unclutter | Entries tagged with unpacking why

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?

beachlass

Well, my dears. I'm sure we're all over the place in terms of socio/cultural/geographic/religious location; but where I am is the day after Christmas, with a house containing two currently sleeping children and assorted christmas gift detritus. Also, it is snowy outside.

The combination of post-holiday consumer hangover and the arrival of the new year always seems to spark my decluttering. Historically, I can go strong on the 1 In/1 Out model for a few months before tapering off, I'll see how that goes for me in 2013.

As for today, after I finish my coffee, and ship the kids to their dad's, and get around to putting away some gifts, I'm going to try to be intentional about asking myself whether each one replaces something I already own, and could now release.

Blessings of renewal to you all.

beachlass

In the ongoing project What is in this closet, anyway?! I have started to unearth the sweaters that my much loved and missed grandmother knit for me. In the 1980's. In acrylic. Which is pretty much indestructible.

What do I do with them. I will ask my daughter when she gets home, maybe they are the right kind of retro for her. But... I am a fibre snob now, and a competent knitter in my own right.

I think I am getting close to being able to let go of them, after something that is shoved in the back of a closet isn't really being enjoyed.

Suggestions Support?

beachlass

Clutter has such a profound impact on my/our lives - from the visual clutter that comes from all the surfaces being piled; which has been linked with anxiety/depression; to personal finances (remember that cheque I found, or when we buy duplicates because we can't find the one we already own, or when we pay for storage spaces) - clutter affects us; and for me at least, I want to live in a less cluttered house because I want a better life.

But our clutter has a deeper impact; a global one. My jaunt to get rid of my "free" e-waste reminded me of the likely home of my old computers. I first watched Ed Burtynsky's film Manufactured Landscapes on an airplane - flying to Winnipeg, probably. And from the astonish opening shot (no, really - mind-blowing) - the film transformed my understanding of the global systems of manufacture. The doc focuses on China; on how the very landscapes are transformed by processes of manufacturing - from extraction of resources to power generation; assembly lines to the fate of huge ocean freighters used in transport.

Burtynsky is a large format photographer, and the film capture quite a bit of his way of seeing as they follow him from site to site.

So - not a film about clutter per se; but certainly our consumption and subsequent difficulties about letting go are all part of the same systems that are manufacturing landscapes around the world.

( Manufactured Landscapes )

(I think DW is having some video embed problems, but there is a link)

beachlass

My goal for April is to reduce the clutter in my bedroom.

I started today by putting away my laundry. (Baby steps)

OUT: 3 (stretched out tank top, capris and black short sleeve top too faded to wear for work)

IN: nada

It was hard to let go of the black top. Even though it's really faded. Even though I have other short sleeved black shirts. Even though it doesn't button up across my chest. I felt the anxious "What if I need it sometime??" voice crying in the back of my head. I'm reminded that I find it harder to let go of things if I'm stressed because that "What if?" voice is stronger, scared of not having enough.

beachlass

7 IN (birthday shopping on the weekend): clothing, assorted, awesome green sandals, blue heart rock, tote bag (they just gave it to me! put my clothing in it and gave it to me, I swear!)

22 OUT: assorted clothes, linens

When I went looking for things to go out today, as well as tackling the pillowcase drawer (which, really, I hardly made a dent in, but it's a start) --- I tried looking for equivalent items to get me started. So... bought a new belt, got rid of an old belt, new funky patterned shirt, got rid of old patterned shirt, new dress, old dresses. It helps me let go of things I might otherwise want to keep, because I've got proof that I don't need to hold onto it, just in case.

beachlass

IN: a new (to me) coat from ebay
OUT: 5 coats - 2 kids raincoats that are now too small and 3 of my coats

So I got my new coat this morning. (Parcels in the morning! So exciting!) And after I got the boy shooed off to school checked to make sure the internet was still here, I went to look for coats I could release. Because: coats. I have lots. I like coats. And jackets And wraps. And big bulky sweaters. And live where we have lots of weather.

The first one went into the bin, with some regret - a classic denim jacket I've had since high school (more than 20 years ago!) - all hand embroidered by me with early 90's feminist slogans and characters/symbols from fantasy novels. Let's be serious. I am never, ever, ever going to wear that again. No one is, especially with the half-finished dragon on the back.

The other two were differently hard - because they're Still Good. One is too short, in a way that is just unflattering for someone with my cup size, and the other is a perfectly good aubergine coloured full length wool coat. That was a hand me down. That I never wear, because I prefer my black coats. And there's this voice in my head saying: "But! What if you need it someday?" I'm not sure what full length coat emergency I'm supposed to be waiting for, voice in my head.

ETA:
Also out! 9 cookbooks!
Given to my daughter, who is mostly living in the city these days.

beachlass

For the last few years I've started out with a lot of energy for decluttering, and then, sometime in the winter/spring get derailed. And once I'm derailed, it's been hard for me to get refocused. (Oh hi there feelings of incompetence and inadequacy, you are not my friends)

So this morning I'm starting with a bit of reading, hoping it will inspire me to get moving. And I think I'll turn off the radio news, and turn on the tunes.

READING

Flylady - yes, she's relentlessly cheery, but sometimes I need that. I've been following Flylady off and on for years, and her 15 minute timer trick is my default cleaning tool.

Happiness Project - Eleven Myths of De-cluttering, including:

"I need to find the perfect recipient for everything I’m getting rid of."

All the cds I sorted as "out" are still sitting on the piano bench, because I'm not sure where to take them. They're beside a stack of children's books that I sorted in SEPTEMBER to give to a prison programme, in a prison two hours away. And let's not talk about all the things in my house that belong/ed to my best friend who decided that I was the perfect recipient or that I agreed to store indefinitely.

Zen Habits - Trying to give myself credit as I read through this list of 15 Tips, because some of these are habits that I am on my way to establishing.

*deep breath*

Okay. I'm going to crank up the music and get started. My goals are to get some stuff actually out of the house today, and to clear off some surfaces.

beachlass

So.... books.

I've made an executive decision that in our house we actually have enough bookshelves. There's pretty much one in every room, including the upstairs hall, and some are floor to ceiling and take up the entire wall. And I have two floor to ceiling bookshelves in my office at work, so my work related books live there. I've always done some trading in/out with my local used bookstores, so that has helped, and I've reduced the collection by boxes each time I've moved (about every 3 years for the last 20).

But I still have trouble letting go of them. Especially if it was a book I liked. My credentials as a book hoarder are pretty solid.

And then there was the day that someone shared Peter Walsh's rule of thumb for books (I think the shelving advice is his too)

For every FOUR books you keep, get rid of ONE

What is this madness!?!?! How can I possibly get rid of that many!?!

But it stuck with me, like a burr, and eventually I tried it with my cookbooks. I am astonished that it worked. And I have on occasion tackled the other bookshelves with this rule - although I'm more of a Keep Five, Release One kind of a girl.

I've also given myself permission not to be The Archivist. And to sometimes give books away, rather than lending them out.

It gets easier, is the main thing I've learned. And I've also acquired an e-reader, which is helping quite a bit.

Here's one blog entry, that gives some advice on the voice saying "But I'm going to read/re-read it!"

And another, where they think in terms of categories of books to go.

And my final thought:

Books are an identifier for me. To walk into my house is to visually understand that I am a reader. To come in, and start reading the spines of the books tells someone quite a lot about my identity. There's an expansive and eclectic assortment of fiction mixed in with graphic novels, every book by Malcolm Gladwell and knitting magazines, gardening books, mystery paperbacks and shelves and shelves of children's books. Letting go of a book involves letting go of the idea of my self that is attached to the book. And that can be hard, personal, reflective self-work.

beachlass

IN: 2 (PS3 remote, new snowbrush for the car)

OUT 3: books

So often letting go of something involves letting go of an idea of myself as the person who is going to use that something. Like admitting that the houseplants are really dead. And some of the books on gardening and houseplants never, ever get opened. (Which might explain some of the dead houseplants, really). And sometimes acquiring the new things means letting myself have something to make life easier. Like a not worn out snowbrush.

beachlass

chomiji posted about throwing away sentimental items. I really struggle with that as well, and when I managed to throw away a childhood item last year, I reflected on it, what it meant to me, how it felt. So I'm reposting that reflection below.

When I was a very little girl, I had a pink gingham dress that I loved. I loved it so much that when I outgrew it that my mum turned it into a pillow. I couldn't say gingham, and somehow it became known as my prinkle dress and then prinkle pillow. I slept with it every night, wherever we went.

I've been cleaning out stuff from the house; and making a particular effort with a closet in my bedroom, that is largely useless for clothes, because it's spilling out with other things. And making enough progress that this past week, I'd considered a few times some of the things I knew were in there. Thought about the threadbare, stained, lumpen prinkle pillow.

I stood in my bedroom this morning, holding it. One of the pieces of advice for letting go of things is to take photos if they have a sentimental value. But... what would I do with a picture of a bedraggled pillow? I thought about why it was important. It reminds me of my mother; who I love, and is still alive and well. If I want to connect with her, surely picking up the phone is better than holding on to a pillow. And then I remembered the times as a child when I would cry and cry helplessly into the pillow; feeling friendless and miserable. Hardly feelings I want to hold onto.

And then I thought: when I feel like that now, I can call my friends. I'm not alone. I don't need this pillow, because I have far, far better support networks than a worn out child's dress stuffed with polyester.

And with gratitude, put it in the garbage bag, and out to the curb.

beachlass

I had visions of being Ultra Motivated and Productive today... however, the lure of watching Sleepy Hollow has proven too much.

So I'm reminding myself that I'm working on a practice of uncluttering, rather than Getting Rid of All The Things Right Now.

So... I did some shopping in the city the other day that I'm going to count as "in" items over the next few days, just because I feel like it, because it was as I was driving home that day that I started considering whether I wanted to try this challenge again.

IN: 6 books

OUT: 6 books, 1 broken teapot

RUNNING TOTAL: 1

Books can be hard for me, I love books, and have a special love for cookbooks. But since I'd bought two new cookbooks with gluten free focus, I got rid of two older cookbooks that I don't use. And since I'd far rather sit around reading the books I bought than do home renovation (?!! - Honestly? Never going to happen) - my Sunset home improvement books went in the donate pile too.

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uncluttering one day and one thing at a time

Entries tagged with unpacking why

Where to start?

boxing day

sense and sentimentality

(no subject)

April - 30 Days to a Cleaner Bedroom

happy happy, joy joy

still snowing

(no subject)

Books.

there was a lot of snow, or possibly, an alot of snow

prinkle

all is quiet on new year's day

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