Today, I did some work in the upstairs hallway. There is big clutter history in that space :
When we moved into this house ten years ago, I was 8 1/2 months pregnant. The house has a weird floor plan, and the upstairs hallway is unusually wide and spacious. So we dumped SO many boxes of stuff that we didn't know what to do with up there. I'm sure there were at one point close to 50 boxes there. And they more or less stayed there until I started getting serious about decluttering in 2016 (yes, if if it wasn't for all of you, I would definitely qualify as a hoarder, but I've been trying to cure myself these last five years).
Long story short, I've made a lot of progress, but there are still 12 boxes in that hallway. One of my decluttering priorities for the summer is to finally get through the last of them.
I got through 2 boxes today. It was hard because a lot of what is left is still there because it's stuff that's hard for me to make decisions about: old cards and letters from loved ones who have passed away, lots of photos, things I just don't know what to do with. I'm trying to remind myself not to be a perfectionist and just find places for the things I can't get rid of yet. I just have to keep going forward as best I can.
But I did manage to find 2 grocery bags of stuff to recycle (a drop in the bucket, but still).
I'm remembering now when I started these batches of 40 hours in 2016, I was focused on that space, and 90% of what I was getting rid of was paper. In recent years, though, as I've made some progress, I've been getting rid of things like clothes, books, and my daughter's toys. But I guess while I'm focused on finishing up the hallway, it's back to paper!
New total: 7.5.