A fresh start & learning to be organised

Irisis

I can't recommend the 'small steps' approach enough. I'm in the middle of a massive overhaul/ reorganisation/de-clutter myself and started with just one shelf one afternoon. Then a desk drawer. Then 30 minutes on clothes once a day. It all started to snowball and it wasn't long before I felt like I was making real progress and it didn't feel like an effort anymore.

I too had bags of clothes in the loft I kept meaning to sell but never got around to - we filled the car and took it to a charity shop one afternoon and it felt fantastic to finally be rid of it. Especially when I got a letter from the charity a few months later to say it had raised over £150 for them.

Small goals will help you to stop feeling so overwhelmed with the extra bonus of having the best chance of leading to real, lasting change so you don't end up in the same situation again. I find that's true of most bad habits/situations in life.

Best of luck with getting started, subscribing to this thread so I can come back and see how well you're doing in the future.

Towser

Using a kitchen timer or alarm clock is a great idea for 15 minute chunks. I have done that in the past because once you start, you get absorbed and do much longer than that.

So far I have purchased a filing cabinet and all the hanging files for all the important paperwork. It's all randomly boxed up until I can face it.

I haven't started on my mound yet as I am waiting for my husband to work abroad soon so that I can more space to work in and not constantly interrupted.

There is always something else in the way like walking the dog which I have to do now.

I will keep in touch as long as this thread lasts.

marmiterulesok

Good luck.Sounds like you've got a good plan.

Towser

oh the procrastination has been terrible but ;
I have managed to file all the important paperwork into the filing cabinet only another six boxes to sift through.
I have put 38 items onto ebay sold 5 so far and will try and keep up with it as long as there are free listings to use up. I am hoping the ebaying will be addictive and declutter all of my house one item at a time.
I have stuck to the 15 minutes at a time but end up absorbed and do much more.

Towser

I was just wondering... there are some great "Organised Christmas" websites. Are there any for the home?

It would be great if there was a Flylady too for getting organised.

I will have to customize something for the home.

oh the procrastination has been terrible but baby steps and nothing majorly to report, as now I have had halfterm, Halloween and Bonfire night to organise and to make a success.

My house is a mess but looks as if it is lowest on the list of priorities.

elsien

Sometimes it helps to recognise the things that you do to procrastinate. They're more insidious when they're tasks that make you feel as if you're doing something useful when actually you're still procrastinating.
So for me if I see myself heading for the kitchen sink or piles of paperwork, I make myself stop and go and do one of the things I really don't want to do. Because I enjoy sorting paperwork and it's far easier than tacking the disgusting heap of belongings taking over the dining room, and the dishes will also get done at some point. If I do them first I don't get onto anything else as I can pretend I've done my job for the day and don't do anything else, whereas if I do my job for the day first I then go on to do the dishes because I can't ignore them.

trailingspouse

I realise that this old friend coming to visit has been the catalyst for getting things sorted - and we all do that bit of extra cleaning and tidying before visitors arrive.

BUT - do it because you deserve to live in a nice clean tidy organised house. Do it because you're worth it.

serena

While I would generally agree with doing small area, I wonder if you'd be more motivated by really getting to grips with a large area in one go?

Choose a free day, and prepare by getting a selection of large binbags or plastic crates, and cleaning stuff. Also, choose selection of loud upbeat music to play. Label bin bags/crates - rubbish, charity shop, repair, keep.
1. Focus on one room.
2.Take out everything from that room.
3. For each item ask yourself if it is to be kept or not. If not, in either charity shop or rubbish bag. If to be kept, either repair or keep bag.
4. Tie up charity bag and rubbish bags, and immediately take out of the house and deliver.

When room is empty, deweb, wash walls if needed, clean windows, and vacuum floor. This is a good time to make a list of any small repairs or redecorating to be done.
Replace items to be kept.

My other top tip is to decide the key purpose of each room, eg sleeping, washing, cooking. Only keep in that room the things that are necessary for its main purpose. Do you have the correct storage for these things? Plan to sort storage.

Choose a huge treat for yourself, and admire your beautiful room.

This is not a plan if you are in any way unfit or have tiny children!

Towser

I realise that this old friend coming to visit has been the catalyst for getting things sorted - and we all do that bit of extra cleaning and tidying before visitors arrive.

Oh YES this has happened for next Monday which has kickstarted a whirlwind of activity. I can see much better what needs to be done when someone important is coming round. It has concentrated my mind.

So now I am trying three major tasks (as well as one minor one for OH) per day.

Today it will be tackling the "snow drift" like mountain of shoes in all the various sizes which also need ebaying as people seem to like Clarks children's shoes at £5 a time.

One of my DC's book "snow drift" like mountain. It will be sorted so that our local school and charity shop has donations.

I will also clean the porch to make sure first impressions count.

OH minor task per day will be to clear all the tables one per day. Dining room, utility and coffee table of the clutter that just builds up with nowhere to live. He is good at that sort of thing and much better at throwing out than me.

GreyQueen

If I have to do a lot of clearing in limited time for a guest, I start with a walk-thru and a sitdown where they will be sitting. Deal with what is in their eyeline, what will be passed, the loo they'll use, things like that.

I can procrastinate for England but found a helpful concept called Eat the Frog (think it may have been in a book of the same title) which is to do the worse thing you need to do, first. It is such a relief to get that off the to-do list that you feel good and are more likely to move on to something else.

I'm working on a new habit of a nightly tidy-round of my living room, to remove stray items back to their homes/ dispose of them. It helps to stop drifts of Stuff acccumulating which end up rendering the sofa and table unusable in a few days.

I also have fouind that becoming rigourous about getting the recycling and rubbish out, and thinking carefully about what gets brought in, is the way to limit future problems.

I'd say if you need a whole house declutter, don't pull out stuff in deep storage like lofts until you've got a grip of the everyday living and everyday storage areas. If they're a muddle, you don't need to add to it by dragging stuff out of the loft, unless you have an immediate and realistic plan for sale or donation.

I give stuff away to a charity where I'm registered for gift aid, it's all small stuff, but it raises money and I get letters a couple of times a year and feel a warm glow at the thought that the stuff is out in the world doing good.

All the best for your endeavours.