unclutter | Entries tagged with challenge

How did the decluttering of the work space(s) go? Did you spend time looking for things that could go, move a thing or two, or have a wildly successful week? Or did you work on a different space instead?

For week four we are moving from decluttering spaces in order to make them more welcoming to us, to making our space more welcoming to others. What this might look like

Is it difficult to get into the house? Option: work out what of the stuff in the front hall / entrance / verandah / front step is useful to have there, and deal with (some of) the rest. If that stuff is clutter to be rehomed, maybe make the getting it out of the house a priority
Is there nowhere for visitors to put things when they visit? Option: go through the shoe rack / coat rack / other storage and getting rid of what you don't use so that there is space for visitors to leave their shoes / coats / other when they visit
Is there nowhere for a visitor to sit? Option: Clear a second chair! Or a path to a second chair!
Are there too many choices of tea, and none of them good? Option: get rid of the stale tea so nobody accidentally gets served it. Do not suffer stale tea.
Have your serving plates / company coffee mugs / tea cups seen better days? Are there good ones that never get appreciated? Consider: ditch the dodgy, have the joy of using the nice ones (and if the nice ones aren't ever going to get used, is it time to send them out into the world to bring joy to someone else?)
if you have a car and are a person who provides transport, is there clutter in there making life awkward?

Remember, this is a gentle challenge, and if you get one thing progressed, that is a big win even when you can't give yourself the credit.

fred_mouse

How did the decluttering of the hobby spaces go? Did you spend time looking for things that could go, move a thing or two, or have a wildly successful week? Or did you work on a different space instead?

For the third week, we are moving on to a work space -- just the one. Unless you have all the energy and all the time, in which case don't let me hold you back. But this was meant to be a gentle challenge to get started on the year. What decluttering a work space might look like

moving the cooking equipment you never use out of the kitchen
sorting through stuff in a work from home space so you have more space for you
looking in the laundry for things that have drifted into corners and become one with the wall.
going through the cleaning rag stash and getting it down to Just! One! Bucket! worth (for whatever size of bucket you keep your rags in)
throwing out old cleaning equipment--particularly if you have replaced it with one that you use!

Alternatively: keep going with the rest and / or hobby spaces. Get things out of the house!

fred_mouse

How did you go with decluttering your rest space? Did you have thoughts about what you might do, did you deal with one tiny thing, or did you have a startlingly productive week?

For the second week, we are moving from rest space to hobby space. Can you find something to declutter? What this might look like:

acknowledging that you aren't going to come back to a craft project and rehoming the materials
clearing WIPs so that there is space to work on Just One -- especially if one of those is something that will leave the house when it is done! Gift yourself space while finishing that gift!
clearing a path to the sewing machine (this one is me. I really need to do that, because if I do that I can start work on repairing the clothing I want to keep and repurposing the ones I don't)
working through a shelf of books / DVDs / games and deciding which ones spark joy, and which ones can go.
going through the tool box and working out just how many pairs of scissors or screwdrivers or gumblesprockets* you really need

Alternatively: keep going with the resting space! Get something out of the house!

* no, i don't know what a gumblesprocket is either. It was one of the list of silly words for tools I learned in a poem as a kid

fred_mouse

I got a positive response on doing a low key January challenge! My intention is to post weekly on Wednesdays, which will cause there to be five weekly challenges.

For the first week, we are looking at making day time resting spots more restful. What this might look like:

Favourite Chair* has Stuff! on it --> Stuff! is moved somewhere else.
Floor on the way to Favourite Chair has tripping hazards --> clear a path.
Line of sight from Favourite Chair to window has something that irritates you --> Resolve at least one thing.
December related detritus in your relaxation space --> pack it up.
Cushions are leaking --> repair, replace, put a cover on, put it somewhere else....
There is a task that you notice Every! Single! Time! you stop for a rest --> move it, progress it, hide it ...

* for a value of chair that is where you rest when you aren't resting in bed. If you don't have one of these, then the challenge is to make one. Can you clear a space near a window so you can look outside? Standing and watching the traffic/clouds/birds/local wildlife counts as resting!

On easy mode, Stuff! gets added to a pile on the floor / chucked in a cupboard or box / made a problem for Future You. For each bit of extra energy you have, work through the list of: Rubbish in the bin. Put things that have homes away. Identify things that need returning or rehoming and put them in the 'return' and 'rehome' piles respectively. Find homes for things that don't have them.

Whether you do one thing once, or aim to do a little bit everyday, is entirely dependent on what you have time, energy, motivation and cope for. Reporting in can be done whenever you want, or on the (semi-)regular checkin, or the challenge checkin. If you have a thought about what you want to aim for, tell us in the comments!

vysila

It's been a while since I did any major decluttering and thought it might be fun and motivating to make a game of it instead of a chore.

So, let's play a decluttering game for March Madness. On March 1st (yes, sorry I'm a day late) declutter one item. It could be anything - a piece of paper or a sofa! On March 2nd, declutter two items. And so on each day, until by March 31st, you are decluttering 31 items that day. If you follow that simple rule every day, by the end of March you will have decluttered 496 items! Isn't that an amazing number?

Nothing says you have to do the entire month, of course. I'm not sure I will manage that myself. But every item gone is a win, in my book.

Yesterday I decluttered an old worn out swim suit. Who knows what it will be today, once I take a look around.

What do you say? Wanna go mad with me this month?

Current Mood: hopeful

yukonsally

I found this article this morning, full of advice about decluttering.

One bit that makes people hold on to things is "What if someone can use that?"

Well, then set it free, let that person find it. Offer it to friends, take it to a secondhand store.

Keeping a thing someone else may need and cluttering your living space is not worth it!

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uncluttering one day and one thing at a time

Entries tagged with challenge

January Challenge (4 of 5)

January Challenge (3 of 5)

January Challenge (2 of 5)

January challenge (1 of 5)

Anybody up for March Madness - Decluttering Style?

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