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Anyone else watch Miz Oprah today? (I don't usually watch her, or daytime TV, but one of our TVs didn't get turned off this morning, and when I noticed she had an organization expert, I listened with one ear while I worked online and folded laundry.)
Several good points I heard:
- One in 10 people are paying for a self-storage unit. That's in spite of the fact that our houses are - on average - double the size they were a few years ago, while our families are half the size of a few generations ago. That's pretty thought provoking right there. Then to top it off, most people never use the stuff they store. That's a lot of money down the drain, holding on to stuff you don't need.
- He mentioned that most people hold onto stuff for two reasons:
1) "I might need it some day" or
2) "It reminds me of an important day, person, etc."
In essence, we hold onto stuff because of the future or the past, and it keeps us from living for today. Hmmmm.
He named some very practical strategies for getting rid of clutter:
1) Empty your garage into your driveway. Decide what you want to use your garage for, then walk past your stuff and pull out only the items that will be for those stated purposes. The rest needs to go buh-bye.
(He also mentioned doing this with other rooms, too. Move the clutter "stuff" to another room to sort it, and only put back what you really REALLY need - send the rest to charity or have a garage/yard sale.)
2) Put all your kitchen utensils in a box. As you need and use an item, put it back in the drawer. At the end of the month, get rid of whatever's still in the box, because you don't really need it.
3) Hang all your clothes hangers in your closet "backwards" (hangers facing the wall.) After you wear something, put it back on the hanger and put the hanger back on the rod the "right" way. At the end of six months, look at the items still hanging backwards and ask yourself if you really need them.
4) Every time you buy an item (especially clothing) get rid of an item.
5) If you tend to buy too much of an item (and it becomes apparent as you go through this process) put a moratorium on your spending. Promise yourself you are not going to buy any more [clothes, shoes, whatever] for six months. That gives you time to mentally adjust to doing with less, and learning new habits. Not to mention the benefits to your budget!
Good ideas...now to get busy putting them to use and decluttering my house!
Terry: You really paid attention despite folding clothes and being on line! The new perspective that I think might help me is, 'Have a vision for your space', and do one room at a time. I have been using Flylady strategies, but got bogged down. Walsh says you can't declutter by re-arranging your stuff, sorting sorting sorting, will never do it. OK. I did have a VISION to start out with.
4) Every time you buy an item (especially clothing) get rid of an item.
I can't stress how good this tip is. I've been doing this for some time now,
and it amazes me how much I don't shop anymore. These days, when I
want something, it is to fill a void or serve a purpose, not just because it
triggered a memory or was on sale. Or I thought it was cute.
The older I get, the better house I keep. Don't confuse that for stating my
home is pristine, but I'm trying.
Check out books from the library before buying them. This at least saves the ones you don't like from taking up space. It's easier if your library has online book reservations so that you can get the ones you want when you happen to read about them, like a wishlist.
Buy all identical socks so you don't have to sort them.
If you find a piece of clothing you really like and wear often, buy more instead of waiting and having to settle for something you don't like as much and won't use. This works well with women's items that change every season and you can never find the ones you like again.
Do not buy containers or organization systems with a set capacity, like cd racks or closet organizers. You can never get more when you need them and they seem to take up a lot of space.
Buy the smallest size of some items even if it's not the most cost-efficient size per-unit. Many household items go bad before you can use them anyway. Not to mention that some things actually cost more in the large size. That's more common than people think. I see it all of the time at the supermarket.
Create a date for the local charity to pick-up unused items every year. It's easier to make yourself plan for it if you have an annual date.
Determine which of your magazines and catalogs are free online and then email to be removed from the mailing list.
Put things in zip-loc bags. You can see what's in them and they don't collect dust.
That sounds like Peter Walsh from Clean Sweep on TLC. I think he's the best of the gurus. He characterizes himself as half organizer and half therapist and has a strong background in psychology. He deals with *why* you accumulate stuff and allow clutter to occur, not just how to put it into matching baskets so it looks better! His new book is "It's All Too Much!" and I got it for New Years. I put it down for a week and let myself get sidetracked, but my dog pulled it out and ripped the front cover off. I think her message is "Use it or Lose it -- No more of this just buying stuff and leaving it sit around!" But I might be anthropomorphizing...
My problem is that I love watching the organizing shows so much I don't spend as much time working on decluttering and organizing as I should!
I can identify with mysterypoodle. I must have read a million and two hints for organizing. The reading has taken up a lot of time that I could be using to actually organize. ha-ha
Gloria, I just realized that giving the space a purpose would probably be the best tip for me at moment too. I have now officially put a label on what I want the spare room to be. Now I can begin setting it up appropriately. I want a "library." You would laugh when you saw the small size that my house is and then calling one of the rooms a Library. Well, that is going to be it's first purpose. Second purpose will be extra sleeping area.
I saw a sleep chair and half the other day that I absolutely love. The price is really high, probably more than I have ever paid for a piece of furniture, but I think that I would get my money's worth out of it. Oh yes, I identify very well with ecrane too because the spare room that is hanging over my head at them moment is also full of lots of plants. I only have but so many front windows for good sun.
I enjoyed your tips Terry and found what everyone else has said, very interesting. I can tell that I am going to need to hold myself accountable to someone, or some group in order to see the spare room become a purposeful area. I am going to start a new thread asking for encouragement so I hope that those reading this will go there if they have anything to share.
Good luck with it Ruby. I think you should get the chair if you like it. One related tip that I've read is to stop having "good" things that you use only on special occaissions and keeping the ordinary stuff for daily use Since you can't take it with you, use it now if you like it unless it's very rare and can't be replaced. Get the better chair.
Another tip I didn't mention before is not to make lists of things to do. Just decide to do a few things each day, and at the end of the day make a list of things that you got done that day. It's more of a motivator than looking back at a list of things that you couldn't get to that day.
I've been decluttering for years, both in the house and in the garden. I've finally gotten it under control. My primary tool is a "running to-do list". I write down every little thing I want to accomplish and I keep the list on my fridge. It also helps to estimate how much time it takes to accomplish each task and write that next to each task. Many people just can't get started without something written out to show their goals. Without a list, they feel overwhelmed because there's so much to do and they can't decide where to start. With the to-do list and time estimates, if you know you have one hr to work on something, you can grab the list and find a task that you estimated would take an hr. and begin there. As you cross each item off, you pick up speed and it becomes easier to move onto the next task.
I found that selling my stuff was an excellent motivator. I could sell my "dust collectors" to buy more plants. I began to look at each item in my house with serious intent. Does this item contribute to my household? Does it just take up space? Is it some useless item that I must continually maintain, therefore wasting my time? Can I make a dollar off of it? I sold a lot of items on Ebay, Craigslist, other local online groups, and yard sales. Money is a wonderful motivator.
Freecycle has also been a great source of getting rid of junk. I'm continually surprised at what people will take if it's free. And they saved me trips to the dump--time that could be spent culling out more.
As Andi mentioned, I don't have "fine china" that I save for a special occasion. After serious health problems, I've come to realize that each day is a special occasion. I got rid of my "everyday" glass and dishware, and I drink and eat daily on the dishes I used to save for company. Almost everything I own now is somethign I use regularly.
I quit storing things as well. If it doesn't fit in my house, I don't need. There's no reason to put it in the storage building. The only things in my storage shed are tools, building materials, and Christmas decor.
I have also learned to resist impulse buying. I do often go thru a store and pick up any items that interest me. But before I check out, I look thru my buggy again and re-evaluate each one. So often, I end up putting half of the items back on the shelves. I am getting better about not picking up as many items.
I've also learned that letting go of some items actually hurts. But as I get rid of more, it gets easier. I go thru my house about once a month and re-evaluate what I have. I've kept some things for sentimental value. But I usually manage to let go of one every now and then. And the truth is, I never miss it. For items with a lot of sentimental value, I snap a picture of it. I do scrapbooking and can document the item in a scrapbook. And that satisfies my emotional need. Then I can give up the item.
I joined a yahoo group called Minimalistic Living that discusses a lot of techniques for decluttering and organizing. Articles are added daily. And we discuss various ideas. It's been a great source of information and inspiration.
Thanx NancyAnn. I tried to find that Yahoo Group Minimalistic Living, without success. Do you have a link for it? I've been in the one Messiness and Hoarding for a long time, and it has been a big help .
p.s. I'm a newbie here, just joined. Thanks for many good ideas.
Janet
Recently, Oprah decided to drop in on her neighbors (She says she did not tell them she was coming). they live in a loft apartment across from her studio. When she arrived (with cameras) she found her neighbors living a perfectly Minimalist life style. "Where is your stuff?", she said. They answered they had hired Nate Berkus, Oprah's decorator for her projects, and hunk star of O magazine, to design their space. Oprah was so impressed, she took back the gift she had brought and later replaced it with a case of champagne for a party. The original one would just create clutter, she said.
It would be a major life style change to turn me into a minimalist, although I love that concept. What would I do without all my tools, and projects that clutter my space. I seem hopelessly doomed to be a clutter bug, instead of a minimalist, which aesthetically I would rather be.
"For items with a lot of sentimental value, I snap a picture of it. I do scrapbooking and can document the item in a scrapbook. And that satisfies my emotional need. Then I can give up the item."
That is the hardest for me to give up, I plan on making a major move in the next 3 years and have been trying to declutter - that is just so reasonable I can live with it...
I watched that program too and I hardly ever watch Oprah. I disagree with #2 and was discussing this with my MIL after watching the show. She disagrees too. The drawer idea just wouldn't work for me. I don't entertain very often but when I do there are things in the drawer that I would use for company or a large more formal family dinner. Seasonal things as well are in my drawer. I thought the program made sense but there are some things that I can't part with for sentimental reasons. After having to start over several times in life I am sick of saying "it's just stuff". I don't like clutter and live in a small house so we can only have some stuff. There is a line that I draw when it comes to sentimental items. I've lost too many too many times.
When I try to overcome # 5 ie getting something that is not seriously crucial but just out of vanity, I'll tell myself that I have it already, stored in the drawer or the closet and to my surprise it has helped me forget about wanting quite afew items already!
I have a problem with the "get rid of it if you haven't worn it in a year" or "used the kitchen item in a month" blanket statement approaches...
(A) I am so buried in clutter, there are items of clothing I haven't SEEN in a year (sometimes multiple years, time flies so fast), and
(B) some people's lifestyles (like mine) are such that a whole month can go by with all cooking being done in the microwave... but when I get tired of *that* -- I need my stirring spoons, whisks, and ladles in the drawer!
However, I am not saying "Don't weed out" closets and kitchens! Just don't follow others' timetables like written in stone.
I would like to be able to do #1 in the garage and in every room of the house... only, what to do, where to put the stuff? We have a lot-line house in a HOA, very tight, and the only "driveway" is public access to other houses. I did get a storage unit, thinking I would use it thus, but wound up with a storage unit half full of stuff that 90% of which eventually was FREECYCLED -- i.e. not even stuff I *wanted* -- and paying $180-250 for storing!
So we emptied the SU last month, and I'm back to no room to sort what I have! But I am nibbling away at it. May have to have DH park his car outside from time to time so I can use the only empty spot (where his car is in the garage) as my staging area.
