If I just did 10 things every day....

[early morning]

I really struggle with motivation too, and more so now that I'm retired. And of course we've pretty much been always at home for the past year. I know that sounds strange, but I think it's because before, my time at home was limited so I needed to cram a lot of stuff into it. Now it isn't limited in the same way, and there's always tomorrow. Procrastination is my close companion. . .

I make goals. I make lists. Like the OP, I stay with it for a while, then - boom. Habit gone. I have James Clear's book Atomic Habits. I like it. I just don't DO it. So far the only habit that's stuck is weighing myself daily. We have greatly increased our fruit and veggy intake, and watch our carb intake. My daily weigh-in keeps my food intake more conscious, and I've lost 20 pounds without dieting or feeling deprived, since March. So why can't I use those same thought processes to make progress on my house??

[GeorgeParker]

I have to say, the 10 things a day to throw out doesn't sound like a big deal, but it's staying consistent on doing that that's a problem, IMHO. Life seems too important to spend it sorting.

Just to clarify: I said "If I looked at 10 physical objects I own every day, and decided which should be tossed, which should be kept where they are , and which should be moved to a more appropriate location." A keep/don't-keep decision would have to be made for each item, but no minimum number would have to be thrown out. You might look at the pictures on your wall and decide to keep all of them exactly where they are. IOW the emphasis is on consciously looking at 10 things and making a decision about each of them, not how many you get rid of or reorganize. Think of it a mindfulness approach: "Am I conscious that this thing is in my house and why it exists?"

Life seems too important to spend it sorting.

That's one of the big reasons it's so easy to fall off the wagon. But really, how long does it take to look at 10 pieces of paper or ten physical objects and decide if each should be kept where it is, disposed of, or moved to a more logical spot in your house? Even if it took an average of two minutes each, that's only 20 minutes. But developing and keeping the habit of doing it is the hard part, because you never really feel like you're making significant visible progress -- your house just gradually gets neater and neater -- there's no big Ah-Ha moment to celebrate.

[GeorgeParker]

I'm happy if I get one thing done in a day. That's why I'm going to live to be 135.

This is somewhat off topic, but you saying that instantly made me think of this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Udk1S93KGc4
Sixty years later I can still sing the "I'm No Fool" song and recite the "There's a right way and a wrong way" lines at full Jiminy Cricket speed.

[GeorgeParker]

I really struggle with motivation too, and more so now that I'm retired.

So very true. As long as I was working 50-60 hours a week it was easy to feel like I was too busy or too tired to get any organizing or decluttering done, but now that I've been retired for two years there are always so many other things I want to do that are more interesting or more fun.

Procrastination is my close companion. . .

Mine too. I was going to join Procrastinators Anonymous, but I kept putting it off...

[Gardnr]

If you haven't done it yet, you don't want it enough to do the work. Do it, or don't do it.

Yes, I'm serious. (And I'm seriously organized because it is important to me).

[Gardnr]

So very true. As long as I was working 50-60 hours a week it was easy to feel like I was too busy or too tired to get any organizing or decluttering done, but now that I've been retired for two years there are always so many other things I want to do that are more interesting or more fun.

I worked 50-70 hours a week for decades. It was the reason to be organized. I didn't have the time to waste hunting for what I needed.

[GeorgeParker]

I worked 50-70 hours a week for decades. It was the reason to be organized. I didn't have the time to waste hunting for what I needed.

The funny thing is that I was a paragon of organizing, efficiency, and productivity at work (a warehouse job fetching and distributing items on an asap as-needed basis) but in my non-work life I could never quite get it together. My theory is that I had to create an organized efficient way of doing my job or I would have been running myself ragged just to meet my quota, whereas in my non-work life there was no real external pressure and it was always easy to be sloppy or let things slip.

The Bottom Line Is: I'm retired and all my relatives live 1400 miles away, so I want to move from here to there 4-6 months from now. I have a 1200 sq foot house and all the various kinds of accumulated stuff a 71 yo bachelor collects over the years. So I'm going to start a new set of GTD lists, set a minimum amount of stuff I want to get organized, sorted, or packed each day, and start treating this project like a job instead of treating it like a someday/maybe on my to-do list.

Actually I've got it easy. My cousin and her DH had 5 children. As they became more prosperous and had more children they kept buying bigger houses. Now the last child is 18 and getting a place of his own, so cousin and DH are living by themselves in a 3-floor, 8000 sq ft house! They're looking to sell it and downsize to something like 1000 sq ft, and I don't even want to think about what they're going through. They should probably remove their personal belongings, sell the house fully furnished, and buy new furniture for their new house. But that still leaves all the personal stuff to deal with. I have a feeling there will be a lot of phone calls to their kids that start "If you want anything that's in this house, come get it before we start packing."

[GeorgeParker]

Do it, or don't do it.

Ok, Yoda.
Do it myself will I.

[razz]

GP, you are going through the usual downsizing that hits all of us at some point. After DH's passing, I had a farm, all the farming machinery, three workshops of stuff and the household to downsize. I did the 'ask the family what they want" routine, I chose what was important to me and then, ....made the most important decision, IMHO anyway.

I recognized that all the remaining stuff had served DH and myself well. We bought what we needed or wanted, used/enjoyed these and now, they had no great value to me.

I chose not to have an auction but invited a contractor for consignment sales to take what would sell in an upcoming farm auction accepting payment less commission, the balance was cleared out by a lump sum payment from a young neighbour starting out; I donated anything that could be used by local organizations and moved into my brand new home at peace.

A friend had an auction for his late mother's home and contents. He and his wife spent literally weeks clearing, sorting and displaying everything. By the time all the expenses of the actual auction were paid, he had earned a total of just $2000. He now advises people going through similar situations to consider simply take what is personally wanted by self and family and open the door to let those in the community help themselves, sending the remaining to the dump.

So many people nickel and dime every possession thinking what they had paid originally and trying to recover that value without acknowledging all the value and use they had enjoyed already.

[Tybee]

I like Razz's post a lot. OP, if you are thinking of downsizing and moving away, and you have an open time frame, I think the 10 items a day idea is a great one. You can ease into the whole process. Lots of good books out there about downsizing, too. Really good, make you think about what you want your life to look like now, which is different than what you wanted it to look like years ago.