unclutter | Recent Entries

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)

arlie

I was making slow progress last year. But then my housemate was injured, and needed to use a walker for a while. Clearing space for the walker basically boxed in everything that she didn't need to access, including all my work in progress. I couldn't - and still can't - even close the door to my home office.

She's now almost completely recovered. The walker has been retired, and so has the cane that came after it. Last week I made a very small inroad into the surface mess in my office. I'd planned to work on that daily, but life happened. Until today.

Tonight I wanted to read a book. My book reading chair was well positioned for light in the morning, but not at all good when it's dark outside - artificial light sources near it are inadequate. So I kind of lost it, and attacked the mess.

Things that got moved to my bedroom from e.g. the living room to make space for the walker have been consolidated or removed. The reading chair is in there, with a pair of plastic storage bins stacked as a coffee table beside it. A largish number of unread media have been evicted with extreme prejudice. The matching chair that was full of objects moved from the housemate's bedroom has been unburied, and moved to where the usable chair had been, still containing the smaller objects that had been in/on it. I asked the housemate to clean them up eventually - no hurry - and she promptly shoved them into plastic storage boxes and carried them off.

There's more still to do - e.g. backfilling the place the second chair was with stuff from a heap on top of a rocking chair, or perhaps moving the whole heap there, chair and all. And I'm not entirely satisfied with the new location of my laundry hamper. But I can read comfortably in the late evenings, without sitting at the dining room table in a less comfy chair.

I'm physically tired, and I imagine my back will be screaming at me tomorrow. I've doubtless inhaled enough dust to give a susceptible person an asthma attack. But both my bedroom and the living room feel somewhat less like warehouses, particularly my bedroom. (I feel like it's all mine again at last, even though essentially all the junk that was blocking it up was mine rather than ours.) Phew!

Current Mood: accomplished

vysila

Not nearly as productive a decluttering month as May, but still got a few things done. Most of my efforts this month went toward managing a big project, the upstairs renovation. Still, made a bit of progress on the decluttering front.

• Sold my riding lawnmower to a neighbor. That was serendipitous. I had never planned on moving the mower (an icky lawnmower in with my furniture and clothing, ugh!) and will have a lawn service do the mowing until I move.
• Have amassed a small pile of things to go – the last of my Star Wars collectibles, some drapes & curtain rods, ignored new cat toys, unused office supplies – but haven’t actually gotten around to listing them as yet
• Also took a look around the basement and decided that all the leftover materials from various home improvement projects can also go, but again, have not done anything further than identify the items
• I have accumulated a lot of excess toiletries over time, so am currently trying to use them up. Have managed to clear out a couple of small bottles of things so far.

Will try selling things if possible, to recoup a little money, but if not, it will all get donated.

Current Mood: tired

the_broken_tower

Here's what I'm looking forward to:

The coffee table is an unholy mess. The paper piles are becoming paper towers. Once this extra-busy period is done within the next week or so, I get to sort out all the papers and clean it.

- Psii (he/him)

sisterofbloomerjunior

It seems I actually exchanged an ottoman for a bunch of books and a book bag. “Arrowsmith” is the only title I remember without opening the bag.

Current Mood: hot
Current Location: Upstairs
Current Music: Fan

the_broken_tower

Pro: It's been a lot easier and faster to do dishes. SO much time and energy has been saved since starting to use the dishwasher.

Con: Not all items are dishwasher safe, and those items still need to be handwashed. When water pools on the dishwashed items, they need to be air dried. Both of those things lead to counter clutter in and around the sink.

I'm celebrating a minor victory that the counter and drying rack are clear right now. Especially since trying to find places to balance drying items led to a lid falling and being re-washed three times, because it's been stressful lately and stress leads to contamination-related OCD moments.

Staying on top of dishes is an achievement with how busy and energy consuming everything else has been lately.

- Bluebell (he/him)

the_broken_tower

I cleaned the fridge, inside and out.

All the ingredient-produce items from the past couple grocery runs are cut up and ready to go for bibimbap/kimbap/stirfry over the next week or so.

The inside of the fridge looks and feels so much better. ☆

And the kitchen feels so much better. Part of meal prep included clearing out/re-organizing the counter space.

Best of all, doing this means that next week will be MUCH EASIER as far as spending/food/planning. I include all of the logistical, planning, and purchase-related events as intangible de/cluttering.

- Finn Amara (he/him)

the_broken_tower

What? You mean that cookie dough from over a year ago can go bad? Even if it's frozen?

... The freezer now has a lot less cookie dough in it. RIP last spring's cookies. The aroma of freezer burn invaded my kitchen when I baked you. It was not meant to be.

- Finn Amara (he/him)

sisterofbloomerjunior

Well, the main thing is we’re staying at our current house for the foreseeable future, which is good since we still have quite a bit to clean up before we could ever move. I’m not 100% sure about the Buick, though.

So as far as the garage is concerned, the only thing I’ve gotten rid of is a pitchfork. I know I’ve donated something else from there, but I can’t remember it anymore. I should go through our toolbox before July 21st when Ridwell will collect hand tools. 🧰 Unsure if I’m going to have to wait until it’s cooler to possibly clean out the playhouse. The deck for it is rotting.

I’m contemplating whether I should go through my CD collection. I rarely play them anymore because I don’t have a player near my nightstand or one with a remote like I did decades ago. I could also take the holder over to where the Giving Tree is. I’ll probably try hunting down vinyl versions of most of my CDs, though.

Current Mood: contemplative
Current Location: Upstairs
Current Music: Minnesota Twins - Seattle Mariners game

vysila

Big BIG doings this month! My decluttering motivation went into overdrive, mostly due to home renovation and shortened timeline for moving.

My bedroom is empty except for my bed, the (empty) hope chest my sister and brother-in-law hand made for me when I was in my teens, and a bureau that was originally part of my parents’ bedroom set. My closet (i.e., wardrobe) has been downsized and neatly organized.

The guest bedroom contains only a bed, an empty chest of drawers (also part of my parents’ bedroom set), a computer desk & chair. The closet is completely empty.

The smallest bedroom was used as a home office/library but now is completely empty, as is the closet in that room. I am using it now as a staging area for packing boxes as I gear up for the future move.

The upstairs, which includes a large family/rec room, a full bathroom, a large bedroom, 3 walk-in closets plus some floored attic space – IS COMPLETELY EMPTY! That space is currently being renovated to make the house more saleable.

• Finished rehoming ALL of my fanzines, nearly 200 in total
• Decluttered a bunch of other fandom treasures and memorabilia – three big boxes
• Gave away my son’s old children’s books, all his art supplies, games and puzzles to neighbors with young children (my son didn’t want any of it) – two boxes worth
• Gave away the last of my jewelry to a niece
• Donated slightly more than 400 books to my local library
• Donated old purses and wallets, kept two purses and one wallet
• Donated/rehomed small decorative household items – four boxes
• Flattened and took a lot of old cardboard boxes to the recycle bin
• Took a nonfunctional old printer to the electronic recycle bin
• Small closet purge – donated four knit tops and two sweaters
• Donated one set of bedroom drapes with matching tiebacks

This was a huge, busy and very successful decluttering month, but there is still more to do, absurd as it seems.

This is such a kind and encouraging community and I am grateful to have a place like this to report on what is – and will continue to be – a physically difficult and emotionally challenging project. And I do hope that my progress might serve as a beacon of hope to everyone who struggles with clutter and downsizing, to see that through baby steps, it totally is possible to reduce your excess possessions down to whatever level is comfortable to you.

Current Mood: jubilant

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

Attempting to get back in the habit of weekly(ish) check ins here. Love that people have been tracking their decluttering!

So! On that note: 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.