40 Hours Decluttering Using Flylady's Timer Method - Dec. 4, 2023 - Feb. 29, 2024

[ejchase]

I've been away for the holidays but just came back and did 2 hours today. New total 5.5.

[nswef]

Yay EJ !!!

[ejchase]

Thanks, nswef!

Another hour today. We have a houseguest, and it's inspiring me to deal with a lot of the most visible clutter. New total: 6.5.

[ejchase]

1.5 hours last Thursday, .5 hours on Monday. New total: 8.5.

[ejchase]

An hour this morning clearing clutter so the housekeeper could clean. New total: 9.5.

[ejchase]

I've been dilly dallying a bit on this batch of 40 hours, but I finally sat down and made a list of priorities, and first on the list is the kitchen. Though I've weeded out some unneeded kitchen items over the years, I've never really put in a lot of decluttering time in the kitchen, but lately, it's been bad - the panty has been so full that it's been hard to find space for groceries, and I suspected there was a lot of expired stuff in the fridge. So I spent an hour today and managed to declutter the fridge, freezer, and pantry and found a lot of stuff to toss, which was very satisfying.

Still to do: the back-up food storage shelves in the laundry room just off the kitchen where I hope to make space for a toaster oven, the cupboards under the kitchen island, the top of the kitchen island, and the spice and tea cupboards.

New total: 10.5.

[ejchase]

I only did 1.5 hours today, but it was on a noticeable hot spot. I'd let a bunch of boxes (various deliveries, Christmas presents I hadn't figured out where to put) clutter up the floor on one side of dining room. It's not all completely gone, but I took care of about 70% of it. New total: 12.

[iris lilies]

I only did 1.5 hours today, but it was on a noticeable hot spot. I'd let a bunch of boxes (various deliveries, Christmas presents I hadn't figured out where to put) clutter up the floor on one side of dining room. It's not all completely gone, but I took care of about 70% of it. New total: 12.

Keep in mind that Christmas presents you didn’t ask for and for which you have a hard time deciding where they go, may go to the donation pile or worse.

I used to immediately sort presents I got during Holiday Hell into piles: keep, Goodwill, and landfill.

signed Iris, ruthless declutterer

[ejchase]

Keep in mind that Christmas presents you didn’t ask for and for which you have a hard time deciding where they go, may go to the donation pile or worse.

I used to immediately sort presents I got during Holiday Hell into piles: keep, Goodwill, and landfill.

signed Iris, ruthless declutterer

This is a good point. Mostly, we do okay in our family - we ask for specific gift requests from each other so we avoid giving a lot of unwanted stuff and often give each other gift cards (I got a few Starbucks cards this season, which I will definitely use). But I did get one gift which I am admittedly keeping at this point only for sentimental reasons. It may end up in the donation pile in a couple years, but I can't quite manage it yet.

[ejchase]

Just a baby step today: 1/2 hour starting to organize and declutter the shelves in my laundry room, 2-3 shelves of which I'm setting up with overflow from my pantry which is very small. I got a three-tiered can organizer shelf so that now I can see what canned items I have at a glance (and discovered I have NINE cans of chickpeas!) and have ordered a compact toaster oven to go on one of the shelves since we are forever toasting small items in the oven which is a total waste of energy. More to do, but it was satisfying.

New total: 12.5.