Decluttering my house (and my life for that matter) has become a goal of mine.
One thing I did back in October was make a public declaration on my blog to get rid of 100 things in 100 days. I'm up to 57 and my deadline is Dec 31st. I'm not entirely sure I'm going to make 100 things (although I'm going to keep trying), but I have gotten rid of a significant amount of clutter and managed to streamline a lot. It's really freeing to get rid of things, once you get into the swing of it.
I've donated a lot to Goodwill and I've sold a fair number of things on Ebay as well.
.
I luv your concept====i'm going to have to steal that idea ---get rid of 100 things in a 100 days!!!! whooo!!! i'm going to go make a list and get started
I am redoing my room after Christmas....buying a bigger bed and getting new bedroom furniture, so I am planning a massive "trash" party when that happens. I am going to do the whole "if I haven't used it in the last year, it's gone!" Too many times in the past, I have kept things for the mere fact that I could possibly need it in the future. I need to get away from that train of thought.
Here's a hint. We decided to replace some of our bedroom furniture, and the reality set in that not all furniture is as big as it seems. I measured the INSIDE of the drawers in a piece we had years ago that was moved to another room. I compared it with what we were currently using. No wonder it was more cramped. The drawers for quite a few inches (width, depth and height) smaller. I took a tape measure with me to the store and made a point of measuring the INSIDE of the drawers. The biggest pieces usually had the smallest drawers.
Since I reclaimed 25 hangers last year, I haven't done a lot of replacing. However, I haven't cleaned out the chest of drawers. Maybe that will be my Saturday morning project this weekend.
I loved the concept behind the flylady, but after a couple of weeks the emails just got to be totally overwhelming. I wound up shuffling them off to a holding folder and eventually deleting them w/out reading them, which winds up being counterproductive.
I still implement some of the concepts I learned from the site, though. Making sure my sink is empty and "shined" every night before I go to bed has been a big one.
I loved the concept behind the flylady, but after a couple of weeks the emails just got to be totally overwhelming. I wound up shuffling them off to a holding folder and eventually deleting them w/out reading them, which winds up being counterproductive.
I still implement some of the concepts I learned from the site, though. Making sure my sink is empty and "shined" every night before I go to bed has been a big one.
.
I tried to sign up for the newsletter and message boards but it kept giving me errors. Maybe that was a good thing....
I am going to start with 15 minutes each Mon-Thurs after work and try for more like 30 on the weekends (in addition to the everyday cleaning that has to be done). I am good at washing my dishes--it's the putting them away that I am bad with, but I put them away and shined the sink and it looks so good and such a simple thing to do. I guess it's all about habits.
the biggest thing i got from Flylady was - you can do ANYTHING in 15 minutes! And after getting that into my head i realize most tasks don't even take the full fifteen. extra time for me. I also had to stop the emails and junk from coming- there was just too much of it and sometimes i'd find myself getting sucked into it and reading it all for way too long, very counter-productive.
i really think if clutter is a big problem for you- then the fifteen minute rule can really get you there- just a little bit every day and a commitment not to bring more of it into the house and you can get yourself the organization that you need.
i really like the 100 things in 100 days idea. or maybe something less daunting - 52 things in 52 weeks?
lizziep - Thanks for the reminder that "you can do ANYTHING in 15 minutes!" I've noticed that my DW, who doesn't have a clutter problem, will frequently do something by hand in, say, about 15 minutes, while I spend half an hour setting up the tools to do it automatically, LOL.
I just found this thread...first let me say I am a flybaby who is still learning to fly. I dont use all the daily tools...but i do make my bed daily and swish ad swipe my bathroom toilet and sinks daily in the mornings. I also keep my sink empty.
I give stuff to goodwill ...I have gotten my wardrobe from the goodwill store this year as i lose weight. No reason to pay alot for temporary clothing.
I use freecycle.org ...its a great place to get rid of nice items and bless someone else with them. Last year we were able to bless a young family with a twin bed and box springs. I was also blessed with a 52" projection TV. Its awesome! EVERYTHING IS FREE!!!
My daughter just bought a house and moved out..I have decluttered alot of her stuff but last week i got 90 gallons of clutter out of my dinning room and kitchen...
I think body clutter and house clutter go hand and hand...
hugs to all
wow---jules' you're on a roll---as for me i cleaned and scrubbed the refridgerator!!! so the only gross surprises in there were about 3 or 4 rotten soggy looking cucumbers---but in all --not bad but took like 2 hours!!
since i start winter break in a few days i'm planning on doing major decluttering ---i cant stand it anymore !!!
Thinking about goals for next year, I've been thinking about my long-term goal of decluttering and cleaning my home again. And I had kind of a realization about it...if I can lose weight by simply consistently staying on plan every day, and little by little losing the fat over time, then there's no reason I can't take the same approach with my home. Even if it's only 15 minutes, or 30 minutes per day...just a little bit every day will get me there eventually.
So yesterday I spent 2 hours decluttering and cleaning a 2x3 section of my kitchen counters. More than 15 minutes, yes, but I had the time and the energy to do it, and I wanted to do it. Now I have a shockingly decluttered area in my kitchen. Awesome!
Haven't quite decided what small area I will concentrate on today.
I got my entire office area decluttered yesterday.
I took 3 large bags to Goodwill, dumped off over 60 magazines in the recycle area at Whole Foods, and am about to put about 40 items on Ebay to hopefully pad my Christmas budget a little.
I also have a huge pile of old paperwork than needs to be shredded but my little bitty office shredder can't keep up. It overheats after about 15 mins of steady use. I'm wondering if there's someplace in town that I can take all this stuff to shred it. I wonder if Kinkos has shredders that I can use. Hmmmm .... need to go look.
My biggest dilemma now is from old client files. I've been a photographer a LOOOONG time - meaning I have stacks of old film negatives from weddings from 15-20 years ago. I honestly don't know what to do with them. I have no idea how to track down these clients anymore. Some of them are from different states. And I'm sure some of them aren't married anymore. I cringe at the idea of throwing away negs from a client file - but I just can't keep these for another 20 years. *sigh* I'm having a real dilemma in trying to figure out how to proceed.
My biggest dilemma now is from old client files. I've been a photographer a LOOOONG time - meaning I have stacks of old film negatives from weddings from 15-20 years ago. I honestly don't know what to do with them. I have no idea how to track down these clients anymore. Some of them are from different states. And I'm sure some of them aren't married anymore. I cringe at the idea of throwing away negs from a client file - but I just can't keep these for another 20 years. *sigh* I'm having a real dilemma in trying to figure out how to proceed.
Is it possible to transfer negatives to disc? I have no idea.
It is, but it's expensive. Much of what I have are medium format negatives - the big square negatives from professional format cameras. To have them properly scanned can cost around $1 per image. And we're talking probably 3000+ images for multiple weddings over the years.
While I'd love to do it - it would nicely solve the dilemma - I simply can't afford to invest $3000 and more in client files from which I'll never make another penny.
