Where to start?

[holyschist]

This is a request for tips and advice!

I was making good headway on decluttering about a year ago. Then I moved, and then I moved back and immediately started a new job. I'm drowning in paper (the amount of paper I acquire in a year is mind-boggling, and I don't have the storage space for anything but minimal files) and surrounded by chaos and I have no real idea of where to start. I'm barely staying on top of my laundry (it doesn't help that my current job is part-time and inadequate, so I'm still job-hunting at the same time).

Any ideas for how to get started/make headway on this kind of chaos? 15 minutes at a time does do it, because there's no "away" to "put" most of the stuff at this point. It lives in piles, and our apartment isn't that big.

My other issue is craft supplies: the bulkiest is the fabric. I should probably go through and see if there's any I can sell/give away, but for the most part the solution is going to be to do projects that actually use stash...and get finished, instead of sitting around forever in pieces. Do other crafters have any tips on motivating ones' self through using stash and NOT acquiring more supplies at an equal or greater rate? I mean, my stash problem isn't bad...compared to my friends with houses. But it's a lot of supplies for a small apartment.

ETA: I do historical costuming, so any project is a Project, which is part of my problem--right now my issue is not so much acquisition as lack of motivation to actually project. My last finished project took about half a year. So IDK, does anyone know of stash challenges/support communities that might help provide some incentive to just do the darn sewing?

Comments

[moonreviews]

This post was really helpful to me for decluttering a little each day: http://unclutter.dreamwidth.org/54304.html (see comments for a link to the wallpaper I made, which was actually why it was useful as I'm now really reminded of it everyday...) I did adapt some things to my situation as I just have a one-room apartment and no storage place in the bathroom, for example. I also have lots of papers, but going through them one plastic bag at the time does help (I have put stacks of papers into plastic bags when I moved, which was also quite recently). If possible, I enter texts into the computer (or I scan things), but that also takes time so I don't always do that.

For fabric I also still have a large plastic storage box full, but my way of not acquiring any more was just not going to the fabric market anymore (the market is on Tuesday morning so I plan other appointments then (though this past half year was easy as I had classes almost all the time on Tuesday morning), so I have no possibility to go to the fabric market).
My sister uses up her fabric by randomly making skirts, dresses and t-shirts of her own designs (mostly adapting existing patterns).

[holyschist]

Thanks!

I'd say my stash problem at this point is less acquiring new stuff (I'm not) as...not doing anything with the stuff I do have. And since I only really do historical clothing, each project is a Project. So I'm trying to figure out ways to motivate myself.

[copracat]

I make myself a rule of completing a number of projects before I allow myself to buy new stash. That's mostly keeping it under control. Not too many projects to make it a hill to climb - four or five is usually a good number.

[holyschist]

The problem right now is that I'm not really adding, but I'm not completing, either. I'm in a no-project-completing stasis. :-(

[copracat]

I hate that stasis! So you need project motivating? What about a project that is useful or storage or something like that? Or a project that is a gift so you have a deadline to work to?

[peaceful_sands]

I started to tackle my paper mountain by having a couple of boxes and a bag. I sorted the papers into work related, house related and trash. Anything that didn't need keeping went straight into the bag to be disposed of. I went through several piles like that until my boxes were full. I then took one of the boxes - the house one first and sorted the stuff again - into old and current. Anything current went into a file, the old went into a box to be sorted later. I repeated the process with the work box. Doing this meant that anything new coming into the house could go straight into the current file as appropriate so I wasn't adding to the piles needing sorting. I then took the now empty boxes back to the mountain and tackled the next layer down.

Also as I tackled the piles, I was creating space in which I could keep the newly sorted boxes. It was a little daunting at first but gradually the overall pile was reduced and was left in broader groups and then as time went on I could sort each of the groups more and more usefully. The house one went first into current and old - then each of those got sorted into bills, finance and other stuff. Then the old section was grouped by year - gradually I began to find more things that I could get rid of because of how old they were. The grouping made it easier - "Ohhh look everything in this folder is x years old - it can be disposed of! Now I've got a new file for this year's current, making last year's current old!" kind of thing.

With regard to the crafting supplies, I've boxed my supplies up according to the kind of project (jewelry, cross-stitch kits, other sewing projects and wool related projects). I'm basically not allowing myself to buy anything new unless it's for an already underway project. The boxes are then packed neatly with just the current projects in bags to hand which encourages me to concentrate on getting those finished before starting anything else.

Good Luck, I hope you find a solution that works for you. x

[holyschist]

*deep breath* Okay, I think I can do that. Why is there so much PAPER? (Also, I struggle with determining the "x years" after which stuff can go. Is there some kind of rule of thumb?)

[peaceful_sands]

I'm not sure what the answer to that is. I have different cut off points for different types of paper work and whether it's just reference (like the work stuff) and is going out of date - superceded by something more recent, guarantees and credit card receipts and the like and stuff that is needed for tax or whatever. I don't know what the definitive cut off for the tax stuff is (might even vary from place to place - how far back can they require information from you even after it's paid?)

Not a terribly helpful answer I'm afraid, although I'd be interested to know other people's opinions, because I'm sure I keep some stuff way longer than I need to!

[beachlass]

Guidelines on keeping financial records vary depending on where you live - I found a blog post that has some links. And it took me a while to internalize the the records that needed keeping were tax records; not every phone bill I'd ever received.

I found when I started going through boxes of papers, I had utility bills from 3 houses ago, and ridiculous stuff like that. Generally I find when I tackle paper, there's a lot of stuff that is easy to throw out. I also bought myself a small, two drawer filing cabinet, so that at least I have somewhere to stash "keeping" paper. And I will get around to organizing it some day.

Paper is one of the areas that I try to tackle in a manageable amount, with one pile or one box or whatever. I usually have to sort into "action" (unpaid bill or the like), "keep" (goes in the filing cabinet, probably, and "garbage" (into the recycling). Sometimes I've tackled a stack of magazines, or some other kind of paper. I'm loath to let any unwanted paper into the house, too... declining photocopied recipes, or printing off knitting patterns "just in case".

I use a few techniques to handle my knitter's stash. First, I try and be mindful about acquiring new yarn. I also keep all my wool in a chest - so if the chest is full of yarn, I don't need more, right?

I also learned to throw out or get rid of yarn. For me, the first step was the hardest, but like with a lot of other decluttering, after learning that my world didn't collapse the first time I gave away yarn, it was so much easier the second time. And the third. I drastically reduced my stash when I decided to get rid of all acrylic and novelty yarns and thoroughly embrace my inner yarn snob.

Sometimes my knitting has been really stalled because I'm trying to finish a project that I don't like and isn't going well. I stopped knitting for a few years because I wouldn't give myself permission to start a new project/buy new yarn until I finished a sweater that wasn't working out well. Eventually I abandoned it and went back to knitting. And years later, I gave up the illusion that the project or the wool was salvageable and threw the damn thing out.

One of the things I've read about hoarding and clutter is that hobbies is a big area for us. That we tend to collect the materials for a lot of hobbies... ones we actively do, things we used to do, things we want to do... So I have yarn and fabric and board games and a potter's wheel and a sailboat and canoe paddles and bikes and skis and cookbooks and aquariums and books and musical instruments... and I only actually do a few of those hobbies in any kind of active way.

I'm, um. Working on this problem. And the voice in my head that keeps suggesting that I could use it someday.