unclutter | Recent Entries

over the past couple of weeks i have been deleting photos from my phone and cloud storage! its part of a whole digital minimializm upheaval in my life with a heavy emphasis on privacy and actual human connection. in the process ive realized that alot of my data footprint is in PICTURES. thousands upon thousands of pictures, most of which are frankly duplicated upwards of 10 times each (if its a selfie session easily 30-50 photos, out of which i like one or two)

so awhile ago i started with the strategy of favoriting photos that i really liked out of these photosets, and therefore my whole photo storage!

this has made it easier to go through and remember and delete things that truthfully i have never looked back on or thought about again. in the moment these things felt very meaningful to capture in pictures (so meaningful i needed 127 photos and 11 videos of a single concert), but looking back i have almost no attachment to them! and im a sentimental person.

so i have been using screen time where i would have scrolled previously to go through my library on my mobile phone and continue MASSSSS deleting. today i got rid of another 2.5k easily!

it feels good also to empty these essentially over memorialized memories because some of them were painfully associated, or i looked at them and some pain of rememberance came up with it, or disgust, or just plain old detatchment. even the ones that were great great memories but i know i would appreciate more if i could say print 25 photos of the whole trip out and make a memory book- it felt like a weeding process.

i repeat, i am a sentimental person and keeping photos, taking photos, curating photos, making collages and mood boards and vision boards is really really important and integral to me fundementally. which is why this feels even like an artistic extension of myself.

and i get to look at all my photos in the process of this decluttering!!
yayyy!!

Current Mood: nostalgic
Current Location: cozy bed

fred_mouse

How goes the decluttering? Have you shifted anything out of the house? Found something to sort through? Had thoughts on things you can let go of?

Comments open to locals, lurkers, drive by sticky beaks, and anyone I've forgotten to mention.

And thanks to those who did the cheering after the last post, when my week completely vanished from under me and I forgot that dreamwidth is a place to spend time.

wychwood

is much easier than doing your own!

My mother is not a hoarder, but has a regrettable tendency to accumulate things, an inability to do sorting and tidying activities which are not "work for four hours straight and accomplish the entire task in one go", and health conditions that mean she can essentially never do anything substantial in one go any more. Over the summer I pointed out that she probably didn't need three overflowing boxes of toddler books given that her youngest grandchild is now in secondary school, and strong-armed her into going through them with me so we could donate most of them and put the rest neatly away in the available storage.

I was with her again last week, and she had spontaneously decided we were going to do some more - I bagged up and put away some of her not-currently-in-use clothes for her, and we went through the toy collection which again now fits neatly in the box, while the overflow is waiting to be collected for the church Christmas fair.

We also talked about possible clothing solutions - she has bags and bags of clothes that don't fit, at least some of which may well be needed in the future, and I have done my best to suggest that "random unlabelled bin sacks in every corner" is not the optimal solution. We'll see what results.

What has everyone else been up to?

fred_mouse

How goes the decluttering? Have you shifted anything out of the house? Found something to sort through? Had thoughts on things you can let go of?

Comments open to locals, lurkers, drive by sticky beaks, and anyone I've forgotten to mention.

fred_mouse

How goes the decluttering? Have you shifted anything out of the house? Found something to sort through? Had thoughts on things you can let go of?

Comments open to locals, lurkers, drive by sticky beaks, and anyone I've forgotten to mention.

fred_mouse

How goes the decluttering? Have you shifted anything out of the house? Found something to sort through? Had thoughts on things you can let go of?

Comments open to locals, lurkers, drive by sticky beaks, and anyone I've forgotten to mention.

Also: I've very much appreciated the posts people have been putting up through the week, I just haven't had the spoons to respond.

sisterofbloomerjunior

I managed to clean out the main floor of our playhouse. The garden cart’s pieces, a tarp, and a plastic container are now in the screen house. I cut up the box the cart was shipped in. The rest of the items are currently in the raised planting box. I moved the play oven to underneath the rafter, if the Servpro staff need more room to put items from our basement, I’ll clean that out.

I think the screen house also has enough space for storage, but not our regular shed or garage.

Put a bunch of paperbacks with rather small font, Cliff Notes, and a coupon flyer for a supermarket we don’t shop into the neighborhood little library. Should put also that college flyer in there. Mentioned to person operating the Giving Tree that Ridwell is collecting textbooks this week. I donated a wooden basket and a can crusher. I doubt anyone still uses can crushers, but at least it’s no longer on our property. Hopefully she activates her Ridwell account in time.

Also ordered some twenty gallon trash bags, should also buy some 13 gallon ones.

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: Upstairs
Current Music: Fan

zenigotchas

Milestones are marvelous.

In an attempt to live more efficiently for my own mental illness, I've taken to learning abt SMART goals, time boxing and task batching to help make this cleaning stuff go by smoothly.

I have managed to achieve about half of this week's milestones, getting me closer to my overall goals.

The place looks nicer, smells nicers, FEEEEEEELS nicer. I love it here!

I've got several trashbags to take out, a bit more than my trashcan can actually fit, wheh. But it'll be okay, even a little taken out is good.

Elephant in the kitchen is going to be the floor. Cleaning it, figuring out where to put everything blocking me from cleaning it to begin with... It's a mess.

Time to eat the frog then and add that to my milestones and daily cleaning rituals then. Enough with the excuses!

Anyway what did I want to achieve? To have most of my dishware clean and such. And it is! Now all I have to worry about are pots, pans and the jars I've got lying around (speaking of which, any ideas for those things? I eat a lot of peach preserves so now I've got a MILLION of them!)

zenigotchas

I'm slowly doing a big clean up of my present cave. Then I have to pack but that's future Mint's trouble.

I have been following 2 rules so far:
1. UnfuckYourHabitat.com's 20 minute unfucking span. You pick up trash, wash dishes and then clean surfaces. I can consistently remember to at least throw things away.

2. I have begun incorporating doing the dishes into my nightly bedtime routine. It is surprisingly relaxing.

3. To combat having lots of dirty dishes and NO dishwasher, I am resolving to eat only out of 1 dish and keep that washed while not using the rest of my dishware or silverware. I'm also making dishes that do NOT require several pots, pans, bowls, etc. to make.

Progress so far: The living room is looking A LOT better. Like, almost ready for me to be able to go back to lifting and doing other exercises at home!

I'm slowly but surely washing everything up and it really cuts back on the amount of time I spend cleaning up before and after meals. Which only helps me with the amount of time I need to take out the trash (I have so much to throw away).

Most of my fridge has been cleaned out. Just needs a wiping down.

(idk if I'm allowed to give myself my own tag yet or not but hi! Been here for a while and this is my very first post! Seeing if this helps me accountable and measure my progress)

fred_mouse

It's been a bit of a damp day today, so my motivation is low, but I love hearing what you mob have achieved, so at least making this post is an easy thing to achieve!

How goes the decluttering? Have you shifted anything out of the house? Found something to sort through? Had thoughts on things you can let go of?

Comments open to locals, lurkers, drive by sticky beaks, and anyone I've forgotten to mention.

fred_mouse

It's a long weekend where I am, so Monday is the new Sunday. Which brings me to the topic of the post!

How goes the decluttering? Have you shifted anything out of the house? Found something to sort through? Had thoughts on things you can let go of?

Comments open to locals, lurkers, drive by sticky beaks, and anyone I've forgotten to mention.

fred_mouse

How goes the decluttering? Have you shifted anything out of the house? Found something to sort through? Had thoughts on things you can let go of?

Comments open to locals, lurkers, drive by sticky beaks, and anyone I've forgotten to mention.

matsushima

I'm a grad student and I read best on paper whenever possible. That means I have a lot of paper around my apartment. I need to hold onto it because I'm taking notes and working towards writing my thesis. So what to do so I can find what I need, what I need it? a hybrid paper-digital system inspired by the Kerlan Collection archives, where I've visited a few times.

Each item is logged in my research bookmarks with tags and notes and the location is listed as "Box X: Folder X." I also mark that on the first page of each article so I know where to put it when I find it. (I also date when I read it digitally and on the paper. My goal eventually is to digitize my highlights and notes but I haven't had time yet.)

I haven't applied this to my other papers (apartment paperwork, pet paperwork, copies of bills and taxes paid, and so on) but I don't see any reason this hybrid digital-analog system wouldn't work for any kind of paperwork.

This is the system I'm using for my grad studies and I thought it might help others uncluttering, especially with that stuff you have to hold onto in print for whatever reason.

Current Mood: okay

sisterofbloomerjunior

Managed to clean off and move my loveseat so an energy auditor can check to see what areas need more insulation for winter. Quite a bit of the items were laundry, so I spent the weekend washing.

Too bad we’re having a late summer heatwave or I would had taken a vacuum cleaner to be repaired at one of Hennepin County’s Fix-It Clinics. :/

Mom’s getting to the point that she won’t be able to drive much longer, so this time it is likely we’ll have to sell the Buick, so I’ll clean that out soon.

Current Mood: sleepy
Current Location: The upstairs bedroom I cleaned, huzzah!
Current Music: Fan

fred_mouse

How goes the decluttering? Have you shifted anything out of the house? Found something to sort through? Had thoughts on things you can let go of?

I personally haven't managed anything, having been--to quote the vernacular--'flat out like a lizard drinking' on other tasks. But I'm here to celebrate the rest of you!

Comments open to locals, lurkers, drive by sticky beaks, and anyone I've forgotten to mention.

fred_mouse

I've rather dropped the ball on check in posts. I'd like to claim that I'm going to be doing weekly posts (and I'm going to put it back in my reminders, so maybe!).

With that said: what have you achieved in the declutter sphere? Have you done a tiny thing? Something marvellous and magical that has transformed your life? Made a plan but haven't yet carried it out? Tell us, tell us!

Comments open to locals, lurkers, drive by sticky beaks, and anyone I've forgotten to mention.

the_broken_tower

There is a new(ish) rule in place that any new sewing projects need to use natural materials - a semi-synthetic like rayon is okay, but there is no plastic allowed. There's another rule that new purchases must be for a specific project, when that project is ready to start.

Those two rules have cut down on fabric purchases and delivered boons in the form of stash purges.

I went through the fabrics bin earlier in search of a material that I thought could be used for trousers. I found it, but it looked and felt semi-synthetic. A flame test confirmed that it's some kind of plant fiber and plastic blend. It was disappointing, but not something that I would have used anyway.

Since it's been in there for years, I put it (and a bag's worth of other old fabrics) out for donation. The bin is finally half-empty.

- Clair

the_broken_tower

... That the inbox category that's been purged over the past week is finally at an acceptable number of recent messages. [confetti]

Also went through the DW inbox recently, and it's back down to reasonable numbers.

- Finn Amara (he/him)

the_broken_tower

I went through a round of email purging. 3k+ emails in one category have gone to within 2k.

Over the next year or so I'd like to clean up old emails until everything that is needed/desired is in its own folder, and everything else has been deleted.

- Olai

the_broken_tower

Weeks are about to get even fuller with a summer class and impending semester. The main point of progress this week was clearing out the fridge, and cleaning the handwash-only dishes in the sink. (Dishwasher FTW, it keeps things so much more manageable.)

These are some things that have helped with preventing clutter in the first place:

1. No-buy rules on craft projects. The current in-progress shirt gets finished, THEN the next project in queue, and new fabric (fabric samples included) only happens if it is being picked out for a specific, immediate project.

2. Only one craft project out at a time, and it lives on the coffee table. Keeps the mess consolidated and easier to clean.

3. Trying to maintain a schedule. Recycling goes out on Monday or Tuesday, which is the same day as big errands (car refilling, groceries). One day between Friday and Monday is for housekeeping tasks - sweeping/vacuuming, cleaning, putting things away.

4. Dedicated days off. No working, paid or otherwise. Housework counts as working. This lets the energy bar go back up so it's not a continuous struggle on low-energy weeks to keep things tidy.

... But things still get overlooked and hectic. Some tasks get postphoned because of weather or fatigue.

So here are the general goals to hit next week.

1. All of the glass recycling (minus lightbulbs) taken out.
2. Thing 1 and Thing 2 mailed off.
3. Big box of donations taken to a donation drop.

These tasks have been pending for several weeks, so it would be nice to see them off.

- Ode (he/him)