I emptied one file cart and got about 70% through the second in an hour-long session last night. Some times 5-minute baby steps are best. Other times longer sessions are best. It helps if I don't get too wed to one strategy or the other because I get stuck when that strategy isn't the right one for the job or for the time at hand.

Gardenjoy:

What a great perspective. Flexibility is important whether the time spend on moving toward a goal is 5min. or 1 hour. The important thing is committed action is being taken! Yay for clearing the file cart.

Off to goodwill to drop off a few bags and 1/2 price book store. My mantra is that I have enough and I will not be buying unless the 1/2 price bookstore has one DVD that I need for reference. That is all. One DVD.

one sinkful.
 

Hello Decluttering Becksters.

My apartment is once more bad enough to paralyze me and force me outside as everywhere I look there is stuff again, and in my own form of it too = PILES of stuff. I feel complete and total failure today on every level becasue my mind is cluttered with :devil: sabotaging thoughts and, as always, this too shall pass. So in the spirit :dance: of hurrying that feeling on out the door I am committing to doing ONE (1) sinkful of dishes. Should I do more, OK. If not, OK. But I must do one today. Back to basics which to me is to see and feel some success.

I will update an report back when this is accomplished today.

Great successes everyone. helping rachel you are really in the groove! Awesome. *I* feel your energy and just plain feel lighter :bubbles: just reading your posts! Great job. How is your decluttering affecting your food? or is it??

OnebyOne: First of all, sending gentle vibes your way to get one thing done. Sometimes I have to "get out of my head" and do the next thing. I refer to my mental cognition as a popcorn popper. Sometime what comes up is not needed in terms of thoughts. So cheering you on to get your dishes done.

I am getting unstuck with the clutter. I do have to say that. I am holding steady with my weight but not crediting me for why I have been eating. I found that I rewarded myself with food when I purged part of the furnace room. Interesting thing was I just started in with the peanut butter and celery before I realized what the heck was going on. I hope I am not "playing the shell game with my issues". Time will tell.

I emptied my second file cart. There were a few troublesome things -- things I feel I should feel sentimental about but don't, too valuable to give Goodwill, and it feels too crass to sell them. In the end, I boxed them up and put them in a place that feels okay for now. There's so much for me to deal with, I don't have to tackle the toughest cases.

Gardenerjoy: Good job on completion of 2nd cart. I totally understand about setting things aside until later time. ....I moved 3 boxes back to furnace room, didn't want to toss or give away but they have been in there for years and not of use......I posted a 1, 2, 3, tag and dated. Will sort again on another time to try to make a decision. I think if I had a professional organizer I would be pressed to make a decision....not going to happen on my budget:0!

Hi Everyone!

Cheering you all on!

I'm leaving home very early today. Last night I evaluated the state of my home after I found a stopping point with my painting. I recognized it was important to me to put things back in place before my departure. Accordingly, I went to bed early and set my alarm.

This morning I:
~put excess paint supplies downstairs
~took old carpet outside
~moved my valuable bike inside
~gathered dishes, washed and picked up kitchen
~moved all mail upstairs to the office
~put clean clothes away

I will run the vacuum, too. I have this accumulation of fine dust and old carpet lint.
When I return home tomorrow night I will have an "as clean" space as I can have right now (credit) and I can return to my painting project. As I progress here, I'm able to look at my space AND visualize it finished.

Great perspective Lexxiss! Sounds manageable.

On a consulting job from 7-7 today. Nothing done at home but ok with it. Will look around tomorrow and see what can be done. One day at a time, One project at a time.

Reporting to you guys that I washed a sinkful of dishes yesterday. I put them away this morning and did another sinkful right away. They are in the drying rack now and I re-filled the dishpan with every piece of irritating cutlery I could find. I'll put the dry dishes away, then do the cutlery and call it a day re:dishes. I may fully reclaim my counterspace as I shuffle the stuff off of it towards the floor/holding space/stuff to be washed space. I can't count on doing much more as I have the market tomorrow and I need to complete a few things yet.

Happy to be back dealing with the clean up once more.

:bravo: everyone.

I'm calling my project to straighten up the corner in the northwest corner of my study done. I've attached before and after photos. Not only is it neater but the stuff takes up a much smaller foot print making my space feel bigger.

I'm not entirely happy with milk crates as book shelves (I feel about thirty years too old for that). They're library books so somehow temporary shelving feels right -- and, yet, I always have library books. Just the titles change. So I want to think about making room in my other bookcase or finding a small separate bookcase that's allocated for library books. Not today, though.

I want to choose a project for August, but I'm going to give myself a couple of days to decide what.

One by One: Great job on taking committed action toward your value of having a clean sink/counter area. It sure is a process.

Gardenerjoy: Wow! Your pictures sure show the difference. It looks organized and clean. Can you find things easier?

Working on curtains today for 3 windows. That is my project for today. I went back and started to do step 4 of my project that I didn't complete last week. Went to Office Depot and bought a new hole puncher. Will continue to label and organize my work materials. Received $13 for another box of books and needed a reference book that I had planned on ordering from Amazon and found it for $8! Returned clothes to 2 stores and didn't buy new. My mantra is that "I have enough". I really need to clean and organize my closets. Will have to think thru to what that will look like.

Rachel, how did your curtains turn out? Yes, I have enough, too.

gardenerjoy, yay for completion of your project and for posting pictures. Your new space looks great! Looking forward to your August project.

onebyone, great job getting back on track with your dishes.

My process continues. I traveled over to our other house for two days and although I had lots of appointments (mom and DH), I did some spot cleaning and left it in better shape than when I arrived. credit.

Back at the big house now....I continue my painting project. This morning, however, I chose to get some cleaning/organizing accomplished too. I cleaned/organized the fridge and freezer pitching a few items, too. I started washing the kitchen cabinets and will finish in the morning.

I recognized that I am looking ahead more than I used to. The carpet is scheduled for Friday and Sis is flying in a week from tomorrow. I'm finding it feels just great not to leave my necessary projects until the last minute. My brain must be more organized. Practice practice practice.

Lexxiss: Great job on frig and freezer. I hate that job but feel so good when things are clean and organized inside. It also helps me with my eating plan. I have to agree that something is shifting in me that says these projects are doable. I think if I am fair to myself with what can be done each week, I will continue to build on success. Like you said Practice, practice, practice.


I did finish 3 sets of curtains with the help of my hubby. He helped me with measuring and making sure I had the length correct. Grateful for that.

Will be making a list for this week of what I confidently want to complete. Trying to make it realistic and to focus on how to get the "extras" done, let alone the day to day.

back again
 

Hello

I'm reporting in that I have been doing a sinkload of dishes for four days now. More than one most days. i still have "big stuff" on the floor by the sink but I could see the end of the built up pile tomorrow, and be back to the regular (imagine! regular! ha!!:) ) maintenance mode. *credit to me that I really did think that automatically. Yay.

I was just in the bedroom trying to cope with an overabundance of clothing and bedding. Yikes. I really want to make my bedroom into a peaceful oasis. It is like a permanent vortex of clothing and debris right now. I may choose to make my bedroom my special project for August. It would be so great to have a cozy, inviting, comforting space for the coming winter months.

Of course, the never-ending trying to get the common living areas into shape quest goes on.

Bye for tonight.