Help with decluttering, keeping tidy etc

kiss_me_now9

This is a bit of a general 'ARGHHH everything's wrong' topic rather than one specific area so thought it'd be ok to create a new thread rather than post in the decluttering/flylady threads.

I live in Uni halls, a very small room as you can imagine. I find that I have two major problems:

1) I accumulate a lot of stuff very quickly. This is expensive AND it's cluttering up my room but I can never seem to get rid of any of it.

2) It gets very untidy, very quickly as my schedule is often very hectic (some days it's 7:30am rise and 11pm bedtime with no stopping in between!) which lends to a mad rush like tonight of me running around trying to tidy whilst trying to blog, Hub, FaceBook, MSN, listen to the radio, do work AND pack for my weekend away!

I'm slowly running out of places to put things and losing the will to live in this state, I like it when a room has lots of personality and character as it makes it more homely but when I just have stacks and stacks of things it's stupid and it means it gets very messy very quickly.

Oh gurus of saving, decluttering and tidying, impart unto me your wisdom and save a young child from the path of uncleanliness and debt! Where do I start? I can't send anything home as it would cost too much and I'm too far for car journeys, I can't bring to myself to sell on eBay as tbh no-one would want my stuff! I can't bring myself to throw things away even though there are things here that I haven't touched since September. I'm very much of the school of 'Oh, that was useful once, best keep it around for next time' when next time never comes

BitterAndTwisted

You need to be utterly ruthless. Stuff needs to be tidied, stored or disposed of. If you haven't needed something since last September you don't really need it at all.

Sounds like you need to get yourself some storage of some sort, maybe boxes that you can label and stack. Or just burn the lot.

happierdaystocome

I find getting a friend to help declutter helps. As Bitter and twister is right if you havent used it since September you probably dont need it. Also what storage do you have available (under the bed bookshelve or putting shevles up higher on walls)

caitybabes

When it comes to tidying, try giving yourself 15 mins off from blog, Hub, FaceBook, MSN, just to have a quick tidy. Might make life a bit calmer for a little while?

Cait x

P.S. I was a hoardy student too not so long ago. Now I've got a house full of stuff and life ain't so bad. If it's getting on your nerves though it's probably time for a ruthless declutter. A glass of a wine and a good friend help in these situations.

elaine12022

Maybe some other students would be interested in some of the excess you have accumulated? Either to give away or sell?

You only have to start small - 1 drawer/corner/1 item.

Looks like you have identified at least one reason for collecting - the 'just in case' mentality. (I've inherited that one too :rotfl:)

There's a brilliant book by Karen Kingston which 'Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui' - website https://www.spaceclearing.com.

She advocates asking 3 questions when you're decluttering:

1) Does this item lift my energy when I think about it or look at it?
Listen to your body not your mind.

2) Do I absolutely love it?
Or is it just 'nice'? Do I have enough already of this type of item? Does it have sad associations?
3) Is it genuinely useful?
When did I actually last use it? When, realistically, am I likely to use it again?

If you look you'll find the Great Decluttering Thread, come & join us if you like

Penelope_Penguin

kiss_me_now9 wrote: »

1) I accumulate a lot of stuff very quickly. This is expensive AND it's cluttering up my room but I can never seem to get rid of any of it.

2)which lends to a mad rush like tonight of me running around trying to tidy whilst trying to blog, Hub, FaceBook, MSN, listen to the radio, do work AND pack for my weekend away!

1. Why are you accumulating so much stuff? Can you diferentiate between what you "want" and what you "need"?

2. Declutter MSN and Facebook from your life ...................... forever You'll be happier and have more time to do "real life" :T

pollys

My daughter is in Halls too, she is VERY untidy. I have bought her some really nice storage boxes that match (half price in WHS) she keeps her toiletry stuff in one, stationery in another etc. She also has one of those plastic storage towers, socks and tights in one drawer, knickers in another etc. Laundry goes straight into a pop up laundrybin. Now this all sound good in theory, she has everything she needs to be tidy, except her room is a tip. I have shown her how to be organised, bought her the stuff to be organised but it is still not happening - are you my DD:rotfl:

Pollysx

kiss_me_now9

I'll try and answer it all!

Storage wise I have: two shelves above my desk, a pull out drawer beneath my bed (full of shoes how do I cut them down?!), three small drawers, a wardrobe (full of clothes ), two plastic boxes under my bed and a three tiered plastic drawer thing in the bottom of the wardrobe. I have no room for anything else! I've started sorting out my DVDs and books - listed a fair amount on Amazon tonight using the 'if I haven't read/watched it since I came to uni, I won't now' mentality but that's only really made space for a little bit.

Unfortunately MSN is the only way I can reliably keep in touch with my boyfriend and I use facebook mainly for emails relating to the societies I'm in (cheerleading and photography) so neither can go

I just seem to accumulate stuff when my back is turned

kayjay1809

Just be aware that you will go from being a hoardy cluttered student, to having an entire house full of clutter and mess (I have no idea where it all comes from!). So get on top of it now, or resign yourself to the inevitability