KonMari 2017 - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

minnie2

GreyQueen wrote: »

I think they're kindly trying to save your energy and nerves by not wanting you to waste them on an unproductive activity; i.e. trying to tidy around actively-playing children.

Imagine if you were in the middle of a baking marathon and someone came into your kitchen and started tidying the scales, pans, spoons and bowls away into cupboards before you'd finished............. no point to it, is there?

Sometimes, friends and relations can see us more clearly than we can see ourselves, and can try to ease our way.

Spent quite a bit of time yesterday at the pal's juntique shop. Ostensibly, I was looking for 'the weigher' which I have never seen but is apparently some kind of electronic scales. It is about 'so big', pal sketched a size with his hands and has a plug. Other than that, no clue exactly what I was looking for.

OK, I'm up for a game. I had the three upstairs rooms to search, plus the back kitchen and the cellar - the shop is in a small victorian house. Not a huuuuge amount of space but it's surprising how many things he has managed to ram in there in the past 50 years.

I found the till from before the till-he-has-now under a table upstairs. No idea why a defunct till needs to be kept. I also found, in the same area, two empty bottles of champers and a pair of used black fishnet tights. I asked my pal if there was anything he'd like to tell me but he denied all knowledge of these items...........:rotfl:

Tights are in the bin now, bottles are in a recycling bank.

Moving on, I thought I'd hit paydirt by finding an electrical something approx 2ft square under a vinyl cover in the corner of the room. As it was hard to access, and I didn't want to drag it out unnecessesarily, I asked him to check it out; it is a microfiche reader!!!!!!!!!

Anyone under about 35 probably has no clue what one of these things is, I haven't even seen one for 30 years myself, used to use one in the public library very occasionally.

So, still no sign of 'the weigher' but the possible hiding places are being dwindled down. I'd be prepared to swear an oath that it isn't in the back kitchen or the front room upstairs. I have one more area of the middle room upstairs to check out. That leaves the cellar to eliminate and the small back upstairs room above the kitchen, the one with the roof leak. I really hope 'the weigher' hasn't been kept in there as it's likely to be useless if it was; pulled out a drawer in a metal cabinet there recently and found it to be full of water!

I have found a variety of things-with-plugs; two defunct fan heaters and one working one (in addition to the working one in the shop-floor area), a dead till, a microfiche reader (mebbe dead), the jewellery cleaner, two desk fans (one dead, one alive) and an electric carving knife.

I have also found; two rusty bayonets, some crystals, a soviet flag and a huge union jack flag, a WW2 army jacket, a WW1 helmet, a 19th century french sword, two pretend-marble busts of dead roman dudes and (get this) a chunk of 9ct gold with a scrap value north of £200!!!!!!!!!!!!

My pal was horrified that the gold was in the cellar and has no clue how it got down there in a box best described as Misc Carp. I did try to suggest that finders-keepers might apply but apparently that's not on.

Other than that, I disturbed several spiders, a lot of dust, some woodlice and saw some snail-trails on stuff up the dead-end of the kitchen behind the sink unit.

I didn't achieve my goal but I did have big fun and he bought me lunch.

I ment what would marie say about me.trying to tidy other people mess instead of studying.i know its what she says it is at mine i need to kondo before i study but it happened at my mums too

GreyQueen

Sorry to have misunderstood, minnie.

I often do things instead of the things I should be doing, too. I think it's universal and is called displacement activity. Apparently, the author Frederick Forsythe laid carpet tiles when he should have been finishing The Day of the Jackal....... :rotfl:

We do things to avoid doing other things, things which we are anxious about, because it's virtuous rather than sitting around idly. OK, we're not studying (or whatever) but we're not like we're being being lazy, are we? So we tell ourselves that it's fine and then end up in panic against deadlines or feeling disatisfied for not achieving whatever it is we want to do in this world today.

I've been up since 5 ish, not because of a sense of virtue but because I'd already been wide awake for some time and was buzzing with activity. Have done some mending of clothes, and some tidying of things and am getting ready to head up to the allotment and hope that I wouldn't be rained off as the day is iffy.

Hope everyone has a good day. GQ xx

minnie2

I am very limited on time to study i was i thought in a good determined mind set urghh.i thought maybe those visits might have been a good time but obviously not :-(

So had a funny few days and the place is a mess again.there is so much stuff lying around.frustrating! ! So today its just me and the kids as usual but i am hoping to get more organised.i did take work stuff back to work to free up my boot to load with things that need delivering places.and have done a few other little things some toothpaste although that came back to me!! but i am getting swamped by all the other stuff.and as usual i dont know where to start! My asthma feels quite bad today so i will have to be careful.hoping to report big things by the end of the day!!! Cant wait for halloween to be over so i can get rid of all the pumpkins in my bedroom that i keep tripping over!!!!

VJsmum

GreyQueen wrote: »

Sorry to have misunderstood, minnie.

I often do things instead of the things I should be doing, too. I think it's universal and is called displacement activity. Apparently, the author Frederick Forsythe laid carpet tiles when he should have been finishing The Day of the Jackal....... :rotfl:

We do things to avoid doing other things, things which we are anxious about, because it's virtuous rather than sitting around idly. OK, we're not studying (or whatever) but we're not like we're being being lazy, are we? So we tell ourselves that it's fine and then end up in panic against deadlines or feeling disatisfied for not achieving whatever it is we want to do in this world today.

xx

Guilty as charged . But what I have found helps is the Pomodoro technique. You set a timer (I set mine for half an hour), work like billio. then when that is up have a five minute break, and rinse and repeat. Building in a longer break after, say, two hours of work. When my mind starts to wander, I check my timer and think "oh, I can do another 10 mins (or whatever). I have done much more as a result...

MMF007

Well, not on the 'to do' list but when getting the damsons n apple out of freezer to make a crumble....realised the freezer needed defrosting. So the freezer has now been defrosted!

Also, 2 loads of washing done,
3 crumbles made,
some holiday essentials bought on offer yester tucked into relevant cupboard (and inventory updated).
Yesterday's washing put away.
Emails checked and deleted if appropriate.
Broccoli n stilton soup prepped ready to boil up for tea.

Complaint and accompanying photo sent to sm about an own brand product that is well below par.

I have just had my low carb lunch and shall be headingtowards the multipurpose room to prioritise my card-making list, then i shall kondo my COD to see if some more clothes can go. I have bought / had bought for me approx 4 garments and i want to release items that are now too big or too worn out to wear without scaring the horses!

Like VJsmum says, I can work like billio (love that term!) then take a short break while further ideas crystalise in my mind

minnie2

Oooo vjsmum i am going to try that!!!

iamsalt

I love the pomodoro technique, although I had to start at 15 mins and build up.
Trouble is I can't use it at work unless I am working from home, as I am constantly interrupted. Might need to work on that again...

short_bird

A lovely piece of artwork that I can really sympathise with...
http://www.incidentalcomics.com/2015/10/avoiding-procrastination.html

GreyQueen

Spoke to my Dad recently and he's been up their tip AGAIN (getting to be a weekly occurance) with more Stuff from one of their three backyard sheds. This time it was pieces of stored wood too small to realistically be useful. Offcuts from other projects and some womblings..

It's a shame that freegle works so badly in their area (about 90 % no-shows, from my experience) as I'm sure I could have re-homed them from my place.

Oh, and Mum has found another ball of stray sock wool which she's about to incorporate into the pair of socks she presently has on the go. These will have a sort-of airforce blue leg and navy feet, part of the use-up-the-leftover projects.

One thing's fer sure; there won't be a problem pairing any of those pairs once the come through the wash!:rotfl:

I've been doing some mending and alterations, clothes which will be worn tomorrow, and cooking with YS and leftovers. Those carrots had been in the fridge so long, they were almost family members.:p

PollyWollyDoodle

I love that comic strip, shortbird! Sums it up ... I always remember a friend commenting many years ago (pre email) how many letters he got written when he had an assignment deadline looming. I loathe cleaning but the house has been looking good lately because I'm putting off an awkward phone call.