KonMari 2016 - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

PollyWollyDoodle

Iamsalt it sounds as if you've got quite a job on your hands, however this process does gather momentum - the more you do, the more you want to clear and remove things.

Confession: I had slipped back into some bad habits. The thought of two lots of visitors, one set have just left after a lovely weekend and another two are arriving on Thursday, has spurred me into action. To my surprise although the spare room looked terrible it took only fifteen minutes or so to get it back in order, and the same with my 'office' which is also a bedroom. Because the underlying structure is clear, putting things away was easy.

I have ended up with my bedroom full of junk, however and I'm determined this is the last time. Quite a lot of it is unfinished craft projects - they're going to either have to be finished as a priority or leave the building for ever! It's hard because I've invested time in these but in a couple of cases I really don't love them or feel convinced that they're worthwhile.

Having the rest of the house clear has had an amazing effect on my mental state. I feel relaxed and much less stressed than I have in ages.

wort

Although I did paperwork and had it all in one of those metal file box ,under the stairs, I decided this wasn't ideal. For one it was awkward to get to, and second heavy to lift, and third the plastic clips holding the individual files were breaking .so yesterday I bought a pack of 8 plastic folders with a presstud on and placed papers that are needed more often , in them. They are labelled and placed in the empty draw under the tv. (That used to house all the dvd s ! That are now in 2 cd cases. )
So no more papers being left on the dresser in the kitchen or shoved in the top of metal file because I can't be bothered to lift it out and file away.:T

maddiemay

[QUOTEHaving the rest of the house clear has had an amazing effect on my mental state. I feel relaxed and much less stressed than I have in ages.[/QUOTE]

I am so looking forward to eventually feeling this way:D More than 2 years of illness has meant that I have fatigue and low energy, the house is far too untidy, I own too much stuff and a lot of basic housework and garden work is needed. (In spite of quite a bit of gradual Kondoing going on during this time).

The positive thing is that I was diagnosed with quite a rare forever (but not life threatening) illness and eventually was approved for a replacement therapy which began last July, it is now beginning to take effect and each week I am achieving a little more without too many crashes:D:D 3 spells spent in the garden this week, which I have done virtually nothing in in 2 years:( and "the stuff" is really annoying me, so hopefully more will be leaving soon. Any new acquisitions really have to pass the extremely useful or much joy test, so little has come into the house:D

Karmacat

More than 2 years of illness has meant that I have fatigue and low energy, the house is far too untidy, I own too much stuff and a lot of basic housework and garden work is needed. (In spite of quite a bit of gradual Kondoing going on during this time).

I wish I could press the "like" button more than once. This is our connection! I'm glad you have a diagnosis, maddiemay, even though its forever, as you say at least its not life-threatening and there's some medical input which sounds like it's taking effect.

Tell us - what have you managed to do in the garden so far, you mention 3 spells this week? As you know, I'm trying to do an hour a day - I'm feeling *very* rough today on it, though I think this is about my iffy digestive system rather than over-working in the garden.

I'm declaring a day off today for me, even though I didn't get round to my first practice bonfire yesterday, I'm off to visit my sister instead Hope you carry on feeling not-to-bad.

Save

MMF007

Hmmmm, paperwork piling up is soooo draining of time and effort. While I was away one of my clients has allowed 3 seperate Large piles of crud to rest in 3 different rooms in her house. The consequence is that she cannot find important items, spends ages dashing from one pile to another in a panic, and is completely stressed out. A quick look at the piles reveals, as is often said on here, much that could have been ditched the moment it came through the door and much that should have been filed immediately. She is a very intelligent woman who has had responsible jobs requiring immaculate record-keeping and yet....
On the plus side (from my point of view! ) she is going to pay me to help her sort it out.

Finishing unloved craft projects is a no-no for me. No matter how much time I have already put in, More time would be wasted if i carried on, so off it goes out of the door if i cannot love the end result.
I slightly broke my own rule on holiday in relation to a book i started to read. I quickly realised it was garbage. How many times can a writer use the words giggled/giggling/giggles in a 200 page book about a 30 y.o. woman??? The answer is Far Too Many. I persevered just to see if there was any redemption via a stunning plot or clever twist but noooo, it was dross. I have ditched the 2 other books by same author that a friend had *kindly* given me and boy did it feel good!!

Maddiemay, I am so glad you are getting effective treatment now. Hope the improvements continue to bring more joy to your daily life, x.

[Deleted User]

a warning has been sparked in me, re the paperwork. I am one of those who does all that sorting and then weeks later, there is another mini mountain. I am not going to let that happen again and will be on the case this afternoon, will only take 20 minutes for a care-free mind

The washing up liquid, the two gallons, that I am now using because I am temporarily not using the dishwasher. I gave the dw a maintenance wash yesterday, so it is sparkly and the door is very slightly open. I am starting to go through my decanted wu liquid at a rate of knots, washing after every dish use, today that means breakfast, kefir making and soup making, three squeezes. There is a great big spin off, noticed it yesterday when I started, I am wiping as I go and the sink area is constantly empty and sparkling and that is sparking so much joy in me, like the missing link . Today it made me put on some gentle easy listening music from my playlist and my colour changing aroma humidifier is gently working. This is very good for my mind today, enabling me to ignore the dull day and to plod along with a few house jobs but is also energising and later I will take my bike out for a cycle ride uphill to my allotment, just for a look around, to hear the birds and to add some stuff to my compost bin

GreyQueen

Evening all.

Great to hear of how well people are doing, even those of us struggling a bit with chronic health conditions and/ or not being as young as we used to be.

I've cancelled archery class for tonight as am totally cream-crackered. Didn't think I overdid it tooo much at the weekend but realised belatedly that I am still not back to normal after the cold from hell. Ne'mind, I'll recover in the end.

Grinned to hear my Dad tell me how he'd accidentally kondo'd one of their older bedsheets; classic case of catching a toe in a small hole on a very worn sheet and rrrrriiipppppppp!!!!!!!!!!!! suddenly a small hole was a very large L-shaped tear.

Bed was stripped and sheet will go into the rag bag once laundered - this is one I sides-to-middled about 15 years ago so it doesn't owe anybody anything.

Apart from reading through the to-be-reads (the tally of 63 is now down to 37, thanks to some leaving at the weekend) I haven't really kondo'd more than scrap paper and stubby pencils for notetaking at the workplace, but it's still stuff slowly exiting under natural causes.

I'm trialling the new feather duvet we found in Nan's wardrobe (never used) since last night and if it's fine, I will ditch my very elderly down & feather duvet which has lost most of its loftiness.

Righty, a bit more interwebulation, then the pooter goes off and I get on with my reading.

[Deleted User]

I just had a lightbulb moment . I gew two butternut squash plants and had 7 good squashes, froze 6 in portions and am watching the 7th develop spotiness. I dislike butternut squash, yuk yuk, just because I can grow it does not mean that I have to eat it and anyway I am struggling with freezer space. So they are going back where they belong, back to the earth, to the compost bin tomorrow, all 7. They don`t half take up a lot of space in the freezer and I HATE squash soup, so they are the very opposite of joy, in fact they create stomach churning guilt ie getting rid of food but they will be going back from whence they came and I will dance as I put them into my composter :T I can`t believe me, why the heck did I grow them??

Floss

Kittie, chuck the spare BNS seeds into your rubbish bin then you won't be tempted to grow them again!

GoingToDoIt

Kittie should you have the time, energy and inclination, there is a food waste app called Olio where you can offer "spare" food to avoid wasting it. Perhaps you could offer the job lot of BNS to the first taker?
Alternatively, I am not a squash soup fan but I love a pumpkin pie made with BNS.