This is an amazing challenge....and challenge it will be for me. I always feel like no matter how I organize, arrange, "declutter", etc., my house still looks like a disaster. My husband does't think so, and neither do my daughters. I guess because my home is soooo tiny, it's hard to find places for things. Hopefully, one day soon we can find the money to buy an outside storage unit.

Hope all goes well with your surgery, my friend

Will be doing this challenge, need to declutter wardrobes, have got balls of wool all over the place which is annoying me, will be better in same place, will have a go tomorrow, then will tackle rest in 15 minute blocks, sounds awesome, great idea thank you!have finished some drawers this afternoon... Good luck with the surgery!!!

Great post!

So far I have 3 garbage bags full, 2 bags for donating. I feel lighter already. What I noticed is that my husband likes to keep and collect stuff ( borderline hoarder if you ask me).

I have been a stay at home mom for 15 years and I suffered a lot from anxiety and depression and if you saw the state of my home back then you would have know right away that something was not right with me mentally and emotionally. Then one time, a friend told me " Marta, just make your bed in the morning and the dishes before going to bed" and I have to tell you, the feeling of empowerment and happiness I felt, walking up to a clean kitchen was exhilarating. Same when going to bed and looking at my bed all nice and neat. Funny how messes can " mess" us with your head.

This video is very inspiring and I have practiced the Making my bed in the morning routine and it has worked wonders for me. It does help me start my day right. It is the reason I do it every morning. I will always be grateful to that friend that suggested it. I do not care how late, tired I am, my bed is the first thing I make in the morning; dishes before bed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgzLzbd-zT4

themedalist wrote: »

Excellent, @nebslp! It does feel great to have an organized room, I’m sure.

And yes, progress, not perfection.

I am home from the hospital. Tired and pretty sore, but glad to be home.

Only one chance at recovery, it will get better, hugs to you and take it easy!!!

@themedalist, I am also happy that you are home from the hospital. Take some extra time to pamper your self since now is the perfect time to focus on taking care of yourself while allowing your body to heal. I like your plan of mixing rest and increasing activity! Hugs.

What wonderful posts. encouragement, and amazing declutter moments everyone has posted this week! It was such a delight to read them whenever I had some moments to peek in this week.

This past week I decided that I was going to declutter the desk and surrounding area where the desktop computer lives, as well as tame the visible Paper Tiger in the area. Much earlier this year a drawer in the desk broke so I put everything into a cardboard box while my husband repaired the drawer. I did not want to put everything back until I had sorted and decluttered the box. So it just never got done.
Meanwhile, the box seemed to take on a life of its own, and anything that I didn't know quite what to do with eventually landed in the box. Because of the set up of the house, the table is near the desk. The table is where we do our paperwork since the computer desk is not big enough to easily write on. So it is a constant struggle to keep the table clear and the desk tidy. As well as Paper Tiger tamed.

So all week, whenever possible, I focused first on the desk, decluttering and dusting the shelves. Then the same with each of the three drawers. I took everything out, one shelf or drawer at a time. I sorted, trashed, recycled, shredded, or put back each item. I handled every paper on the table and dealt with each one. I corralled any paper that I need to work on with my husband into a brightly colored folder. I also gave mysel a different colored folder for the several loose papers that I will take care of on Monday. That looks so much better than the two piles of loose papers.

Then this afternoon I was ready to tackle the Box in the same way as the shelves and drawers and table. DONE!!

My next Paper Tiger project will be the filing cabinet. Traditionally I usually do this every two, maybe three years in January. So that will be the plan again. It has probably been more like four or five years this time from the looks of it.

Early next week I will get the room ready for my eldest son and his wife to come for a visit over Thanksgiving. It is already in good shape, but I need to get some of the kid things out to make room for them. (And some things that I have stashed in there over the last weeks :laugh: .) And then I'll do a quick clean and tidy. I have my donation box currently in that room, so when I'm finished in there I will take it to the new Goodwill that is close by.

It was a great declutterfest challenge once again! Thank you .

:flowerforyou:

@texasgardnr , I too have a Paper Tiger. Mine is a tote bag full of papers rather than a box. I eyed it this week, but I felt I didn't have the time to tackle it. I hope to extend this challenge into next week when I'll have some extra time off.

@bcTRAI , sounds like you hit the ground running. Getting rid of psychic clutter is definitely important.

This afternoon I was looking to make space on the storage shelf in the laundry/ pantry room for a small appliance that I had to replace finally, but the new one ended up being a bit bigger in size. It dawned on me to see if there was anything that I haven't used for a good while that I could give away to make space. Yes! Of course there was :laugh:.

But I didn't want to start cleaning or creating a marathon decluttter project today. But then I realized that I actually can declutter without all the tidying and dusting and rearranging that usually accompanies decluttering a specific area, shelf, drawer, or room.

So... I removed several thing and put them into the donation box. Then, being inspired about the no cleaning decluttering of that shelf I started looking into my kitchen cabinets. My decisions were based solely on when was the last time I used it. And was I holding on to anything based on wishful thinking that I would use it someday or that I would cook or make something with it etc.

My box is full now with the additional kitchen gadgets that I have purchased over the years. Most have been used for a time or a specific purpose, then as time went on, or children grew and moved out, these gadgets or kitchen items just became part of the landscape of the shelves.

But no more!

I am also going to extend this challenge into next week as I clean/ tidy the house for my company. As I progress I am going to keep an eye out for what can easily be given away during the normal course of cleaning.

:flowerforyou: