THE GREAT DECLUTTER SERIES
This is a bonus update to the 6-part decluttering series. Below are the links to the posts. If you want to read the whole thing in one post, head over to this page.
Overview | 5 Steps | 6 Options | Programs | Tools + Tips | Reminder
Our group took one week to prep our heads and hearts to declutter. More about our group: We are young and not-as-young, married with very little ones and others with grown ones, some empty nesters, others with those who come and go, we work full-time or from home or part-time or give of our time, we live here and there in the US, we have plans to dig into our community and get rooted, we have plans to do missions work overseas, some of us have moved around a lot and others of us have lived in the same home for over 4 decades…as you see, the members of our small but mighty group are all on a different journey in life and we are also all in a different place in our decluttering journey. It has looked different for us – some of us have just 5 minutes each day devoted for the tasks, some of us have an hour or two, some of us are finding that it is more about having a place for everything and having everything in its place, and others are dropping off carloads of items to donate. We will have until the end of the month together but I’m so proud of each of my friends, of the transformations that are not only taking place in their homes but in their hearts – of seeing things from a different perspective – how we use things, consume things, share things, give things.
Image Source: Kathi Lipp / Clutter Free Academy
LESSONS
This whole decluttering thing may seem so silly to many people and if you’re one of those people, you can pass on this post…we can still be friends though. :p But we are having a wonderful time in our decluttering group…processing the things and the thoughts. I wanted to share some of what my friends have learned just from this past week about decluttering and stuff:
This week seems to have been more of a challenge. The “newness” of a new year and goals is wearing off and we’re realizing the realities of life that may take time away from decluttering. These are all good things and can help us re-evaluate what we’re doing in all areas of our life. Some have been in this journey for a long time so it is getting to those hard areas that need tougher decision-making.
- This one has been harder because I tackled the harder areas like the downstairs storage. It was a little depressing because I felt the keepsakes were a bit of a roadblock. Will keep going…
- I’m learning that having a partially empty drawer of shelf really is satisfying. Also, I would apparently be an expert Tetris player because it amazing how much stuff I had crammed into my tiny closet! I’ve removed 5 trash bags worth and it is still pretty full.
- An ongoing struggle for me is keeping up with the daily and ongoing stuff (dishes, laundry, picking up) and still having time for focused decluttering. And maybe it isn’t exactly a time issue, but a having the energy and drive to do chores. I seem to only have a certain amount of “cleaning energy” each day, and it is never enough to get through all the things.
- Realizing I am probably being unrealistic about what papers I save, e.g., book recommendations, articles, etc.
- In some ways it was more difficult than expected. I know what I want to declutter, but it’s finding the uninterrupted time to do so. I tend to set lofty goals and even in everyday tasks find I underestimate how much time I need to get something done. I’ve gotten better at setting my stopwatch and seeing how long a task takes and planning appropriately. Other ways it’s been easier as I’m motivated to get my home decluttered.
- Someone who comes to my house weekly noticed there are spaces that are cleared off!
- I am excited about decluttering so this has been easy knowing that I need to check in with a picture. I’m hoping to get decluttered enough to have things cleaned as well as find things to decorate and figure out where to hang some decorations, frames, shelves, etc. Hoping a friend will come help me with interior designing. 😉 Accountability is something that definitely helps keep me motivated and moving! I really like being able to find what I need because it’s where it’s supposed to be and not buried under a ton of papers or hiding from me. LOL!
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My Before and After Photos
The following are some before and after photos plus my comments/notes that I shared as I decluttered a spot each day last week. I’m following along with the Declutterathon checklist (from Happy Organized Life) but a week after that group/challenge started.
Day 8: Rest
Much needed day of rest and celebrating a friend’s birthday…will be back at it tomorrow. My parents are coming to pick some oranges from our tree and they usually like to help with other stuff here and there so they will probably help declutter some stuff outside 👍🏻
Day 9: 1 drawer of clothing
This morning I will declutter 1 drawer of clothing. I dropped off 2 bags at church yesterday – one with shoes for Badjao and one with a few toiletries and hat for neighbors in need/chance of showers. I have a few things on swap to offer for free and have posted a few new things. We were somehow given a whole giant pile of old unused binder paper so I will probably see if any is usable and donate to an after school program. And trying to figure out when my parents will be coming over since our one and only car also needs some major maintenance this afternoon.
A few items leaving but a few “new-to-me” “hand-me-ups” to replace them…and I straighten the items up a bit.
Day 10: Toiletries (linen closet since that’s where some of the extra toiletries were)
After lunch I will declutter toiletries (I don’t think we have many more extras after the last clean out but it’s on the Declutterathon list) and a shelf of the linen closet for 10-15 minutes.
We just cleared some old sheets to donate for an animal rescue organization so there is space but it can be better utilized…will clear out a few other things too.
Didn’t clear our much but did find some stuff to kick out…and could be better organized but I’m satisfied with it for now…one more spot with toiletries I will look at later.
Day 11: Freezer
After lunch I will declutter the freezer for 10 minutes. I don’t expect anything too exciting in there as whoever likes to make frozen usually get it eaten in a timely matter…it’s not me because I am not great at anything frozen and/or microwavable. As you see, we do like Trader Joe’s. ❤️ I wish we had one of those two-level sliding tray/drawers because we drink lots of green smoothies so our fruits are always smooshed at the bottom. We have an ice cubes drawer and an ice cube trays drawer since we don’t have a water dispenser that has ice…I’m constantly having to make cubes when we need them. Slight tangent but trying to think through if there’s a better/easier way.
As I expected, nothing in the freezer…I did see that books is on the list for tomorrow so I will probably go ahead and start on that this afternoon. We go through them often but we actually do read most of the books we keep and have some picture and board books when little friends and cousins come over.
Day 12: Books
This afternoon around 3pm I will declutter some books for 10 minutes. I actually did these drawers a few months ago but because I use the stuff in them from time to time, things get lost in the shuffle. I already did a few minutes yesterday so the drawers are more or less okay but need to head back to check on my little cubes and some of the girls’ books…they already got rid of a handful last night.
No more books in this first drawer. Just some papers
They’re all in the middle drawer.
The bottom drawer just has old planners I need to go through to see if there are important notes in them.
Kinda the same except no books on top now but there is one more I plan to take out to remove from the house.
The girls took out about half a dozen+ books and it is straightened. I think they can do some more but it’s not too bad for now.
Day 13: Paper
Oh boy, it’s been a long day. Since I went through a lot of papers last year, I think I know what’s left…kids’ school papers…don’t have energy to tackle any of that tonight so I reached over to the drawer where I reorganized the books and will see if any of these papers need to go. It’s not a lot…maybe a pile of 50.
Didn’t get rid of much…about a dozen sheets recycled. Some need to be processed. Will have more time tomorrow to do more. One kiddo is under-the-weather so we’re keeping things low-key.
Day 14: Digital
Today is working on digital. The 10yo is still not well so we are keeping it quiet through the weekend. Since my inbox isn’t a problem anymore I’m actually working on clearing some photos that accidentally got transferred over to an account when I got a new phone. My main account actually needs more attention but this one is a quicker task and each week/month I send photos of anyone else we have them of because it doesn’t make sense to take photos that are never seen or shared. If you think we have photos of and/or with you, let me know…I will certainly send them your way if I haven’t already. ❤️
I spent about 15-20 minutes with a few tiny breaks to check on the kid. I might work on it for a bit more later but I’m happy to have things more sort. (Ignore the time on the screenshot…I was waiting for the other number to update but it never did so I took a screenshot of the storage instead of on Drive.)
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