Mid-week uncluttering

[fred_mouse]

How goes the uncluttering, this fine Wednesday?

I've managed to find yet another source of paper that should already have been thrown out - the filing cabinet. Today, I discovered a folder of primary school newsletters, dating back who knows how many years (I didn't look, I just checked that the whole folder was newsletters and chucked the lot). I've pulled three other files out to go through, and I suspect that several others could be thinned as well. Possibly, by the end of this I'll be able to fit all the extra bits of paper in the cabinet!

Comments

[yukonsally]

Sending 3 things to a friend today--I admitted to myself that I won't use two notebooks, they just aren't the size and/or style I like. By sending things to friends, the padded envelope stash is more manageable but we still have a ton. I'm always on the look out for small things to give away. It's the most fun part of decluttering to me!

The other part of decluttering I'm focused on is knitting the yarn I have so I don't buy more than I need (like I did two weeks ago... ahem...). I'm currently searching for patterns to use specific yarn and weighing the possibility of just giving the yarn away. I'm trying to knit useful things to give away, like hats for the homeless outreach or prayer shawls for my alma mater to give to students.

[peaceful_sands]

Sounds like you're making steady progress

[yukonsally]

I just found another thing to send away, and am combining 3 lotions into a single jar to recycle the other bits. Whenever I get to the end of a lotion bottle, I pour the last bit into a jar so I get every last drop, get every penny's worth out of the lotion. So I'll use up the lotion that's been hanging around too long!

[fred_mouse]

Sometimes, giving the yarn away is the best choice. But I hear you on finding useful things to do with it -- I hope that the hats and prayer shawls are warmly received.

And I like the idea of actively decluttering the padded envelope stash - I should be finding ways of doing that.

[tanaqui]

I swear paper replicates when we're not looking....

I took four books to the book donation bin yesterday. One was a book I'd read recently and decided not to keep. The other three were books I'd read a long time ago and enjoyed, but realized -- on scanning my bookshelves -- I wasn't ever going to re-read.

I'm planning on going through my bookshelves to see if I can find any more of those, and also to put together a pile for next year's read-10-minutes-a-day project. (So far this year, I've managed to read at least 10 non-fiction books like that and donated about half of them.)

[peaceful_sands]

Well done on the book progress - setting aside time to read is a great idea.

[fred_mouse]

I like the idea of a 10-minutes a day project for paper books! I've been doing something similar for 'classics' using Serial Reader, but there are lots of books on my shelves that would be much easier to deal with if I just committed the small amount of time, rather than trying to push myself harder than that. *eyes off the shelf of technical books to read someday*

[tanaqui]

It's surprisingly effective! I originally started so I could make myself work through a big pile of magazines that I wanted to read but which I... somehow never got around to reading....

When I got through the magazine stash, I realized I'd been really enjoying spending those 10 minutes a day sitting quietly and acquiring knowledge in a low-pressure way. Rather than, you know, spending 10 minutes pointlessly refreshing the internet and reading rubbish. So I started applying it to the many unread books I have which don't fit on my bookshelves.

Now, I usually read while I'm eating lunch, which generally takes a bit longer than 10 minutes, and stop when I reach a convenient point like a section break. And because I read pretty much every day, I generally don't lose the thread of what I'm reading, even though I'm only reading a few pages at a time.

[fred_mouse]

I have been inspired to pull a book out and put it on the bedside table. It is one that I've read bits of for uni years ago, but never actually read all of, and it is something in my field that I should know backwards and forwards. Later, I'll have a look at reading it.

[peaceful_sands]

Still working on the kitchen a cupboard at a time and I've got a box in there that I'm putting things to go in. I put a bunch in on Saturday but not much happened on Sunday and Monday. Yesterday, I added a couple of baking trays, a loaf tin. Tonight I need to make a decision on just how many cake tins I really need ... I also need to tackle another cupboard - this is only likely to result in out of date food if anything.

I'm also gathering a bag of papers to be shredded or burnt - given how often the shredder jams, I may well ask my Dad to burn the lot - quicker and easier in the long run!

[yukonsally]

burning is more fun too. Bring marshmallows or hot cocoa to enjoy it!

[tanaqui]

Well done on making progress with the cupboards and being able to let go of some items!

When it comes to things like the cake tins, I presume you have a small number of key ones that you use a lot, and many more that you use only very occasionally. So could you ditch most of the occasional ones and borrow cake tins from someone else if you suddenly really needed more than usual?

[fred_mouse]

Well done, making progress in multiple areas!