I was about to leave the next day. I insisted that she had to make decisions on what was to be decluttered among all of the items I had set aside in her living room. It took us until nearly midnight but she, without complaint, ploughed through every single item. Worn out we went to bed to rest ahead of a race to the temporary finish line the next morning before I had to depart. And wow what progress we made. The place was looking really good by the time I left.

It would be fair to use the expression “Ye of little faith.” to describe me at this point because I still wasn’t sure how long the decluttering determination would last once I walked away. I had warned promised her I would send a weekly mission for her to tackle for some time. I decided to give her a little break from my nagging for the first couple of weeks in order for her to recover from the two weeks of mayhem but then the missions began. I called her on the second week to see if she had done much since I had left and she had done of few tasks without any interference from me. However, being the hard task master that I am, I felt she could have done more and once again had doubts that she was slacking.

Anyway I am nothing if not hopeful and I set her a reasonable simple task for the next week. And I was pleasantly surprised, she not only accomplished that task but she also took on a couple of other decluttering projects of her own. One included decluttering a piece of furniture to a teacher friend of hers. I think she got great satisfaction from not only liberating some space but especially from helping her friend and realising the benefits of her actions for the young students.

At this point I realised my lack of faith was unwarranted. So with cheer in my heart I set the next weeks mission. To go through her vast collection of scarves and declutter any that she didn’t want to waste space on. As it turned out the mission was unnecessary because she had already decluttered all but two of them on our first weekend together. I knew she had decluttered some but I didn’t realise she had done such a thorough job. I was a little taken aback when she told be this when I was talking to her at the start of the next week, thinking that I had all but given her the week off. But my renewed faith lead me to ask if she had done any other decluttering since the task I set was so easy. As it turned out she had decluttered and reorganised her utensils drawer in the kitchen. She also informed me that she managed this while working her usual day job and also working on her days off doing babysitting. I naturally gave her a big attagirl for her efforts and then we discussed what she might do this week.

We also talked about how good she felt about getting rid of more stuff and about how many people she has helped by giving away her stuff to them. There is the thrift shop, her teacher friend, a lady she met on the bus and a friend of a friend who are in to  cross-stitch, a group of little ones that she engaged in a craft afternoon with using her excess craft supplies. And of course there is me, who has been another beneficiary of her crafting materials, many of which I have already use to make cards for my art space.

So as you can see my dear friend had the right attitude. She had had enough of being cluttered and did something and continues to do something about it. She also made me promise that I would still email her weekly projects while I am overseas. I have every faith that she will do a superb job of it.

Today’s Mini Mission

Put something out on the street, in your apartment foyer or in the staff room at work with a FREE sign on it. It is always fun to see how quickly this method works.

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

Below I am going to share with you some advice, both of my own and quotes I have happened upon. I will then explain how these quote apply to decluttering. Although the first needs little explanation. So bear with me and don’t run away screaming after just reading the quotes.

1. “The clutter didn’t appear overnight so wishing it would just disappear overnight isn’t going to happen either.” ~ Colleen Madsen
2. “Performing the same actions will never result in a different reaction.” ~ Unknown to me. However this version is a twist on a quote from Albert Einstein ~ “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
3. “if you aren’t happy with your life, stop living it the same way.” ~ Colleen Madsen
4. “Only you can create the miracle cure.” ~ Colleen Madsen. This one is my wording of various pieces of advice given to me over the years.
5. “Life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% of how you respond to it.” – From a fortune cookie my husband received.

All of these pieces of advice are fundamentally similar. So how do they relate to decluttering?

Well the first one is obvious. Clutter builds up over time. I say that like as though it just appears like mildew in the shower or dust on your nicknacks but, of course, we play a greater part in it than that. We bring in the clutter, usually over a long period of time. And if we make no effort to keep it under control then naturally it will get out of control. Acquiring stuff is relatively easy if you have the money to pay for it. Removing it responsibly isn’t really any harder than acquiring it but, for most people, it is viewed as a big bother. As a result, once the clutter has started to irritate us, we hope it would just quietly disappear the same way it seemed to have appeared. But, of course, the difference is that acquiring it, for most people, is much more fun than having to deal with the task of getting rid of it. However with the right attitude the decluttering can be far more rewarding than the acquisition of the items in the first place. More about that tomorrow.

As for the other four pieces of advice, the reality is that we create much of our own reality and we can also change that reality. The fortune cookie advice says ~”Life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% of how you respond to it.” This is no doubt true and good advice to head. However when it comes to clutter most of that is self inflicted and it is totally up to us to fix the problem. Making the most of the decluttering process, therefore, is entirely up to us. As I said in the previous paragraph, the decluttering process can be very rewarding if we allow it. The advice in 2 & 3 is much the same. Translate that to clutter and it clearly says that if you don’t like being surrounded by clutter then you have to change your ways. Wishing the clutter would go away but taking no action to remove it will continue to result in a cluttered home. And naturally, acquiring more while you sit idle wishing it would go away will only make the situation continue to get worse.

And then there is advice no. 4. Reading books and websites about clutter will not result in a miracle cure. The only thing that will fix the situation is to take action. Sure, advice, like I give here, is helpful but only if you put it into action. Much the same as going to a psychologist with depression and hoping that advice, sympathy and medication is all it takes to fix your issues. When actually the cure is mostly up to you, you have to take that advice, apply it to your life and gradually begin to instil new responses to potentially stressful situations. The cure doesn’t come overnight with one ah ha moment but gradual and rewarding.

So take my advice, let go of the clutter and train yourself to feel that relief with every little thing that goes out the door and the effort will not only be worth it but it will be less gruelling than you thought.

Today’s Mini Mission

Find an item that is past being useful to anyone and throw it in the trash.

“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

Share your eco tips with others around you. Let them know that it can save them money and perhaps you will recruit one more person to help save the planet. If you have an eco tip that I haven’t shared here in the past please share it with up through the comments section below.

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 weeks missions are designed to give you a little practice at ways of getting rid of your stuff. You may already be an expert at all of them or perhaps you have tried one or two, however this week why not give them all a try. Half the fun will be digging out an appropriate items for each mission and the other half will be testing your success with the method.

Monday – Give something away to a friend, family member or work colleague.

Tuesday – Put something into the recycling bin.

Wednesday – Throw something, that is beyond useful to anyone, into the trash.

Thursday – Put something aside to donate to charity.

Friday – Put something out on the street, in your apartment foyer or in the staff room at work with a FREE sign on it. It is always fun to see how quickly this method works.

Saturday - Sell something by any method appropriate for you. On-line, to a friend, family member or work colleague, through an auction house, consignment store, local notice board, garage sale, flea market or any method possible.

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

Let your fingers do the walking. When there is something you need to shop for, phone ahead to make sure the store has what you are after rather than making a wasted trip. Every small amount of petroleum product saved is a good thing.

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 don’t talk much about organisation here at 365 Less Things. That is because I have found that once the clutter is gone things naturally end up in their logical position. However sometimes there are areas of our homes that need constant maintenance or even rearranging and/or decluttering to stay efficiently functional. This weeks mission will reflect areas of my home that I find I have to keep an eye on so they don’t get out of hand. And of course a little decluttering in these areas will make the job easier. Sometimes the decluttering is 90% of the task.

Monday – Declutter and organise the messiest drawer in your home. My craft drawers are the ones the get messed up because of all the experimenting I do craft wise. I keep the catering to these experiments limited but never the less I sometimes have to decide what is working for me and what isn’t and declutter and rearrange in the appropriate drawers on a regular basis.

Tuesday – Declutter and rearrange the work bench and tool chest. Most homes have a place to store the home maintenance gear. And typical when catering to home maintenance, hardware comes in multiples and these can mound up or not get put away when a task is done. This area isn’t too messing in our home, even though we have been doing lots of little home tasks of late. But a little tidying and tweaking never goes astray.

Wednesday – Declutter and reorganise the cupboard under the kitchen sink. This is one area of my home that I haven’t really sorted out properly since we moved in. It is about time I made a little more effort here, more in the organising than the decluttering but never-the-less it needs doing and I have what I need to get on with the task.

Thursday – If your transition point is getting a little cluttered like mine, perhaps it is time you make a trip to the thrift shop to unload all those decluttered items. I went on Wednesday as usual to do my shift and forgot to take my load of donation. Or should I say my kids donations which most of it is. I must remember it this week, along with all the upcycling I have been doing for the shop. That has been fun but I will be glad to clear it out of my spare bedroom.

Friday – As mentioned above I am still decluttering for my kids. They drop it off to me and I take it to the thrift shop. You on the other hand may still have kids at home. Now, as the season begin to change, is a good time to start taking a look in their closets to see if there are clothing items that no longer fit. Doing a little tidying up in there at the same time would also be wise. Know what they have that still fits for the coming season will help you to no go out buying things they don’t need and recluttering all over again.

Saturday – This next mission is a tip I refashioned from a kids holiday entertainment ideas helpful hint. Perhaps you can instigate it at your home today. Get yourself a jar, then when you encounter items not quite ready to be decluttered (clothes getting tatty, kids clothes almost outgrown, fabric décor items getting grubby or tattered, toys too young for your kids, something you don’t think is being used that you are keeping your eye on ~ that sort of thing) write down the thought on a piece of paper and put it in the jar. When you are struggling to find your thing a day to declutter, pull a note out of the jar and perhaps that will jog your memory of something that can now be eliminated. If this tip doesn’t appeal to you perhaps just declutter one of the items I just mentioned.

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

Drive smoothly and steadily rather than speeding up too quickly and braking erratically. One uses up petrol and the other wears out your brake pads. Both are wasteful and costly.

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

Friday again and another weeks almost gone by and also another month. It seems like just yesterday that we moved into our apartment, but in fact that was nearly nine months ago. And with every day that passes by we love living here even more.

One thing I have noticed about our new uncluttered, downsized life is that stuff tends to flow through our home now rather than come to rest, or stuff come to rest while something else flows out. I am pleased to say that much of that has been preloved, so there has been no buyers guilt attached.

I wouldn’t say that the apartment is fine tuned to the point that we can sit back and simply enjoy it. However that would probably be boring anyway. Life has a tendency to cause things to crop up that force you to make changes.

Anyway back to the point of this post, and that is the flow through. The something in something out strategy is working well for us. And I am still constantly on the lookout for items that are sitting idle that count for something out nothing in. Then there are the things that get used up and not replaced or at the very least only replaced when used up. Some items have been found not to work so well in our new space and have been changed out or eliminated. And my husband has semi retired so reduced the number of work uniforms he keeps. And although I sometimes acquire a new craft tool or materials there are more things going out in this area than coming in.

So as you see, because of this flow through of stuff,  it is unlikely that my home would become cluttered again.

Are you having the same success of stopping clutter from building up, or are you fighting a continuous battle.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something that you just haven’t used in a long time. Perhaps some sort of craft item that you imagined you could create something wonderful with but haven’t. Or perhaps a kitchen item that never was overly useful.

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