A LOOK BACK
In past years, I have offered one or two decluttering challenges a year. Last year, the group members asked for more. I’m always up for a challenge, so I agreed, but as I had expected, many burned out or were discouraged by the obstacles that happened in certain months of the year – like summer when kids are at home or we are prone to venture out for a hike or a trip. I was a little more intentional at the start of the year to help set members up for some success in the month ahead. But unbeknownst to us, there would be a pandemic (among other things)! I’d say we have had our dose of wins and failures through the months (although they’re only failures if you look at them that way). I’d say they are learning opportunities…we can remind ourselves to set lower goals for certain months and push harder in others. This last month I offered a paid accountability tier for new members who were looking for prepping a plan as well as getting a daily dose of extra accountability from me.
A LOOK AHEAD
While not all members have kids or are teachers, I don’t know many people who have not been affected in some way by the uncertainty of the start of this school year. Some have grandkids or neighbors who are needing support for the challenges of virtual/distanced learning. Or just the heaviness and weariness of this time has been overwhelming for many. So I think we are wavering on our tasks during all of these decision-making times. But we are pressing on! We have a set our intentions and taking things a day at a time. I’m enjoying getting to know new friends to the community and it has been amazing to hear of the breakthroughs that were made just by thinking through some questions and coming up with a game plan.
I may have more to share next time around but as we prepped for an early start in our own homeschool days, we worked on clearing the surfaces of some desks last month. Here are the results…they aren’t perfect but they will give us some places to learn and create.
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This is our office desk. The previous owners added the nursery decor and we just never changed it after the girls moved out of this room into what we used to use as the office but maybe one day it’ll look like an actual office…or even a regular room. Stuff from last school year landed here and didn’t move until recently. It’s easier to work without feeling suffocated by the stuff and piles.
This is my desk. It’s funny because we get all our (Ikea) furniture/deaks from the buy/sell group I host for $5-10…we got this desk with the black top and white legs and then we got a white top with black legs from a friend. They seem to hold up better than the expensive and heavy desk we bought when we first moved in. Anyhow, this is where I do most of my work.
This is the teen’s work area. Although…after we got it cleared, she moved to another table to do her work and stuff was returned to this desk. Yesterday morning she said she wants to use this area again so we restored it to its clear-off state yesterday afternoon.
This is the tween’s desk. It’s not always like this but she likes her art and STEM projects. There will be parts from one project used to try to create something else from another project. It’s all fun and games until you need to do actual work. So from time-to-time, it is cleared off and it should hopefully be better through the school year than it was over the summer break.
Related Posts
- Digital Declutter
- Out-of-the-Box Shelter-in-Place Decluttering Ideas
- Decluttering-Related Resources
- Declutter Prep (6-part series)
- Join The Declutter Community (opens at the end of each month for the next month challenge group)
Have you been decluttering while you’re at home?