This is a very busy time of the year for me. But there is always decluttering I can do, so I’m committed to making it easy on myself. First thing in the morning I will start the timer and put things away for 5 minutes while I wait for my coffee to brew. This morning I actually did almost 8 minutes, and cleared a few things off the top of my dresser.

I am so excited! This is my favorite challenge! I know for myself that if my surroundings are cluttered, I have a harder time not letting my brain be cluttered! And there are many things cluttering my brain lately so this is needed! Thank you @themedalist !

I have many things I want to declutter and I think I will spend 15 minutes decluttering during weekdays and on the weekend, I will take on bigger projects. I will update the below plan as I go.

Week One:
4/15 Mess: Magazine pile next to green recliner
4/16 Mess: Continue with magazine pile next to green recliner
4/17 Mess: Magazines in big basket behind green recliner
4/18 Mess: Continue magazines in big basket behind green recliner
4/19 Mess: Magazines in bedroom nightstand

4/20 Project: Tupperware cupboard & begin one area of basement
4/21 EASTER SUNDAY: Rest day

Week Two:
4/22 Mess: Sock drawer
4/23 Mess: Bedroom closet shelves
4/24 Mess: Old documents in file cabinet
4/25 Mess: Coffee Cupboard
4/26 Mess: Magazines in basement basket

4/27 Project: Bathroom medicine cabinet, cupboard under sink, drawers & hall linen closet
4/28 Sunday: Rest Day, brunch with my daughter as belated birthday present.

Other spots I hit as I go: <enter here>

@themedalist, those were very interesting articles. Thank you for the links.

I'm really excited that this challenge is for two weeks. I had thought it was for one week only. That's like getting a bonus week doing this together :laugh: .

April 15: 5 1/2 hours yard clean up after the weekend storm / winds, also included extra work in the yard.
April 16: Decluttered and lightly organized the pantry/ storage closet (yay! as that area has surely been irritating me as of late) located in the laundry room
April 17:

:flowerforyou:

I’m so thrilled to be in this group with all of you!

4/15 Plan: go through short stack of papers on dresser. Prioritize tasks there.
Actual: Cleaned & disinfected cat food drawer
Cleaned small table by bedside & returned things to proper places. Moved art things that gravitated to bedroom back to art studio! LoL
Went and bought two aqua magazine holders so my current magazines & Active paperwork can be accessed more easily, be more beautiful, and take up less space.

Time it took: 45 mins (mostly attempting to remove LARGE sticker on each. Not even done with one yet! Lol)
Other Random Decluttering: Removed decorations on DR table & set up new display.

4/16 Plan: go through short stack of papers on dresser. Prioritize tasks there.
Actual: Went through 2 drawers of photos & memorabilia, pitched a lot & found invaluable ones! Found a priceless journal I wrote from fir the year of our son’s birth. Invaluable! Fun to read what I was like as expectant & new mom. Planning to do something art related with copies to gift to
him/his wife. He’ll love it! (Did not count time reading it in my time!)
Then I moved the Xmas & other gift wrap, I’d neatly organized 6 months ago to the empty drawers. 1 for birthdays, 1 for friends, and a shallow one for ribbons!
There’s even a pullout tray I’d forgotten about to rest the gift! Now that I think about it, I might shift everything to other side...as tray will block ribbon scissors tape drawer lol
Time it took: 60+ minutes photos
5 mins moving gift wrap
Other Random Decluttering: Pitched one pair of leggings that I was horrified to see were insanely baggy after me new aqua leggings arrived & FIT!!

4/17 Plan:go through short stack of papers on dresser. Prioritize tasks there.
Actual none, busy day—counting 15 mins from April 15.
Time it took: 0
Other Random Decluttering: some reorg of my clothes, moving darker clothes back, bringing brighter colors forward!

4/18 Plan: either Plan:go through short stack of papers on dresser. Prioritize tasks there OR use the remaining 15 mins from 4/15 & schedule some dr. Appts.

Actual:
Time it took:
Other Random Decluttering:

4/19 Plan:
Time it took:
Other Random Decluttering:

4/20
4/21
4/22
4/23
4/24
4/25
4/26
4/27
4/28
4/29
4/30

4/18 Plan: either Plan:go through short stack of papers on dresser. Prioritize tasks there OR use the remaining 15 mins from 4/15 & schedule some dr. Appts.

Actual: Completed a 2nd pass (18 months later) of my 3 drawers of fabric art notions & tools. Now, it’s easier to access & I drew a map of each drawer on some thick paper & layer it on top of the supplies. I also labeled the outside of each drawer with sticky notes.
Time it took: > 45 mins + 20
Other Random Decluttering: Did more organization of my spring/summer clothes by color families. Very cheerful! Cleared off my art table - mostly

4/19 Plan: Clear the rest of the things oof couch.
Actual: Emptied 2 drawers & 4-5 shelves of photo/memories. Put all empty albums, frames, extra pages, etc in a box except for one’s I knew I wanted to keep (a 2nd pile).

Went through all the filled albums & all of the photos, sorting like with like.

Dusted washed the shelves/drawers.

Labeled all the piles.

Then gathered some from the last time I did this & added them to the proper piles.

Purged photos that I didn’t want any more.

Moved trip albums/photos to that other area of the house.

Moved old family photos to another area of house.

Organized our son’s photos chronologically on one shelf.

Did the same with my own - after stopping my timer & reading my baby book cover to cover “Thanks Mom!” 🙏🏻

Still have several shelves to go through, but I’m having fun. It didn’t bring me down this time. I felt joy that I gave these treasures of those who have passed.

I am 99% sure that I will be creating or using ScanCafe to create digital copies of all of these in the future. It would be nice to use keywords to label photos that fall into 2-3 categories & be able to search!!

Time it took: 3 hours+
Other Random Decluttering: Made my bookbinding supplies easier to get to.

Thank You for inspiring me to do this, @nebslp ❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️

4/20
4/21
4/22
4/23
4/24
4/24
4/25
4/26
4/27
4/28
4/29
4/30

4/20 0, I think
4/21 Finally did my daily plan since 4/15!!!!
(Coincidentally- also the morning after I got > 7 hrs sleep.) Told myself to just spend 15 mins on the pile of papers. 10 mins in, I realized it was not so bad. Finished that then went through my TO DO binder, removing some. Discussed 3-4 items with hubby. Total 50 mins including reading a few things & then recycling them.

Reorganized exercise equipment. 5 mins.

Later, helped hubby to go through two bins that had been sitting since Dec. I knew there were some important things, but he said he’d gone thru it. I figured out he hadn’t, so it only took about 20 mins for us to go through. 90% shred/recycled.😃

4/22 Plan:Merge the rest of photos saved during last ClutterBust in with new organization.
Plan: Move Ex equipment to closet or drawers in closet.
Purchase bookshelf for closet? Then move serving dishes & good china to closet where photos are now..
Photographs/memorabilia location?
4/23
4/24
4/25
4/26
4/27 0 busy
4/28 0 busy
4/29 0 busy
4/30

Time I committed: 4 hrs (15 mins/day)
Time Spent So Far: 6 hours 15 mins

I’m glad you liked my idea @themedalist! I was able to do some decluttering 4 days this week with my 5 minute plan. All told, I managed a little more than an hour. I straightened the top of my dresser, my bedside table, my paperwork junk drawer, and started on a sewing drawer. Overall, I find that having the tidying mindset, helps me keep my house tidier.

Adventures in Decluttering

Today, my daughter wanted to get rid of a pair of shoes that are practically new but are uncomfortable. I offered to drop them at Goodwill since it is just a couple blocks from Curves where I meet my sister for our Monday workout.

Well, we marched to the Goodwill after our workout to drop off the shoes, but what did I see - 2 Faberware stainless steel pans with lids. They look almost new and even match the ones I registered for when I got married in the 70s, so I traded a pair of shoes for 2 pans - not a good way to declutter, but those pans are quite the find.

My hubby was impressed, but of course asked where I was going to put them because we have one small cupboard that hold the pans we have. So I dug around in the lower cabinets which I have not decluttered and found some awesome mixing bowls, that I'd forgotten I had. Still no decluttering, right?! But I also found some Teflon pans and we are eliminating Teflon, so I'll take them to Goodwill when I go to Curves on Wednesday.

I'm a little worried about going to the Goodwill twice in one week - afraid that I'll find another excellent find. But if it leads to clearing another cupboard, it is worth the danger.

Definitely more than 5 minutes today.

4/22 Plan:Merge the rest of photos saved during last ClutterBust in with new organization.✅

Brought a few boxes of “memories down”
From bedroom & sorted all into my new locations/system. ✅

Travel in travel area (for an album of our lifetime travel ie one double-spread for each trip a la the best of the best!✅

Creative writing where I store my writing.✅

Sorted photos into the 30-40 labeled plastic envelopes along with memorabilia, memories I’ve written of that person, etc.✅

Slowly, but surely, a structure is emerging Its still a big job, but I’m definitely making progress!

Total time: 2 hours

4/23
4/24
4/25
4/26
4/27 0 busy
4/28 0 busy
4/29 0 busy
4/30

Time I committed to do: 4 hrs (15 mins/day)
Time Spent So Far: 8 hours 15 mins

Yesterday I sorted photos for 5 hours. I’m getting closer to the end. Still throwing lots away🙂. I spent some time while sorting trying to figure out how I will use the pics once I get them organized. I have a couple of ideas that I’m excited about, but I’m trying not to get ahead of myself.

I am enjoying reading the various decluttering sagas! Very inspiring indeed!

April 15: 5 1/2 hours yard clean up after the weekend storm / winds, also included extra work in the yard.
April 16: I decluttered and lightly organized the pantry/ storage closet (yay! as that area has surely been irritating me as of late) located in the laundry room
April 17: I cleared off the craft table in the "little room" and also took out the bins I "temporarily" stashed in there. Then I colored for a while
April 18: I took care of some papers and mail that had started to gather on the dining room table.
April 19: I decluttered and re-organized the cabinet under the kitchen sink.
April 20: Today I decluttered the back porch: The last 3 bags of mulch that were on the porch are now spread out in the garden. Then I blew off the back porch and straightened it up. The mulch job in the Back Fence Garden is finally finished!

April 21: Rest day,
April 22: I started decluttering/ reorganizing the storage cabinet near the back porch. I finished it later that evening!
April 23: I decided that I was going to take a grocery sack around the house to pick up obvious clutter, or out of place stuff, off of flat surfaces in the front part of the house. The dining room table was still clear!! It only took a few minutes!!
April 24: I began deep cleaning and decluttering the "little room" in earnest now that I had cleared that table off last week. I will continue later on this week.
April 25: I delcuttered the grand childen's craft box, then I decluttered a paper-bag full of my books. Later on I dropped them off at Goodwill while out running various errands.

:flowerforyou:

April 15: 5 1/2 hours yard clean up after the weekend storm / winds, also included extra work in the yard.
April 16: I decluttered and lightly organized the pantry/ storage closet (yay! as that area has surely been irritating me as of late) located in the laundry room
April 17: I cleared off the craft table in the "little room" and also took out the bins I "temporarily" stashed in there. Then I colored for a while
April 18: I took care of some papers and mail that had started to gather on the dining room table.
April 19: I decluttered and re-organized the cabinet under the kitchen sink.
April 20: Today I decluttered the back porch: The last 3 bags of mulch that were on the porch are now spread out in the garden. Then I blew off the back porch and straightened it up. The mulch job in the Back Fence Garden is finally finished!

April 21: Rest day,
April 22: I started decluttering/ reorganizing the storage cabinet near the back porch. I finished it later that evening!
April 23: I decided that I was going to take a grocery sack around the house to pick up obvious clutter, or out of place stuff, off of flat surfaces in the front part of the house. The dining room table was still clear!! It only took a few minutes!!
April 24: I began deep cleaning and decluttering the "little room" in earnest now that I had cleared that table off last week. I will continue later on this week.
April 25: I delcuttered the grand childen's craft box, then I decluttered a paper-bag full of my books. Later on I dropped them off at Goodwill while out running various errands.
April 26: Back into the little room: Today I am decluttering and re-organizing the student drafting desk that two of my son's used back in the day.

:flowerforyou:

themedalist wrote: »

... And I spent several hours last weekend going through bathroom clutter. We have a nice shelving unit in the bathroom where we store items in a series of baskets. I realized our 5 baskets were clutter magnets. Do I really need a basket for my daughter now that she lives in Colorado? Now we have just two baskets and only those items that we use have been kept. It really is a great feeling!

Today I’m going to work on decluttering the dining room. That was my initial project but I’m glad I focused on the bedrooms and bathroom instead.

@themedalist You have been doing great and I know you've been really busy. The basket story reminds me of the OK Plateau we talked about awhile back. If we don't stop and really notice what we have versus what we love and need, we don't make any changes in our environment even though our lives have changed. Sometimes we have to look around and really see that the way things are isn't OK. Thank you for having this declutterfest again.

My guest room was OK the way it was, but was it? Boxes, totes, and blankets took over two corners of the room. So after I sorted through all the photo totes and boxes, I needed a place to put what was left. So today I am decluttering the corners and getting things ready to go to charity. Unfortunately, I found 6 more new books that I want to read. And another plastic set of drawers contains antique books. Not sure why I'm keeping them. By cleaning out the corner stash, I will have a place to put my photo drawers. Several boxes will be placed on top, so it won't be pretty, but everything will be in one place and easy(er) to find.

My room looks much better without the corner clutter and the photo storage actually looks fine. I have empty boxes and a suitcase that I have to figure out what to do with yet so I'm not done yet. Even though my pictures are all categorized, I have to figure out how to showcase the important photos instead of having them piled up in storage drawers and boxes.

When I was in my early 20's my mother told me "you should write a book". I'm not an author and my life has been fairly uneventful. But I had 3 main projects I wanted to undertake in my lifetime.
1) write a general summary of my life with some details my kids might be interested in.
2) make photo books of early years in my life and in my kids' lives.
3) organize historical information using pictures and documents of ancestors back to the 1800's on my side...1600's on my husband's side up to the 1970's.

I have decided to make it an all-in-one project and create one book with many chapters. First I will place actual photos and documents in a physical book and write a story to go with them providing details of people, places, and dates. When that's complete, I will scan it into my computer and make a digital book that can be reprinted for anyone that wants a copy. I have no clue how to do this but I'm giving myself several years to finish. This is too important to rush and it may be the legacy I can leave to my family. Having a plan has given my more peace of mind. Wish me luck! I'm going to need it!!! Thanks for putting up with my rambles!