2017 - No Clutter To Be Seen

gemmajenkins0208

Day 3 of no drink for dad, and also for no energy drinks for me! :j

Dad seems to be doing very well, me on the other hand... :rotfl:

I'm feeling very tired on the bus home from work in the evenings, but then that's how it should be after just completing a day at work really.

Alongside my no-more-energy-drinks, I'm also trying to not go to bed until at least 11pm, and not lay in any later than 8am. This is so that I am more tired by the time I go to bed and so that I can get myself into a deeper sleep and hopefully sleep right through and not wake up in the night like I used to.

It has been working so far, which is good, that's what I want, so let's hope it continues

Saver-upper

KitKatMum2 wrote: »

Even though I have passed 400 items, I'm starting to feel a bit disillusioned with the whole decluttering thing. I think it's because it doesn't look like anything has changed. It's probably a combination of years of hoarding, therefore having more stuff than the average person and only getting rid of smallish items. I guess throwing out the odd lipstick or crayon isn't going to suddenly make a house look better, so I need to really crack on and try to make a dent in the mess, but it's really overwhelming and I don't know where to start. It's not made easier by the fact I have two toddlers under my feet, so can only manage the odd 10 minutes here and there Anyway, moan over, hopefully I'll be back with a bumper list next time!!

Aww KitKatMum2,sorry you are feeling down in the dumps .I know what it is like: not so long ago,I had 2 under 17 months,then 3 under 7.It really is hard just getting time to do the basic housework,much less the work involved in decluttering.

When I read your post earlier,but had to rush out before posting,I was going to suggest this:similar to the "find one small area and concentrate on that",which does work well.But also,because we had to box up most of our posessions before house extension,I started by saying "today I will empty one box",or "one bag" of stuff.Now,for us,to box up the worldly posessions of a family of 6,we had alot of boxes (some plastic,others cardboard from supermarket/fruit stall).So after kids have gone to bed,or while I have a few minutes,I keep chipping away at one box.It is very rewarding to see our collection of empty boxes growing in our loft .
Mind you ,some boxes have taken me a week to unpack and really decide what to do with each item.On those occasions,like yesterday,I simply choose a drawer to tidy.Just one drawer.And then everytime I open it up,it reminds me I am making progress.

The other suggestion by eandj'smum is also fantastic.I did this when our front room,in preparation for building works, was so full,floor to ceiling,that you could not open the door on it.Now,I have almost finished it.And I mean proper finished.Not how I have decluttered previously: can't think what I really want to do with an item,so I put it on another pile/room/table to think about later.I am still finding kid's drawings now dated 2013 because I had never decided on a proper home/binning for them.

SillyLily

Lemonlolly is so right! You keep plugging along and getting rid of the little things and you WILL start noticing a difference. I promise! Before I found this challenge, I was trying to find 10 things in each room every day to purge. Some days it's so easy to find things, but since I've been doing this for a while some days I can't find 10 things in a room any more, and that's okay! The goal is to keep it under control. I think someone on here said that 6 items a day will get us to our 2017 goal. Do you have 6 rooms in your home? That's just 1 item per room per day! Don't give up! Enjoy the challenge! :-) We're all rooting for you!

gemmajenkins0208

So dad with his newfound oomph, using it to sort out his stuff downstairs, found a pair of his trainers he used to wear and he told mum one of them was split near the toe so she can throw them away.

So, dead trainers of dads gone out with the other rubbish that got taken away this morning

Getting there :j

KitKatMum2

Thank you everyone.

Lemonlolly – I hadn’t thought of it like that, I think I am just impatient and want instant results!
Eandjsmum – Thank you I hadn’t thought of taking photos, I will try to start doing that.
Saver-Upper – I know what you mean about moving things from one pile to another, that’s exactly what I tend to do, but I will try to concentrate on smaller areas to see if that helps.
SillyLilly – Thanks, one item a day from each room doesn’t sound so difficult really.

My latest list..
426. Room spray
427. Cotton wool
428. -433. Baby clothes
434. bracelet
435. socks

I also have an unpaid for item on eBay, which I am hoping the buyer will pay for today and I washed an old dress yesterday which I will list for sale as soon as I have ironed it. Also have the 2 year old working on using up a sticker book!

oldtractor

OUT a massive bag of old clothes, 2 body warmers, a dressing gown. there will be more to add but need to wait til DHcomes home from work to ask which of his shirts I can FLING
IN Nothing

I love this thread, keep going happy declutterers, enjoy muchly.

SuzieTheCat

I've managed 30 things today! Haven't made a list but I did keep count. About five of them went in the charity shop bag which has now turned into a canvas tote bag I never use (one more thing hooray!). Among my gone items today have been a Polish dictionary, three empty plastic bottles (I don't know why I kept hold of these they are just empty water plastic bottles) and 3 used magazines (again why do I hang on to magazine I have read). So I'm down by about 47 things so far. That makes another 1970 things left to do. Slow and steady wins the race...

tibawo

Just popping in ...


I am finding at the moment that although i have not done a lot but i have not refilled the empty spaces. I must confess i do put things into them if i am busy with real life but once i get a spare moment i am finding i can quickly blitz them.


I have been doing my allotted time I 'took an oath' to when i started and find this works well for me. i often go over the timer BUT i have done more than the equivalent of a days work on it and i can tell. Yet if i was to do a full day in one go i would give up after two hours!


Whatever method you choose, do one that works for you. Counting things is not me but it does work for others. Slow and steady for me fits in with my lifestyle but whatever way you go ... keep at it!

oldtractor

OUT some hobby items to the charity shop. I reckon I've already completed the Lent challenge. ie 40 bags of things one a day for 40 days to give to the charity shop (or tip).

somerandom

somerandom wrote: »

153. dead tights

159 Rubber duck toy (new) gift

160. Old worn out purse

- I've really slowed down..... Work has been busy to an unprecedented extent! Since I'm self-employed I really can't complain!! but it has meant that other things have needed to be put on the back burner. I'm hoping to get my head above the parapet enough to do a little bit over the weekend and next week.