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Picture of my favorite climbing rose: Sally Holmes
OK, guys 'n gals, please help me out here. I've lived in this house longer than I was old when I moved in {huh?} and I'm nearly 60; well, just 3 months shy of 60. I was married when I moved in and divorced after nearly 20 years. I added a room to the house after my divorce, a family room overlooking the patio I subsequently designed and landscaped. It was a wonderful addition and remains a delight to me. I've made significant improvements on the property because I've always been proud of it. I've managed to take care of it for all these years by myself, loving every minute of that work.
But following breast cancer treatment nearly 5 years ago (yaaaaaay!) I've suffered significant ongoing fatigue and am having a difficult time managing to care for my beloved home and gardens. Moreover, I've only recently begun to design and landscape my front yard, a longstanding goal and welcome diversion. That's another thread [chuckling]. Oh, and I work full time as a social worker in a county agency.
I am absolutely desperate about the inside of my home. I've managed to live the past 5 years by simply dropping whatever I might have in my hands and letting it lie. And there's laundry lying about, in every room and in the laundry area. And there's the paperwork stacking up absolutely everywhere! My bills are often late, my vehicle registration 2 years (eeek). I am just headed over to the post office to mail off the last of the ppwk for my 2006 and 2007 income taxes; there's doubtless a refund for each year, as there generally is. It must be submitted to IRS before 10/15 in order to get my $300 federal "giveaway."
So, you see, my life is just OUT OF CONTROL. I am managing to gear up in taking care of business in the aforementioned and other areas of my life. But I need help with 1) a CRAP plan and 2) following through on it. Encouragement to do so from others who also suffer a buildup of stuff. I need help to begin to take care of cleaning up the inside, dumping, shredding, washing, vacuuming, dusting, tossing, yadda yadda yadda.
Are some of you willing and able to spend some time helping me put that together and maybe checking in with each other managing a similar plan for themselves . . . ummm, once a week, perhaps?
Oh, and my poodles are quite ashamed of their living circumstances, BTW, but tolerate their mistress, as they love her dearly.
ONLINE BANKING! I am 100% disabled, have no control over the state of the house (disastrous), but the financial stuff you can ABSOLUTELY control with online bill pay and so on. I use a Big Bank although I am nearly positive the very local savings bank would be just as good. I pay my taxes online too, and the refund is directly deposited into my bank account. I pay for stuff from smaller local merchants with paypal, when I can, and that comes straight out of my bank account too - I monitor everything by watching it happen online!
Good luck with beating the living daylights out of that cancer!
I also have some desperation here. My DH is going blind or something, and dumps his stuff wherever at the end of his day.
There are books written by professional organizers that you might check out from the library.
Are you inquiring about taking care of what is there presently, or are you mostly concerned about how to keep it straight once it is straightened out?
If it is the former -- I would just tackle one room at a time. And one category at a time.. if it is the laundry -- sort out what you want and don't. Two piles... get two boxes or barrels.. no sorting on the floor --because you will have to touch it twice AND you will have second thoughts. There is no 'maybe' pile either. Get rid of what you don't want --understanding that you don't get to go through the pile 'just one more time.' The rule is that you have just one second to say 'keep' or 'toss' and you really have to stick to it --the time of one second only and the 'keep or toss' decision. Also --if you WANT it to be a keeper but it doesn't fit...or it has a stain.. or it is a 'someday I might need it ' or is in any way, shape, or form not wearable/ usable without your intervention or is impractical...it has to be a 'toss.'
Next you go through with another 'grouping' --whether it is books or papers.. or photos or knick/nacks ...whatever. You don't get to spend more than a second and it is a 'keep' or 'toss' issue. Once you have your 'keep' piles ready (and the 'toss' items gone) ...and the entire room is sorted. You put away the 'keeps...' and then you clean the room. If a keep' item is heading to a closet or a drawer ---you don't get to sort the closet or drawer...you don't get to look or straighten that drawer, etc. That job gets saved for a rainy day when you feel like going through a closet --one day at a time.
Once the 'keeps' are put away, the room should be easy to clean since there is no clutter and it won't be overwhelming. I would reward myself by hiring someone to help with the cleaning --Room by Room so it is $$ manageable. If you have a lot of money to put to this project --then you can consider hiring a personal organizer.
It takes a lot of guts to do it this way and a lot of discipline not to go from room to room collecting the 'keeps' and a lot of courage to toss things that might be useful 'at some later date' but I remind myself that 'stuff' can really impact health..the stress of knowing that things are piling up and need going through...and ownership of 'stuff' is a responsibility.. Even knowing that the stuff you have that you don't want can be useful to someone else is stressful and a responsibility. You become a keeper of 'stuff' for this other person ---who never really gets the stuff.
"This can be sold in consignment"..."that can be used by someone else"..."this is perfectly good"... "maybe I can use that here or there someday"... it is all very much a drain on your health when you don't get these things done, and those stress hormones are very inflammation potentiating on a cellular level. It isn't worth it. There are charitable organizations that will come and get your unwanted items and they will sort and distribute and be good stewards. And, the money they may earn ...will go to a good cause. Good Luck!!
I agree! Here, here! (of course I can never convince anyone to do it that way.) But watching my DH panicking, looking for some vital something-or-other he's lost, he touches everything at least two or three separate times before he finds what he's looking for! Meanwhile, I see him finding things that he will be looking for next week when we'll go through the whole rigmarole again. Meanwhile, in the background, with my 20/20 (with contacts) vision, I'm muttering "that's my scarf, that's your car excise tax bill, that's your paper on Beethoven from last semester, that's the birthday card we got for Connor whose birthday is next week, etc. etc. and he's ignoring me because he's not looking for any of those things (yet), he's looking for something different. Sigh.
I'm also a big fan of working on stuff in small chunks of time--rather than looking at an overwhelming pile of stuff that'll take you hours to get through, set your kitchen timer and just work on it for 10 or 15 minutes. Do that once or twice a day and you'll be surprised how much you can get through. Also if you're attached to things and have a hard time giving/throwing them away, my suggestion is for any of those things that you don't use regularly but can't bear to throw away, rent a storage space and keep them there. That way you still have them if you want them, but they're not cluttering up the house. And it's also funny how having to pay to keep the stuff tends to make you less attached to it over time and it's easier to get rid of it then.
Hi Twincol,
I can absolutely identify with the paperwork mess. I teach so I leave big chores like filing, sorting, and disposing to the summer when I can work on it (when I feel like it).
You should do it on a day that you have had a good night's sleep so your energy and motivation levels are up. I did a lot of research online, etc. to see what stuff needs to go and when, and what records you should retain. Get a cross-shredder at an office supply store. When I started, I filled 5- 32 gallon barrels for recycling. For taxes, get a big manila envelope labeled with the tax year and fill it with tax related stuff (receipts, forms from banks, etc.) as you get them throughout the year. I keep mine on top of our filing cabinet. I keep past years tax records in an empty 10 ream paper cardboard box labeled taxes indefinitely since we have been semi-audited a few times. Get direct deposit for your paychecks and use autopay, etc. for some of your reoccurring bills. Original important papers: birth certificates, insurance documents, citizenship, adoption, titles, deeds, divorce/marriage papers, etc. should be put in a safe deposit box at a bank. Keep a list and copies of what's in there filed at home. Auto, appliance, furniture, mortgage, warranty records are kept as long as you own them; ATM, bank, credit card, medical, investment statements, - 6 yrs.; utility bills-current year plus the year before to compare billing patterns. I had some really old stuff and I shredded what was too old. Laundry- take one area in your home at a time and find the stuff for the current season. Do loads of stuff you will be wearing first and put them away as you clean. Do loads of stuff you will give away and put them in big bags and call for pickup at your door (ask for a tax receipt). Do loads of stuff that are unusable and put in bags for textile recycling at your curb (if you have it) or throw in garbage. I tackle another task while a load is washing and give myself that long to work on the task. Change your tasks so you won't burn out and reward yourself after by doing something you like- going on line, shopping, out to dinner, do a puzzle, talk to a friend, or take a nap. It took a long time to accumulate everything so give yourself time to conquer it, and conquer it you will. You will be amazed how it gets easier and easier as you see some results. Sorry this is long; I hope it helps!
JuneyBug Dongducheon CpCasey South Korea (Zone 4b)
I finally broke my clothes problem by convincing myself that styles change too much to keep most of what I have. If the color is right, the cut may be off. If the length is good, it hangs too tightly/loosely to go right. I went through my 2 large closets asking myself the whole time: if I'm not going to wear it this week, why am I keeping it? When I pull stuff out of seasonal storage, I cut it down by 50 - 60%. I still have 2 large closets full, but I'm getting there. I have 3 sizes of clothes, since I sometimes have to take meds that blow me up like a balloon. One of the other things that I am trying to keep in mind is that 30 years ago we were paying almost the same price for clothes that we are today. Clothes are not valuable - they are clutter.
DH is transferring out of the country and I will be folowing as soon as/IF the house sells. I suddenly got a huge problem with all of the CRAP around here. DH says put it all in storage and we will deal with it when we get back in a few years. I don't know.
Go into your kitchen, and start there. Take a small grocery bag, those plastic ones that we all save for GOD only knows what? Those ones, double bag it, then pick a number from 1 to 50.
Go to your kitchen, and pick up things that you can live without, things that are not your pills, money, bills. (Even too many dishes can affect us), now take a few things that you know you will not die without and put them in that bag. Count out as many things in that room that you can do without. Take the bag to the trash. Come inside and this whole process should only take a few minutes.
Then, if you think that feels okay, do it again. Fill another bag. Do that every single day. Go from room to room if you can reach the number you happened to pick that day and use up all those bags.
D-mail me and I will go along with you in this every single day until we both declutter a little. Then we can find a space and place to do your taxes. I've got the CDs for almost 10 years of TAXes if you want them. Turbo Tax is what they are called. You use them on your computer. Maybe we can find someone in CA to help at that end with the CDs and the CA taxes.. I have some years for the CA state Tax when we lived there, so we may be in luck if I can find them.
Wow, I don't have anything else to suggest beyond what all of these folks said, but its a real inspiration to read. I really need declutter, too.
Its my DH, two children under 5 and myself, plus a dog and a cat in our house. I'm constantly cleaning up, but only to turn around and find it destroyed again. I have a terrible time staying on top of laundry. I'm usually digging through piles of clean laundry mounded on the couch to find what I need. My filing is terrible. I used to be really good at it, but since my youngest was born I've been terrible. I feel like I spend every waking moment (of theirs) cleaning, cooking, and caring for them, that by the time they go to bed I want to do NOTHING!
A few months ago I tackled my extra bedroom -- where the computer is -- I had boxes and boxes of filing to do. I found papers that needed to be filed from 2005. UGH! I spent three days filing, but it felt SO good to get it done. Now I look around and its starting to pile up again. Why can't I take my own advice and stay on top of it. It'd only take 10 mintues a day (or less!) to just file it as it comes in.
I had the same problem with bills being late. I went to online bill pay and that is one less thing to stress me out. I know my bills are taken care of -- so that's a plus.
Long story short... I'd love to be included in some sort of online support group where we check in with each other and motivate each other for continuing to clean up our homes.
OK, Kristin and all . . . I've read through the suggestions and must still digest much of it. The problem has been one of simply "doing it," rather than how to accomplish it, although the recommendations for how to accomplish it help to break the task into smaller and more manageable parts is very helpful.
I must simply DO it . . . which I haven't been. The evenings following a full day of work, especially as it is now generally near dark by the time I get home, are just too much for me to work at it, it seems. I am exhausted.
I DID, however, manage to accomplish the following this week:
1) 2006 & 2007 income taxes submitted in time to grab my little federal "freebie"
2) research and purchase a new dog food, as my dogs began having problems with a food they've been on for 6+ years (this, immediately upon a change in packaging in order to introduce the brand into the big box pet stores; presumably with no change in the menu of ingredients, but obviously with some kind of change in the ingredients utilized) and they had both ultimately started to REFUSE to eat it, gasp.
3) moved several pieces of old/ugly/damaged furniture and other large throwaways out to the curb for the City to pick-up in their twice-annual curbside pickup of anything but tires [I missed the earlier one this year]
SO, that said . . . I'll take the remainder of daylight today to begin to take it on. I'll let you know this evening what I've completed.
Linda, aka Twincol
Olivia, beloved 13+YO Standard Poodle, obviously in need of some trimming (hmmm, maybe I'll shave muzzles this afternoon)
Click the image for an enlarged view.
JuneyBug Dongducheon CpCasey South Korea (Zone 4b)
I've decided to to do a half hour in the evenings when I don't have much to watch on TV. An old friend told me that she completely cleared her house of a lifetimes clutter by getting rid of her TV! Only the one in the family room, but it was a constant reminder to her that she was supposed to be fixing stuff up for the resale shop. When she sold most of the crap, her house was ready for the new TV and it was so organized that she was actually inviting old Army buddies to stop in and stay a few days. Next time I go anywhere near Nevada...
Geez, that's weird. I typed up a message, added a pic, and it all disappeared. Very strange.
So, yesterday I picked up the yard a bit & watered, lay out rat bait, sorted thru stuff in the bathroom in preparation to clean today, cat litter clean-up, kitchen pickup and dishwasher filled/washed, doggie muzzles buzzed.
Doesn't sound like much, does it. Ah well. I did it. Today I've other tasks, not the least of which is to vacuum. My feet hurt today, but there's work to be done!
Here's Ezio! Olivia refuses to let me photograph her. I often think that because as a retired show dog she just had enuf of such silly stuff (she tells me that, but I wonder if it's more because she's not as pretty as she was then).
Later . . . Linda
Click the image for an enlarged view.
JuneyBug Dongducheon CpCasey South Korea (Zone 4b)
I've done my requirement for the day already: 2 boxes from the shed per day and at least some spot in the house. I still have the 1/2 hour during TV time tonight to do. I just feel sooo good having done even just a bit!
Well, my house looks neat and clean. But nobody knows what I know. I live in a large house. 4 bedrooms, 2 closets in my room, one closet in the other 3, and a large walk-in in the hall. I also have a library which has cabinets along most of the walls with bookcases above them. I have a large cedar closet in the cellar.
What I know is that every closet and drawer is full of 30 years worth of stuff...including clothes that fit 30 lbs ago. About 2 weeks ago, I decided it was time. I bought a box of very large contractor plastic bags. They stand about 4 feet tall and are very strong. I've been handling it like the poster who did a few bricks a day. Two bags stand in one of the extra rooms. One for throw-away and one for give-a-way. I found 5 winter coats in the walk-in that have to be 10 years old. So far, I have that closet and my bedroom drawers done. One-brick-at-a-time.
The library cabinets are filled with financial papers going back to when we moved in. I have a shredder in there and will start on that soon.
Oh yes, the "hidden zones" in a big house. That's me, too, EmmyC. I keep the kitchen, living room, main bathroom, & study (the parts a guest dropping in could easily see) pretty good. As I've said elsewhere, it's not ready for a drop in photo shoot from House Beautiful, but it's usually not embarrassing, and I can have it looking pretty good in less than a half hour. But heaven forbid anyone should see into the master bedroom, my studio/craft/workroom, or the basement! A big part of the problem-- you know that "less than a half hour" clean-up I referred to? It often involves carrying a couple armloads of crap into the master bedroom & shutting the door! Those rooms became dump zones when we started remodeling, and haven't moved up to top priority yet.
I did tackle our attic-type storage room over the garage (accessible through a normal door upstairs) this fall/early winter. Seeing what my mom has gone through will her hoarding issues has been extra incentive for me not to let things slide until they become overwhelming. Even though the storage room isn't anything anyone buy family sees, it still feels great to have it all finished and organized. I took some "before" pictures, and I'll get some "after" shots to post with them in the hopes that it'll help others not to get too down about their own bad spots. They can be conquered.
I know different methods of attack work best for different people. With all due respect to the Fly Lady (who I know has helped many), I can't imagine working to a timer. I'm better at setting myself to a chore until it's finished. If it takes 5 min to get out the cleaning supplies, it doesn't make much sense for me to quit after 15! Also, if I don't like what I'm doing, and I have a limited time at it, I'm more likely to clock-watch. That makes both the work, and the time passage go slower. If I make myself stick with a chore I dislike until I get it finished, I'm apt to hurry and do it quickly so I can move on to something else.
I like lists. I keep my "master list" on a word processor (never misplaced that way), and make up "sub-lists" of what I'd like to get done in the next week or two-- some small jobs, some larger ones. I've been at the finishing work of our major remodel for 4 yrs, so those jobs (grout upstairs bath, trim DD's bedroom window...) are on the sub-list along with cleaning & organizing chores. When I start my day, I mentally pick out the highest priority things, and select chores depending on what else I have to do. If I'm going to be grouting, I better have several hours clear; if it's sorting though the week's mail, a few minutes should do it. For my list on the WP, I put high priority chores in red (so they stand out), regular in black, and when I complete a chore I put it in green type. It doesn't take much time at all, just a quick overline and click, and I get the gratification of seeing what I've accomplished, in living color. For that same sense of gratification, if I'm feeling sluggish, I break down the chores into sub-areas ("Stain and varnish trim for DD's window", separate from "Put up trim on DD's window"). Intellectually I know it's the same amount of work accomplished either way, but emotionally it's a boost if I can count an extra chore as done.
Another thing I'd recommend, once you get some main areas looking fairly organized, is to invite people in regularly! I try to host something at least every couple months, whether it's a group of friends for dinner, a Women's Fellowship meeting, or a kids' party. That forces me to keep up with things I might otherwise let slide. If you work well under pressure, you can schedule something, and then scurry to get ready for it. If the pressure is too much, you can get ready first and then schedule something.
Personally, I'm one of those who performs better with a little pressure on. I'll be hosting a neighborhood Homemakers' meeting in Feb., and I told the ladies I'd show them all around the house. The die is cast-- there's no turning back now! They've all been here before, but never in the "forbidden zones". So...*deep breath* ... I'm going to have the pressure on when the New Year starts! I won't have all the finishing work done by Feb., but I'm determined to get a big chunk done, and have everything tolerably clean.
Your pups are adorable, Linda!
As others have said, little steps. I'd say pick an area to start, and concentrate there until you get it de-cluttered before you move on. Maybe the table top, maybe part of the family room... You'll get a boost by looking at what's finished. When you move on, try not to think about how much is left to do; just concentrate on how nice the little area you're working on will look when you're done. Best of luck!
Missingrosie, all, you were all so kind in relating your ideas. I've included many of the ideas in my work. My apologies for not following through on the dialogue. I've been dealing with this problem, eye surgery for a ripped retina, a rear-end collision on the freeway on my way to work several weeks ago--some bozo on his cell phone, texting, sheesh! It's been a busy time, with a variety of interruptions.
But, I did spend my Federal "freebie" from 2007 income taxes on a personal organizer to help me. No, I'm not rich, just desperate. We contracted for a finite time frame and clearly we won't be completed by that end time. I spoke with her yesterday, asking about how I should continue to work on this on my own once our contract is up. She is not willing to leave me alone with that time, as she feels like doing so would just set me up to fail. She ultimately said that she would continue to work with me as a "payback," which I appreciate greatly. She's been very kind and helpful.
I've learned something about why this has been so difficult for me to do on my own and having her here to help has highlighted that for me. Much of what I touch brings back memories for me, which results in lots of others. She lets me talk about them as we work. I suspect that such discoveries lead me to spend so much time and energy on them that I simply shut down and stop working.
We're working on discarding or sorting into bags/boxes/shelves in a work area for future piece-by-piece sorting. The work area is not visible from my resting spaces and leaves me greatly less stressed. Scheduling a specific 30-60 minutes nightly to complete the job is workable, given that I can live in my space once again. It's a first step. She commented yesterday, and I agreed, that the "energy" in the room is healing. I can actually feel that. For example, removing a collection of reading et al material from the breakfast bar, that stuff which made the pile so high it had become a visual barrier in the room, opened the room up again, leaving it feel more its real size. It was a wonderful change. I'm working on another area which is similarly imposing and expect to achieve a similar result. Wahoo! Now mind you, these piles aren't nose high, but the visual barrier is imposing nonetheless. So the result is to open up the room and it's a wonderful result.
Carrielamont, yes online banking. I'm just starting up online banking on most everything, although I've used it considerably in the past. I actually had to ask a co-worker Friday, how much first class postage is, ugh! Unbelievable, huh?
So, that's where I am, folks. I've not forgotten about you. And I AM working on the task I started this thread with. I'll continue to keep you posted on my progress. Life is full and often complicated. But, I've got a job to do here and I'm going to keep working on it with you.
Hi Linda,
I am 61 and became aware of how bad my clutter was in recent years. For about one year I have been working at de-clutter.
I am mostly driven by "fear" that I'll die and my darling children will have to sort through all this good "stuff"..
You are very wise to hire someone to make you "let go" of some of your "stuff". I had a good friend come and stay a long week-end in June who brow beat me and forced me to give up "stuff".
Wow! Was that painful! And now . . 6 months . . later . . I can't remember most of the "stuff" that went out the door. And I AM happier with things neater.
Did the same thing with the garage this Fall; had the housecleaning lady help me bag up stuff to dump and then she hauled it out immediately.
I most definitely need to join this special group. I must confess that everyone has mentioned something going on that relates to me. Avoiding clutter has been a problem since I was diagnosed with CTCL in 2002. I have recently changed my outlook regarding my health, that I might not get worse. Since I go to photo-therapy monthly for maintenance I am really fatigued. It has been easier to just buy replacements for everything that I needed than to expend the energy looking for what was needed at that time. Needless to say, it has become very costly, since everything is either slightly used or not used at all (imagine the accumulation of stuff). And I agree that there are a lot of memories attached to most of the older items and it is hard to get rid of them. I finally feel like I am ready to join the real world or I should say get back to the living. I realize that I have turned a blind eye to my living situation which of course is not a healthy environment . When I can straighten a good portion of the clutter, I will be looking for a person to come in and help me at least once or twice a month. Before that, I will use that shredder that is waiting in the room to get rid of old personal documents. (After getting off from work, there is no energy left except to make dinner and relax). I will be watching this thread carefully for your helpful tips. Thank you.
"When You Don't Know What To Do, Do the Work in Front of You."
Don't dither. Don't fret. Don't think of the myriad possibilities when faced with a difficult situatuation. Just do the work in front of you and things will always work themselves out.(and if they don't, at least your chores will be up to date.)
From TwinLakesChef: "I am mostly driven by 'fear' that I'll die and my darling children will have to sort through all this good 'stuff'.."
Believe me, they'll appreciate that drive! I'm still working at clearing out Mom's house. She is, thankfully, still living, but now in a 1 bedroom senior condo, and I'm working at getting her house presentable enough to list for sale in spring. It's really awful-- cancelled checks and receipts from the '70's, catalogs galore, stuff, stuff, stuff -- gazillions of duplicates where she couldn't find things when she wanted them, so she bought new ones. The stuff was so deep that she couldn't even vacuum anything but the main paths. The dust and pet hair I stir up as I clean are awful!
I have a real aversion to thowing out things that someone else would appreciate having, but just cleaning everything to make it nice enough to donate is a HUGE task.
Everything has to be looked over, too; I've found important papers and cash ($2-$40 at a time) stuffed in envelopes "filed" with 20-year-old junk catalogs and donation requests from NPR.
It will indeed be a great gift to your children if you pare down now!
On the plus side-- Working in her house actually energizes me to do more decluttering in my own!
JuneyBug Dongducheon CpCasey South Korea (Zone 4b)
So, OK, tomorrow is another Saturday and the organizer I've been working with returns in the morning. It's amazing how she seems to simply cut through the skeleton beneath the clutter/trash on the surface. Simply amazing. After only 2-or-so hours she seems to be able to leave with space to move about, capable of moving giveaways out and keepers in . . . not that I've done much of that as yet. The Holidays and my 86YO mother's needs, not to mention a full-time (so far) job to focus on away from home 10+ hours a day sure interfered with the work at home. Frankly, as I think of the demands on my life, it's surprising I manage to manage (huh?) five of the seven days each week.
But I'm keeping after it and following your occasional missive here has helped me to stay focused on the task. I thank you for that.
So, I'm off, preparing to meet the "boss" tomorrow morning, focused on the task at hand.
Its funny that you should type tonight. I've been watching this thread since I posted back in October and I am dreading having to clean my extra bedroom tomorrow. See, my parents are coming to visit for the holidays and will be staying with us. Our extra bedroom is the place that I bull doze EVERYTHING into when company comes and the rest of the house needs to be clutter free.
So here I am, coming up with everything I can to excuse myself from having to clean the room.
Best of luck with your organizer. Maybe if I tell you that I'm going to report what I accomplished tomorrow night, I'll feel more motivated???
i'm looking at this thread from the other side of the aisle. i am a neat freak. everything has to be organized and orderly all the time. my mother was the opposite. she used to laugh and tell my sister and me that she was going to hide money in all kinds of odd places so that we had to look through everything when she died, including her giant stacks of magazines that went from floor to ceiling. well, guess what? when she died, we didn't look through any of it. it was just too mind-boggling to contemplate. we hired some people to take it all out to the giant commercial dumpsters we rented. my aunt cried because of all the clothes stored away in bins, etc. that could have been given to the shelters. she always asked my mom if she had anything to give and apparently my mom said she didn't.
i loved my mother dearly and she was a wonderful woman but would i do to my daughter what she did to me? no way. i don't keep my life clutter-free for my daughter; i do it for me but i also like knowing that when i do go, nobody has to plow through piles of crap.
You know that you might have hit the nail on the head there trackinsand. I have known for several years that I am having a problem with getting rid of things even though I know that they serve no purpose in my life. I have lots and lots of things that need to go to charity. Thus far I haven't found the the thing to make me want to extend the time and energy that it will take to do a "clean sweep." I am no spring chicken here either and may possibly be able to convince myself somehow that I don't want to leave a mess for my kids to have to contend with either. I am going to give the idea some thought. I hope that it turns out that I finally, once and for all will be able to go through and rid myself of things that I know neither of my sons will have any use for.
After collecting things for 20 years in this house, we just kept going and did nothing. My catalyst was that one year ago we gutted the whole upper level of the house; good time to start throwing things out and we are still at it. The goal is to be done at the end of 2009. And I know once it is done I will enjoy having everything that is left . . . in it's place.
Sounds like people are making all kinds of progress. I'm with Trackinsand. I hate having bunches of stuff in my house. It is a huge mental drain for me.
I also agree that there's no right way to do this. Just do something, just do it in a way that works for you and you'll get there:).
I agree with the mental drain, I just posted regarding something like that on the other thread, only used different words... but I really feel it when I see all the stuff I have, sometimes it immobilizes me and I can't find a place to start first and still have all the other daily activities and chores to do, so, it becomes harder to get going with the initial decluttering and downsizing. I guess a little at a time will make a difference in the long run.
I saw your other post Gourd:). All big things are made of little things and the little stuff makes a difference if you keep at it. Just keep plugging away at it and you'll get there.
There are actualy two book that I've found really useful. Organizing for dummies (the yellow ones) was really good and I still refer to it. The other one's a bit harder to find. It's from a series called the kids surviel guied to life- How to clean your room. My brother had that when we were little and it's a chunk of how I learned to clean:)
I've been struggling with a clutter problem, it's not a really big one, but enough to make it difficult to clean and to keep track of stuff. I'm also disorganized and there is an organized person struggling to get out. LOL!
When someone is around, I can buzz through and get all kinds of things done. I'm alone most of the time other than my animals and it's hard to get motivated.
My clothes closet is loaded with too many clothes, but they all fit and they aren't out of date, they are classics like sweaters, jeans, business clothes, etc. Still, too many of them. I gave away a bunch the other day and some still had tags on them. I don't buy clothes anymore, haven't for about 3 years now, but it seems like I can't wear any of them out since there are so many. LOL! But they're all hung up so I guess that's ok. I've gone through the closet 4 times in the past 4 years and gave away tons of stuff to other people. Garbage bags full of them!
I've found that one sweep doesn't help when I'm trying to declutter. I have to go through a room at least twice if not 3 times to force myself to let go of useless things.
Lately I've been getting rid of knickknacks that have to be dusted. Not having all those little things sitting around that require attention helps free up time for more pleasant things I like to do.
There's a lot of hidden cubbyholes for storing junk around here and I'm slowly going through them, but I wish I could get it done quicker.
I have a ton of Barbie dolls I want to sell but no one wants them, I got them from my mother's estate when she died back in April 2008, my two sisters went to Missouri to clean out her place and it was packed to the gills with stuff they had to throw away or try and sell or distribute among us, so I inherited these dolls. Why I got dolls I don't know, I always was a tom boy and never liked them. LOL!
So, I think I will pack them up and take them to the thrift store or perhaps see if the Cat Rescue Group I work with can sell them and keep the money for a donation for the kitties.
Whew - I need this group of motivating folks. My place has gotton so awfully full of stuff that I don't even know where to start. I am also depressed and on medication. One of the prior posts said that it is unhealthy to have so much disorder! Anyway I have spent an hour reading the clean and clutter-free threads - and in that time I could have de-cluttered a bit! I am sort of paralized because it is so bad. I pick something up - and there is nowhere to put it! One thing that is good - my house is actually quite clean - I've justy been shuffling piles around. My DH of 26 years died in July, and my stuff was in dis-order before, well now it's overwhelming. I sure could use some encouragement. I think the grief is making things harder. Paper work is the worst - piles of it, one pile in my dining rom is made of of boxes and piles and is over 8 feet long, 3 1/2 feet deep, and 3 feet tall. I cover it up with a couple of sheets, but then new paperwork comes in and gets piled on top of that - after I run out of room on top of the table, and desk, and counters
JuneyBug Dongducheon CpCasey South Korea (Zone 4b)
Though I have file cabinets, I solved the paper load by buying one of those accordion file holders that was recommended by an insurance site as a grab -n- go file. It has labeled slots for all the important files that you would want to evacuate with.(and be able to FIND!) I guess you've read that I had to get new birth cert. & marriage lic. cause even with the filing cabinets (or because of them) I still can't find them or many others. This was in wal mart for a couple of bucks. I filled it with the important papers and have a shoebox that I throw old bills in that are not important, but need to be kept for a while. It is really surprising that this accordion folder holds the only actual "important" paperwork. As I went through a lot (all but a few feet) of the rest of the stuff, I was amazed that I was able to get rid of 90% of it. I completed this in a long weekend and felt sooo proud of myself for the longest time, hey, I still feel proud about it. I now have filing cabinet drawers that hold all the computer junk, all the wires and old phones, one just has maps, one is pictures that need books or frames. It is so easy now. You should try it.
One thing we started doing is when we go to the mailbox, we go through the mail before we take any of it into the house. All junkmail goes into a trashcan outside and never enters the house. This has cut down on a lot of the paper mess around here.
I was going to go through each missive above in an attempt to respond to each of you wonderful women (?) individually. My attempt to do that just got too complicated and began to look like it would involve a hour of back-and-forth PC screen work. I really don't need to expend what energy I have doing that. It wouldn't be fair to me and certainly not fit within the spirit of my original post. Our job here is to regain control of our environments.
The contributing factors vary; a physical condition or mental health condition which has interfered with our ability to maintain control; a need to focus elsewhere, thus limiting attention to one's own needs; a need to focus one's attention in another direction (health, grief), again limiting one's ability to pay attention to another area of our lives. These are only those illustrated above by some of us and there are numerous others, no doubt.
Some of us likely even shared trackinsand's "neatfreak-ism" before losing control. I don't believe that you can really understand the power of the factors contributing to such loss of control unless you've walked through it; walking through another's outcome certainly raises one's awareness of how important it is to maintain or regain that control, however. I sure don't want to leave a mess for those who must pick up after me, for example. But that isn't sufficient to mobilize my inner resources and physical strength and stamina to overcome it.
So, I trudge along with my helper and feel blessed to have a companion on the path . . . and that includes all of you!
After 3-4 weeks of premature warming, my part of the country prepares to return to true winter temperatures . . . brrrrrr!
My "warmest" wishes to my companions, wherever you are,
Linda
one thing i would suggest for "piles of paperwork" is to start getting organized before you begin. get some good boxes. i know this sounds weird, but get them all the same size (for neat stackability) and buy folders. mark each box with a year on it. mark the folders for taxes, insurance, etc., whatever you need. if you have several years worth of stuff, don't worry about putting things in folders right away. just eye the paper, check the year and throw it in that year's box. when you get all the paperwork into it's proper year box, then go through each box one at a time. start with the latest year first as that will probably be the most important. have 2 large trash receptacles close by. if it's something you don't need, toss it into one of them. if it's something with any personal information on it, use the other trash container. the one with personal stuff should be shredded eventually or burned.
another tip is that while tax papers have to be held for (i think) 7 years, things that take up a lot of space, like the previous years insurance papers, can be shredded. hang on to your initial insurance work and policy of course, but remember that once your year is up and that policy year is cancelled and you're paid for the next one, you don't need the previous one. i hope that makes sense. in any event, it's just an example of the kind of stuff people save when they don't need to and it takes up so much file room.
to get back to my original thought, go through each box and make folders as you go along. all the insurance in one folder, auto stuff in another, vet and medical, etc. i know this sounds time consuming, but a lot of you seem to be floundering and wasting precious time just figuring out how to get started, so start with this!!!
i hope this helps some of you. i used this route when i cleaned my mother's "office" which was spread out on a table in the basement, one spare bedroom, the dining room table, etc. etc. etc...
i wish i could be there to help you in person. i'd have everybody whipped into shape in no time. you think i'm kidding? i have my own devils to deal with and my poor daughter was witness to many of them. she tells people how my closet looked when she was growing up and everybody looks at me like i'm from another planet.
I was laughing by the time I finished reading Trucks post. I want to adopt you. I would love to have you here to whip me in to shape. Having a companion/helper when doing this job has been mentioned by several folks. I need to give it some thought. I am wondering who I might get that would come in for a few days and help me do a "clean sweep." I believe that it might be what it will take in order for me to get started.
I did takes notes on the things that stuck out here for me today. Where I started reading was where Pugsley pointed out how much easier it seems to be to de-clutter when we have someone with us. I am like that too and can't get motivated on my own usually.
So sorry to hear of your husband's death Susan. My goodness that sounds like an awful lot of paperwork. I would be willing to bet that the majority of it is shredder worthy. Are you in any sort of grief counseling? If so, you might be able to bring this issue up with the counselor and get some tips on how to get started with it. I am afraid that if you don't soon address it, it will become ever larger and larger.
Juney, what a wonderful success story about the accordian file. You just gave me incentive to use the one that I have here. I too will have to begin the process of getting a birth certificate. Is it hard to get one?
A good idea on junk mail never coming in the house Pugsley. That is pretty simple.
Twincol - what a wonderful explanation of what sometimes occurs in our lives.
(I am going to finish this on another post, I don't wan't to lose this.)
Twincol (Linda) - What a wonderful explanation of what occurs sometimes in our lives. You just gave me the word that has been missing in my clutter puzzle. "Control." My clutter became a problem during a time in my life a bit over ten years ago when something occured that I had no control over. This lack of control seemed to bleed over in to other areas of my life too and this one is obvious, for everyone to see. Maybe I don't need to see a counselor after all. I probably just need to take a look at how the lack of control felt to me. Hmmmm...I love that you included the mention of having a companion/helper during the de-cluttering process. So very important it seems.
Trucks, I want to adopt you. ha-ha Maybe you could start a business going around helping people doing clean sweeps. Let the client pay for your traveling expenses and lodging costs.
Anyway ladies, I am so glad that everyone is here. I will be looking forward to reading all of your posts as I slowly make dents during this process. I hope that everyone will have a great day. Take care.
Ruby
JuneyBug Dongducheon CpCasey South Korea (Zone 4b)
ruby, i would probably drive you crazy! i have boundless energy when there is organization to be done.
it can be a blessing or a curse (according to my family). i think i would enlist the help of a friend or a friend's teenaged child. someone who likes to read as opposed to someone who is more outdoorsy if you get my drift. it takes a patient person with some attention to detail to help with paperwork issues.
with general clutter (the kind of little things you keep and dust and don't throw out because they aren't really trash), bag them up and take them to a consignment shop and (here's the important part) forget about them. if you make a few bucks, fine, if you don't, that should be fine too. at least it is out of your house and life and that is the main thing.
I've decluttered a bunch more. I met a lady on freecycle who also is a housekeeper. She hauled off a full vanload of "stuff". I just hope she's not cluttering up her place with my junk! Then I gave away a whole bunch more stuff on freecycle. With her here I really did a number on this house. I couldn't have done this much if she had not been here, so having someone around is definitely what it's going to take for me to get it together. I'm almost there. Now, if I can just stop buying more stuff that ends up cluttering the house.
She mentioned having a clutter problem and I told her I'd help her declutter if she wanted and she got this very fearful look on her face and said no, she didn't need any help. So I think she may be "one of us". I don't know how bad it is, but she sure is good at helping me offload my stuff. Makes me feel kind of guilty.
I think giving up clutter is like giving up alcohol or tobacco or anything else, you are not going to do it until you really want to and are ready on the inside to do it for yourself.
Funny thing about giving all this up, I don't miss any of it. Husband came home and was totally happy with what I'd done. And I'm now glad it is gone.
Someone, please tell me why that old broken printer/fax/copier/scanner taking up the corner in my master bedroom seemed like such an essential item to me? It's gone and now I can clean that corner of the room.
Sometimes I think owning a lot of stuff makes me feel safe in some way. But the truth is, it hinders me in many ways.
the last line of your post was pretty inspirational, pug, even for a neat freak like me. i can add only one thing to it from personal experience and that is the more stuff i get rid of the simpler my life becomes and the more freedom i feel. it's like a power surge.
Well, another day for cleaning the closet, passed me by. My weekly cleaning lady was here and that motivated me to do some of the things that needed doing. One thing that took up a lot of my time was washing clothes. I stripped both beds and washed the linens. I also kept really busy in between washes too, so again no closet work. Cleaning lady has promised to come one of the days over the weekend to help me with closets. Yippie!!! She is probably just shaking her head about having to come and help do this again. She has worked for me for 13 years and we have done the same thing at least a half dozen times. When the weather gets nicer in a few weeks or months, I will try to plan a day or two for her to come again and we will tackle my storage shed.
I very much like your idea of a consignment shop Trucks. I think that is what I will aim for. What the shop won't take, it will only be a hop, skip and a jump over to the Salvation Army Thrift Store who will take the rest of the stuff. Does this sound like a plan? I am getting a bit excited now. What bothers me is that I am not sure if I will be able to keep up with the organization of the areas that I will be working on. Probably shouldn't be thinking about that at all but think on how great I will feel when I am a little less burdened.
I had some comments to make on what everyone is writing, but have run out of time. I will return later, I need to go and shower and then go to hairdresser for trim. I will check in here when I get back. I hope that everyone will have a great day and gets lots done.
Okay, so I found something that helps me get rid of some of the clutter (although I haven't tackled the worst closet yet). I committed to taking 5 things a week to a charity. Any 5 things will do and they don't all have to be different. 5 shirts are 5 things, 5 plates, any 5 things. Anyway, in my case, a troop of Boy Scouts was collecting for a garage sale they are having to earn money. It made me feel so good to donate the items that I told my friend and she was thrilled too. 5 things are so easy to come by, but it does make a difference. My biggest issue is that I can't throw away anything that some one else might could use, but I never really get around to donating the items. The Boy Scout thing really jump started me to get it taken care of. Also, old sheets, towels, pillows, etc. can be donated to any animal organization. They are always looking for items. It makes me feel good to help the animals too!
Finally, my big motivational tool is the 4 things list. Every Friday, I make a list of 4 things that I want to accomplish over the weekend (the only time I really have to get anything done). The list is very specific. For instance, last weekend I wanted to expand a flower bed (I know that is not de-cluttering, but it works the same way). Instead of that being one item (which would be too overwhelming to even get started), it was actually 3 items on the list. The first was to put down 10 pieces of edging. The second was to dig out the grass and put in the bagged dirt (this could even be two things). The third was to plant the 2 rose bushes that were to go in the bed. Now, I actually accomplished more than that, but that just made me feel that much better. It sounds too simple to work, but last year in my yard I expanded all of my flowerbeds using the same concept. I have a 3 kids (one who's only 2) and a full time job, so I have very little time. I felt completely overwhelmed, just like many of you, but by breaking it down into very small pieces, I was able to get through that. I have done the same thing with the house when I was painting and de-cluttering (I just haven't finished that one yet).
Anyway, hope this might help some one else, it surely helps me.
Wonderful Shuggins. Yep, very simple. Just keep at it and before you know it, there will no clutter remaining and you will have more time to garden.
First off, Juney, the link that you sent will not open for me and between reading yesterday and today, I can't seem to remember what the link was that you were sending anyway. Duh on me!!!
Ahhhhh Pugsley - What a testament. Way to go on the cleaning house. Most likely the person who took your stuff from Freecycle will end up selling it versus cluttering their own place, but who knows. I wish a person like that would cross my path. ha-ha
I have to agree with the others on your last sentence in your post Pugsley. You thought you were feeling safe because of your cluttering items, but in reality you are hindered because of them.
Twincol - Thank you for posting the beautiful picture.
Take care everyone. I am back from haircut now and having a cup of hot tea and going to read a bit at Dave's. I am trying to decide if I ought to begin tackling the closets today rather than waiting for weekend help. Not sure what I will end up doing. This will be a wonderful place to come and record my progress.
Ruby
JuneyBug Dongducheon CpCasey South Korea (Zone 4b)
Oh, I was attempting to send a link to the birth certificate records place on the Virginia.gov website. I had gotten my states form online, printed and snail-mailed back to them, and then received my BC within a month. Quite simple, if you search for a bit.
I haven't read all of these comments so someone may have already suggested this...
Have you heard of FlyLady? Check out the site (I don't know how to insert a link) http://www.flylady.net
I found many of her suggestions helpful. The site may look overwhelming (but you're used to DG so you won't be shocked)
WOW - someone did it for me!!!
if you type the link correctly, it does it automatically. another person can't edit your posts. the copy and paste method is the one most folks use, but your way worked just fine.
I'm am trying to make some progress, but it's not easy.
My big problem is paper-stuff: printed recipes from the INTERNET, magazines, pieces of paper I've witten info on and stuff like that. My memory is not what it used to be (even though I'm not all that old) and I'm afraid that when the stuff is gone, so are my memories. When I see some of the things, it brings back long-lost memories and without the stuff, it's like a part of me is going to be gone with it.
I need to go back and read through this entire thread for some of the tips given out.
I tried fly lady but the emails were overwhelming and were repeated ad naseum.
JuneyBug Dongducheon CpCasey South Korea (Zone 4b)
I have typed reciepes into a "breifcase" on my computer. It has taken a few months of on/off work, but all poetry quotes, and recipes are done. I am now down to a small filing cabinet - 2 dawer, for all of our stuff - including 20+ years of Army paperwork.
God help me please, I have got to scan 35 years worth of snapshots and family pictures between now and the end of april. I can't even get started. I got the moving "date" this morning: 1 -15 May. I seem to be too stressed to do much more than walk around in circles.
I gave all my loose pictures to my daughters (they would have to deal with them eventually). They took what they wanted and put in memory books and I THREW the rest of them away. All pics now are store on my computer in folders.
I have been collecting my recipes into the computer for 20 years but still have a bunch to go through and either throw out or copy onto the computer.
I just keep throwing things out and feel the guilt anyway.
I take one day out of each month to work on getting things simplified and mentally it is cleansing.
i have my favorite pictures now narrowed down to fit in a large plastic shoebox. one day i will put them all on the computer but that will be time-consuming and i'm not ready for that yet. i edited by hand so many, and like tlc, threw tons of them away. i've always believed that the very best memories are the ones in my head and in my heart. no one and nothing can take those away; the rest of it is really just paper and while they're nice to have, the ones i hold dear in my mind's eye are the best.
as for the other "stuff" in my life, i don't get attached the way i used to. i surround myself with only the useful and beautiful ( to me of course!) and hopefully they are both of those things at once.
Oh, dear. I still have pictures to organize. Did you really have to remind me of that? LOL! I need more photo albums. So now, I am going to buy more stuff to organize my stuff... they're in a drawer and not complaining at all. Maybe I'll just leave them in there for awhile. Gardening is starting to pick up where I am and I'd so rather be doing that than cooped up inside.
I did clean up the back yard today and the front yard yesterday and organized all my gardening items. So things are getting done. Slowly but surely. And I did it all by myself, too! :)
Pugzley - I could have written your paragraph on being reminded of tons of photos waiting for me to do something with them. Their organization is something that is low on my priority list. I do have the photo storage boxes to use, but it is something that I have been putting off for years.
I hadn't checked in here for a while. So good to see some still posting. For a couple or three weeks I seemed to be making excellent progress in getting some things done around here. I was able to organize master bedroom closet and that was major. I donated about as many clothes as I kept. I was ruthless in there. Now, if I could find the same resolve for the spare bedroom. I also went through several of the storage bins that are in that closet and now have two empty bins. That too is progress.
One thing that helped me to begin doing this was seeing an ad in our local Freecycle group for donations for a yard sale which was held yesterday by a group of students at one of the local high schools. Knowing that the items I was getting rid of was going for a good cause, gave me the umpth go get a move on.
I spent several hours this past week going through papers and determining what needed to be kept or which was thrown away. I have a full bag full of papers to shred at some point. That little project isn't totally finshed, but I have accomplished about 90% of it.
I have a motivating factor in regards to the spare room which I already have a good jump on. I want to set up a place to sow a few seeds indoors. I have a corner that I have used in years past for this, but I cannot currently get to it. ha-ha
As several of you already know how cleansing or refreshing an uncluttered area is, I am so looking forward to feeling like that. Baby steps, I am told. Baby steps.
Anyway, good to see everyone and hearing their reports. Welcome treelover.
Kitchen and living side - stacked washer and dryer behind the blue jean curtains.
After working all week around this 30 acres I sometimes go to the cabin on Saturday nights for pizza, a couple non alcoholic beers and a movie.
I've been ask if I plan to move to the cabin and my reply is, "no, I don't want it looking like a rat's nest, cause that's what it would look like if I moved in". (Laughing)
Yo, Jerry, now that's a neat little place! Looks to me like you could eat off those floors and counters and, well, forget the pickup truck bed. Working on your retirement has paid off, eh? Way cool.
I'm working on keeping my job long enough to be vested in retirement so I can survive, LOL. Bad time in finances these days, don'tcha know? But my work will likely be gardening, if I have enough strength left. And then keeping my clutter to a minimum [chuckling]. And, BTW, I have plenty of decluttering of ppwk hanging about in numerous boxes to keep me busy for several years, if I work on it two boxes a week during retirement.
Speaking of cleaning up, the arborist was out for his second visit this week and finished my two Fruitless Mullberry trees in the front yard. Here's a photo of the finished product. It was absolutely amazing to drive up to my corner lot. The skirts had been removed and the remaining profile was as if two hands open in welcome at the end of extended arms. They just take my breath away each year he finishes his work.
Linda, the trees are looking good. I bet they show color in Fall.
Yeah the cabin is for guest so it has to stay clean. That's why I don't stay there except for sitting out one the back porch and sometimes having a pizza and watching a movie.LOL
Oh, and the truck...well this is a gardening forum, right? I had to keep the post related to gardening. I hate to pass up this stuff when it free don't cha know. Good for the garden.
Yeah, I was trying to figure out what was in the truck bed too. ha-ha I too thought that the neat log cabin was Jerry's residence also and I didn't see the first sign of clutter anywhere. What a gorgeous place the cabin is. Thanks for sharing the pictures Jerry.
It has been at least ten years or more since I bought some books on Feng Shui. I was hoping to learn all about it and set my house up based on the concept. I could never get past the first rule of thumb, which is "no clutter." A few years back I bought another book titled "Funky Shui." Haha The funky shui seemed to meet my talents much better. The concept with funky shui is to mix it all up and have lots of your favorite things sitting around.
Here is wishing everyone a safe, healthy and productive day.
Hmmm...things went quiet here. I hope that means that everyone is busy de-cluttering or that they have everything under control and no longer need inspiration. ha-ha I fall in to neither category.
Somehow I have ended up with the whole weeks worth of mail sitting unopened on the end of the kitchen counter. I always go through our mail and save whatever can be shread and fed to compost pile. There is also a stack beside the shredder waiting for me too. The stack next to shredder is from a couple of weeks ago going through desk drawers and such.
We are basically snowed in today and I am not going to pressure myself to get anything much done, but I do plan to go through the mail. I don't like to let it go this long, because at this point it has become a chore rather than somethings that is simple and doesn't take too much effort. I will try to remember how I am feeling now the next time that I am tempted to let the mail go this long.
Great idea Chef. My shredder's home is in a small utility room off of my laundry room. I was thinking while getting paper together yesterday that I could bring the shredder in and sit at couch where I sit to watch tv. I will decide when I get to it later on today.
Juney, what you described about your rooms is easy to happen. I guess it is along the same lines as something else I have noticed with my stuff lately. There will be a chore that I want to do, but oftentimes have to do several other chores in order to get to the original idea. In my case, it comes from being disorganized and have a lack of space.
Other than shredding the paper that I produced yesterday, I am not sure what I will get in to today. I will be preparing a meal at some point so the kitchen may be the room where I spend most of the day. On food preparation days, I don't put too much pressure on myself to get a lot of other things done.
We had a pretty deep snow last night, so I wont be venturing outdoors unless I can't help it. I hope that everyone will have a safe, happy and productive week coming up.
Wonderful thread!!! Very timely for me. I need to get busy or I will be in the same boat as a lot of you. I just retired last year and still have that mindset that I will do it later. Truth is since I retired I am so much busier than I was. I don't know when I had time to work! I love and really relate with what Shuggins said..we have more in common than just a name!!
Quoting: My biggest issue is that I can't throw away anything that some one else might could use, but I never really get around to donating the items
Last year the DH and I moved everything out of the house that we didn't need so we could declutter and remodel a few rooms. The problem was, I wanted to hold on to it until I could go throught the boxes and sell, donate, or decide to keep it. So we paid rental on a storage building...was only going to be three months at first but was around 8 when I finally got it out. We moved it to the garage and left the car out for a week or so. I went through a lot of it and marked sell items and had a garage sale. However, traffic wasn't good, and we didn't do well. It didn't even come close to paying for the storage costs!!! I took three cars loads to the donation sites. They wouldn't take furniture or Christmas items, so I had to take it to another place.
I still have a lot of stuff yet to be sorted. I have a wall of craft supplies (wood pieces, material etc.) from when we were in business. Those I have almost gotten through and plan to donate all but a very few to a nursing home, or daycare.
My clutter problem is from my desk and counter top junk mail. I just don't take time to file stuff when I print it or clip it out. Then there is the seed packets and containers that I set there intending to plant, share etc.
But I am going to make a concentrated effort to join those on this thread to get "control" and make my retirement a bit more stress-free!!!
Good luck to those who are struggling also.
Sheila_FW
Welcome Sheila - I hope that by visiting here you will be inspired to put a plan in to action. It sounds as though you have a good start on things. I gave up on yards sales too due to the amount of time and energy they take and then get so little in return.
What was your former line of business in which you used craft supplies, if you don't mind me asking?
I have a kitchen cabinet on my list to do today. I was looking for something yesterday and couldn't find it in the messy cabinet. It is in there, it just must be pushed behind some things.
I have a cleaning lady who comes once a week and that is the day that I am most productive usually. She is scheduled to come today. I hope to begin work on the what is now a linen closet. I need extra space for small kitchen appliances, and I want to find a new home for the linen types of things and have a couple of shelves in the closet to sit the appliances on. I haven't made very good use of the appliances because they are not handy to get to. I am thinking by keeping them in the closet, I would be more apt to use them.
I will report back if I make any progress today. Wish me luck.
Best of luck to all!
I had a bunch of folks over on Sat and had the main areas looking good, but I didn't give anyone the previously promised whole-house tour. Maybe next time.
I've been so busy working on getting my mom's house ready to sell, that I'm not putting in the upkeep time I should on my own house. As anyone who has ever experienced remodeling knows, it tends to take on a life of its own, growing and expanding. Our local real estate market has more than enough beautiful, high-end homes on offer, and quite a few low to mid-range fixer-uppers, but not nearly as many nice, mid-range, ready-to-move-in places. That's the niche to fill. (And we've had 2 sets of complete strangers stop and ask whether we're planning to sell once it's fixed up. That's an encouraging note in the midst of a rather discouraging market.) I'm very anxious to have the place done and ready to show by the time the spring house shoppers get out and about. That means shopping for tile, fixtures, flooring etc. (the fun part, IMO) PLUS some sheet-rocking & patching (not fun), scraping off old "popcorn" ceilings, tiling, staining and varnishing (including all the cupboards), replacing moldings, loads of painting, and on and on. Plus there's still a fair amount of STUFF to deal with. At least I don't have to live in it; I can go home at the end of the day :-)
Anyway, when I get home in the evening, I don't have a lot of energy, enthusiasm, or time left for much more than catching up with DD on her school day, making dinner and keeping up with very minimal cleanup, laundry, etc. Today I'm home until noonish when the plumber will be there. DH is going to help clear and prune some trees, and he won't be available until then. The house is about 25 miles away, so we try to share the ride when we're both going out there. I should have the good sense to get caught up at home now, but here I sit, my office looking like a tornado hit it, justifying my procrastination with the idea that others are in the same boat!
I have 4 boxes of tile on their way to our own upstairs bathroom, currently making a rest-stop in our living room... Thank goodness it's not spring yet here in MN! As much as I love yard-work and fresh garden goodies, I'm just not ready to add that to the load. I tend to do my best work under a bit of pressure, but enough is enough!
Well I get easily distracted with spring around the corner. But I pay my son to come over and do yard work, repair jobs, just anything I need help with since DH and I one or the other for the past three years have been recooping from back surgeries. This last week it has been moving rocks from the back of the yard to the street where we have rented a roll-off bin. We are almost through and glad to be there. However I gave him a break yesterday and we went to the garage where I have misc craft items. I with his help made decision as to trash, donate to day care or nursing home, and keep for G Nephew & Niece projects. I cleared out or condensed a lot of plastic containers before I was exhausted and quit.
Ruby.. you asked what business I had that I used the craft supplies. I had a booth in Coomers Craft Mall for about 10 years I think it was, and sold some on ebay. Everything was hand crafted. My DH cut the wood, mainly pine or weathered fence wood. I would paint assemble and decorate. We drew our own patterns and the main sellers were napkin holders and towel holders, stained pine with seasonal themes. We also had the fencewood rustic framed stitched sayings and pillows also. All of that while we both had 40 hour a week jobs. Now that we are retired I can't for the life of me see how we had time to work much less craft.
I haven't sold crafts in about 7 years now and still kept hanging onto those items!! I mean when will I ever use 36- 3" grapevine wreaths???? Yes, I had a bad habit of ordering in bulk and stockpiling! Anyway, I think it is high time I pass them forward. I won't miss them, but I just think of all the money I have tied up and never made use of. I will enjoy having the space again that the three shelf units and several containers are taking up!
Gracious Jen, you really have your work cut out for you. Several years ago when we first moved in to this house, it was a consturaction zone for several months while we were having a large deck and a screened porch built. It felt so good when we were able to straighten things out and not have extra bodies here through out the day light hours. Almost the whole first year of living here we had something or the other going on. The end result was worth it, but sometimes during the midst of it, we begin to question whether it is worth it or not. The same will apply for you I hope. The end result being worth the worry now. Good luck on being able to sell it. Sounds good about the walk in's already.
Sheila, I have heard a lot of people who retire begin to wonder how they had time to ever leave home and work a full time job. It does seem to be a lot of things that we can find to fill a day. I haven't worked in about fifteen years, and I have a very full and busy life.
Your craft items sound like they were lots of fun. I am sure that you two made some really nice items. I have always wanted to learn a craft of some sort that I could do for enjoyment and possible profit. Don't feel too badly about the money you spent on the supplies that you won't use. You are in good company honey, because I too have spent lots of money in the past for things that I never even looked at again. I usually hold on to these things until the sight of them begins to bug me and then I donate or toss or whatever.
There are some great ideas here. I especially like taking on small projects and completing them. But I couldn't survive without my lists.
I have 2. One list is for chores needing doing on my property, and the other is for chores and errands I need to do away from the house. I love marking off the ones I have accomplised.
I realize that sometimes you add more to your list in a given day than you scratch off, but still, you HAVE finished some things that need doing. When I make a list, I put high-priority things at the top or things I didn't get done on my last list.
I have to write a whole newsletter, 6 pages, over the next few days. If only I could find time to write some grant applications for our new museum.
Well I have made some progress but then cold weather pounced back and I had to deal with getting plants in again etc. Today we went to Office D and I picked up some hanging folders and files that I need to get my desk in order. I also picked up this neat dry erase 1 week calendar. I think I will enjoy it. I can plan a week out when a month just seems to close in on me. I still have my monthly for keeping dr. appts, meetings etc. But I won't have to look at it but once a week. DH likes it and we think it will come in handy. We have so many lists with long range projects that it gets overwhelming. So once a week I can put a project on the weekly and work on it until it is done.
Good idea. I have found that if I put more than 3 or 4 items on a list, that it gets overwhelming and then I procrastinate and the next you know, it has been bumped to the next week. So don't make huge long lists. Set priorities each week.
I even have a note that says, "Call George Alexander" but don't remember who he is or what it was about. That's a bad list.
Yes, been there done that. Just cleaned off my desk the other day and had a note with two names I didn't remember phone numbers and all. Then down at the bottom it said surgery Cityview SW Hosp. I was really lost as to what it was at first, then I remembered a neighbor went in the hosp there for emerg. surgery a few months back and gave me her son and daughters info to call if there was a problem at her house. LOL!! If there had been a problem, I wouldn't been able to find the note!!
hmmm, I have a little pile of miscellaneous notes. But sometimes they are not complete, like I left off the phone number or what the note is about. It seems we are in the same boat.
I am thinking of keeping all notes on a steno pad that is spiral bound at the top. That way they don't get lost and I can mark them off or even carry them over to the next page.
It is kind of like putting something in a place where you will be able to find it when you need it; only to forget where that was later. Or not marking a container of seeds because you know for sure that you will remember what they are. I don't know if it begins with age or I have always been that way...I forget. LOL!
JuneyBug Dongducheon CpCasey South Korea (Zone 4b)
Me too Juney. We must own 5 or 6 hammers because of being unable to find one when we need it. They are all in the same drawer now, so i can find them thankfully.
Woodspirit, I also rely on lists and know how great it feels to be able to mark things off.
Sheila, I have long range plan lists too. I started one last summer and add to it from time to time. Most of the chores on the list are for outside and so will be tackled when the weather warms a little bit.
I have several things on my list for today and many of them came from yesterday. ha-ha
Here is wishing everyone a great weekend. I hope that everyone will also get a lot accomplshed.
Ruby
P.S. I couldn't get the message to go through, so thought that I would add a picture and see if that would help matters. This is my grandaughter Emily which was taken about a month ago.
I can sure relate to the buying another when you can't find something! But it usually isn't me it is my DH on that one. He has about 5 or 6 measuring tapes and razor knives. Get one for the shop, one for the garage, one for the house...on and on.
Emily is one adorable reason for not spending time decluttering Ruby!
Thank you for noticing what a sweety she is Sheila. We have the most fun together. She is just learning to put sentences together and it is hilarious to hear her pronuciation of some words. ha-ha
Here is my contribution for a "tip": The next time you pick up an object & can't put it where it needs to go because that spot is cluttered too, figure out where that final "end zone" is, AND CLEAR IT.
For instance, I want to move a table against my sewing wall but can't because there are 2 huge boxes of books that need to go into the garage except ... the entrance to the garage is blocked off by other ... stuff.
So I'm headed out to the garage! And maybe that will create a chain reaction that will clear a spot in the house!
Good luck Summer. That is mainly how I spent a couple of hours earlier in the spare bedroom. Moving things around. I have been working on getting a corner of the room set up with grow lights and heat mats to begin sowing some seeds early. Well, everything is now on the top of the chest where they will set. I need to still hang the lights, get the seed trays together and sow the seeds. All of the items that have been sitting on top of the chest now need homes. I was able to throw away a few things that were trash and that felt good.
While in that room, I also rearranged some of things that are in the closet. What is left is a chair with some gift items sitting in it and a roll cart that is loaded down with a little of this and a little of that. I was too tired after a couple of hours to do those two areas, but am hoping to spend some time tomorrow finding new homes for the things that are there now.
A good portion of the room is taken up with house plants. They will be moving outdoors to the screen porch when the weather gets warm here. There hasn't been a bed in that room for a couple of years now. I am trying to decide whether to try and set up a single bed in there or whether to purchase a single air mattress and have in case someone needs to stay over.
Again, good luck Summer and let us know how you did.
Ruby
JuneyBug Dongducheon CpCasey South Korea (Zone 4b)
Those air mattresses are wonderful! My DS introduced me to them and I love how they blow themselves up and how all of the air drains away so fast so we can return the room to it's other use. We have 2 twins and a queen. That takes care of Anybody that stays here. They live in their boxes on the closet floor, and all the open floor space is taken up with plants in the winter.
Hey There Juney - Just last week, I loaned my son the queen sized one that we have because he was having company and going to need places for them to sleep. I told him to go ahead and keep it. I am thinking that a single will do for what I am planning. If two people come to stay over, they will sleep on my younger son's futon and my son can sleep on the air mattress.
The spare bedrooms space is also eaten up with plants during the colder months too.
My day has not turned out as I thought it might. We had to take one of my dogs to the Veterinarian this morning because his rear end seemed to be giving him problems. The doctor found a laceration on the anus and is performing surgery today to repair it. While the pup is under the gas, he will be having his teeth cleaned too. He will be hurting at both ends tonight. Poor little guy!!! He will have to be on an antibiotic for two weeks and will also have to wear one of the Elizabethian collars. I am sure that the other two dogs here will freak out when they see the collar.
We go back at 3:45 for a consult and to bring him home, I hope. I hope that things will go well for him and he won't suffer too much from any of this. So, I hadn't really decided how much or for how long I planned to do any organizing today, but even the idea of doing anything is now shot. I need to prepare something for our dinner later and I am hoping to get a shower before heading out again.
Here is hoping that everyone is having a good and productive day. Take care.
Ruby
JuneyBug Dongducheon CpCasey South Korea (Zone 4b)
Good ideas in this thread! Im retired and much of the stuff I have is simply no longer relevant to what I am doing now. Also I was recently in the hospital for surgery with a follow up period of NO LIFTING so if something fell it had to stay there. Also I was dizzy from the medication.
The how-tos here are very good, but I think No. 1 thing to do is to really look at your space and get a vision of what you want and write that down in notes - diagrams - or whatever. Then compare what you have with what you want and make up a list for accomplishing that. These should go in a permanent notebook so you can see where youv'e been and where you are going and what you intend to accomplish on a day to day basis.
This may not work for a more action oriented person. I am an idea person and so far it works for me.
So far Ive found 2 drawers of underwear I forgot I had (!) and I doubt Ill ever wear a skirt again. The underwear goes in the rag bag (no one wants used underwear) and the skirts go in the garbage bag for a sale/donation.
JuneyBug Dongducheon CpCasey South Korea (Zone 4b)
I like your idea. I am having trouble with clothes... I don't know what I need. How many of each type I should keep. I'm 51, hope not to work again,(probably will) but have a pretty good inventory of office clothes. How many should I keep? I want to keep every single suit or at least the jackets (oh, and the pants and skirts...&&&) How many of the regular clothes? I've gotten down to about 20 pairs of shoes for all of the different types/colors of clothes and will probably weed out about 6 more and buy 2 since I need white sandals and tennie shoes. It is the casual & dressy casual that I have the hardest time with. Most of the "problem area" seems to be summer weight. What is the average/norm? 10 outfits?
I have a thing about my stuff - I couldn't take someone coming in and sorting for me.
I grew up dirt poor and through the years Ive bought things I really am attached to.
Im now retired. So to be easy on myself, I get the largest container I can and put the problematical things in there until Im ready to decide if I need it or not.
As a retiree in a rural area - I wear pants, t-shirts and crocks and probably will never wear silk blouses, leather skirts, and all these suits again. So they go into canvas bags and the more they are taking up my valuable space maybe I will let them go - have a sale or find a consignment shop.
I think the main thing is that the things in your space are things that you use. Then you have to decide how much "storage" you want to provide for the things that take up space and don't really use.
Some times it is hard to adjust from a dress to the teeth job to just working in the back yard and running the dogs.
Ruby, having had a couple back surgeries and DH having four we would both highly recommend the grabbers/ or reaching aids, that Home Depot have. You can pick up a dime on the floor with it. It won't pull weeds though, trust me I tried. LOL! We like them so much we have bought about four pairs and have them in several rooms!!
My dad used to have a set of those Sheila. I have seen them advertised and they really would come in handy to have. There are a few upper kitchen shelves that I have to get a foot stool out to use in order to get what I need. A set of these could cure that problem. Thanks for the tip.
Wineaux, the laceration part was a short way of putting all of the medical mumbo jumbo having to do with anal glands in to something that most people would understand without going in to detail, which I don't fully understand myself. haha
Juney, I had the least trouble getting rid of clothes as compared to other things that I have way too many of. I probably still kept things that will never see the light of day, but the master bedroom closet looks at least a dozen times better than it did before the de-cluttering. I have been able for at least a month now, to keep it straightened and it feels good.
As for how many business clothes to keep, I can't answer that for you. Gloria's idea to just set them aside for a while and then decide what to do later is a good idea. See if you will be needing the items of clothing in the next 6 months or a year, and if not needed in that time, go ahead and donate.
I also liked Gloria's idea of having a plan. I am not even sure if I would go as far as having a notebook about it, but I do know that without a plan, I would have then tendency to become overwhelmed very quickly and then not even do the first step of the process. The first step of the process is to determine what the goal is. Next, is to begin taking steps that will bring the goal in to fruition.
Thanks for the owies good wishes for the pup. He is almost back to normal. He does still have stitches back there that will hopefully dissolve themselves without a trip back to Vet. Either my husband or myself are always in the room with him, so wearing the uncomfortable collar hasn't been necerssary much at all. It is just to prevent him from gnawing at the sore spot and possibly pulling the stitches out.
Now, two out of the three dogs that we own are on medicine. It is like running a dosing station, twice a day. I haven't dosed them yet today because my whole morning has been spent on here and I am no where near to catching up with my reading. I slept in this morning until about 7:30 AM and am behind. I usually get up a lot earlier than that.
Here is hoping that everyone is having a great day. I also hope that those of us with any de-cluttering projects going on, are having good progress today too. Until next time...
Ruby: It is always a pleasure to read your posts. Hope your pups are better soon. Its so sad when dogs are sick or injured or mistreated.
Just when I thought I was getting organized a shelf fell down in the laundry room. I had a clothes line attached and had piled too much stuff on the clothes line! Sorting away - now I really have a mess.
Hey just jumping in here...all your stories inspire me to keep clutter free. My sister could use your help she has a real bad clutter problem...I think she's rebelling against her Navy training.
I try to be very organized but with a 6 yr old and a 2 yr old and a hubby that doesn't help with any housework it's real tough.
The biggest problem for me is all the stinkin' paperwork my son brings home from school. I need to buy another desk to sort that stuff(I do file his graded papers and then at the end of the year keep about 4 projects to put in his school days album, the rest gets tossed) . I work from home so want to keep my office area strictly for the biz.
Concerning the clothes... I have a ton of biz outfits but I need to get rid of the last 10lbs of baby fat...yeah I know she's 2, but I am determined to lose it this year.
I've found that if you are never going to use them(esp if they are too biz like for church) give them to charity. Otherwise they'll just sit in the closet till they're out of style.
Another problem I'm running into is the fact that when we moved 4 yrs ago we left a house that had a bunch of bult ins so here we don't have the furniture yet to replace them. So for instance we had a built in entertainment center, here we haven't set up the whole stereo yet so I have boxes of equipment, cd's, tapes, etc stacked in the attic, closet and my bedroom..drives me NUTS.
Thanks Gloria. I hope that I make sense from time to time. ha-ha Oh my gosh!!!! It sounds as though nature decided for you, how you will be spending your day. Good luck on getting everything back in its place. You can do it!!!
Jen, good to see you here. Glad that you shared your problem areas with us. Sounds as though you know what to do, but sometimes it is very difficult to start doing things. I have found that I exert much more energy on worrying about tasks, than I end up spending on the actual task. I just forget from time to time and worry in betwwen things.
Sorry that I haven't checked in before now. I have had a very busy last week. I had two, what I thought would be minor medical issues that turned out being more difficult that I imagined and have taken up quite a few hours of recuperating. Getting all better now though, thankfully.
That clothes line collapse led me to working on my laundry room. I found things in there you wouldn't believe! Some long lost linens are really wanted for fixing up an upstairs bedroom! So the catastrophe did result in some major decluttering.
Hey everbody! The Container Store is offering 25% off in support of a show Oprah Did on "Clean Up Your Messy House". You can download the promotion code on the site. Does not apply to on sale items though.
Good going with getting the laundry room straightened Gloria. I know that you are thrilled about that. My last two weeks have been really, really screwy and I haven't accomplished anything much de-cluttering wise. I am a list maker and have lists of things that I have been writing in for weeks and still haven't done them. ha-ha They are patiently waiting for my attention though.
Thank you for the tip on The Container Store. That is wonderul. I hope that everyone that is reading will have a good weekend.
LOL!! Looks like I am not the only one that can't sleep tonight.
Seems like the more I get done the longer my list gets. I start seeing other stuff that needs attention.
Lately I have been getting the yard in shape. Sunday we have a plant RU that I am heading up, thus the can't sleep thinking of last minute stuff!!
Just thought I would send you a early morning note.
Sheila - I hope that the Round Up is lots of fun. Our Mid Atlantic Group will be having one the 17th of May in Pennsylvania. My husband John and I are planning to attend. The ones that I have been to in the past have always been a lot of fun.
Yes, we have this one twice a year and we also try to make others around TX. I love them and the face to face is so special. We have over 60 people signed up to come now about half are members and half are guests. Today is a beautiful day, hope it is half this nice tomorrow!
Well I was super tired, but got good results. The cold and wind tried to spoil the fun but we prevailed! I just finished posting pictures of those that attended here. We ended up with about 60 people (memb, family, and guests). http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/972104/
Wow Sheila - that is a large group of folks. I will go and check on your photos now. Thank you for the link. I am sure that everyone had a load of fun. Take care.
It was only about 50-52 but the wind and in the shade was a lot colder. The day before had been a warm beautiful day. Last night we had a freeze warning, hope now spring is finally here to stay.
It is pretty uncommon for us in TX this late too. But as they say down here, if you don't like the weather, wait thirty minutes and it will change. Today I am in shorts and a T-shirt!!
btw, that is why my closet is so cluttered. I never know what to pack up!
What to pack up! Me either. I just collected all the winter fleecey pj's. Then I had to open that container and find a pair to wear along with finding the electric blanket!
My 100 year old house has 4 rooms upstairs - each 25 x 25 ft. The hallway is 16 ft wide. One room is reserved to be my "closet". Now if I could just get a bathroom up there.
