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Thread: Setting a Decluttering Goal in Units of Time Using Flylady's Timer Method - July 2017

  1. #21
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    I am not posting, but I am reading and cheering for you!

  2. #22
    Senior Member Teacher Terry's Avatar
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    Yesterday I realized I had too many glasses and coffee cups so packed them up. Then looked at bookcase with 40 books an donly kept 10. Will look at a few other places today before making the run to the thrift store. Every time I think I could not possibly purge more I find some stuff. Keep up the good work everyone)

  3. #23
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    Good for you EJ to get out what was bothering you! The rest will get done.

  4. #24
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    Congrats to those of you getting stuff out the door and many thanks to those of you offering support - it means a lot.

    Only got an hour in today, but it's something. New total: 6.

  5. #25
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    Still slower progress today: only half an hour, so new total is 6.5.

    However, my handyman came by and fixed two faucets, the shower curtain rod, and the gate to the backyard, helped me move furniture, put together an Ikea cart I'd bought months ago, and braced a couple of bureaus to the wall so that they won't fall over on any of the young children who visit our home.

    I also made a meal for a friend who just had a new baby, got some grocery shopping done, and dealt with a bunch of work stuff I'd been procrastinating on, so the day felt moderately productive anyway.

  6. #26
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    EJ sounds like a quite productive day!!!

  7. #27
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    I did two more hours today and then just hit an emotional wall when I tried to get myself to do more. Opened up yet one more box of clutter and just thought, "Aaaah! I don't know what to do with this stuff!" And then I put the top back on the box and decided to take a break.

    I am remembering some things about what helps at this stage (the beginning) of doing 40 hours of decluttering:

    1. I am totally overwhelmed at this stage, so my motto is, "Do what's easy." That means tackle the stuff that will probably be mostly trash (stacks of old junk mail, etc.) and organize the stuff I am interested in organizing. Avoid the stuff that makes me panic (old financial records I'm not sure I need to keep or not). Also, I make a lot of trips to Goodwill even when I don't have much to drop off because I need the feeling of accomplishment that comes with getting stuff out of the house.

    2. I'm not too hard on myself about clinging to things I should probably get rid of. I think of each of these intensive decluttering periods as a "pass-through." That is, every time I do it I get rid of a LOT of stuff, so if I end up holding on to something I shouldn't, no big deal. It's like there are layers and getting down to the harder stuff gets easier once the easy stuff is gone, and I just have to have faith in that process.

    3. As somebody mentioned above, while I figure out a place for everything (and I'm worried I may find that I simply don't have enough space for some of this stuff in the house), it's fine to just dump like things in boxes, and it takes a certain amount of going through things to figure out what boxes I need. So far, I've figured out a box for pictures, a box for mementos, a box for blank cards and stationery, a box for Freecycle, a box for Goodwill, a box for hand-me-downs for a friend, a box for books, a box for old financial records. Yes, it's all a lot, but at least I will be able to see how much of each thing I have so that I can make some decisions about how to proceed.

    4. As I mentioned before, a lot of my work right now is going through around 12 boxes of clutter I never dealt with after a move six years ago that were out in the storage shed in my backyard. One thing I figured out this week is that if I'm not able to figure out a place in the house for everything in those 12 boxes that doesn't get thrown out, I'm giving myself permission to just put some boxes of stuff back in the storage shed. I doubt I'll end up putting more than 3-4 boxes back, but if I do, I'm not going to give myself a hard time about it. Reducing 12 boxes of clutter to 4 is progress, and life is too short to freak out about 4 boxes of things I'm not dealing with. I had this revelation today when I told a friend about my 12 boxes. She responded she has two boxes of stuff in her living room of stuff she is indecisive about, and she was sort of beating herself up about dealing with them. As soon as she said it, I thought, "Just stick them in attic and let yourself off the hook!" Yes, I'd like to live a completely clutter-free life, but I also don't want to be too hard on myself. I'd love to have the interior of my house virtually clutter-free - and MUCH more decluttered than it is now - but I want to be gentle about it with myself too.

    Thanks for indulging my long-windedness here. This is such a tough, emotional process for me that it's great to jot these thoughts down in a community of others who have the same issues on their minds.

    New total: 8.5.

  8. #28
    Geila
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    Congrats on your progress ejchase!

    The decision-making process of addressing clutter is really exhausting. Even for a non-hoarder, so I'm glad that you are being gentle with yourself and honoring your need for breaks and realistic expectations.

    Two hours of emotionally exhausting and difficult work is a long time. Kudos to you!

  9. #29
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    Thanks so much, Geila.

    So many of my friends and family seem effortlessly organized, so I often feel a lot of shame when in the midst of this process. Your kind words are very healing!

    AND I managed to eke out another 30 minutes after I gave myself a break. New total: 9 hours.

  10. #30
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    You are rocking it!

    do you see your hand me down friend often? Do you wish you could see them more? Maybe make a date to get together and share the box as a reward for filling it.

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