declutterbug

Another tidbit from Stephanie Roberts:

There is no "failure" in clutter-clearing. Each day, each
moment, just start where you are, and see if you can become
one little bit fr@er and clearer in whatever way is
appropriate to your day.

Let's Hear It for Robotics!

Messies tend to relate emotionally to their work.
They think they should feel like doing the work before
they start. Even when they do the work, they react
emotionally to it, usually not liking it, resenting having to
use time doing what we consider mindless work.

In contrast, one of the characteristics of organized
people is that they go about their jobs in what can only
be called a mechanical way. Sometimes you can even
see a sort of robot-like look on their faces. They just do
what needs to be done without rancor, without joy. They
would be amazed to know how emotionally we relate to our
work.

Become, in a way, mechanical. Just put one foot
in front of the other. Do the work without considering whether
you like to do it, whether it is emotionally satisfying, or
whether it is a good use of your valuable time.

In order to make this approach easier, some Messies
listen to books on tape as they do their work. Each day as
they go about their routine, they look forward to hearing what
is going to happen next.

But the bottom line is --- just do it.

Make an effort to move stuff out of the house within 48
hours of the time that you decide to let it go. Too often
clutter moves from the drawer or closet only as far as the
back hall or the garage, where it sits for weeks waiting
for someone to get around to taking it to the dump,
recycling center, or thrift store.

Making lots of smaller trips to local charity shops may not
be the most time- or energy-efficient, but it will help you
see progress more quickly and will fr@e up the energy in
your home a lot faster than waiting until you're "done"
(whenever that might be) so you can handle it all at once.

Stephanie Roberts

When I went to leave this morning--one of my errands was to go pick up a book on hold at the bookstore--I decided to take in a bag of books that had been living in the back room. In a fit of "hey, let's clear out a few more items," I ended up filling another bag about 1/2-2/3 full. I figured removing stuff I don't need or want from the house is a good thing, and that an extra partially-full bag of books is better than none.

from The Organizer Lady:

Life is a rubic cube, you can't chose or move one
thing without moving everything else.

You have to take a look at the cube and find the
level of cleanliness that puts the most pieces into
place: depending where your life is -- that can vary.

Here's a link to a well-written blog post on how the cleaning and life maintenance never ends.

Read it here!

This tip is from Stephanie Roberts:

Getting rid of clutter is not the same as just catching up
on housework. Friends and family may not understand how
difficult it can be when there are emotional issues and
patterns underlying it all, and may wonder why you aren't
making faster progress.

And they are just as likely to be concerned that you might
be moving too fast and getting rid of too much - especially
if they have clutter issues themselves.

Don't let anyone else's expectations or standards distract
you from dealing with your clutter in whatever way works
for you. It's okay to go slowly if you need to, but it's
also okay to shovel stuff out by the dumpster-load if
that's what you are motivated to do.

The "right" way is the way that works best for you.

Stephanie Roberts

Hello declutterbug readers! It's been a while without a post. I still think a lot about decluttering, and I still actively declutter. I plan to post a heck of a lot more than I have been.

But posting, like decluttering, can be a "fall off the wagon, climb back on" proposition, and as the saying goes, "Fall down twice, get up three times." So, here I am, picking the virtual dust bunnies out of this blog and getting on with it!

Today's thought: In our society we concentrate a lot on efficiency, sometimes to the detriment of actually getting things done. For example, if I feel like I can only run the errands if the entire *errand-running process* is mapped out in an efficient manner, then the liklihood that the dry cleaning and library books continue to hang out in the living room increases.

I fall victim to this. I'll have a chiro appt, and figure while I'm out, I should really return the library books, drop the clothes at the tailor, go to the grocery store, make a bank deposit and buy a birthday card. So, one of two things happen: I either postphone what I was planning on doing that morning to organize my errand run, or I leave it all until later. Neither works well. But the "efficiency" model has been ingrained in me, e.g., don't "waste" time driving around, do it all at once.

I'm trying, lately, to just do what I can, on the assumption that some is better than none. After all, would you rather have two tasks done, or none? Right. This means if I'm headed to the chiropractor and I can scoop up the library books and grocery list, then I'll just go do those two things. Sure, it means another trip for the rest of the stuff, but I live in a small town. The places in question are all between 1 and 3 miles from my house. Is it really a big deal to do some stuff Monday and some stuff Wednesday? No.

This works with cleaning and decluttering as well. Sure, ideally, you will spend a bit of time collecting all the bedroom items that decided to take a vacation to the living room. You'll grab them all at once, go to the bedroom and promptly put them away. But some days, like today, I look around and realize that doing the whole thing at once is too much. I want to make a dent, but don't have the focus to do so. So I make 5 trips with 2 items each. And you know what? I walked a few extra steps, but emotionally, it felt easier. And the task is done.

My advice? When you get overwhelmed, do things in small pieces.