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Thread: Another 40 Hours of Decluttering Using Flylady's Timer Method: July-August 2019

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  1. #1
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    Another 40 Hours of Decluttering Using Flylady's Timer Method: July-August 2019

    Hi All,

    I'm a teacher who is on a reduced schedule for about four months a year, mid-December through mid-February and mid-June through mid-August. I also have a REALLY cluttered home. In the past, I've had some success with setting myself a goal of doing a certain number of hours of decluttering during my periods of reduced work. I set one overall goal (last winter and summer, it was 40 hours), then chip away at it in smaller increments of time. Some days I aim for an hour; others for four hours (with breaks!). I basically use flylady's timer method described here, but with longer periods of time than 15 minutes:

    http://www.flylady.net/d/getting-sta...ng-15-minutes/

    It's also helped me a lot to keep track of progress towards my goal here, so here I am setting up a new goal: to complete another 40 hours of decluttering in my house by Monday, August 26.

    If anybody else wants to join in with a decluttering goal of their own for a certain number of hours, I would love company! Happily, Chicken Lady has already said she will join in this time. The more, the merrier!

  2. #2
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    Ok, tomorrow I hit the studio!

    congratulations on completing the other thread too!

  3. #3
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    I ended up needing to spend a lot of time working in my animal barn today (that looks better and while I mostly cleaned and organized - I did clear out three grocery bags worth of garbage, recycling, and burnables.)

    I didn’t want to go work in the studio, but even though i’m Trying to AVERAGE an hour a day, starting with zero minutes didn’t seem like a good idea. So I dragged myself out and worked for half an hour. I’m not sure how effective I was, but it’s a little bit more organized, and there is a little less stuff out there (mostly because I carried back stuff I decided should go in the basement.)

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    Quote Originally Posted by Chicken lady View Post
    I didn’t want to go work in the studio, but even though i’m Trying to AVERAGE an hour a day, starting with zero minutes didn’t seem like a good idea. So I dragged myself out and worked for half an hour. I’m not sure how effective I was, but it’s a little bit more organized, and there is a little less stuff out there (mostly because I carried back stuff I decided should go in the basement.)
    You know what a big fan I am of baby steps, Chicken Lady. Sometimes that's all I can manage. Good for you.

    I eked out my first hour today.

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    ej, I have a question. Are you holding the gain from all the past 40 hour segments?

    I ask, because you've spent a ton of hours decluttering. I can't relate as I'm an organized person and our home would be empty by now. I'm trying to understand the scope of this project.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gardnr View Post
    ej, I have a question. Are you holding the gain from all the past 40 hour segments?

    I ask, because you've spent a ton of hours decluttering. I can't relate as I'm an organized person and our home would be empty by now. I'm trying to understand the scope of this project.
    Hi Gardnr, I would say it's a very "three steps forward, two steps backward" process. The quote from me rosa rugosa posted says it best. Unlike you, I've been pretty disorganized over my life, and when I began this project, I probably had about 30 boxes of just clutter in my house, so I have serious issues. A corner of my bedroom, the guestroom, and upstairs hallway all had huge stacks of clutter. Now the guestroom can be made for clutter-free for a guest within an hour (things sometimes still collect in there), and the upstairs hallway and my bedroom are about 90% clutter-free. I still have some boxes of clutter to go through (from "backsliding" or just ones I've never gone through) at various places in the house (maybe 5-10?), but it's all a lot better than it was before.

    Every time I do a block of 40 hours, I end up establishing some systems or places for things that prevent future clutter build up, but I still have much to do. In any case, these 40-hour blocks have made more of a difference in me finally facing these life-long issues than anything else has, and I'm so grateful to the community here for all your support with it.

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    Lol Gardnr, I otoh and wondering how she keeps from being buried if she only spends 80 hours a year clearing out all of the things that accumulate.

  8. #8
    Senior Member Teacher Terry's Avatar
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    When I first started decluttering years ago I became committed to only bringing in the number of things that I was willing to let go. So if I bought 2 shirts 2 had to go. That’s prevented a build up.

  9. #9
    Senior Member rosarugosa's Avatar
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    EJ posted this on 6/2/19 on the other thread:

    "One thing I realized last week: when I started this 40 hours last December, my first priority was to deal with the clutter in my bedroom which had gotten pretty bad - I think about a fifth of the floor was covered with stacks of papers. When I resumed decluttering in the last couple of weeks, I had totally forgotten how bad it was. Now about 90% of that clutter is gone - there are just a couple of small stacks of clutter left, mostly in the corners, and I may be able to get rid of them entirely this week.

    Having a decluttered bedroom just feels "normal" now, which is great. But it also feels good to remember how much progress I'm making because at times, all these decluttering hours feel endless. But the bottom line is, I like my home SO much more now since starting these batches of 40 hours two and a half years ago!"

    So there are clearly sustained gains, but sounds like it's still a work in progress. I can certainly relate to the fact that some areas in my life will ALWAYS be works in progress, even if organization isn't one of those areas for me personally.

  10. #10
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    Some inspiration from a hoarding friend.

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