Let it GO! Decluttering (simplifying) your life of (people, places or things) success stories?

PatriceFitnessPal

July 3 - I cleaned out the laundry room cabinets and noticed that we had multiple half-used cleaning products that could be combined. So, I was able to throw out three big empty containers.

July 4 - I focused on the bathroom today and got rid of four expired medicines. My son also tossed some facial cleaning products, hair gel and other items that he no longer used (& seemed empty to me anyway) and we prepared weekly pill boxes with a few remaining vitamins so I could throw away three empty bottles.

There were a couple if spray cans with nothing in them and we also cleaned out a drawer where we stash extra toothbrush and things. We kept a couple and then donated a number of items to a homeless shelter since they are still packaged and unopened.

The bathroom cabinet and sink top are far less cluttered today than yesterday … but I’m sure we can still reduce the number of items further the next time. I’m already getting excited about the next go-around … First, I’m going to do a big ‘edit’ of each room and then I’ll be able to focus on the details of problem areas that need more planning.

I like the idea of putting better systems in place @TerriRichardson112. Thanks so much for the Home Solutions 101 suggestion. I’m going to start watching those videos right away!

PatriceFitnessPal

July 5th - Today, we went through all the items we’ve collected for our dog over the years. My husband went to the animal shelter and donated an unwanted collar (too heavy and cumbersome), a harness he has outgrown, and a couple of clothes items that no longer fit. We also gave them a couple of worn out old blankets that they can use. I’m continuing to go through paper files and stacks of books, filling the recycle bin today. My son went through a bin of sports balls and put aside a bag of baseballs that I’ll give to the Little League coaches later this month. My cousin is visiting next week and her 12 year old son likes baseball so he might want to go across the street to the batting cages with my son, especially if he needs a short break from his younger siblings after his long trip. I’ll keep them until he leaves … or send them in the car with him if his mother approves. The process is slow but I’m seeing progress and I appreciate the way my family has been pitching in. I hope others are doing well.

sargemarcori

Went through the silverware drawer and cleaned out all the plastic stuff accumulated there. I will take it to work, where someone is always seeking a fork or a straw.

Last week I told everyone in the house I was taking a couple bags to Goodwill, toss your stuff in if you have it. No one did, but *after* I made the Goodwill run, some stuff appeared. No complaints here! I'll just come up with more stuff and make another drop off.

Gisel2015

@PatriceFitnessPal and @sargemarcori

You ladies are on a roll. How inspiring! I may take a break this week from organizing and de-clutting since I have several appointments and I don't want to star anything that I can't finish the same day.

PatriceFitnessPal

@Gisel2015 - I agree that it helps to clear ‘headspace’ while decluttering. Best wishes with your appointments. I have A LOT of work ahead so I’ll be here for a while and look forward to supporting one another when you are ready!

LoveyChar

Yesterday I recycled three IKEA catalogs I was holding on to (I just cut out one page of a kitchen I liked).

Today 7/7, I read through a journal and shredded pages to be recycled. It was liberating.

I'm going to purge something every day until I'm rid of all this baggage.

PatriceFitnessPal

July 6th - I filled the back seat of my car with a bunch of curtains and other ‘window treatments’ that we took down when we bought new shades for our windows. I kept them for a number of years because I thought I’d switch them out sometimes. The curtains are really stylish but I like the sleeker look of the windows with just the shades. Our house is not very big so - even though the curtains and other shades are a simple design - they make the rooms feel smaller. I think the window treatments will make someone else happy because they are in good shape, etc. It feels good to let them go so someone else can bring them to life again in a new space. 😊

PatriceFitnessPal

July 7 - I was planning to tackle the electronics today but just sorted the items into various categories for now. I donated some small appliances for today: one item that heats water for tea, something like an electric kettle … another item that keeps water hot that’s more like a big thermos that dispenses hot water … a couple of alarm clock radios … a small 2-slice toaster that we recently replaced with a better 4-slice option, etc.

By ‘we’, I mean my husband, who is the serial online shopper 😣, but I’m happy to report that he’s starting to appreciate the decluttering. I emphasized the importance of reducing by stopping at the point of purchase. So, we’ll see if the positive momentum continues. 🙏🏼🤞🙏🏼

I’ll get to the electronics another day this week. My older son came to visit for a week between summer semester classes. I didn’t want to bombard him with questions as soon as he arrived but that will be a good (and manageable) project that both sons can help with before he leaves on July 24th. My birthday is in a few days so that will be my gift request. 🎉 🎉 🎉

I also went through some books and donated quite a few but that’s also on my agenda for another day. I hope everyone is finding success in reaching your goal!

Gisel2015

@PatriceFitnessPal

Your post just reminded me that I could give away some "extra" things that I have in the kitchen cabinets that I not longer use or need. I will call the local libraries to se if they are accepting books donations now, then haven't for several months. I have the books selected and neatly kept them in the bookshelves, but I am not going to read them again so it is time for somebody else to enjoy them. My oldest granddaughter took a couple, and I was hopping that she would take few more, but not such luck.

jenilla1

First week of July declutter challenge complete. I've got too much going on, so I'm just doing the one "thing" a day version.

Worn out coat; stack of old magazines; cleared out expired and empty meds and miscellaneous items from the medicine cabinet; old pet supplies, like meds and shampoos n stuff; culled a bunch of ancient, unwanted makeup; tossed all the nasty, unused colognes my husband has gotten as gifts from people over the years; broken pressure cooker has left the building...

naturesfempower

I removed everything from my bedroom except my bed, one small chair, my 5 favorite wall hangings, and a bedside table. I also still have a small shelf of exercise equipment. I pared down all my possessions to fit comfortably in my closet (clothes, shoes, suitcases, stuffed animals gifted by my husband, etc). My quality of sleep and sense of calm improved immediately. I have also lost 17 lbs since then. Then I decluttered my bathroom. Everything is airy and much easier to clean, so I have a lot less stress in my life. Now, I'm currently working on the living room, and I plan on clearing up the overly stuffed cabinets in my kitchen and getting things off the counters.

Also, avoiding the "drama llamas" at work has created a monumental amount of peace in my life. I am concerned with myself and my family and just shrug off the rest. I feel so much better about everything.

I truly feel removing "things" eliminated a lot of my stress and helped me lose weight.

Sixteen_Tons

Below is a rambling post I did yesterday. In one of my earlier posts, I mentioned one past guilt I was working on.
I've since moved this to the 'Things I can't change category'. I'm moving on, just trying to resolve the result. Ex- engineer, hate incongruities.

" Hi all,
I know this is completely not a weight loss issue, but, I need some perspective. As part of reaching out, today I had breakfast with an old girlfriend (it's very, very over.) My wife will always be my love, 40 years & counting.

I have to admit it was a real eye opener, when we were dating she was always a little risk adverse, to the point she wouldn't try new things because she might fail. I was working with her to try new "safe' things and it seemed to be working. Eventually after 4 years we broke up because she would not even discuss the possibility of having a family.

Scroll forward 40 years, she has had one relationship 30 years ago. Since then she has completely isolated herself, to the point of having no outside interests, except gong to work at a job she's over-qualified for. she lives with her father, and literally only goes out for work. She had breakfast with me because of our past, but, will not even consider a continuing friendship.

Can anybody help me understand this, I've never been a people person, but, I have a good life, a great family, some outside interests, and fond memories of the past, except this one.

I'm baffled by this. Can anybody make sense of this? I know I can't change things, but, for my own peace of mind I need to understand it.

I'm so sad for her, she had such potential and choose to become a hermit. Has anyone else seen this in someone close to them?"

JennFit5K

I'm at that age where I have a lot of things I don't need but can't throw out. What I have been doing is decluttering one layer at a time and getting a little more brutal with what I toss, recycle, donate, or sell. Right now I have 8 boxes of old books packed up for donation and a big box of old kitchen items I don't use. At least 8 bags of clothes and shoes have gone to charity as well. Every time I go through and get rid of a little bit more. My partner will be living here soon and I don't want it to be him moving into my place, we truly want to go room by room and make it ours. So I've been paring down and creating space. I know I'll probably need a tiny storage unit soon but I'm not there yet.

jenilla1

Sixteen_Tons wrote: »

Below is a rambling post I did yesterday. In one of my earlier posts, I mentioned one past guilt I was working on.
I've since moved this to the 'Things I can't change category'. I'm moving on, just trying to resolve the result. Ex- engineer, hate incongruities.

" Hi all,
I know this is completely not a weight loss issue, but, I need some perspective. As part of reaching out, today I had breakfast with an old girlfriend (it's very, very over.) My wife will always be my love, 40 years & counting.

I have to admit it was a real eye opener, when we were dating she was always a little risk adverse, to the point she wouldn't try new things because she might fail. I was working with her to try new "safe' things and it seemed to be working. Eventually after 4 years we broke up because she would not even discuss the possibility of having a family.

Scroll forward 40 years, she has had one relationship 30 years ago. Since then she has completely isolated herself, to the point of having no outside interests, except gong to work at a job she's over-qualified for. she lives with her father, and literally only goes out for work. She had breakfast with me because of our past, but, will not even consider a continuing friendship.

Can anybody help me understand this, I've never been a people person, but, I have a good life, a great family, some outside interests, and fond memories of the past, except this one.

I'm baffled by this. Can anybody make sense of this? I know I can't change things, but, for my own peace of mind I need to understand it.

I'm so sad for her, she had such potential and choose to become a hermit. Has anyone else seen this in someone close to them?"

I tend toward this, but I was lucky enough to score an amazing husband who balances out my isolating tendencies. Because of his support and encouragement, I have slowly grown more open to new experiences over the years. I do go out into the world, and I am friendly and kind, but I also need my space and time to decompress afterwards! It sounds like your ex has some massive, disabling social anxiety. Avoidance is the safest coping skill for her. It's hard to understand if you haven't felt it yourself. Without help, it's pretty hard to dig yourself out of that rut - it's kind of a choice, but it's kind of not, especially if it's all you know and the aversion is intense. It can be so strong, it becomes a physical sensation. But it's nothing you did, so don't blame yourself. 💙

SoulOfFire1514

I made the decision to throw out my marriage about 2.5 years ago. During that time, I got rid of a lot, but more stress was added, as he made my life a living hell.
But I sorted through all of our belongings, packed up all of his, and sent him on his way.
Since then, I managed to get custody and mobility rights, and moved my son and I across the country.
To do this, I had to massively downsize. I took a 1500sq ft home stuffed full of belongings, and a 2000 sq ft art studio plus two garages, and downsized it all to fit in a 5x8 Uhaul trailer.
I had a small library, over 50,000 books. I can fit all my absolute favorite books onto 1 bookshelf now, with room to spare. My art supplies were massively downsized. I went through my belongings multiple times, minimizing what I wanted and needed, and only brought the things that I truly loved.
I got rid of almost all my furniture, save a double sized bed for my son, and a small dresser. We brought out our favorite books (12 bankers boxes full), our favorite clothes (4 totes full), a few odds and ends, and my art supplies and gear (Which is my profession).
I still had room in the trailer, as well!
We packed it all up and moved it across the country, in my truck, and I have not missed anything I left behind, besides my best friend.

Since then, I have only bought a handful of items. A few new sets of clothes, since most of mine didn't fit, a computer for work, a few odds of things for work, a smart watch for my fitness health, a new set of headphones for working out, and I did buy two new to me books and a pair of running shoes.

I want nothing more to do with clutter. I don't want my belongings to weigh me down.

And it feels so good now.

BendableButMendable

Sixteen_Tons wrote: »

Below is a rambling post I did yesterday. In one of my earlier posts, I mentioned one past guilt I was working on.
I've since moved this to the 'Things I can't change category'. I'm moving on, just trying to resolve the result. Ex- engineer, hate incongruities.

" Hi all,
I know this is completely not a weight loss issue, but, I need some perspective. As part of reaching out, today I had breakfast with an old girlfriend (it's very, very over.) My wife will always be my love, 40 years & counting.

I have to admit it was a real eye opener, when we were dating she was always a little risk adverse, to the point she wouldn't try new things because she might fail. I was working with her to try new "safe' things and it seemed to be working. Eventually after 4 years we broke up because she would not even discuss the possibility of having a family.

Scroll forward 40 years, she has had one relationship 30 years ago. Since then she has completely isolated herself, to the point of having no outside interests, except gong to work at a job she's over-qualified for. she lives with her father, and literally only goes out for work. She had breakfast with me because of our past, but, will not even consider a continuing friendship.

Can anybody help me understand this, I've never been a people person, but, I have a good life, a great family, some outside interests, and fond memories of the past, except this one.

I'm baffled by this. Can anybody make sense of this? I know I can't change things, but, for my own peace of mind I need to understand it.

I'm so sad for her, she had such potential and choose to become a hermit. Has anyone else seen this in someone close to them?"

There is a lot I could touch on with this post as it is a complex issue that presents differently for the people that struggle with it. I happen to be someone who has been isolated for the last 5 years, so I am intimately familiar with this. I don't want to hijack this thread but I wrote about it (superficially at least) in a thread I started that may give you some small measure of insight. Here is a link to that:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10836362/a-broken-man-but-better/p1

If you're just trying to understand, know that it is generally in response to traumatic events or forced social isolation (bullying, not fitting in with peer groups, disabilities that set you apart, higher or lower than normal IQ, etc.). A lot of times you will hear "I'm just not a people person", which is obvious but doesn't address the why of it and is rather a defensive mechanism to keep inquisitive people at bay.

If you're interested in helping her, you need to be both persistent and consistent. I don't mean anything forceful or stalkerish, rather just checking in and saying hello and asking how she's doing. She probably doesn't feel that she has anyone that cares about her or would care about her even if she put herself out there. You would have to show her that you do care and are willing to be there for her. That would take time and would be very frustrating but it's pretty much the only way.

She may be too far down the path to be willing to accept help but she may just need someone to step up. If you decide to try to help at a minimum there will be efforts to push you away and probably some baring of teeth to try to scare you off. That's up to you to decide how much of it you can take.

If you want to talk about this further you can feel free to send me a message or post on the thread I started so that it doesn't distract from the purpose of this thread. I am willing to help where I can but I can only speak about my situation specifically and other's generally, I can't tell you exactly what sent her down this road.

P.S. to all: Sorry for the lengthy response that didn't pertain to the main topic, de-cluttering can be hugely beneficial. A few years ago I managed to donate or throw away about half of my belongings and I felt much better afterward. I had put it off for years because it meant going through some boxes from my childhood that I was worried about triggering some traumas. I eventually forced myself to rip that band-aid off and while it wasn't easy, it was well worth it.

RubyRed427

SoulOfFire1514 wrote: »

I made the decision to throw out my marriage about 2.5 years ago. During that time, I got rid of a lot, but more stress was added, as he made my life a living hell.
But I sorted through all of our belongings, packed up all of his, and sent him on his way.
Since then, I managed to get custody and mobility rights, and moved my son and I across the country.
To do this, I had to massively downsize. I took a 1500sq ft home stuffed full of belongings, and a 2000 sq ft art studio plus two garages, and downsized it all to fit in a 5x8 Uhaul trailer.
I had a small library, over 50,000 books. I can fit all my absolute favorite books onto 1 bookshelf now, with room to spare. My art supplies were massively downsized. I went through my belongings multiple times, minimizing what I wanted and needed, and only brought the things that I truly loved.
I got rid of almost all my furniture, save a double sized bed for my son, and a small dresser. We brought out our favorite books (12 bankers boxes full), our favorite clothes (4 totes full), a few odds and ends, and my art supplies and gear (Which is my profession).
I still had room in the trailer, as well!
We packed it all up and moved it across the country, in my truck, and I have not missed anything I left behind, besides my best friend.

Since then, I have only bought a handful of items. A few new sets of clothes, since most of mine didn't fit, a computer for work, a few odds of things for work, a smart watch for my fitness health, a new set of headphones for working out, and I did buy two new to me books and a pair of running shoes.

I want nothing more to do with clutter. I don't want my belongings to weigh me down.

And it feels so good now.

So proud of you- what courage you had!
I'm thinking moving across the country was a wise move- the more distance you have from him, the more peace.

RubyRed427

I recently sold three items on Poshmark. It's a website for rather fashionable or like new items. Anyway, there were two pairs of beautiful high heeled shoes I cannot wear anymore that sold. I was so happy to send them off to someone who could enjoy them. I packaged them neatly and wrote a nice card. I did make $50 on both pairs but the better thing was that someone is going to enjoy them.

The key is not to turn around and buy on Poshmark; otherwise you trade one thing for another.

RubyRed427

Currently I am not sleeping well. I was thinking one reason could be is that I have a bed with storage drawers underneath; i bought it when I had a small apartment. I think it inhibits energy flow. I will declutter those drawers and put things in containers and donate some items.

I have a lot of journals in those drawers; some empty and some full. I don't know what to do with them. Do you throw away journals? Who would want to read them besides me?

Gisel2015

@RubyRed427

I wish I had an answer for you but journalism was never something that I was interested in doing. I did start one 55 years ago (very young and naive), and I stopped writing after 8 to 10 pages. I was going to dispose of it, but as long as my husband and I are still alive, I will keep it. That is if I find it, because I don't even know where it is now.

If what your wrote will help you in the future, or if you documented historical events, maybe you can keep it. If not, just put it way and review your writings once a year until you decide what the best option is.