2023 Decluttering Support and Motivation

[Vantreesta]

I have looked back at my logs so many times! Searching for clues that should have warned me of imminent injury, what I was doing to make certain things work like race times, how long it took to get back into the groove after big life events like getting a new dog or changing jobs. I'm sure my husband would like it if I tossed them but I just can't. There's too much info and memories. Plus let's be real, they take up only a tiny fraction of the space my workouts take!

Leslie, I'm so sorry you had to lose your dad and move your mom on the same day. That is brutal. Taking two weeks off is totally understandable!

[lreidgreen]

adawn wow that stamp story is amazing! I wouldn't have the patience to go through all that. I got tired just reading about it. It sounds like it was time well spent though.
Everyone is making good progress.
A charity thrift shop recently opened in town and I donated 2-3 bags of DVDs(seasons of the simpsons and South Park) a few bags of clothing, a board game and a hanging shelf with drawers. I am also going to give them my nice countertop George foreman type grill since it has not sold on FB Marketplace. It's gotta go!
We painted our sunroom so the furniture got moved and I went through the table drawers where we keep gloves, hats etc. as well as the baskets below. I tossed 9 gloves with no partner and lots of other things.
Since we were getting our built ins painted we moved all the books and cabinet contents downstairs and I managed to get rid of some stuff in the process.
Now that the unit is painted I am trying to be more intentional about what goes back in. That is another process but I have to go. Will post again.

[lreidgreen]

So although DH got rid of a bunch of books in preparation for the painting of the shelves, we still have so many. Now that the shelves/cabinets are painted I want to only return ones that look decent. I want room on the shelves to display the items we get on vacation, family things etc. Only the nice stuff-we tossed most of the junk.
Since I don’t want to ask DH to get rid of more books I am trying to make room in the basement bookcases for those less attractive books. We tossed DS and DD’s textbooks (after their OK) and I removed my exercise logs which are being trashed. I removed a bunch of binders with fitness information. They are piled on my kitchen table, and I need to go through them to scan, shred or toss.
Several shelves are being used to store kitchen items that aren’t used much. I brought some of it up to our pantry and the countertop grill to my garage to donate but need to purge more. I have these accessories for my 25 year old Cuisinart food processor. I never use them. I checked to see what they would cost to replace and the slicer and shredder blades alone cost $37 each! This made me think I should keep them but there's no room and I haven't used them in 20 years. So I will list on FB Marketplace for sale and if they don't go, I will list them on Buy Nothing.

[bzar]

we're remodeling the house and it's a total mess. we replaced our windows (house built in '61, complete with many jalousies), double-walled 3.5 sides of the house, and installed split air conditioning. it was a long-time-coming project that needed to be done.

imagine your belongings in boxes in the middle of 6 rooms, including the family room - that's what my house looks like. i'm reading on the web it'll take 12 months for deep decluttering to complete. if you're selling items, it could take an extra 1 year for a total of 2 years.

i did donate some items to the local thrift store, but it's barely the tip of the iceberg.

[sciencelady]

Bzar, I decluttered LOTS when I remodeled my house floor by floor. I had to totally clear out closets and storage areas which made editing what went back easier. I have no regrets. I’ll be moving to a senior co-op in about a year and a half and am now going through each room and deciding if it will be coming with me or get given away or resold. I’d rather take the time in my year and a half to do this downsizing rather than when the movers are at my door. I also have to be careful not to buy a lot of stuff for the future place - it can be stored at the store .

Good luck with your project!

[bzar]

Originally Posted by sciencelady

Bzar, I decluttered LOTS when I remodeled my house floor by floor. I had to totally clear out closets and storage areas which made editing what went back easier. I have no regrets. I’ll be moving to a senior co-op in about a year and a half and am now going through each room and deciding if it will be coming with me or get given away or resold. I’d rather take the time in my year and a half to do this downsizing rather than when the movers are at my door. I also have to be careful not to buy a lot of stuff for the future place - it can be stored at the store .

Good luck with your project!

Thank you for the encouragement. I will be looking for your posts on this check-in.

you're right - remodeling gives you a blank canvas to start with.

mentally, i started chunking aspects of myself reflected in the objects I own. it comes down to what you mentioned - what will i honestly use in the future? for me, it means abandoning some of my hobbies, as in sewing.

if i was strict with myself and said "anything not used in the past 24 months should go," that would clear out almost everything!

as i get older, i have a clearer picture of how i want to spend my time on my hobbies.

[adawn]

Originally Posted by bzar

we're remodeling the house and it's a total mess. we replaced our windows (house built in '61, complete with many jalousies), double-walled 3.5 sides of the house, and installed split air conditioning. it was a long-time-coming project that needed to be done.

imagine your belongings in boxes in the middle of 6 rooms, including the family room - that's what my house looks like. i'm reading on the web it'll take 12 months for deep decluttering to complete. if you're selling items, it could take an extra 1 year for a total of 2 years.

i did donate some items to the local thrift store, but it's barely the tip of the iceberg.

12 months to fully declutter sounds accurate. I had to take remove everything from my bedroom a couple months ago for repainting, new blinds, light fixture, etc. It's amazing how much the Elfa wall shelving on two walls can hold! Technically, I did not have them paint INSIDE the closets so I didn't have to go through ALL of my clothes (yet).

I told myself I wouldn't put anything back into the room until I had gone through it. Well, that sort of worked. For a week or two I slept on my bed which was the lone piece of furniture that I placed on gliders in the center of the room. But then I finally put the Elfa shelving back up. I was pretty good about being judicious about what books and stuff to put back on the shelving, but I admit I did not photograph and list on ebay the books I want get rid of as I had planned. The books have just enough value I might get a few dollars on ebay for them so I don't want to just dump them in the BetterWorldBooks bin. In fact, I put those books back on the shelves in my bedroom just to get them out of the family room/dining room.

I am being firm with myself though about not putting my photo boxes and empty photo albums back on the shelves until I actually go through the photos in the boxes and put the ones I want to keep into the albums (I've been meaning to do this for MANY years). So those are all still on the living room couches. I also have a few small memento boxes to go through that I haven't touched in years. These are mainly paper mementos and documents (not objects for the most part).

And the dining room (aka the clutter magnet) still is topped by a couple of banker boxes whose documents I need to scan and dump.

And I still have plans to go through some banker boxes in the basement that need to be dealt with. Quite a few are labeled as containing things to "sell on ebay" or "craigslist".

My mom is getting a total knee replacement next week so I'll be able to procrastinate on the stuff in the living room/dining room and basement shelving until she's mostly recovered.

In any case, I can't even imagine doing a whole house or even more than a couple rooms all at once! I bet it will be really satisfying once complete though.

[bzar]

Originally Posted by adawn

12 months to fully declutter sounds accurate. ...

i loved your entire post.

now, i'm just talking about my own stuff that is the literal elephant in the room. my adult kids (who still live with me) have their own stuff.

of the zillions of things i need to go thru, my top four are:
1) kids' paper art from elementary school. started going through it but still need to finish it up.
2) old bills that can be shredded. i got the pile down to maybe 4 boxes.
3) boxes - like the box a laptop or appliance came in. intention was to keep the box for a year during the warranty period.
4) my clothes

There was a book that someone recommended in this check-in, Decluttering at the Speed of Life by Dana White. initially, i'll need to employ her strategy - the one where you pick a section and pull out the trash/donation items and get it out of your house. she said don't bother with pulling everything out of a closet and then putting it back in because if you lose momentum, everything is strewn everywhere and you create a bigger mess! that's my problem.

[fanofladyvols]

Science lady, bzar and adawn keep up the good work!
I do think reading books of different approaches helped me with the momentum needed.

I think after a year I had made considerable process in my declutter the house project. But it took me so many years ...so I don't know whether I just had entirely too much...or whether I work slowly?

[bzar]

Originally Posted by fanofladyvols

Science lady, bzar and adawn keep up the good work!
I do think reading books of different approaches helped me with the momentum needed.

I think after a year I had made considerable process in my declutter the house project. But it took me so many years ...so I don't know whether I just had entirely too much...or whether I work slowly?

Fan Lady, for me it's both (too much and too slow).

paper clutter: one thing that has helped - many of my statements are electronic and have been this way for the last 10 years, maybe more.

tactic: Does anyone use the Pomodoro trick invented by Francesco Cirillo, or a version of it, where you do 20 min and stop for a 5 min break? i find myself unable to either "start" or once i get going, "stop."

i think i just need to set aside a time each day for the 20 min, and stop, using a timer. i have to develop that habit.