Not waving but drowning ----(carbootcrazy's SOS)

Fire_Fox

carbootcrazy wrote: »

Hi Lemon Tree

Yes, my sole aim in life is to clear the lot and get my home back. I know I can't possibly do it by then but I see my 60th birthday on December as something of a landmark date and I'm going all-out to make noticeable changes to my situation by then. I worry the daunting nature of the task will become too much for me as I'm an 'all or nothing' sort of girl (you know the type of thing, such as if I go on a diet it has to be crash diet losing the max amount in the shortest time etc etc etc ) and I worry setting a deadline for mega progress to be made may force me to go at it like a maniac and still see no results. Then I get discouraged, fall off the wagon as it were and nothing gets done for a few months more.

Actually, not that I'm offering it as an excuse, I was diagnosed as manic depressive in 1980 and have had short periods of various therapies and longer-term medication off and on since then. Have been medication-free for 4 years and have only seen my GP once in that time on a totally unrelated matter. Have always held down a demanding job throughout until I retired fairly recently. But I do tend to worry sometimes that by biting off more than I can chew I may set everything into a downward spiral again. I honestly think though that I can't be 'normal' to have gotten into this mess in the first place and to have put up with it for so long.

Just wrote a long post about carboot sales, charity shops etc and it just disappeared:mad:. Will try to rewrite it in a mo.

Why do you think you need to be 'normal'?? If you were happy with things as they are, then there would not be a problem but you aren't. This shouldn't be about conforming, it should be about making you feel free to enjoy your home. It's not 'normal' for families to "Live on £4K for a year" or to "Eat healthily on 50p per day" but there are incredibly inspirational threads with those titles read by tens of thousands of people ... :T

Big goals are too daunting to work on their own. You probably already know that goals should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-framed). So you want to clear the house - start with the landing as this is affecting your ability to move around your home on a daily basis, and it's a small area.

Set a timescale to do this by, and then mini daily and/ or weekly goals. For example list one thing every single day on eBay. You might take inspiration from other threads and have increasing goals - list one thing every day for the first fortnight, two things every day for the second fortnight etc. etc. :cool:

Your garden sounds lovely BTW, my family are very into birdwatching and nature walks so I am sure we'd be in our element.

Lemon_Tree

oh i very much agree with setting yourself smaller challenges that way you feel like you're actually achieving something. I'm also someone who's all or nothing so i can understand exactly where you're coming from. I'm sure you will soon see a difference and that alone will spur you on to making more changes. Just a warning as i'm a sad type person i would also take photo's so you can see the progress you've made, if you make changes gradually we often forget how bad it was on the first day and discount all the effort we've put into things.
Have you found the declutter thread on the OS Money savings board, there are no expectations there but you can list for yourself what you have managed to achieve.

benbenandme

Welcome to the board, I love new diaries How about sending out invites to family / friends for a drinks evening for your birthday in December, giving you a few months to blitz some areas of your home? You could do the hall, the living room, bathroom/downstairs loo(?) or whatever areas you think they may need to see It may give you the motivation to get going as you'd have a timescale to work towards? I do also agree with the suggestion of trying to get something on ebay every day, once you get started on there it becomes addictive once the bids start rolling in

Pooky

I like the idea of sending out some birthday invites - it will spur you on.

You should load up the car, get yourself to a bootfair and get selling - you'll get addicted to the money you can make...make the most of the end of the bootfair season and get as many in as you can.

If you live close to me I'll come help - I'm ruthless

*Jellie*

Hi Carboot!
I'm enjoying reading this- am stuck in bed ill at the moment.
I'm in the middle of a big declutter. I found joining in the Flylady thread on OS really helped.
I also set small goals and have just started a Make A Change challenge thread to help with it on the main DFW board. I learnt the action plan technique on an NHS course for people with long term illnesses. This was an excellent course which I would highly recommend if they run it in your area.