The Great Declutter - 18 months on

mary-op

I get the same problem -seems to reappear year after year.
Last year was the first time I'd really de-cluttered properly and I started on the little room where computer is and cleared one corner at a time. The sight of tidy shelves and folders neatly in order, drawers sorted so I could actually find stuff gave me more incentive to carry on to the next corner. But I spread this over a week -may have been more. Too much too soon and its too overwhelming I feel.
Good luck. You'll find lots of advice from the de-clutter thread.

zarazara

In, a house plant :-)
OUT a load of things to a freecycler yesterday and 3 carrier bags of bin rubbish to the bin today.

morganlefay

Kind people, can you give me a bit of support ? I have been depressed and being treated for a while. My hideous untidiness is partly a cause and partly an effect - every room in my house is full of my stuff. OH has a little mantra 'If in doubt chuck it out' He would chuck everything out at once - probably all my current clothes, rings, bracelets, books, treasures, EVERYTHING. I have tried to follow advice on here and spent all last week chipping away - about 2 hours a day - at a bathroom cupboard. I filled 3 rubble sacks with hideously out-of date makeup, jars, manky bath stuff, old Tampax, plasters, bandages etc etc - you know the stuff you keep in the bathroom. I emptied bottles for recycling and did it all very thoroughly, tho still have not put things remaining back in an orderly fashion. This morning I was explaining to him that I was going to label several cheap plastic trays and then ...at that point he iinterrupted with "chuck it all out" and I just collapsed. I've spent several days getting this far and he has no idea how much I hate doing it and how very proud I am of those 3 rubble sacks. Please will a kind person on here give me a pat on the back because I know I'm doing a good thing here. Tho it does make me see why I hate doing it because no matter how hard I struggle with it he would just scoop up armsful of stuff and bin it and not see how much of an effort it is for me to make even the smallest dent in it all. I'm sure there are people out there who've been where I am, and I just need a kind pat on the back, please.

oceanspirit

Hi there Morganlefay,

You've done a brilliant job - 3 sacks of rubbish! It's a very satisfying feeling when you can see such a result. And you'll have so much more space in your bathroom cupboard now. It'll feel wonderful when what you're keeping is back neat and tidy.

I've just started a clearout too. My friends kindly helped me to move 2 years ago from a house to a bungalow, but I was too unwell at the time to do anything so a lot of junk moved with me. I am now starting to clear it bit by bit as I have much less storage space than before. I can only manage a few minutes at a time so I am very impressed with your 2 hours a day. Trouble is, I too am a natural hoarder and I find it really difficult to let go of anything just in case I might find a use for it after I've thrown it away.

You're also being far more efficient than me in that you have taken one room and given it a proper sort out. That's brilliant. I've been doing a kitchen drawer, then the wardrobe in the bedroom, then a pile of magazines in the spare bedroom, then back to a cupboard in the kitchen. Hopeless really!

And the putting the bits back that you want to keep is important too. I think the tray idea sounds brilliant - it's something I've done in the kitchen so that i can see what's there and use it up, thus not buy more of the same thing.

I believe you mentioned in a previous post that you would like to have a go at Ebay. I too found the site a bit overwhelming when I looked a few months ago and I am rubbish with technology. However I now have a pile of things to be sold - perhaps we could support each other in having a go? I have a couple of important bits of paperwork which need to be done before I start with Ebay, so am planning to start in 2 weeks time, the first week in August.

So well done, keep up the good work and let us all know how you are getting on.

fedupandskint

Morgan - don't worry chick, it can take ages to get on top of things. My spare room was the one where I dumped every thing, where I had not unpacked when I moved and it took me months to clear it out, spending about 3hrs a time clearing it. Eventually I got ontop of the clearing and now I have to be good to not dump more stuff in there and to clear out some of the furniture now to make some room.

Please don't upset yourself and just take it steady and slowly and you will get there eventually. As the flylady thread says, the mess didn't get there in a day and it'll take more than a day to sort it!

The flylady thread on the OS Board has helped me get on top of things to esp when I felt very low and down. Now I use cleaning to distract me and take my mind off things when I start to feel like this again and it works for me.

The flylady thread has some good ideas about the 60 in 60 which is chuck 60 things out in 60 minutes, 100 fling boogie which is chuck out 100 things from the house (can be anything large or small, eg hairs from the plughole!), binbag boogie - start to get the theme? All helpful to set a task, do it and feel the benefits when you achieve it

You're doing well my dear in making a good start, don't worry, it all makes a big difference!

brummiebabe

Hi all - I've posted here on & off over the last year or so, and have been trying to declutter. However - it's now becoming more serious as we'll be moving house in the next couple of months:eek:. very exciting - but a bit scary. Last time we moved it was just the 2 of us (and 'bump.') Now - 3 kids' stuff to move aswell!!!!!

Have been doing decluttering over the last couple of weeks - so going to summarise here, then try to keep posting (as a bit of a motivator!!)

IN

Birthday cards ready for DS's birthday at the start of August

OUT

• 3/4 black bags of rubbish
• 1 hand blender (freecycle)
• boot ful of stuff to car boot sale (luckily someone else had the pleasure of selling it!)
• 1 'mid sleeper' bed (to my niece)
• small bag of boys clothes (to a friend)

PENDING

• 1 unused safety gate (currently £60 on ebay auction - finishes shortly!!)
• 1 black bag for charity shop
• 1 bag of DVDs/Videos/CDs for charity collection on Wednesday!!

Not too bad....but loads left to get on with!!!

zarazara

WellDone everyone. Its great fun isnt it?

zarazara

[QUOTE



Out

Skip - containing a good deal of the garage contents (OH was away!)

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:T:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::T

zarazara

HI MORGANLEFAY [great name BTW]
You are actully doing well. I'm afrad just "chuck it out" is unhelpful. Have you mentioned that this gets you down? maybe your OH thinks hes being helpful and doesnt realise Personally I find breaking it all down into bits and focusing on one area is the best way for me. If you spend ages decluttering and cant see a difference its so soul destroying . So, try concentrating on one bitat a time. Like one draw in a set of draws empty it, discard anything you dont like, dont use, doesnt fit you anymore. either throw it in the bin or take it to charity shop if its in good condition. when you've done one draw or one shelf then STOP. this is important. basically you have started and finished the job. wipe down the cupboard/shelf , put what you are keeping back and tell yuorself how well you have done, because you HAVE done well! then post on here what you have done, please. I , for one, an interested and want to know how you are doing.
I suggest one session in the morning then another in the afternoon. slowly but surely does it and avoids burn-out. Dont forget to reward yourself, hlf hour at the computer with a mug of coffee maybe. Take credit for what you have achieved.

SugarSpun

May I join please? Our first baby's due next week and we're still clearing space for her

In:

2 packs generic Jaffa Cakes, one orange one apple flavour (will declutter these into my tummy)
1 roll blown film to wrap boxes to go down into the basement
1 pack of hooks to hang cups from

Out:

Giant box of tat for local school's flea market
3x CD racks ditto

Pending:

Basement mountain (to be wrapped and taken down)
2x fullsized pinball machines (Husband's hobby; going on loan to a friend of his)
Guitar Hero and Guitar for Wii (on sale on a local website)
Contents of pinball room (going into storage so we can have a nursery)
Almost full box of rubbish
Pre-pregnancy bras to be sorted and anything that is a 32 back size to go in a bag for charity