Question for all you declutterers

rigsby1967

I have been reading through parts of the decluttering threads and have found it is really helping me to start declutter my house and i have learnt baby steps rather than loads all day every day.

I was just wondering if any of you declutterers write down what needs doing and mark it off as you do it? Only if i was to do that i would have a never ending list in each of the rooms and thats even before the everyday cleaning. How do you decide/organise what you will do? Do you type and print a small weekly to do list, or write a daily list the night before, for the next day?

I'm just trying to get some ideas of what works for some people so i can get myself more organised in my actions to declutter .

Thanks
rigs

rigsby1967

Anyone pleeeaaase :A:D

Pink.

Hi rigsby,

If you ask your question on one of the decluttering threads you have been reading then you are more likely to get a reply from one of the dedicated declutterers who are subscribed to the thread.

I'll add your thread to the main decluttering thread later.

Pink

rosieben

I decide on an area - next one for me is a corner of the craft room which is full of old packing stuff, boxes and padded envelopes, that will be one session. I have 3 more sessions planned to do one drawer unit per session. I usually find it easier to do small chunks, though have been know to launch a mammoth attack on occasion

what helps me is having plans for what to do with the clutter, obviously rubbish goes into black bags but charity shop items go straight into a box or crate until I have enough to make it worth getting them to collect; a few items go to my sis for her charity sales and she collects that weekly;

short_bird

Don't forget that things may get worse before they get better when decluttering. :eek:
However, as every item gets a new home, binned, recycled, whatever:D it takes less time to do stuff!

If you pop over to the Flylady board, there's an idea known as The Toots List, named after Tooti Fruities who posts daily. Have a look at posts 2 and 30 on this page:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3179372

Although it looks really scary, it means you can do some of the smaller jobs as you go along, you don't forget them and there's the satisfaction of crossing them off the list...

Mands

rigsby1967 wrote: »

How do you decide/organise what you will do? Do you type and print a small weekly to do list, or write a daily list the night before, for the next day?

I'll be interested to see the responses from other people.

FWIW I keep a running list on my computer of bite-sized areas to tackle. I try and keep it at a one shelf/one drawer/one box type level and add to it each time something comes to mind. Then, when I have the magical time+energy+motivation convergence I've got a list of possible areas to start me off.

The list is in two parts: one-offs and recurring jobs.

The recurring jobs are those that need doing every month/quarter/winter etc. When they're done I make a note so that I've got an idea how long since I last did that thing. For example, I got to an event once a week and it needs assorted stuff taking. The stuff lives in a basket so it goes with me in the car and then comes home afterwards. By some strange laws of physics more stuff goes into the basket than comes out so if I don't purge the basket every month or so it risks overflowing. So, purging the basket is on the list as a monthly-or-so job.

One-off jobs are just that, once they are done they'll probably never need doing again. For example, I have an open cupboard in my kitchen which will (eventually, I hope) get shelving in. Right now it has cook books in the bottom plus a small pile of stuff that shouldn't be there. It made sense to put it there when we moved, but two years on its still there but now accompanied by small dust bunnies and kitchen fluff. The whole lot needs pulling out, cleaning, the detritus tossing and the books sorting. There's a good chance that some of the books should be re-homed.

Anyway, that what works for me: a running list of one-off and periodic jobs
Mands

Ellie83

Mands wrote: »

FWIW I keep a running list on my computer of bite-sized areas to tackle. I try and keep it at a one shelf/one drawer/one box type level and add to it each time something comes to mind. Then, when I have the magical time+energy+motivation convergence I've got a list of possible areas to start me off.

I do the same I have a list of small areas that I can tick once they're de-cluttered. It feels good but isn't too daunting (it would take me days to list all the jobs that needs doing in our house )

I made the mistake of doing the mistake in one go and almost gave up. Same with the office. Never again!