Mini Declutter - March 27 - April 3, 2016
 

Hey Folks! I came across this thread last week. Nationalparker mentioned she would start the new thread (March 21 – March 27) but it wasn’t easy to do from her phone. I am wondering if something has happened to onebyone that she didn’t get a chance to start last week’s thread. Even though I’m a newbie – I am beginning this week’s thread – even if that last day of the period… I am wondering if you (Lexxiss, silverbirch, curlyjax, and others) are still interested in this “declutter” thread? I hope so ---

The purpose of this thread is:

Mini Decluttering.
Pick something you can accomplish in a week.
Big projects can be accomplished by baby steps.
What can be done in a week to make your environment better?
What irritating project can you put to rest this week?

Last Day of the WEEK
 

Today, is the last day of this week's declutter... I don't just need accountability to declutter ... but just to get some semblance of order in my life and my home. My goal for this day is to finish my dishes … and have a “shiny sink” (like flylady says) by the time I go to bed tonight.

I hope all of you have had a peaceful Sunday. :dancer:

Hi.

Hi Beloved Warrior. Great you started this thread.

I've been minimally checking in and was waiting until our regular start of Monday to go again but, like you Beloved Warrior, I am also anxious to get back to making progress in my place.

I'll make a list and post it tomorrow.

PS. The thread dates are. Sun March 27 to Sun April 3rd. I have tried to edit the thread title before with no success. Maybe you can figure that out!

Thanks for getting us started, Beloved Warrior!

I haven't been posting much as I've had family visiting and am dealing w/eviction process with tenants.

I have been keeping up at home. Nothing much extra but I "did" put all my bead-stuff back in it's place this morning. I had started a few small earring projects then got called into work on Saturday. I was having a difficult time finding things with them strewn all over. They are all put away and I can bring them out again any time I wish. Credit. That's about it. I have put a few more things into my "thrift" box and haven't brought anything new in. That's most important these days.

Take care everyone!

Thread date changed (mod permission needed to do that).

:wave: Oh yes, still decluttering! And lots of unplanned travel in my future this week so I'm not spelling out a list of things to be done. My plan is to keep things tidy as I work through the challenges. I was very successful in clearing my desk at work yesterday.

Good luck everyone.

Busy week here (I feel I keep saying that but it's the busiest time of my work year, until June, then I enter a more relaxed schedule) so my projects will be minimal, but did clear a few things for Goodwill. I hate to let a few of these items go - one a wonderfully warm, pretty robe from my mom, but in honesty, I don't wear it. It's cumbersome and the sleeves catch on pans if I'm in the kitchen, and think someone else might get good use out of it. I was keeping it for sentimental reasons and no need. I find we do well with a weekly drop off at the Goodwill near us.

I DID, however, clear out a bunch of items in my office (well, cubicle) and now it looks so much better. Recycle got a bunch of stuff.

onebyone - Oh GREAT and thank you!! I'm glad this thread is still going and I'm glad that things were cleaned up with the date.

Well, I didn't get much done yesterday... so, here is my list for the week. I will [X] off once I've completed the item. :)

- Dishes and shiny sink (nightly is my goal).
- Kitchen counter top, island, table -- cleaned off and put stuff away.
- Breakdown and clean up 4 shelves and take to friend's
- Clean up my "nest area" around my chair
- Organize and purge dresser drawers (put clothes away)
- Clean out Frig
- Photograph things to sell
- Clean oven
- Total Bathroom (thankfully it's very small :) )

A friend's husband cleaned out her bookshelf and gave me all her books (she has dementia). I went through one box and kept out 21 books. Since I've been retired I have read a ton of books... mainly mysteries. I have decided to invest the time to read my friends books as they are more beneficial for my emotional and spiritual well being. I still have about 8 boxes in my van to go through. Once I've gone through the books they will be donated to the church library or sent overseas to a mission work in Liberia.

I hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew. I don't want to set myself up for failure. I figure the more precise I make my goals... and if I publish them... I will be more apt to do them. :crossed:

Lexxiss: good job on putting the beads back for easier access once you need them. Sorry about the eviction notices... that always makes things more difficult. I hope you had a terrific time with your family.

silverbirch: Safety for your unplanned travels. And WTG on clearing off your desk :) Atta Girl!!

nationalparker: must be "clean the work station" week... both you and silverbirch have accomplished that. You say it's the busiest time... so, I'm guessing accounting work. Thankfully, I'm retired, so no more work stations to clean... or projects / paperwork to finish up for others. Just my hoard of paperwork (yikes! I could have an avalanche and they might not find me :lol:) The robe sounds beautiful... from your mom :) I understand the sentimentality of things. I have 3 - 5 bins of my dad's stuff... I just don't know how to manage it... not to mention his and my mom's pictures... TOO MUCH!! (breathe Gail... breathe) ... One day at a time ;)

Enjoy your week folks... and be kind to yourself :hug:

Back to Basics List for the week
 

Hello Everyone

I'm going to begin the process toward "making my apartment look Normal" for the semi-annual Landlord visit. It'll happen by the end of next month or the beginning of May. I could have avoided this last year when he said he would trust us and leave the heat/air conditioning control box unlocked, but I said no, knowing it would force me to get it together (decluttering-wise) if it got away from me (it did) before his visit. I am glad I did cause I would not be fitting it into my schedule otherwise.

So today I want to visually clean up the sight line in the livingroom, especially the view from the lazyboy where DH likes to sit in the evening. I'm sitting there right now and I need to clear off the following:

In the living room
1) clear the surface of the chaise to the right of me
2) clear/declutter the boxes on the floor at the foot of the chaise and on the seat of the chair that is beside the chaise
3) clear/declutter the stuff sitting at the base of the tv stand straight ahead of me
4) clear and wipe off the top of the coffee table

In addition, DH did dishes and I need to
5) put them away
6) do the rest of them
7) clear off the top of the kitchen table
8) clear out underneath the table


In our bedroom I need to
9) sort all clothes that are piled on the floor
10) clear space around my dresser
11) unpack my suitcase for Pete's sake!


The bathroom is awful. It needs real cleaning.
12) clean bathtub tiles
13) clean the tub
14) clean the sink and faucets
15) clean the toilet
16) sweep the floor
17) vacuum the floor
18) wash the floor
19) wipe the mirror and the walls
20) declutter tiny cabinet to left of the sink: surface and drawer and bottom shelves

So: 5 days left in this challenge. I have 20 items on my list. I am therefore aiming for 4 items off the list per day. That's a true challenge! I'm taking it on.

Day 1/March 29
Items completed listed here:


Bye!

OH!! onebyone I LOVE your transparency and honesty. I felt like a mess writing my list, and not a detailed list because I didn't want to be judged. But clearly this is a SAFE place to let the underwear drawers even be open and discussed. THANK YOU! By the way, my underwear drawer is empty because they are all in a hamper sitting on my couch - which I've renamed my closet/dresser :lol: On my list -- I add ALL you said re: the bathroom. (I updated my list).

I ordered the Beck book (red) and should get it by the 9th. I look forward to reading and learning. ENJOY your day!

Blessings -- Gail :dance:

Well, I hereby offer to help all with laundry - my fave chore. Even the putting away the freshly laundered clothes. I used to despise it, but then started thinking of how lucky I was to have a stack going back into my dresser or things to hang up, that I could do the laundry without going out to a laundromat, etc., all the sappy things. And it worked! When I fold my hubby's stuff, I think of one thing that I'm appreciative for about him for each pair of jeans, etc. It's often the same things - he's a hard worker, he's tolerant, he's patient, he loves me as I am.

I wonder if I could get the same mind reset on bathrooms? I hate doing bathrooms. I recently discovered (don't ask how) that my face wipes put the most gorgeous shine on a faucet and clear soap scum out of a tub with [relative] ease. So I bought a huge pack of them at Marshall's - coconut scent - and use them almost nightly on me and the taps. :) Granted, they don't disinfect each time, but a nice shine. That will be my chore for this evening. Clean the master bath from top to bottom. Just thinking about it has me thinking of excuses. I told DH let's just set the timer and GO AT IT cleaning-wise for 30 minutes.

Nationalparker... you're on! I'll ship my laundry to you, or better yet, I'll just come and deliver it :lol:

What type of face wipes are you using to great a double shine (face & faucet).

Thanks for the tip. :D

no progress
 

Just checking in. I've made no progress on my list yet. I have two more very heavily scheduled days, so not sure if I'll even do anything until the weekend, which is already almost all spoken for too. We'll see.

Well, despite MY goals to really deep clean my master bathroom the other night, we ended up doing some retirement discussion and hitting the sack early after a larger meal (with more cleanup, I guess was my excuse). Working from home this morning and LOVE to do that - I get so, so much work done without the commute in. I did, however, go through drawers in the vanity and discard items that I haven't used in a while. Hard, since it's like I'm seeing my money thrown away, but the old Mary Kay satin hands have sat idle, so out they go, etc.

Goal today is to put away Easter decor. It is a fairly quick project, but I leave the bin down for the items I miss and "find" the next day :) I hate to have to set aside the cute bunny plates that I use for bread/fruit/dessert plates. They're so cheerful. I *may* need to keep them out for spring cheer.

Beloved Warrior - the wipes I bought were a 60-pack of Coconut Body Prescriptions for $3.99 ... and the container actually self-seals fairly decently still instead of staying peeled back and drying out :) I don't know that it's a "name" brand, but they smell pleasant and do the job.

Oh ladies... I've not been on top of my list either. I mean I get so close to finalizing one thing and then get distracted. I leave Saturday and there is so much I want to get done because (here's the biggest oxymoron) I'm having someone come and clean while I'm gone :rofl: Yup -- I have to clean for the cleaning person... DUH!!

Nationalparker? I looked up "Coconut Body Prescriptions" online and can't find anything. Is there any additional info on the packet to identify it? Where did you get them? Thank you :hug:

There is comfort is coming here and finding I'm not the only one struggling to tackle what I want to do. Easter decor is corralled but not wrapped/packed up yet. I can easily do that tomorrow morning. DH is now working both days this weekend, so project plans for tonight will hold until tomorrow when I'm home alone. Goal = cleared tops of things. Dining room table back to just the place settings and not the past two days' mail, magazines, etc. Kitchen counters, etc.

Beloved Warrior - Since I have never had luck with posting a photo unless it's already online, I looked on amazon.com for those wipes and they have a Vitamin C one, but not the Coconut ones. (And that deal was apparently a great one since 33 of the V-C ones are $7.99 and i got 60 for $3.99 ...) I saw one that is now sold on Ebay (so you can see the packaging).

Good Morning!

Well, I'm going to set a timer and hit all the clutter spots this morning. I'm leaving the house about 9am... so I have 3 hours -- no 2.5, I have to shower and pack too. Then I'll be heading out for a week away to :celebrate: I turn 61 today. I sure hope this will be the year of more discipline (maybe I'll even grow up a little) :lol:

Nationalparker: I picked up some at Walmart. They probably are not the exact ones you have... but, I'll give them a try.

See you all in the next thread. OH! I got the pink book from the library - mine didn't get here yet. So I'll be taking it as reading material this weekend. ENJOY!
:dance:

Happy Birthday, BelovedWarrior! Enjoy your time away!

OK, it's noon here. I just did 4 hours out in the yard. Mostly just misc. weeding, etc. Some of the ground is not soft enough to dig yet. I figure this time of the year anything I do moves me forward. I won't get back in the yard until next week.

Until then, I continue my 10 minutes a day decluttering and keep my laundry and dishes current each day. I notice my life is much smoother when I do and that leaves more time to focus on myself.

I have a small project going. I pulled some type of baby cart from near the dumpster in Glenwood last fall. I figured I could fix it up and make a few bucks. Last time I was over I loaded it into our big vehicle and it eventually made it's way over here. I pulled it out before DH went back over and brought it in the house. I got air in the tires (they are holding) and started the clean up. I found a broken handle, probably why it was at the dumpster. I found the company online and emailed them. I've had a response and I sent back pictures. The part may be "covered". We shall see, but what I did find is that brand new the retail is $899.00. Wow. It's worth fixing even if I purchase the part. The Facebook yard sales are hot for selling. I'll let you all know the end result.

Just a super quick note to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Beloved Warrior! May this next 365 day trip around the sun be a grand one! Better check-in tomorrow. I know I've missed you on your trip, but the happy wishes are winging over to ya!

One of the things I did when I wasn't posting here was get caught up on checking credit cards -- yay! That's the first time in many months that I've been caught up there.

I did a bunch of work on email yesterday, but since I wasn't keeping track, here, I don't know exactly how much progress I made. Time to start keeping track again, because it's motivating!

Mail stack. Current state: one day's mail. Goal: empty.
Yesterday's progress: none

Tickler. Current state: today. Goal: today.
Yesterday's progress: caught up

In Box. Current state: a bunch of stuff that I want to deal with today. Goal: empty.
Yesterday's progress: caught up

Email. Current state: 1150 total, 432 unread. Goal: empty.
Yesterday's progress: a little progress

Checkbook. Current state: new statement arrived last week. Goal: balanced as soon as statement arrives.
Yesterday's progress: none

Credit cards. Current state: caught up. Goal: checked as soon as statements arrive.
Yesterday's progress: none needed