Hoarding - A New Start

espresso21

I have been at work all day and got home late so couldn't do anything at home (it's unlikely I will be able to do things during the week as my horrendously long commute means I barely see my home during the week). Neverthless, I did tidy up a desk drawer at work and do some filing - I wonder if that counts? It doesn't help me to have a neater home but it does at least bring some order to work and make a better working environment.

Hugs to all those who need them and who are having a hard time of it.

Goldiegirl

GreyQueen wrote: »

OK, I decided to print out the whole travel journal and am now ripping up the scrappy note version and will start shredding it. The project is underway.

When it's done I shall have one slender folder instead of several inches' worth of stuff taking space and it will be easy to revist when I'm in the mood.:)

I've never kept a diary, but since about 2007, I've kept a travel journal for cruises that I've done ( they are from Paperchase and very pretty)

I do look at them from time to time, and find them very worthwhile, as they contain thoughts and events that I would otherwise have forgotten. I think they would still give me pleasure in 25 years time.

Travel journals are good things and give pleasure:)

Catriona_P

blossomhill wrote: »

Catriona_P, I think you are spot on
I think it may help if someone offered to help a hoarder prioritise what is important to them, rather than what is "rubbish"

So maybe you could take a bag of clothes to your sisters and ask her to help you decide which suit you best, rather than let her loose on your whole collection. Then from that bag you will know which are best, and the rest is up to you

Words can have a devastating effect. A couple of comments made to me, that really sank home, were from 2 separate people who both said at different times "you can spread yourself too thin" - they didn't poo-poo what I did, but it still hurt

So my priority is getting my house so it is good for my family's emotional well-being. Recycling every single thing would be spreading me too thin. I try not to post about how I get rid of stuff, as it's the fact of it going that I try to focus on, rather than the method, unless that method has been a LBM for me

Absolutely.

As for the subject of diaries/journals - I've kept a diary since the age of 11 (I'm now 28) and don't think I'll ever part with it. It was given to me by my Nan (now long dead and my DD is named after her) and although I have typed up all the entries, the physical book is just as important to me as the words inside. I've always written it for someone else to read someday, hopefully my DD. There are some things worth holding on to very tightly.

whitewing

espresso, I count anything as improving my skills! I have only cleared the surfaces on the bathroom today (decluttering-wise) but it all helps.

I was mainly working and panicking.

I have also done some housework (and suggested to DH that he unloads the dishwasher). Keeping up with the housework makes those spontaneous decluttering moments occur slightly more frequently.

I am going to watch that Youtube programme today or tomorrow. I have a few things still to do tonight but am tired enough that a 5 min job takes half an hour.

blossomhill_2

hobbitfancier - now I've calmed down a bit on your behalf too - (was initialy incensed for you) I wonder if I can give you a bit of insight of what it would have been like for your mum over the jacket - as a hoarder, she would probably, in her head, have had plans for it, as much as she may even have forgotten she owned it, seeing it again may have triggered thoughts like "I was about to wear that" or " I was keeping that for a special occasion" or "that reminds me of a guy I went out with before I got married"

Her anger doesn't sound reasonable, and you should probably normally expect to be able to borrow your mum's things without prior permission, (as in many mum/daughter relationships) but that isn't the case unfortunately so its probably best avoided. I can't explain why she would be confrontational about other things such as imagined odour, unless she is experiencing olfactory hallucinations, or confusing the smell of stale clothes that are in fact her own

I got home from work one day to find that my dear dd, on her own initiative, had folded all my clothes into piles, one for skirts, one for trousers, one for tops etc, thinking this would enable me to sort them out - I thanked her very much but it actually derailed me for a long time, as she had mixed up the clothes that no longer fitted with ones I disliked but fitted, with some that I needed, and it paralysed me into not being able to do anything (or find anything ) for months/years time and I felt quite threatened, and anxious about going off to work

Her motives were entirely kind, as she thought I worked too hard and saw it as a way to help ...
I hope this has helped

JayneC

Evening,

I have kept bit n bobs of stuff from nice hols, tickets to various things n stuff as i thought I would make a nice collage with some pics. Never happened, I did chuck them out eventually.... Another crafty aspiration that never went anywhere.

Well today at work our computers were being upgraded and so I couldn't do anything much for most of the afternoon. With my new found decluttering skills I managed to clear almost all of contents of my pedestal and and desk, even the in/out trays themselves are gone and the suspension files (as there's nothing to put in them). I realised I have a scrap paper obsession, a whole folder full of scrap paper:eek:( you can write on the back you know?? well that's the excuse I've been using....) I actually got quite annoyed at the 'stuff'. I lot of it is promotional materials that are completely useless - how many mousemats/coasters can one person use and a flat pen? Waste of time, money, resources and drawer space and most people in my office have a similar amount of stuff - tho not the scrap paper I'm guessing....

Freegled a couple more things including the worktop and a good amount of the bubble wrap collection. The lady for the bike ( we have 4, hardly used!!) never showed :mad:, but it WILL NOT come back in! Will offer it to somebody else if she doesn't contact me tomorrow.

Having realised that many of my crafty aspirations are unlikely to be realised I set to work on my sewing boxes this evening.
I have 2 sewing machines which obviously I do not need, so will gather all parts together and freegle one of them.
Emptied 2 sets of drawers - the little wooden desktop ones from Ikea - and will car boot those. I now have one little set of drawers with my bits n bobs all nicely sorted and a bag of ribbons/sequins and the like to pass on. I also seem to have an accumulation of hemming tape, so no excuse not to get on with the hemming of those 2 skirts that have been sat on my bedroom chair for months ( tho not any more - said chair has been liberated :T and a small number of acheiveable mending is in a drawer).
Also emptied and threw away my sewing box from when I was a child - a little pang but not as much as I might have thought. It is a bit worse for wear and not serving any useful purpose.

Sorry for my long posts, but it does really help to talk about how I'm doing, and keeps me motivated.

suzitiger

Oooooh I do hate it when people don't turn up JayneC without getting in touch. Why bother??! Silly people. I wish I lived in Scarborough, I would happily take a bike and a sewing machine off your hands. I would love both :-)
Successful small step in that a lady came to pick up my lovely bright pink suitcase today from freecycle. It was on its last legs and I need a new one. The good thing is even though I loved it and I have had it a long time I didn't feel any attachment to it or guilt in letting it go, some good progress in my mental attitude to hoarding I think :-)
I need to do some work on the bedroom tomorrow and tackle my huge clothes pile :-)

whitewing

Some great storage solutions here (with the advantage you need lovely clear rooms to appreciate them) but somewhat out of my price range

http://www.straightlinedesigns.com/lbd.html

blossomhill_2

whitewing wrote: »

Some great storage solutions[URL="http://"][/URL]

Love the Mrs Pearson ww - a storage unit that glares at you to remind you not to overstuff it! And how much bling is that kid hoarding - more is less!

Well I started the day with a GQ moment - up at 5am as not sleeping so decided to climb up and look in the boxes on top of the cupboard
Box 1 - computer/printer manuals for ones we don't own anymore, so a win there, but among them, bizarrely GQ, a travel photo journal from 1937 - v distant cousin's, she died with no close relatives so I took her on ephermeral stuff (natch!) - which now a decade down the line sounds very patronising of me!
I think I will sell it as it is just before the war and lots of the photos show places in Europe that suffered badly from bombing

Box 2 - family tree stuff ... including the discovery of my GGG'ma's name; an unusual biblical one which I always fancied would sound quite modern on a GD - v sad for me as I now know there will be no GD/GS to pass it on to - kept to merge with rest of it

Box 3 - more b**** candles, I was coralling them all but could fill a plastic crate now - as mentioned in part 1, those of us who lived through the miners' strike have an inbuilt fear of being plunged into darkness/remember shelves stripped of candles -straight in the bin

Box 4 - aromatherapy oils, lots, v sticky. I am never without the best quality lavender oil so can consider the others out of date and obsolete in my life - binned without a single sniff

Box 5 - newspapers with iconic headlines; review of last decade, last flight of Concorde etc - defer decision, put on calendar for review in July
Sketches my ex did for me and of me - bin! :laugh:

GreyQueen

:eek: Not the candles, blossomhill!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG, getting a bit anxious about that and they're yours not mine.

I, too, have vestigal memories of the 1970s (pre miners' strike or was that an earlier strike?) when the power seemed to be off more than it was on. Always quite surprised at how few powercuts we have these days. But you won't be parting me from my shoebox of candles.

It's funny how manuals, instructions and warranties tend to linger after the appliance they relate to has bitten the dust. Since I wised-up to this a few years ago, I round them up at point of disposal.

Way back, I had an elderly printer which required a new print-head which I wasn't prepared to shell out for and was going to send it to the recycling but the Computer Wizard suggested freecycling it. Even tho it was advertised as non-working and why, it went, with it's manual and driver disk etc. Boxful of carp all out at the same time.

One man's junk etc etc.