[onebyone]

I'm going to spend this week completely focused on getting my house in order. I'd like to see the New Year arrive with a cleaner, clearer home. I have written out a plan to do this and I will follow it for the next 4 days. My goal is to have clear floors, and furniture and table surfaces in the living room, dining room and kitchen. If anyone has any areas they'd like to see cleaned up by New Year's Day, feel free to join me in this mini-challenge.

[SeeMyFeet]

I already started....at work....but you've inspired me to add some home items to the list.

Wow. The 1st is Friday! Time's a wastin'!

Time to make my list...

[onebyone]

Hi SeeMyFeet. Welcome!

I am starting as soon as I send this message. My goal is to stay focused until 4pm. So I'll do what I can between 1pm and 4 pm. I will set a timer and break every 30-45 minutes.

I am trying a new system. It has the following steps:

Clearing Out Living Room+ using Box System

1. Get three boxes and a trash bag.
2. Label Boxes stuff I need within next 10 days, keep to sort, and I don't know. Write today's date on the label.
3. Clear out a large area in my living room placing items I come across into the appropriate box.
4. Set the timer and take breaks, drink some water, breathe, celebrate the progress.
5. Stack boxes with the I don't know box at the back, keep to sort in front of it, and stuff I need in a clear space in the middle of the room.
6. Drink water. Breathe.
7. Sweep up whatever is left over and place into a trash bag. Do it fast. Get it done.
8. Drink water. Breathe.
9. Create staging area for sorting a box. Depending on my time limits, I can begin to sort. The rest will have to remain stacked in boxes.
10. Sort this box into appropriate (for me) "area" boxes labelled studio, billing/legal, kitchen/bath, bedroom, art supplies. Date these boxes on their labels.
11. Fill area boxes as I work through the room. If a box fills, remove it to the proper room.
12. 6 months from the date on the box, if the I don't know box(es) are untouched they are thrown away.

[onebyone]

Hello readers:

So I have successfully cleared all the surfaces of the living room and the floor is clean and has been swept. I will vacuum later. I filled my three boxes plus two more small ones and a few that are studio related, which is what I was expecting. I also filled 5 garbage bags (though they were cheap bags so not really too full) but 5 bags are tied and in the kitchen waiting for tomorrow when I will be able to bring them to the recycle/disposal center. This is good stuff. What I really need in the living room is a place to store throws. DH always uses a throw when he is sitting and then he just shrugs it off onto the floor and it lands in a heap. I end up bundling it up and placing it onto the chaise. It's not a good system. I don't want to see the throws unless he is using them so I need a storage space for them and I think this means I am getting an ottoman for that purpose.

Happy to have made some progress though I can't really see it. The floor is the biggest improvement which my cat will definitely appreciate. Kittyworld has vastly increased.

[Lexxiss]

Yay for mini-declutters! Thanks, onebyone!

We had Kirks DD and grandkids up for a sleepover this past weekend. After they left I took time and put everything back in order. It felt great to arise Monday for work having that accomplished.

I'm working on small things....sorted paperwork and paid bills this morning with plans for switching files to 2016 later today and prepping for taxes,etc.

This thread may motivate me to delve into the basement and reorganize. It seems that stuff just "splattered" all over after the last two rental projects. I will see how time goes. Right now my #1 priority is to get my food life back in order.

onebyone, I think your idea of marking boxes with dates is incredible! There is so much talk re: decluttering about things we never use or access but still keep around. Just getting rid of stuff that is never touched is brilliant! I can honestly say after all the mountains of stuff I got rid of that I never get up and think about something that is gone but rather enjoy the space I've made. Kudos!

[onebyone]

Hello Readers

Hi Lexxiss. Glad you popped by! I can't claim to have figured out the idea to date the boxes but I think it's a good one too. I'm going to test it out.

Seemyfeet how's it going today?

For me, so far, I have moved into the dining room area where the bulk of my disarray is. I've cleared off a bench and cleared out a lot of bags and condensed stuff into new boxes with labels. This system is not perfect. I'm not finished with the boxes but my goal is to create/reclaim the space in my apartment. Whatever I can use that was covered up before IS progress. I must stay focused on the positive change. My resistance to this project was very strong this morning. I really wanted to take the car.and do this and that and this and that and I thought I would easily use that as an excuse to not continue my housework. I told DH to keep the car and anything I need to do I can do after he comes home this evening. So I have three more hours left before that happens so I am going back to it. Will update later.

[Lexxiss]

Onebyone, I hope things improved after you found your wallet, oh I have experienced where you were yesterday, where you done so much work and it seems like things are worse than they were before. Perhaps a reward system based on the amount of bags or boxes you permanently remove?

By the way, I don't remember what the specific circumstance was but it was about six months ago and there was stuff all over the place. Don't remember if we were unpacking from my trip or what. I was ready to head out the door almost late for work and could not find my keys. I gotten used to all the clear spaces where it was easy to find things and I was so frustrated. For me, it was the realize that I didn't want to live that anymore.
When the grandkids left Saturday evening the house was a bomb. Remembering my keys, I took about 45 minutes and put everything away before I went to bed. My Monday was so much easier.

Well I did it. I went down to the basement this morning and got things as organized as they are going to be at this point. I had numerous empty boxes I could purge. Empty paint cans. Spackle that was all dried up. Bags of miscellaneous stuff that had been hauled back from projects was all sorted back into the specific areas. I found some things to give away some things to throw away. Once everything got hauled upstairs in the main floor looks like a bomb. I resolved to get everything to its proper place before I stopped. I could have done more. I could always do more. But I stopped. It was enough.

Happy new year!