That's the thing...when we clear out the things that don't matter, we can uncover the things that do matter very much! (Though we have to also be careful we don't let sentiment also become clutter...we don't have to keep *everything*!)
Well said. I doubt I'll find something as emotionally charged again, but Friday I cleaned out the cook book drawer, threw out half of them but did find one with healthy 30 minute recipes.
Yesterday I tackled the tupperware drawer, and mercilessly threw everything out that wasn't part of a compatible series.
On sentiment becoming clutter: I do not attach to physical objects very often. I'm doing this to get that little 'task accomplished' dopamine shot, something very absent from work lately. I love seeing the before/after, not like at work were I maybe see my figures inching a little closer to that quarter's target, but a real physical difference
I would love to hear about your motivations!
Thanks for sharing! All very recognizable to be honest, especially how much it helps momentum if you do even the minimum.
That I'm stealth decluttering is not only for funsies, but also to keep focused on the fact that I'm doing it for me. I'm irrationally sensitive to feeling pressured with chores like this.
Today I discarded some older boxes, of the Switch and my graphics card. I usually keep them until the guarantee has expired, but with the 2 year minimum on electronics (over here in the EU) they often get forgotten afterwards and take up a lot of space.
Still a work in progress, but the garage has been keeping me busy while I'm between jobs. We've lived in this house for over a year, and that was pretty much the dumping ground for whatever we couldn't fit somewhere from the start. Garage projects are one of my happy things, so that hasn't been sitting right.
Kayc and I have spent a bunch of time clearing things out, cleaning up, and finding places for everything. The local buy nothing group has people coming by all the time to pick things up they want. On Saturday I put up the framework for this pegboard. Hung the pegboard itself on Sunday. Yesterday I got in a bunch of the hooks and started putting things up. The picture is close to where it currently stands. I'm getting there bit by bit! Soon the bench will be clear and I'll start on a bike rack - for the garage.
Nice!!!!
Today: Too lazy to even do laundry. I did go for a 3 mile walk and a 1 mile run though. Go figure.
Wednesday I threw away some more PC component boxes (motherboard, CPU, ...), today I cleaned the oven windows - took them out one by one. Looks sparkly clean again
Frustrations in decluttering:
About two weeks ago, I ordered some cable management items for my home office from Ikea, and I picked to option to collect the items in store at a specific time. My appointed time came and went without any confirmation email.
Today, I tried to call them, and then stayed on hold for hours. I tried both the French and the English lines (I guess that's one advantage of being bilingual - sometimes one line goes faster than the other). It's like they have one person to answer the phone for the entire country or something. I then realized that I could try to cancel my order through the website. Well, about an hour later, I get an email saying the cancellation failed due to a system error, and the email asked me to call them.
In short: no progress. I'll have to try again tomorrow. Which sucks, because I was hoping to install the cable holders this weekend.
One thing I discovered today: They actually have shelf separators, which is exactly what I need. Once I can get my order cancelled (and refunded, because the payment went through two weeks ago), looks like I'll have one more item to order.
Edit: After waiting for 55 minutes this morning, I was able to talk to somebody and have my order cancelled. Still waiting on the refund to redo it again.
I need to figure out something to do with my office area. I've got no drawers on my desk, but lots of things that should go in drawers. I have three storage bins in the corner that are 1/4 things I use semi regularly, 1/4 things I only need super occasionally, 1/4 stuff I could totally get rid of, and 1/4 DS, PSP and other game cases with no games in them. I also keep thinking about either making or buying myself a new desk, with visions of built in cable management and other small things that'd make it more useful. But realistically, if I could just figure out some better storage, it'd be great. I should probably just go shopping for some drawer and shelf units.
Past weekend, I threw some more cardboard boxes out, re-organized the cookie drawer (and found way too many cookies past due date because they fell behind other calorie bombs :oops:) and cleaned up the 'miscellaneous' drawer (junk drawer is the correct term I believe). I'm always amazed at the amount of debris (mostly crumbs) I always find in there. I mean, these drawers are closed 99% of the time, how does that get in there?!
I've been procrastinating on this for a few weeks, but this week I want to post at least one ad on Kijiji for my French-language comic books. This is by far the biggest and most demanding task of my decluttering process, and I need to get it going ASAP.
Had my sons clean out/organize the garage, while I took care of some pressure washing and helping my wife detail the Mazda.
Looks much better in and around the garage now.
I'm trying to figure out what to do about organizing the area next to my office. I think cube storage units would be the best option, because I have a mix of things I'd want in bins, and stuff like books and games that would go on the shelves.
Has anyone seen anything like an insert that turns one 13" cube into two 6" drawers or something? I'd like to do that for some smaller stuff, but I can't seem to find anything like that. I could try and find a small drawer unit to go with the cube units, but I really don't have all that much that needs to go in drawers, so I'd rather not have the extra expense.
I'm trying to figure out what to do about organizing the area next to my office. I think cube storage units would be the best option, because I have a mix of things I'd want in bins, and stuff like books and games that would go on the shelves.
Has anyone seen anything like an insert that turns one 13" cube into two 6" drawers or something? I'd like to do that for some smaller stuff, but I can't seem to find anything like that. I could try and find a small drawer unit to go with the cube units, but I really don't have all that much that needs to go in drawers, so I'd rather not have the extra expense.
I've seen something like this at Ikea. Searching "Kallax" on Ikea Canada's website brought several options for inserts. I just measured with my bookshelves, and the Kallax shelf size is 33.5 CM (a hair above 13"). I was not able to find it easily on the website, but I know they have various kinds of bins and inserts with drawers and inner shelves.
Container store has some stuff like that too.
Ah the fridge... It sometimes feel like it turns into a cradle of filth the second I turn my back, spunge and cleaning spray still in hand.
The past few days, I went through our home office shelves again with a more critical eye and threw more stuff out, cleaned up the garage junk drawer, a kitchen drawer and some smaller stuff.
I must say, it's nice to work from home in a tidy(ish) environment. Now if only I could get the missus to go through our kid's old clothes...
Ha! Speaking of kids old clothes we went through our daughters close and got rid of four big totes of clothes and another half dozen pair of shoes. At least half of her wardrobe. It is nice to not have clothes spilling out everywhere now.
Still on the bandwagon, even if I'm not posting daily Decluttered one of our daughter's closets, another kitchen shelf, and the liquor cabinet.
Pages