Hi Decluttering Friends

I have *credit* managed to maintain my sink with the exception of one night but I took care of it right away in the morning. I am willing to get up and do those dishes and I did a sinkful last night but it was only ONE sinkful so it took less than 15 minutes, instead of the 6, 7 or 8 sinkfuls when we let all the dishes get dirty and then they sit there for a week or two, and then they can't be just washed easily but need soaking, and changing of water and scrubbing and I need breaks and I swear and I get discouraged that it got that bad again. So, doing a small sinkful every night is a lot less work than how I was doing it before. I'm getting used to it too so this is making it easier. it's becoming "the new normal".

I love that.

What I need to work on though, is putting those dishes away in the morning. To this end I need to go put those dishes away right now...DONE

My work space is still clear *credit* but I find I prefer working at the coffee table. O well. I have not cleaned the picture window space, which is all around the coffee table, nor have I placed the chairs I moved out of my workspace anywhere yet. they are hanging around the kitchen and this morning that bugs me, so back to finishing up what I wanted to do earlier in the week.

-clearing out area opposite picture window to place chairs into DONE
-cleaning (picking up papers/sorting/sweeping to the right and then to the left of the futon/coffee table space

-if I am *really* into it, I will tackle the small orange side table. It's a place where I just shove stuff. It can really be used a lot better than that.

Also:
-get caught up with my writing exercisesDONE
-get caught up with the daily jpgsDONE
-leave the kitchen clean tonight *clean stainless steel cat bowl*DONE

I have today and tomorrow to make clean-up progress then it's time to get ready for the market, go to market, and recuperate from the market.
I'm going to make Wed and Thurs my offical "make progress with the clean up" days. If I can move forward in those two days and even just maintain the other 5 days I am way way way ahead of where I have been.

Of course, should it not work out, I am allowed to change my plans, but I must always have some kind of plan. Without a plan I am lost.

Have a good day.

One small step: A new book caught me eye, so I requested it from the library instead of clicking [One-Click] on Amazon, even though there's a queue and I may not get it for a few months. That's one less book to decide what to do with when I'm done reading it.

Thank youto all of you. After reading this thread and seeing a few ideas I am inspired. My son brought two bags of school stuff home yesterday and I sat down with him and went through it and there were only three things he wanted to keep and that was his three drawings that he brought home. I will go buy a frame for them and put them up so we can enjoy them. Tonight I am going to buy a book shelf for the living room. We kept all books in the basement rec room or in our bedrooms and only read there. Slowly books are creeping to the living room so I think a place for them would make it seem less cluttered. I cleared off the kitchen counter. I have so much paper there. Important things of course...lol. Most of it went to recycling, the important ones went to the filing cabinet. As I look around it seems daunting to me. After reading here, I am convinced baby steps will work.
Thanks again to you all.
Oh yes, can someone tell me how to post pictures then I can post some.
Thanks.
Ann

Bill that is great to decrease clutter by getting a book from the library rather than purchasing it. At least it has a spot to be returned too....yeah you.

Oh Bill! I need to learn that skill, I love me some books!

Ann(Newlifestyle), I was going to suggest on the other thread that it is very simple to start and I see you have taken the first step on your own. My sense is that you create the plan that works for you. It will evolve over time, too.

DH was ready to get out the door this morning. I decided that I needed to pick up before we left, and I did just that. I left with a clean kitchen to return home to. credit. I also took a moment to reflect on my basement list and remembered I had a bag of recyclables which needed to come over here. They are out of the basement now. It was a busy day and I made a kitchen mess before the picnic but it's put away now. I'll feel so much better in the morning.

Goodnight!

Hello Declutterers

Newlifestyle to this thread!! What a great beginning you've made. It's great we can inspire each other. This is truly something I can't do alone. It helps me so much to know others are out there struggling with messes and piles of stuff just like I do and even better to hear that people are dealing with it and solving their clutter issues. I am glad you have joined us. I really see the time I have wasted worrying over my messy place as time I don't want to waste anymore. My goal is to be able to open the door to the landlord at anytime and not worry about any comments about my mess or a dirty floor or whatever. I think this is such a waste of my time and energy now--so much so that I am willing to do dishes for pete's sake. I must be fed up and ready for change. Beck is great when you are ready for change.

*credit* for getting rid of the pile of stuff across from the futon and I have placed the wayward chairs there and they look wrong - I am contemplating letting them go, maybe, not sure-actually I think I am hanging onto them because they were a friend of mine's and now we are out of touch and if I keep the chairs I am still, somehow, magically, in touch or reminded of her. This is not a reason to keep chairs. This is a reason to keep photos, or letters, or emails.

I am not putting away my dishes right after I wash them. I need to get myself to put them away too. So far though I am still revelling in the "OMG I've washed the dishes AGAIN feeling. I have gone to bed with dirty dinner dishes left in the kitchen but upon waking I put the dishes away and wash the new ones so they aren't piling up. This may be what I end up doing: 80% they are done before bed-20% done in the morning. So long as they don't go 2 days I think I can accept this as good enough. I'll see.

Newlifestyle to post images: when you are writing in the editor, (the "advanced editor") just scroll down the page, past the "Submit reply" and "Preview post" buttons and you'll see the next section is "Additional Options" and within this section you will see something that says Attach Files
Valid file extensions: bmp doc gif jpe jpeg jpg pdf png psd tif tiff txt
and then a button that says MANAGE ATTACHMENTS on it. Click the button and it will give you file options/file size options and etc. That's how you attach images to a post.

Hi

I had to go out early to get kitty food this morning and when I got back with more than kitty food I was annoyed that the counter was too full to receive my groceries.

*phooey*

This was the direct result of NOT doing my dishes last night and not putting away the dishes I did yesterday. I've been busy with work stuff but now I have time to deal with the dishes. It's probably a 20min job at most. done

I am also going to commit to gathering up the random recycling around here that needs to be tossed. done

Time to make dinner. Back later.

Oh, this is excellent for me. I'd say I'm 80% done with cleaning out what I don't need, but, as with weight, the last bits are the most difficult. 2 bedroom closets, 2 foyer closets and misc 'stuff' in the living room. I've painted the bedroom and this makes me so happy that I want to get to 100%!

Exhale15 Thanks for posting. 80% done really deserves a reward, or two. Excellent.

There really is nothing like painting walls to make you feel that fresh start. What colour were the walls and what colour are they now?

As for me just reporting in that I did all the dishes tonight and they are put away. I have to gather my market stuff up and finish packing the car for the very early morning so I'll sign off.

TGIF.

Exhale15! Great that you found us. I certainly relate to your final 20% AND your last few steps to goal. Seems that's where I'm at, too.

onebyone, great job doing your dishes AND putting them away! How does it feel??

I encountered some frustration yesterday which has some relationship to my organizational/clutter issues....compounded by our having 2 houses 120 miles apart. I bought a camera May 6 at Target to take to Alaska. I decided to return it, as I went through 3 sets of batteries for 147 pictures. When I was here and couldn't find the receipt I thought it was there. When I got there, I couldn't find it either, so it must be here. I found out that Target would return without the receipt because I charged it. I tried yesterday and now it's past the 45 days for electronics returns. Their policy at customer services says 90 days for returns and they told me the 45 days is "on your receipt". Arg....they said talk to Canon but I belive they will tell me I "need my receipt". I am really bummed. I'm sure I did not throw it out but feel like my system has failed me.

I guess I will put the camera in my closet in a bag and keep organizing. It's only $161.00 and the camera "does" work. Perhaps the receipt will be found before the 1 yr warranty is up.

Good news is that I did bring a box of stuff back over with me which is designated to the thrift store. I left it in the car last night and will drop it off as soon as my schedule permits. credit for that.

I will work on one project tonight after work.

Ok, I found the receipt in a drawer downstairs. What I also found was a bag of stuff which I had cleaned off the dining room table when we moved the bed cownstairs for DH.

I recognize from the items in the bag that I need to make some decisions regarding some items I just can't seem to get rid of....small yet annoying me. I brought the contents of the bag us to my office to deal with tonight. credit.

Good morning!

Onebyone, the room was a funny-looking (by my standards today) beige. It is now a beautiful bright yellow with crisp white trim. So happy in it

Today I'm off to the Container store to get a couple of those wide plastic framed storage things for clothes - one will be for clothes and one for dvds and misc that I'm not ready to scrap but they're all over the place.

So glad I found this group
Have a great weekend.

Good morning all! Welcome to Exhale!

I had a very busy week with teaching class and an all day consulting job on Thursday. I did get my dining room cleaned and another bag to goodwill.

I only had a short time on Tuesday to get something done so I found my returns bag and made a list and route of returns. I went to one store and only had the receipt from another purchase from same store but it was out of state store.... Frustrated! So I can relate Lexxis. They told me that I could only get about half the credit, I said take it anyway, I waited way to long to take these things back. My fault, my procrastination. I did get in 2 more return stops before heading to work. I give myself credit for that.

I will be on vacation with my family at our cabin for a week. Lots of cooking and organizing. I have my walking clothes for daily walks or bike rides and had a long list of optional foods so I don't go overboard with holiday eating. I give myself credit for having a plan. Will check in mid week as I am thinking on some ideas for new goals.
I am going to do an Art collage of what gifts that I want to give myself. I know that a clean declutter organized space is on my heart as well as letting go of these extra pounds and having a consistent plan that works. I will let the process work itself to see what comes forth.

Wishing you all a safe holiday! Keep it light

Congratulations to everyone posting here. This is such an inspiring thread.
I got a 9 cube book shelf. I can't believe what a difference it made in the living room. DS put his stuff in there but it cleared the room of clutter so this works well for me.
Exhale- Welcome.

Onebyone- Thanks for the info about posting pictures. I am charging the batteries for my camera and then I should be good to go.
I can't believe how much better I feel with that clutter gone. I only have 4 more rooms to do.

Lexi- Good luck with the bag and contents. While I was clearing through clutter I saw some Tic Tacs, the candy, I bought about a month ago for my DS. He just has them lying around but for some reason I felt he needed to keep them. I thought how can I be emotionally attached to TicTacs. I realized it isn't the tictacs, it is my son's reaction to me throwing them out. He doesn't care if I do. Beck strategies are making me learn so much about myself.
Rachel- way to go with all your progress. Enjoy your vacation with your family.
Have a great night all.