2022 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN MrsSD

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

1. Write a daily To Do list - only 5 tasks.
2. Deal with Old Frogs & potential frogs ASAP but at least one on FROG Fridays.
3. Reduce/Restrict time watching TV and playing AB2 during daylight hours 😉
4. Continue to keep kitchen clean & tidy - before going to bed

Caught up on Sunday’s tasks & with the mammogram done & a couple of relocation of sets of items done I am still 2 behind So Tuesday = 7 tasks which I will try very hard to catch up 🤞 After the mammogram DH & I went to our usual pub in Greenwich for a few beers & venison Scotch egg for me & a huge sausage roll for DH. Lots of chat & making of plans 😉 We popped into m*s for lasagne & garlic bread which we had for dinner. 

84 - 85 Kitchen recycling & detritus dealt with.

What a wonderful thing to do bit_by_bit - devoting the whole day to helping SiL & DH 😇 Hopefully your strongly worded letter of complaint will resolve the situation quickly & engender some form of compensation 🤞

Clutterbug07 you might be tired now but you will soon be super fit 😁 Excellent decluttering 👏

Siebrie, think how virtuous you are when you resist temptation 😉👏

GeorgianaCavendish, Good luck with the exam 🍀🍀 I am blushing 😊

charlies_tribe, sorry to hear that DD2 has tested +ve 😔 but I hope she enjoyed the party 😉 Excellent decluttering 👏 Is the unit empty now? Hopefully having the boxes stacked in the conservatory will make it easier to declutter- in sight, in mind 😉

Great decluttering EnergyShifter 👏

Well done on starting to list donna73 👏 Hopefully lots of quick sales & plenty of cash in 🤞Good work using up the toiletries stash & making it a reward system is even better 👏

Great work mehefin 👏

Oh dear weenancyinAmerica ☹️ no wonder you are angry - lapsing after a whole year on the wagon 😠 Well done on deciding to make good use of your sleeplessness 👏 

Welcome aboard The EDT littlejane1963 👋 What a lovely idea to buy less and share more 🙂 

Baxtersmum now, now - I think it is just a cold 🥶 thing 😉 Good work - every item out is a win 👏 I love the holiday list 😉😉

I am struggling to stay awake so I am off to bed & will resume cheerleading tomorrow 😉

MrsSD  🏅🏅🏅 🌟 ⭐️ ⭐️

I AM A STAR 🌟 

Decluttering Target: 85/2022

2022 - 1p Savings Challenge: Jan £5.00; Feb

stellata

Can anyone help me get back on track? I started the year with such good intentions after a pretty rubbish 2021, (parent passed away and other sad family stuff) but I just haven't progressed beyond a few boxes. Work is in the doldrums, weather cold, money short, maybe that's it. I'm trying to declutter my freezer by not going shopping but otherwise I just spend the time I'm not working sat watching tv and waiting to go to bed, then get up next day rinse and repeat. Meanwhile it still looks like a tip here. Maybe it's time to give up on this house and move on. 

TC77

@stellata hugs and don't be hard on yourself, you've been through alot.
Could you.set yourself some small goals, writing them down so you can cross.off, perhaps washing up, sorting out the sock drawer or clearing part of the table to.sit.down ( this is me so you may have a clear table) .
Someone here suggested starting with the bedroom to help.make it calming , maybe the bedside table, although mine gets recluttered quickly.
As.Mrs SD says any item is a win.  Reread and realise you've been through a few boxes which sounds excellent
The cold and being January is a natural hibernation time and sometimes we have to accept what our body and soul need and can manage.  Tak care of yourself x

GrannyKate

@stellata Hugs - agree with others - take it slowly - just pottering whilst half watching TV is good - have a bundle of papers, magazines etc with you and just witter them down a little.  I think we all post our triumphs but you will see we all have rubbish days (sometimes months and weeks).  I got off to an early positive start yesterday but ended up falling asleep whilst eating rubbish food and watching rubbish TV.  

I tackled another frog yesterday morning and then went out with a list of 'to dos' in my head which went quite well.

134 E mails delated, filed and/or answered
135 Quiz questions typed up for Thursday
136-137 Dropped 2 bags of mixed plastic at co-op
138 Bag of books to CS
139 Fell off wagon in TKM and got a new handbag - it does replace the one which is totally not waterproof which has gone in CS bag. 
140 Old green waste caddy binned as lid broken - new one bought 
141 Small Birthday gifts for DS2 
142 Dropped in for cup of tea with DIL and returned some bits belonging to DGCs and mincer on loan to them
143 Got car washed - there was a special £2 coin in my change which I have set aside for DGS1 as he collects them and he hadn't got this one
144 I went swimming - this is an achievement as it is 6 months since I rejoined local health club at hotel 2 miles from home but it is the first time I have been on my own rather than taking grandchildren as well.  Sat in Jacuzzi for a while which was great for my hip which doesn't like it when I do a lot of long journeys as I did last week.
145 1p challenge 31 amounts ticked off for January and total of £19.64 in pot*

Frog to tackle now as it is needed for 2pm meeting today and not started yet.  I also have some responses from yesterdays frogs so will make sure they are dealt with today as well.  I need to make serious plans re weight - yesterdays afternoon binge will not have helped!

* In case anyone wonders rather than save 1p, 2p, 3p etc up to £3.65 on 31 Dec I am following a suggestion found on MSE.  I printed off a chart with tick boxes 1p to £3.65 and I have ticked off 31 amounts for January depending on what change I had in my purse. eg if I had a pound coin I might tick off 2 days 47p and 53p.  I should cover all the amounts by the end of the year.  A bit more interesting doing it this way. Have started on February now. 

wort

Although I am decluttered, I like to read about decluttering as it keeps me on the path😉
I have just started a library book called the declutter challenge, which is already in the 1st chapter hitting some relevant points , hope you and her don’t mind me sharing.

1.look where you are going not where you’ve been,
Happy memories are wonderful but we don’t need actual physical items to keep memories alive.Filling our home with yesterday’s stuff means there’s no room left for today and tomorrow.

2. Mindfulness— e.g. If the kitchen needs cleaning and you think it’s not fair I’ve been working all day I don’t want to do housework , you make it into a horrible chore, before you’ve even begun. So you’re less likely to do it. If you change the thought to If I spend 15 min tidying the kitchen ,I’ll have the rest of the night to relax. You in force a positive in your self talk but has a huge impact on your motivation.

This is something I realize I have been doing , after tea I think let’s wash up then I don’t have it weighing on my mind whilst trying to relax .

I hope it’s helpful to someone anyway . Hugs to those in need, and call in for a cuppa in the buffet car when you need a minutes rest. 🤗

-taff

@stellata Maybe give yourselfa bit of time.I didn't bounce back from the things you describe quickly, and I spent and am still spending a lot of time sitting round doing nothing, watching tv and vegging. Sometimes, it's as much as you can do, so don't beat yourself up about it. And maybe if you can do it, have a word with your doctor if you can. I was doing that a lot until I realised it was low mood poking it's head out, it may not be for you, but it won't hurt After you've stopped beating yourself u for not being as dynamic as you think you should be, give yourself a goal a week, maybe one shelf on a bookcase, or organise the fridge, nothing major but something you can see has been done.

Got three bags ready for the CS, jigsaws and games been put in a box upstairs, one box of random stuff emptied and ready for cllating something else...Spice rack gone through, ten out, four in. Only trouble is the porch is getting fuller waiting for stuff ot go to the tip...

balabooberlies

stellata said:

Can anyone help me get back on track? I started the year with such good intentions after a pretty rubbish 2021, (parent passed away and other sad family stuff) but I just haven't progressed beyond a few boxes. Work is in the doldrums, weather cold, money short, maybe that's it. I'm trying to declutter my freezer by not going shopping but otherwise I just spend the time I'm not working sat watching tv and waiting to go to bed, then get up next day rinse and repeat. Meanwhile it still looks like a tip here. Maybe it's time to give up on this house and move on. 

Stellata, I know exactly how you feel.  I am struggling, like many with a loss, and am dragging myself around totally aware of the reason but feel helpless.

Prior to this I was chugging along with 'like with like' gathering stuff of the same group and only keeping what I needed.  It was working.  Then I spent 6 months helping to care for my Dad, someone that I love beyond measure, until he died.  I came home and for a few weeks was absolutely frenetic causing waves until I mentally and emotionally collapsed.

Now I have adopted the 'just do something' mantra.  So yesterday I did but I will put that in another post.  I received great support and encouragement on here and it took a while but I regard yesterday as a success.

Sorting some stuff is a kindness to yourself.  It's not the house but how you are feeling and that you will take with you.  I wanted to escape the day he died, quite drastically, but in my heart of hearts knew that I could not escape my feelings.

The imagination is a powerful thing.  You could start by exploring your dream job.  Or dream environment.  I imagine all sorts of things and always feel more hopeful afterwards.

I wish I could wave a magic wand for you to get you through this but you possess it !

Your imagination.

bala

x

balabooberlies

Okay

massive box of paperwork sorted yesterday.  Some even going back to 2006.  But joy of joys found 3 of the little notes my dad used to leave me.  Being a hoarder has that one benefit.  I was hoping I would come across them and I did.  One was to tell me that there was some lovely shepherds pie in the oven !

So even though it took almost all day (it's the shredding tearing disposing that takes time) I am pleased with my start.  I have taken the first steps up that mountain.

ergo 

3/70 bags

love

bala

x

Suffolksue

well well done Bala small steps .
i,too, have stalled 
I need to stop thinking of the things DH and I couldn’t/didn’t do and remember all the things we did .
not as easy as it sounds 

Siebrie

@stellata Maybe start with something really simple, for instance find all medication in the house and check the dates? Then put all the in-date meds in 1 spot, separate the out-of-date meds into paper and 'old meds', then put the paper in the recycling container and take the old meds to the pharmacy.

This has multiple purposes:

- store like with like

- check number of stock (and whether you are running low on something or missing something)

- check dates of stock

- gets you started with a simple, usually non-emotional task

- gets you out of the house .