2017 Declutter and Organization Thread

[tcu2003]

Lena, as debt said, the PW challenges are only in the month of January, so just 31 of them.

I've been battling a head cold this week, which I got from the older child, and now the baby has it, so I'm woefully behind on the challenges. I've done 2 so far (2 and 5). I'm going to recruit DH into doing 8, and hopefully 4 as well. And 1 will be done once he finishes trying to fix the printer he's got on the kitchen table. So there's hope!

I did also manage to get several loads of laundry washed, dried, and folded/put away, plus some ironing done, so I'll consider that a win. DH also got a shelving thing built and put together in the playroom, so we're getting that room organized and throwing out a few things in the process (not enough, but I'll take any progress). I returned/exchanged everything I had left to take back, and we got the rest of the Christmas stuff put away. We'll see what we can tackle this week. I'd say there's a better than 50% chance one of us will be home with the baby tomorrow, but if today is any indication, she's going to want to be held all day.

[msventoux]

Jan 8, 2017 16:28:38 GMT -5 whoisjohngalt said:

What PW thinks I should do in a day, will take me a month!

Have you tried the app Unfilth Your Habitat? Warning, it has some strong language in it...the "filth" is substitute for another f word that would have kept it out of the App Store.

I like it because you can set a timer for 5, 10 or 20 minutes to work on something. You can do your own thing, make your own tasks, or you can do a random challenge by time. Spend 5 minutes cleaning out a junk drawer, 10 minutes cleaning out the cabinet under your sink, or 20 minutes cleaning your linen closet, etc.

[moneysquirrel]

This week's goals:
Home/Personal

Continue with progress
Exercise -- Monday
Maintain cleared flat areas.

School

7th test
Place approved copy on web site
Run off grade sheets for projects

Crafts – Some will take longer than one week

Witch earrings (1 pair to go)
Continue crocheting baby gift (pattern has 74 rows and 2 ruffles) – hope to get to row 30 this week. (Think I am on row 18 now.)
Snowman Earrings (6 pairs)


I think I am coming down with something.  Beginning to feel yucky. Planning to take some meds to fight this and to get to bed early.  This is my seasonal allergy, cold, sinus foolishness.  

Will check in later this week.

[chiver78]

Jan 8, 2017 20:50:49 GMT -5 msventoux said:

Jan 8, 2017 16:28:38 GMT -5 whoisjohngalt said:

What PW thinks I should do in a day, will take me a month!

Have you tried the app Unfilth Your Habitat? Warning, it has some strong language in it...the "filth" is substitute for another f word that would have kept it out of the App Store.

I like it because you can set a timer for 5, 10 or 20 minutes to work on something. You can do your own thing, make your own tasks, or you can do a random challenge by time. Spend 5 minutes cleaning out a junk drawer, 10 minutes cleaning out the cabinet under your sink, or 20 minutes cleaning your linen closet, etc.

the bold alone is going to make me look this up, thank you! 

[Lizard Queen]

Jan 8, 2017 20:50:49 GMT -5 msventoux said:

Jan 8, 2017 16:28:38 GMT -5 whoisjohngalt said:

What PW thinks I should do in a day, will take me a month!

Have you tried the app Unfilth Your Habitat? Warning, it has some strong language in it...the "filth" is substitute for another f word that would have kept it out of the App Store.

I like it because you can set a timer for 5, 10 or 20 minutes to work on something. You can do your own thing, make your own tasks, or you can do a random challenge by time. Spend 5 minutes cleaning out a junk drawer, 10 minutes cleaning out the cabinet under your sink, or 20 minutes cleaning your linen closet, etc.

I didn't know it was an app.  I was following it on tumblr, and it was useless on there.  Just a bunch of before/after pics.  May have to check out the app.

[Lizard Queen]

My first week had mixed results for my goal of 2 hours of housework on days that I'm not doing anything extraordinary:

Sunday:  travelling--pass
Monday:  did it!
Tuesday:  almost did it, but then had to take DS1 to cub scouts--pass
Wednesday:  mom eye Dr.--pass
Thursday:   Mom regular Dr.--pass   (taking my mom to appointments takes a big chunk out of my day, and they're mentally exhausting, especially with this doctor who evaluates her heart/kidney disease.  Every time, it's like, OMG, is this finally it?)
Friday:  should have, could have, would have, but just didn't--fail
Saturday:  did it!  Surprised how much time taking the Christmas tree down took.  No wonder why I resist putting it up in the first place.  What a pain in the ass.

The following Sunday (yesterday):  same as Friday. 
On to a new week, and new opportunities.

ETA:  Started a new organizational method. zenhabits.net/zen-to-done-ztd-the-ultimate-simple-productivity-system/
 The first habit being, collect, and I'm tring to incorporate it over a month's time. So I got a little notebook mid last week.  Not using it that much yet.  May have to keep on this until I'm really doing this for 30 days.

This is in addition to the GTD method I've been trying to incorporate for probably a couple of years now.  Also looked into personal kanban, but I'm afraid I'm just bouncing around too much.  lifehacker.com/productivity-101-how-to-use-personal-kanban-to-visuali-1687948640
I just need something to help keep my head straight.  Remember what I mentioned for Thursday?  It's holding a lot of my brain power hostage.  I should probably just stick to putting in the time, and writing things down.

[Iggy aka IG]

I have 4 pages to catch up on, but wanted to say, Congratulations Sharon!!!!!!!!

[tcu2003]

Peter Walsh 31 Days to Get Organized challenges.

Day 1 - TABLE TOPS
Day 2 - SET UP A DONATION BIN
Day 3 - GIFT BAGS
Day 4 – TACKLE THE FREEZER
Day 5 – UNDER THE SINK
Day 6 – TWO DRAWERS IN YOUR OFFICE (OR ELSEWHERE)
Day 7 – SHOES, SHOES, SHOES
Day 8 – THE CRAZY TANGLE OF CORDS AND CABLES

Day 9 – SOCKS AND UNDIES
Today it’s the unmentionables …. and your socks too! Let’s go where no other organizer will go ….. ten minutes and you’ll be amazed at the result.

[Iggy aka IG]

Caught up!  Y'all have been very productive.  Hope those of you who are under the weather are back at 100% quickly.


DH and I had our first house showing last night.  It's in our contract for an overnight head's up, so we learned of this Saturday late afternoon.  I had packed a few boxes and did 7 loads of laundry prior to that.  We worked for hours leading up to the showing including dusting baseboards, vacuumed the circumference of the upstairs carpet, cleaned windowsills, vacuumed and dusted the entire house, swept and Swiffered the main floor, cleaned the front exterior main floor windows and the exterior light fixtures, shoveled the back patio, scrubbed the master bath, etc. etc. etc.  I haven't yet heard from the realtor as to what the potential buyers thought.

Which leads me to:

See that list above?  When it comes to cleaning, do you follow a regular schedule?  Do you do a little something each day/week/month/whenever?  We've been in the same house for 11 years, and I've never lived in one place for this long, so perhaps this is normal.  In the future, I'd like to avoid the stress of performing deep cleaning all at once.  My allergies are kicking my butt today.

I love the PW videos and lists, but clutter really isn't my issue.  Except for the gift bags I mentioned on a prior page, but those aren't really clutter, since they are neatly folded in the gift wrap tote. 

And, yes, our new home is several hundred square feet smaller which means less to clean. 

[Jaguar]

I just cleaned out and relined the junk drawer that I put so much in. I threw out most of the old stuff from my mom. I'll update my own stuff and throw out the rest when I get some extra cash. That big job is now DONE!

[Iggy aka IG]

Jan 9, 2017 15:22:00 GMT -5 Jaguar said:

I just cleaned out and relined the junk drawer that I put so much in. I threw out most of the old stuff from my mom. I'll update my own stuff and throw out the rest when I get some extra cash. That big job is now DONE!

Jaguar, you are on fire!  

[Jaguar]

Since last Wednesday I've thrown out 4 garbage bags of junk crap here from my kitchen. This place is getting cleaned out and it's looking so damn good even now.

[startsmart]

Jan 1-7th:
go through papers in the office (all on one shelf right now) - halfway done
scan 2016 files from office and add to shredding box

Jan 8-14th:
finish finance PP for upcoming class
Add quarter round to 1 bedroom - halfway done in master bedroom
catch up on laundry - all clean, working on folding
talk to charity about burp cloth donation
Finish reading 2 books (1/2 done)
Workout 4 times (1/4 done) 
Sort through sweaters to donate

So I called the charity today and will go do an initial drop off this week. They give away 130 packs to new moms every year and I'm going to attempt to do 2 matching burp rags for each gift pack. That means 260 burp rags but I'm pretty sure I have enough fabric to get a bunch churned out this month! Best of all it'll help me use up a lot of fabric and it's a charitable donation. 

ETA - it stopped raining for an hour so I took the donation in today + 2 corn bags for the ladies in the cold office. That's 46 items donated and I got the charity sheet for my records. I think I'll finish the master bedroom trim and then when I start working on the guest room I'll pull out the fabric and get to sewing for the next set. I may track those as well 44/260 are done! 

[whoisjohngalt]

Jan 9, 2017 13:24:47 GMT -5 tcu2003 said:

Peter Walsh 31 Days to Get Organized challenges.

Day 1 - TABLE TOPS
Day 2 - SET UP A DONATION BIN
Day 3 - GIFT BAGS
Day 4 – TACKLE THE FREEZER
Day 5 – UNDER THE SINK
Day 6 – TWO DRAWERS IN YOUR OFFICE (OR ELSEWHERE)
Day 7 – SHOES, SHOES, SHOES
Day 8 – THE CRAZY TANGLE OF CORDS AND CABLES

Day 9 – SOCKS AND UNDIES
Today it’s the unmentionables …. and your socks too! Let’s go where no other organizer will go ….. ten minutes and you’ll be amazed at the result.

Hmmmm.......I wonder if it includes all the nice, VS bras and underwear that I haven't been able to fit into in 8 yrs!

I still have tons with price tags on - I need to get my husband to sell it all!

[busymom]

I think that I, personally, finally pushed our garbage company over the edge. The company that picks up garbage in our community is now going to limit how many items outside of the can they'll take for free each year, even if you pay for "unlimited service" (like me). The magic number is 6. (If I had known they were going to do this, there are a couple of large items I would've set out before the new year.) Anyway, they sent a price list of what they'll be charging per item, and all I can say, is "ouch"!   But, DH & I still plan to declutter, but we're just going to have to be a bit more strategic in how we get it gone. 

I am recovering, and just ate my first "real" dinner in about 3 days.  Doing more laundry tonight, and hope to get back to normal activities in another day or two.

[chiver78]

nice, I'm ahead of the game. I actually took care of Day 9's task a couple weeks ago when I was home sick.

[Sharon]

Jan 9, 2017 13:51:07 GMT -5 Iggy aka IG said:

Caught up!  Y'all have been very productive.  Hope those of you who are under the weather are back at 100% quickly.


DH and I had our first house showing last night.  It's in our contract for an overnight head's up, so we learned of this Saturday late afternoon.  I had packed a few boxes and did 7 loads of laundry prior to that.  We worked for hours leading up to the showing including dusting baseboards, vacuumed the circumference of the upstairs carpet, cleaned windowsills, vacuumed and dusted the entire house, swept and Swiffered the main floor, cleaned the front exterior main floor windows and the exterior light fixtures, shoveled the back patio, scrubbed the master bath, etc. etc. etc.  I haven't yet heard from the realtor as to what the potential buyers thought.

Which leads me to:

See that list above?  When it comes to cleaning, do you follow a regular schedule?  Do you do a little something each day/week/month/whenever?  We've been in the same house for 11 years, and I've never lived in one place for this long, so perhaps this is normal.  In the future, I'd like to avoid the stress of performing deep cleaning all at once.  My allergies are kicking my butt today.

I love the PW videos and lists, but clutter really isn't my issue.  Except for the gift bags I mentioned on a prior page, but those aren't really clutter, since they are neatly folded in the gift wrap tote. 

And, yes, our new home is several hundred square feet smaller which means less to clean. 

I have tried to follow a regular schedule and failed miserably.  I had even sat down and mapped out a schedule of things like dust on tuesday, vacuum on Wednesday type of thing.  It even included larger tasks to do be done quarterly, such as wash the windows inside and out.  Now most of the housework is done on the weekends and if it doesn't get done one weekend it is waiting for me the next.

[Lizard Queen]

Jan 7, 2017 14:05:42 GMT -5 jenpen said:

Hey all, just dropping by to do one quick post.  I thought some of you might be interested in this item I came across on Evernote's blog:

"[Evernote] teamed up with Audible to offer you the New York Times bestseller The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo audiobook for free.

"Now, through January 31, 2017, residents of the US and Canada can get this book free from Audible and Evernote. There’s no purchase necessary, and you don’t have to be an Audible subscriber. If you don’t have an Audible account, you’ll be asked to create one, but you won’t be asked to subscribe, and you won’t need to enter a credit card number. Just follow this link and download the audio book, and begin your more organized 2017."

The link to the blog post, where you'll find the link to download the free audiobook, is:

blog.evernote.com/blog/2017/01/06/a-gift-to-help-you-start-the-year-more-organized-and-stay-that-way/

Thanks for sharing. I started listening to this--which is a new experience for me. The pace and order when listening is totally linear and steady, while I guess I tend to go back or look ahead a lot when I read. 2 chapters in, it's pretty good but a bit repetitive. I hated the snarky tone at first, but after thinking about it, I blame that more on the narrator.

[tcu2003]

Peter Walsh 31 Days to Get Organized challenges.

Day 1 - TABLE TOPS
Day 2 - SET UP A DONATION BIN
Day 3 - GIFT BAGS
Day 4 – TACKLE THE FREEZER
Day 5 – UNDER THE SINK
Day 6 – TWO DRAWERS IN YOUR OFFICE (OR ELSEWHERE)
Day 7 – SHOES, SHOES, SHOES
Day 8 – THE CRAZY TANGLE OF CORDS AND CABLES
Day 9 – SOCKS AND UNDIES


Day 10 – SUITCASES AND LUGGAGE
Everyone travels a lot these days – and usually accumulates more bags, backpacks and suitcases than really needed. Today it’s about culling your luggage to what you need – and opening up some space in your home.

[tcu2003]

H unknowingly gave us a jumpstart on day 10 last night. He cleaned out an old work laptop travel bag that he used for site visits and decided to throw it away since he won't use it again (he has a backpack with a laptop space he uses now), it has a broken zipper and he had jerryrigged the strap to be functional. I went through most of it when we moved a couple of years ago, but it's probably time to do it again.

[debthaven]

Haha Busy, but I doubt you're the only one who "broke" the garbage collection. I'm glad you're feeling better.

This week
- post office (Wed)
- bank (Wed)
- Shitepile (Wed)
- get tire fixed ?
- see A (Wed)
- rewrite letter (Wed?)
- declutter Jordanian tea (Tues) We gave up!
- declutter apple cinnamon tea (Tues) I'm taking it to school.
- declutter green tea (Tues) DH finished it, there wasn't much left.

We gave up on the Jordanian tea (too weird, black tea with sage and/or thyme). DS1 is coming over soon so I put it in his room. If he doesn't want it, out it goes. Down to 8 7 6 kinds of "fancy tea" (until DS1 gets here ... he'll probably bring us tea from his honeymoon destination ).

[megaptera]

Jan 10, 2017 7:18:01 GMT -5 Sharon said:

Jan 9, 2017 13:51:07 GMT -5 Iggy aka IG said:

Caught up!  Y'all have been very productive.  Hope those of you who are under the weather are back at 100% quickly.


DH and I had our first house showing last night.  It's in our contract for an overnight head's up, so we learned of this Saturday late afternoon.  I had packed a few boxes and did 7 loads of laundry prior to that.  We worked for hours leading up to the showing including dusting baseboards, vacuumed the circumference of the upstairs carpet, cleaned windowsills, vacuumed and dusted the entire house, swept and Swiffered the main floor, cleaned the front exterior main floor windows and the exterior light fixtures, shoveled the back patio, scrubbed the master bath, etc. etc. etc.  I haven't yet heard from the realtor as to what the potential buyers thought.

Which leads me to:

See that list above?  When it comes to cleaning, do you follow a regular schedule?  Do you do a little something each day/week/month/whenever?  We've been in the same house for 11 years, and I've never lived in one place for this long, so perhaps this is normal.  In the future, I'd like to avoid the stress of performing deep cleaning all at once.  My allergies are kicking my butt today.

I love the PW videos and lists, but clutter really isn't my issue.  Except for the gift bags I mentioned on a prior page, but those aren't really clutter, since they are neatly folded in the gift wrap tote. 

And, yes, our new home is several hundred square feet smaller which means less to clean. 

I have tried to follow a regular schedule and failed miserably.  I had even sat down and mapped out a schedule of things like dust on tuesday, vacuum on Wednesday type of thing.  It even included larger tasks to do be done quarterly, such as wash the windows inside and out.  Now most of the housework is done on the weekends and if it doesn't get done one weekend it is waiting for me the next.

I've tried this and failed miserably also. I even tried it with just one thing (like just doing laundry on a certain day of the week). Stuff gets done, but on a very random (non-) schedule. 

[megaptera]

Jan 10, 2017 11:41:52 GMT -5 debthaven said:

Haha Busy, but I doubt you're the only one who "broke" the garbage collection. I'm glad you're feeling better.

This week
- post office (Wed)
- bank (Wed)
- get tire fixed (Wed)
- see A (Wed)
- rewrite letter (Wed?)
- declutter apple cinnamon tea (ongoing)
- declutter Jordanian tea (Tues)

We gave up on the Jordanian tea (too weird, black tea with sage and/or thyme). DS1 is coming over soon so I put it in his room. If he doesn't want it, out it goes. Down to 8 kinds of "fancy tea" (until DS1 gets here ... he'll probably bring us tea from his honeymoon destination).

Has anyone tried Rooibos tea? Since (mostly) giving up coffee, I've been drinking a lot of this. It's very yummy as a chai, with milk, honey and spices.  And it's naturally non-caffeinated.

[debthaven]

Has anyone tried Rooibos tea?

I have. I didn't like it much though (again, I'm not a huge tea fan.) I'm pretty sure DS1 will be bringing us some next week, so I'll give it another try.

[Chocolate Lover]

Jan 8, 2017 17:39:22 GMT -5 whoisjohngalt said:

Yeah, see, I don't know if I can do that    Once I start on a "project", it's hard for me to move on to the next one, but I will have to try bc nothing is getting done this way!

Thanks debthaven for clarification.

tcu2003 - THANK YOU for posting those challenges.  Do they go for the entire year?  Are you going to be posting them?

My mom is more or less a hoarder (no trash, just stuff) and she keeps saying "I need to get rid of it" and she doesn't know where to start either. I keep saying to pick one spot and work on it. 5 minutes at a time if she has to but she wants to finish the same day. I will say that it didn't get that way in a day it isn't getting cleaned up in a day but she just vapor locks and can't deal. One day I'll try to take some time off and help her but it's almost more than one human can help with. 

My point is, don't get as far along as she is. Fight the urge to start and finish in one day if you must, but start somewhere. Anywhere. For any length of time. I did, and it's better. (She would bring my kids all kinds of stuff, it was unreal) It's not perfect but looking around my house doesn't make me tired anymore. 



Now, to get one with the piles around the edges of my bedroom. That's where all the homeless stuff from the living spaces goes to die.

[Chocolate Lover]

Jan 10, 2017 11:59:41 GMT -5 megaptera said:

Jan 10, 2017 7:18:01 GMT -5 Sharon said:

I have tried to follow a regular schedule and failed miserably.  I had even sat down and mapped out a schedule of things like dust on tuesday, vacuum on Wednesday type of thing.  It even included larger tasks to do be done quarterly, such as wash the windows inside and out.  Now most of the housework is done on the weekends and if it doesn't get done one weekend it is waiting for me the next.

I've tried this and failed miserably also. I even tried it with just one thing (like just doing laundry on a certain day of the week). Stuff gets done, but on a very random (non-) schedule. 

Me three. I even tried Flylady but she's a little too......whatever for me. I have a lifelong dislike for being told what to do and even a helpful thing like that was just too much. I keep the basics happy (kitchen, laundry, meals) and get to the rest as I notice it.

[Iggy aka IG]

Jan 10, 2017 12:32:55 GMT -5 Chocolate Lover said:

Jan 10, 2017 11:59:41 GMT -5 megaptera said:

I've tried this and failed miserably also. I even tried it with just one thing (like just doing laundry on a certain day of the week). Stuff gets done, but on a very random (non-) schedule. 

Me three. I even tried Flylady but she's a little too......whatever for me. I have a lifelong dislike for being told what to do and even a helpful thing like that was just too much. I keep the basics happy (kitchen, laundry, meals) and get to the rest as I notice it.

Exactly.  And I've never understood people who, after working all week, wake up Saturday bright and early to house clean. 

_{Plus I'm lazy.} 

[debthaven]

My sister's house was a TERRIBLE mess for years. One summer she really put her mind to it, did Flylady, and really turned it around (of course it helped that her kids were grown and gone).

She was still teaching at the time (she's retired now) so she had summers off.

Flylady would drive me crazy though.

[whoisjohngalt]

Jan 10, 2017 12:32:55 GMT -5 Chocolate Lover said:

Jan 10, 2017 11:59:41 GMT -5 megaptera said:

I've tried this and failed miserably also. I even tried it with just one thing (like just doing laundry on a certain day of the week). Stuff gets done, but on a very random (non-) schedule. 

Me three. I even tried Flylady but she's a little too......whatever for me. I have a lifelong dislike for being told what to do and even a helpful thing like that was just too much. I keep the basics happy (kitchen, laundry, meals) and get to the rest as I notice it.

Yeah, same here.  Life always gets in a way of my cleaning schedules. 

But I talked to my husband and we both want to make 2017 the year of declutter and organization!

[Lizard Queen]

I liked Flylady, but I never quite got into the full program. My apartment was actually quite presentable at the time, though, now that I think about it. Introduce a husband with his collections and hand-me-downs from his parents' divorce, a large unfinished basement, and 2 little ones with their additional clothes and mountains of toys, and it's more than I can even fathom. This audible book, though, just may convince me to get rid of a bunch of stuff. We'll see.