Let it GO! Decluttering (simplifying) your life of (people, places or things) success stories?
Replies
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@AMR76: Here are the things that work for me. I have ADHD, and so I am prone to disorder.
"You can't pack fifty pounds of stuff in a five pound sack." Or, to put it another way, you can't have order if you just have Too Much Stuff.
"A place for everything and everything in its place." One of the things I always say when I admire something is, "Where am I going to put it?" And if I don't have a place for it, I don't get it. But since everything has a place, and many of those places are out of sight in drawers and cabinets, I don't have visual clutter. I spend a little time every day before bed walking round and tidying up, and that is soothing and calming and means I get up to things in order. (Well, mostly. I DO have a half-grown kitten, and her name is Nyx, Daughter of Chaos....) My partners also like order, so that is helpful. They are good to put their clothes in hampers and take their plates back to the kitchen and rinse out sauces and the remains of milk, so it's easier for me to wash up later. And they praise me overtly for keeping a neat and tidy house.
The reward for this is that since we are showing our house this weekend, I am not nearly as panicked as I could be. I want to run the sweeper and mop over the floors, of course. But apart from doing the breakfast dishes up that morning (I usually wait and do everything in the evening) I just have to get out the nice towels and extra pillows and catch the cats and put them in their cage, instead of being in a panic about getting everything in order. Cause it basically is.7 -
I deleted my other MFP account because half the people never supported me anyway and I didn't want to delete them. Now, I don't even miss the people who I thought were "fun" friends. I'll never go back to adding people. THAT is decluttering my MFP.5
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NewLIFEstyle4ME wrote: »RubyRed427 wrote: »I grew up in a spotless house. My mom would stay up late cleaning many nights. I think it set an unrealistic expectation for me as an adult. My brain got wired to think it was the way you live .... with zero clutter.
My mom, grandmother, aunts... all have beautifully decorated homes. Where they hide their clutter, they've never passed on the secret! I am like your husband....
My mom says that even as an infant, before I could roll over, I could destroy a perfectly clean room during my sleep.
I wish I weren't like this because I know how distracting the clutter is to me and know that it places a deep emotional burden on my mind and can lead to financial and emotional distress which can lead to other things, like excess weight.
I'm not saying your husband is wrong in how he is, but I am curious - does he ever feel overwhelmed by all the "things" he has? I feel like all of it just gets in my way of enjoying life. I spend more time cleaning up after myself than anything!
I'll spend an entire day de-cluttering and scrubbing and enjoy a stress free / clean home for 1 day... then the cycle starts again.
{{{{{ LOVE and HUGS }}}}} You are so not alone, please know that. This decluttering thing is very relatable to weight blastification...it takes TIME, patience and again, like weight blastification, it takes a "throwing down the gautlet" with yourself (mainly your thinking) and adopting a nothing is going to stop me from accomplishing all of my goals, including decluttering. I'm just going to have patience with myself and remember/remind myself OFTEN that slow and steady ALWAYS tends to win the race. I'm in competition with NOONE other than myself. Comparing myself to others is a deal breaker, period. I didn't gain all this weight overnight and I'm purposely NOT going to try to hurry and lose it either--the same with decluttering. That you have the desire to do so is really the "ticket" to change.
THANK YOU EVER SO MUCH FOR POSTING!!! Your post is going to help inspire and encourage others that they are not alone!
I'm cheering you ON and here's another {{{ Hug }}} just because!
Thank you so much. I really needed this today.
You posted some verses that the Lord gave you in Psalms at the end of March.
I was reading the exact same passage, then logged on to MFP and saw you posted it.
That happens a lot - I'll have read something, I call a friend, and they'll have read that same passage.
Anyway, the drawing of the leaf is what I needed to hear.
I'm used to long and heavy gym workouts, and now I'm stuggling just to do an hour a few times a week. I've gained back 16lbs of the 20lbs I lost in my last cut, six of them since the stay at home orders.
Last night, a plant looked withered. I watered it. This morning, it's robust again.
Even though I gained a bit of weight, I still am much, much smaller and in much better shape than when I started. I just need to water that part of me again, and be patient.
Thanks, God bless.
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It's easy. Get flooded like I did last year and just throw just about everything out. Simple lol. Aghhh.. I am keeping it simple now. Less everything is the way I want it.7
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It's easy. Get flooded like I did last year and just throw just about everything out. Simple lol. Aghhh.. I am keeping it simple now. Less everything is the way I want it.
A pity about the flooding, but sometimes it takes something of that amplitude to make us realize what is necessary. I hope you are doing better now. It seems you acquired wisdom. 5 -
NewLIFEstyle4ME wrote: »Hi all! I've been in NY a month, and still have 3 weeks to go. Babies are great, teaching is kicking my a**, but we have a routine. I'm really missing home though.
Hi Snoo!
Here's a link that will SUPER help you help your darling grands:
Christian-based free homeschooling curriculum:
https://allinonehomeschool.com/
Here's a secular one
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Living room turned into a makeshift classroom? We're here to help with hand-selected lessons and activities for cooped-up kids.
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https://www.mensaforkids.org/read/blog/at-home-learning-resources-for-kids/
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WOW! Thanks so much my friend!0 -
NewLIFEstyle4ME wrote: »After NY, I'll be home for a month, then go to Florida to help clean out dad's house (my dad died 2 weeks ago). In September I'll be back in NY for the birth of our 4th grandchild! Pray for me, this is a lot. Love you!
I'm so sorry to hear about your beloved father {{{ Hugs }}}, but as per ALWAYS, your attitude is so admirable and inspirational, I LOVE you Snoo and pls. know you are ever in my heart/thoughts and prayers. This is so a LOT and I am so grateful for the way you think and are.
Again, thank you! I appreciate all the support.
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One good thing to come out of social distancing is the time to be yourself in your home. We have decluttered, we have decorated, weve spent time as a family and weve had all the time in the world to walk and check out our local area instead of always going out somehwre different. Im feeling much more content and much more of a home bird xxx9
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The 1st thing I thought of when my office closed for the pandemic was to start doing my art but people had put things in my small art room to store. So I would empty it out right? But then I found out that Goodwill was closed. Now it has opened with limited hours and long lines but my next project is to start getting rid of things now that I can.
When we moved back to Seattle we went from a large 4 bedroom home with an art studio above our garage. Now we are in a much smaller house with no separate dining room, basically a 3 bedroom with a basement. Our kitchen is small as are most of the rooms. We don't even have a place upstairs to put brooms and mops. We have weeded through and weeded through stuff and still this small house is stuffed. However it is good for us as we start to think about retirement.
I agree there is a relationship between clutter, extra weight and even debt. I was going to say we don't have toxic relationships but we actually just decided to make some changes in our main outside activity that may not have been toxic but just going in a way we were not interested in supporting. So it was in a sense a decluttering of relationships I guess.
I have one other focus now besides my health but this decluttering is what I have been thinking is on the horizon for me.8 -
We moved in December last year from a 2 bed flat to a 3 bed house, and rather than stuffing everything I have into the additional space that's now available, I took the opportunity to declutter.
As I was packing boxes, I went through each room and thought 'do I really need this' for most things I was packing.
This meant a lot of trips to the charity shop with bags full of stuff I hadn't looked at or used in ages, but could still be useful to someone else.
My sense of achievement was great, not only because I had cleared space for the things I do use and love, but also to be able to give to others. Both customers in the charity shop who will buy my old things, and the people who will benefit from the money raised.
It also gave me the chance to sort out my incredibly large wardrobe full of clothes, which varied from size 12 up to size 18. Most of which didn't fit me, although my brain told me I should keep this selection 'just incase'.
This was so therapeutic, as now all my clothes fit into my wardrobe without getting crushed, which pleases Husband who hates me going out with wrinkled clothes on. It also meant I have a wardrobe of clothes that I actually like and fit into.
Having said that, I have managed to stick to a fitness routine whilst stuck in lockdown, so have lost weight, and will probably need to go through the whole thing again when I need to start wearing more than just sweat pants and t-shirts.
These are good problems to have #gratitude.8 -
As I pack, I am very definitely saying, "Do I want to waste time, energy, and money in moving this?" And I am sure it will pay off in a few less boxes.8
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I grew up in a house with massive clutter and not enough space - being poor does that to you. You don't want to throw stuff away because you may need it. The older I become the more I dislike clutter.
Sure, I have a lot of stuff, it's hard not to as an artist, but I try to have more places to PUT that stuff and keep it organized so it's not piled all over my living area. Plus it's a nice little movement break to go and get the thing I want, use it, then put it back again.
I used to be a terrible "nester," wanting to have everything I needed in arm's reach. Then one day I thought "hey - wait a minute - I can put that lotion in the bathroom, and those papers in my file cabinet in the study, and that equipment over there, and just walk over to get them I need them! I actually live in this whole house not just in my part of the living room!"
Stuff still accumulates but it moves back to its spot again. With less stuff around me I feel more organized and less stressed.13 -
Hi, I'm back after a long absence in this thread. I'm so glad to see it's still going.
I know people who are close to hoarders, but high-functioning.
What would you recommend advising a collector of *collections* when their house is full but doesn’t make them happy?
Not me! I'm functioning better than I was for a while, but never lost total grip of tidying etc.
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Day 22 of the May Minsgame...I try it, then rest for a couple of months, the try it again, then rest, etc. After four years, I believe my stuff, clutter, hoards, collections, etc are all in series danger of extinction.10
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Haven’t been on here for quite some time! Still working on my 15 minute a day decluttering challenge. Most days I do several 15 minute sessions.
Just like my quest for better health and fitness, decluttering is a permanent process. The clutter just keeps on coming, and you have to stay on top of it 😂
Weight wise, I’m now in maintenance, having discarded 78lbs. I hope to reach maintenance in household clutter soon, to match my streamlined physique 😂
My weight loss and decluttering are going hand in hand as part of my evolving lifestyle. I am gradually overcoming the conditioning of a deprived childhood where nothing was wasted, or thrown away.
We were the original reuse/recycle/repurpose society.
2020 started out as my Depth Year, where I was determined to buy only essential items, repurpose what I already owned, or get rid of anything I no longer needed. Lockdown has stalled the last one a little, but only temporarily. I’m doing my usual winter into summer cull of my wardrobe, and will get rid of the cast offs as soon as the opportunity arises.12 -
TerriRichardson112 wrote: »Haven’t been on here for quite some time! Still working on my 15 minute a day decluttering challenge. Most days I do several 15 minute sessions.
Just like my quest for better health and fitness, decluttering is a permanent process. The clutter just keeps on coming, and you have to stay on top of it 😂
Weight wise, I’m now in maintenance, having discarded 78lbs. I hope to reach maintenance in household clutter soon, to match my streamlined physique 😂
My weight loss and decluttering are going hand in hand as part of my evolving lifestyle. I am gradually overcoming the conditioning of a deprived childhood where nothing was wasted, or thrown away.
We were the original reuse/recycle/repurpose society.
2020 started out as my Depth Year, where I was determined to buy only essential items, repurpose what I already owned, or get rid of anything I no longer needed. Lockdown has stalled the last one a little, but only temporarily. I’m doing my usual winter into summer cull of my wardrobe, and will get rid of the cast offs as soon as the opportunity arises.
Great to see you, Terri. x Yep, we started earlier than most.
I started in 2016 while I was getting close to my maintenance weight.
It's been wonderful seeing the world catch on and reuse/repurpose the things we all now share.3 -
This weekend I’m working on decluttering my diet.
Choosing fruit, and protein/fibre rich alternatives instead of my usual chocolate 🍪 snacks. I have already pre-logged for the day.
Breakfast:
herbal tea/grapefruit/blueberries/milled flax/yoghurt
Mid morning: coffee
Lunch: salmon salad, houmous, goats cheese, granary bread, coffee
Mid afternoon: coffee, banana, probiotic drink, pre-dinner 50ml sherry (during family Skype)
Dinner: 100g roast chicken, 6/7 veg, strawberries/yoghurt, 125ml West Coast Cooler
Supper: 20g dark chocolate (daily indulgence) clementine, apple
Wish me luck!!!6 -
What would you recommend advising a collector of *collections* when their house is full but doesn’t make them happy? Most collectors have some kind of storage system for their prized possessions - cabinets, shelves, display cases, racks, etc. Perhaps these collectors could be enticed to display their collection to its best advantage - and at the same time get back some of their living space. If they can't do that, then maybe the collection needs to be downsized.
That's a good question - collections can get out of hand quickly.
A general thought about clutter - as a person starts getting healthier and feels better, they have more energy to clean and put things away. Which leads to a lower stress environment. Which leads to less energy being wasted on stress. Which leads to being able to clean up even more and put things away - instead of having piles of clutter because they don't have energy to get up/get what they need all the time, or put stuff away, etc. Just as the cycle can get more intense in a bad way, it can also spiral into an improvement cycle.6 -
Yesterday my husband did something our youngest who lives at home while finishing college online asked for several months ago. He got rid of the bedframe in her bedroom. She actually has 2 bedrooms. The tiny one on the main floor that was always been hers (she was given a playroom in the basement too. She also cleared out her brothers basement room he had abandoned but not gotten rid of his stuff. My husband bought her a chest of drawers at home depot so that now maybe she can get a handle on all her clothes which will help the decluttering in our house. The problem is this with the stay at home order the waste transfer station is only taking very serious cast offs right now that are a health problem if not brought in. However we got it out of the house and put it behind our garbage, recycling and compost bins outside. This is a similar problem as we have now with trying to get exercise. Now that we have time we don't always have the facilities to do what we want to do. With a problem knee I do alot of aquafit but the Y is closed now. At least now Good Will is open for limited hours but this bedframe was not in good enough shape for that. The up stairs one has been taken over with kitten stuff. We have a bonded pair of almost twin kittens. He has promised to remove today the bin in the living room that he had promised to do a month ago when we were all straightening it together. Well back to finishing up the bathroom cleaning. they say to let the cleanser sit before wiping it down. Decluttering in the time of pandemic is challenging.5
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I started decluttering my house several years ago. Then went on to toxic people, places. Finally lost 46 lbs since Oct. 2019. Feel like a new me!13
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RubyRed427 wrote: »Good morning friends! ...
I know that several of us spoke about Flylady in the past. I do like her philosophies. I'll have to revisit her site for inspiration.
Who is / where do I find this "Flylady (and her philosophies)" of which you speak? Just got the news that (after 8 wks in) I can confidently expect to continue working from home for a minimum of another 3 months. So I thought I would start getting the "home-work" space switched from "make do" setup to "long term / semi-permanent" and am looking for ideas / approaches to take.
Beyond the obvious "Just plain throw out that first piece of unneeded paper, and repeat" ....4 -
RubyRed427 wrote: »Good morning friends! ...
I know that several of us spoke about Flylady in the past. I do like her philosophies. I'll have to revisit her site for inspiration.
Who is / where do I find this "Flylady (and her philosophies)" of which you speak? Just got the news that (after 8 wks in) I can confidently expect to continue working from home for a minimum of another 3 months. So I thought I would start getting the "home-work" space switched from "make do" setup to "long term / semi-permanent" and am looking for ideas / approaches to take.
Beyond the obvious "Just plain throw out that first piece of unneeded paper, and repeat" ....
I hope that this information is helpful:
FlyLady.net
www.flylady.net/c/lp.php
FlyLady - Sneak Peek for the Week, Detail Cleaning, Reminders, Flight Plan, Missions, and Zones.
FlyLady.net
signup.flylady.net
Have you been living in CHAOS? FlyLady is here to help you get your home organized! She teaches you to eliminate your clutter and establish simple routines for getting your home clean!
Videos of flylady website
bing.com/videos3 -
I will explore that (and other possibilities) I am familiar with "throw out 50 things" site (the trick is:
- those 57 back-issues of magazines (for example) only count as "one thing => magazines"
- "throw out" means "leave your custody" (shifting it to basement / attic / garage or shed / off-site storage doesn't cut it)
- "throw out" doesn't HAVE to mean "throw to the curb for trash-pickup / drop at the dump" Depending on the item, it can be recycled / regifted / donated / contributed to a charity sale / sold-consigned / part of a personal or street garage-sale event OR on its way to the dump if that IS the "proper place for it
needless to say, this was written / developed years ago, and some of the "potential new homes" options above might have to wait a bit for re-openings .... but that need not delay getting started.
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Hi all! Got home yesterday, after 7 weeks babysitting in NY. Today was a relax, get reaquainted with my house day. Hubby shampooed rugs, and kept the place in decent shape. He's wonderful.
! Not sure what I'm getting into this month that I'm home. There are many options! I just know that having to go through my parents' house, in a month, will inspire me to not leave a mess for my daughter to sort. 8 -
Made a good start yesterday in the "shifting here to there" initial manouver. Nothing actually tossed but a few easy-to-categorize papers .... BUT
- the spare bed is out of my "BMcC's Room"
- the stuff that WAS in the Box Room next door (most of which CAN'T be discarded for various important reasons) binned and moved elsewhere
- table from Box Room shifted to BMcC's Room - now I have a workable "home-office surface" in one corner and a "craft&hobbies surface" in the opposite corner.
- spare bed now in the box room; along with an attractive storage cube to act as a "bedside table" and stand for the only lamp in there so far.
- the Box Room is starting to evolve into "useable multi-purpose space" - details to be determined later.
The point is - DH is convinced I will end up using both rooms as "BMcC Space" and I am determined proper set-up I WON'T be. Being able to have the two "stations" in the same room go a very long way in the right direction.3 -
I have the opposite problem. Whenever I created my Hobbies Room, DH gradually invaded the space with his computer stuff, so I have hobby stations/office space elsewhere now. We do have a dedicated computer room which he NEVER uses 😂5
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I think you have hit on something very important by correlating clutter with obesity. I'm not a Horder, but I have noticed my mood will go dark when I feel overwhelmed with clutter and the need to keep my house neat and clean.When I get in these moods, I have found myself going to food instead of conquering the clutter. It's just a viscious cycle of madness.8
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I went through my "mending pile" and sorted what needs a stitch-or-two from things that I might conceiveably ATTEMPT to alter to fit my now on maintenance body - some of those WERE too small, but are now TOO BIG ...
First- was ruthless about "colour or style no longer suits who I am now" (straight to the "donate when they are collecting again pile")
- actually tried the remainder on - if items were pants / capris and too big for NOW - straight to donate pile (too hard for my sewing skills to alter)
- set three tops (too big for me, though I still love the colours) aside that my mom might like to adopt (eventually)
- put multiple other tops in donate pile as "WHY am I going to try to even guess how to alter?!?" WHY NOT START FRESH???" (sewing from altered-before-cutting-fabric relatively basic patterns is closer to my sewing ability - altering pre-made garments (even simply made ones) ain't that easy
Once I put the few stitches in each of the "truly need minor mending" pile, I will do the same sort-down and put a high proportion of them into the "donate when they are collecting again pile". They are good quality with plenty of wear in them - someone not-so-far into their journey will be able to feel very pleased at the finds - I know I did under similar circumstances as my wardrobe sizes evolved.4 -
DH is clearing out one of the sheds. He's got things in there from when he was carefree and without me. Stuff that he hasn't used since the year dot. Stuff that he doesn't need. I found a random door handle and I was, "What the heck?". Turns out that his lovely, lovely Dad, who died eight years ago, fitted said handle to a shed that DH owned (this would have been over 32 years ago, as that's when I met him). DH didn't want to get rid of it due to emotional ties. Which, I suppose is fair enough. Although I did say to him, that the memories of his Dad are primarily inside his head, they are not "things". His Dad also gave us a grandfather clock of which he engineered the entire mechanical section. I said that I felt that was memory enough, along with the photos we have of him. DH could see where I was coming from but still hung onto that handle.
I'll let him have that one as he has thrown away an awful lot of other junk.
I may have to try the "Does that item bring you joy?" method to try and condense the stuff. It's unfortunate that DH spends so much time reminiscing over this random and pretty well useless junk. But maybe that allows him to value the worth of the items...5 -
I'm doing a lot of mental work and recognizing that as I move (again, for I left a lot of stuff behind when I left my first husband) most of the stuff I want to take is small or non-physical. I don't need a memorial to my dad. The way that I am labeling and packing and organizing the move is a memorial to his organizational abilities. And, of course, I look very much like him.
At the same time, I'm thinking, "Who do I want to become?" When I have a waist, what styles will I like? What will I wear when I'm working round the house, going to the grocery store, going out with my partners? Hmmm..... All sorts of possibilities, and I realize there's room for these possibilities because I am not hanging on to stuff and feeling I need to get the wear or the use out of it.5
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