40 Hours Decluttering Using Flylady's Timer Method - Dec. 1 2024 - Feb. 18 2025

• 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 (usually 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:
  
  https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-st...ng-15-minutes/
  
  Though clutter is still an issue, over the years of focusing on getting rid of it, I've also discovered I need to spend time on making my home comfortable and pleasant which involves putting in time on things like repotting plants into pretty containers, picking out a nice bureau scarf and a "jewelry tree" to make the bureau in my bedroom pretty, and finding a nice tray for the containers of salt, pepper, and olive oil by my stove. I've learned that decluttering is not all it takes for me to finally enjoy my living spaces - figuring out what's pleasing aesthetically to me is super-important too - and really fun. So I'm giving myself credit for time spent on those kinds of activities too.
  
  Also, this year, I have some big home improvement projects to do: getting the exterior of my house repainted and getting my front and back yards landscaped, so any time spent on all the logistics around that I'm going to give myself credit for here too.
  
  In any case, since I started these batches of 40 hours of decluttering in winter of 2017, I've made a lot of progress. My home isn't perfect, but it is MUCH less cluttered and MUCH more comfortable to me than it was seven (!!) years ago. And recording my progress here has really helped.
  
  I know for some people setting up a home is kind of second nature, but I've always struggled with it and always lived in cluttered, uncomfortable spaces, so these batches of 40 hours have been a real breakthrough for me.
  
  In any case, thanks for "listening" and for the encouragement so many of you have given me over the years. Your support has kept me going and made a tremendous difference in my life and I think in my daughter's too.
  
  And, as always, if anybody else wants to join in with a decluttering/homemaking goal of their own for a certain number of hours, that would be great!
  
  
  
  
  
  
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I'm glad you've made so much progress in the past 7 years, and it seems like you've also acquired a lot of insights along the way!

Thanks, rosarugosa. You've been a big part of that progress. The support I've gotten here has meant so much.

My daughter was with her father for Christmas, and I only went to a brunch at a friend's for a few hours, so I did two hours of decluttering on Christmas Day, which felt great.

I'm hoping to do two more today.

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Originally Posted by ejchase

My daughter was with her father for Christmas, and I only went to a brunch at a friend's for a few hours, so I did two hours of decluttering on Christmas Day, which felt great.

I'm hoping to do two more today.

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One of my most memorable Christmas days was one when DH went up north to visit his family. I stayed home and cleaned my living room from top to bottom and watched entire seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Very satisfying!

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Originally Posted by iris lilies

One of my most memorable Christmas days was one when DH went up north to visit his family. I stayed home and cleaned my living room from top to bottom and watched entire seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Very satisfying!

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Yes! Decluttering yesterday was so relaxing!

I only did an hour tonight, but I tackled an eyesore in the upstairs hallway: a basket that stuff was just piled in with no top, so the clutter was visible and stressing me out. I went through it, threw most of it out, found places for the stuff I needed to keep, and put the basket by the door to give to Goodwill tomorrow, along with about 15 other items I collected in a bag yesterday.

New total: 3 hours.

Yay! Ej you always inspire me. What's interesting over the 7 years is how you now NOTICE the clutter and DO something about it. That's such a great habit. Thank you for sharing this journey.

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Originally Posted by nswef

Yay! Ej you always inspire me. What's interesting over the 7 years is how you now NOTICE the clutter and DO something about it. That's such a great habit. Thank you for sharing this journey.

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Thank you, nswef! Your support has meant so much.

In the last two days, I did a total of 4 more hours getting ready to leave town to see family. I went through our stash of gift bags, wrapping paper, and ribbon and found three bags worth of stuff to recycle. Also, in packing for our trip, my daughter and I found 15 items of clothing for Goodwill, which I dropped off.

I'm looking forward to purging more in January, but for now, we're enjoying our visit with relatives.

New total: 7 hours.

I bet your heart feels so mich lighter and you will enjoy the holiday visits knowing you will come home to an even more decluttered house!!

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Originally Posted by nswef

I bet your heart feels so mich lighter and you will enjoy the holiday visits knowing you will come home to an even more decluttered house!!

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It did!

Well, I am teaching this month which is very unusual for me - I usually take January off - so it's been harder to keep going on these hours, but I did manage to put in an hour tonight and am hoping I can keep doing a little every day until I go out of town on 2/10.

New total: 8 hours.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ejchase

Well, I am teaching this month which is very unusual for me - I usually take January off - so it's been harder to keep going on these hours, but I did manage to put in an hour tonight and am hoping I can keep doing a little every day until I go out of town on 2/10.

New total: 8 hours.

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Good for you! I'm not making the best use of my Saturday, but you all are inspiring me. :)

Thanks, bluestreak. This group is a constant inspiration to me.

I did another hour today! New total: 9.

Frankly, I would love to keep going, but I have so much work to do. It feels good to be back at it, though.

Only 30 minutes today, but I'm still putt putting along, and things are looking better. New total: 9.5.

Oh echase, I have been putting off reorganizing the holiday decor mess in our living room and garage.

Let me take inspiration from you and do one box at a time, slow and steady…

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Originally Posted by iris lilies

Oh exhale, I have been putting off reorganizing the holiday decor mess in our living room and garage.

Let me take inspiration from you and do one box at a time, slow and steady…

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I learned about the power of baby steps from this group years ago. They work!

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Originally Posted by ejchase

I learned about the power of baby steps from this group years ago. They work!

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I meant to address you echase not “exhale.” I am so tired of this IPad changing my words.

anyway…

I got off my butt this morning and packed one tub of holiday decor. That’s my packing job done for the day!

It's those one day at a time baby steps that make such a difference says the one who often does not make a tiny step! But it's on my LIST>

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Originally Posted by iris lilies

I meant to address you echase not “exhale.” I am so tired of this IPad changing my words.

anyway…

I got off my butt this morning and packed one tub of holiday decor. That’s my packing job done for the day!

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One tub is an accomplishment! Congrats!

I eked out 30 minutes today reorganizing the area around our guinea pig cage so that we can secure the hay and bedding a bit better - otherwise, the cats get into it. I'm hopeful this new system will keep the area a little neater.

New total: 10.

Well done ejchase on your continual accomplishments!
I have been working on my room. One mindset shift that's helped me recently is thinking of what I'm doing as organization vs. cleaning. I always used to tell myself I need to clean, whereas I realize now that what I'm doing is organizing. It's not dirty in here, it's disorganized.
My sister told me about a cool website with a quiz about organizational styles: https://clutterbug.me/what-clutterbug-are-you-test . I'm a butterfly :)

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Originally Posted by just_a_yak

Well done ejchase on your continual accomplishments!
I have been working on my room. One mindset shift that's helped me recently is thinking of what I'm doing as organization vs. cleaning. I always used to tell myself I need to clean, whereas I realize now that what I'm doing is organizing. It's not dirty in here, it's disorganized.
My sister told me about a cool website with a quiz about organizational styles: https://clutterbug.me/what-clutterbug-are-you-test . I'm a butterfly :)

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Thank you for this, just a yak - I'll check it out!

I did an hour this weekend - 30 minutes in our backyard which is a mess. I had to clear out our tomato plants which were contaminated by ash falling during the fires.

Then another 30 minutes in the house. I've given away a fair amount on Buy Nothing this month, which feels good.

New total:11.

I"m going out of town today so will need to put in some more time before I go - decluttering spaces in the main rooms - because a housesitter is staying here.

Redid our current files while watching All the President's Men, a great movie to rewatch, btw, so did 2 hours.

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Originally Posted by Tybee

Redid our current files while watching All the President's Men, a great movie to rewatch, btw, so did 2 hours.

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Speaking of files, I cleaned out 2+ years of files from one garden club job. While it is true I am just transferring them to a big tub that holds all historical records, at least I cleaned out one file folder and in doing do tossed some papers.

I am a bit stymied, tho amused at myself, for hanging onto several notebooks from the previous secretary of another garden group. I say “amused” because I know I should just toss them, but if I offer them up to the group, the hoarders will grab them and stuff them into our group’s rented storage shed along with all the other records no one will ever want.
Ever.

I predict I will have to clean out that storage shed someday when the 80+ year olds are gone. I did that for two other garden groups, when our oldsters/hoarders died. What a fkn PITA that was.

so why don’t I just save myself some time, and pitch these notebooks now? Hmmm….I suppose because I might be wrong about the future and someone will take the decades of old paper records to their heart.

haha who am I fooling, that won’t happen.

Nice work, Tybee and iris lilies.

Iris Lilies, every club needs someone like you - the one who's ruthless about getting rid of stuff. The hoarders just don't have it in them.

I spent 4 hours on Monday preparing for our catsitter, but would say only about an hour of that was decluttering (weeding out unneeded paper, throwing out expired stuff from the fridge, taking other items to Goodwill or posting them on Buy Nothing).

New total: 12.

I've been struggling with this goal since I worked more in January and February than usual, but I have houseguests coming in mid-April, so I'm really hoping I can finish the 40 hours before they get here. It would be nice to complete the hours and then be able to show off my work!

Today I did just an hour but found a lot of paper to recycle!

New total: 13.

Well, I've been too busy at work to make much progress on this goal, but I did spend an hour today posting on Buy Nothing (9 items gone!), taking stuff to Goodwill (17 items gone!), and returning things to stores (2 items gone!). A lot of this stuff belonged to my daughter who has been busily decluttering her room, which makes me proud.

New total: 14.

Yes, so many items GONE and a daughter on board!!!

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Originally Posted by nswef

Yes, so many items GONE and a daughter on board!!!

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:)

I'm still struggling to make time to complete this goal, but I did manage two hours last week - decluttering the trunk of my car and just dealing with a lot of paper. I have guests coming June 5, so I'm hoping that will inspire me to make a bit of a push in the next two and a half weeks.

New total: 16.

Two more hours today, posting things on Buy Nothing (got rid of two big things) and going through papers.

New total: 18.

EJ, Looks as if you are doing well with this challenge, this month. I am getting ready to cull files on the computer in prep for transferring them to the new laptop...don't want to fill it with "junk". But, have I begun? NOPE! But 15 minutes...maybe I'll do that! You inspire me ej.

Yes, nswef, 15 minutes at a time. It can be magic.

I am finally returning to this goal, with hopes I can finish this batch of 40 hours in the next three weeks when I have a little more time than usual.

Today, I put in 2.5 hours, and it was great. New total: 20.5.

I did 30 minutes yesterday, tidying up before my daughter returned from a school trip to Japan (!!).

Today, I started tackling the many items from stores that I ordered last month and haven't gone through to figure out what to keep and what to return. I now have a stack of things by the door to put in the mail on Monday. I also found about 10 things to give to Goodwill, and put together a box of things that I'd bought for my brother and his wife and kids, which I'll also mail on Monday. And I'm heading out in about 15 minutes to return a few more items to stores. All of this took me about 2 hours.

New total: 23 hours.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ejchase

I did 30 minutes yesterday, tidying up before my daughter returned from a school trip to Japan (!!).

Today, I started tackling the many items from stores that I ordered last month and haven't gone through to figure out what to keep and what to return. I now have a stack of things by the door to put in the mail on Monday. I also found about 10 things to give to Goodwill, and put together a box of things that I'd bought for my brother and his wife and kids, which I'll also mail on Monday. And I'm heading out in about 15 minutes to return a few more items to stores. All of this took me about 2 hours.

New total: 23 hours.

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Will you always be buying and returning things for your daughter? You mentioned the past you’re mostly buying clothes that need to be returned. It’s just seems like an extraordinary amount of time you spend returning items.

Is there a more efficient way to shop, efficient with your time? Driving around to stores returning things would drive me absolutely bananas.

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Originally Posted by iris lilies

Will you always be buying and returning things for your daughter? You mentioned the past you’re mostly buying clothes that need to be returned. It’s just seems like an extraordinary amount of time you spend returning items.

Is there a more efficient way to shop, efficient with your time? Driving around to stores returning things would drive me absolutely bananas.

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Actually, what drives me absolutely bananas is clothes shopping at malls. I buy about 80% of my clothes now online and most of the time it works out fine. Every once in a while, something has to go back, but the returns are pretty easy and within our neighborhood, so not too time-consuming.

I got the box of things for my brother and his family in the mail today and also returned 6 items to stores. It all took about an hour. New total: 24 hours.