2020 Declutter Stuff & Organize Your Life

[thyme4change]

I got a Rocketbook for my birthday. I think it will take me some time to figure out the best way to use it. I am really hoping it will cut down on the random paperwork on my desk. In reality, I'm not sure there will be a lot of change.

[moneysquirrel]

Today's accomplishments so far:
*One load of laundry -- washed, dried and put away.
*One trip upstairs with Christmas items (will have several more of these trips before next week is over)
*One pair of earrings made
*Reorganized pantry -only one item decluttered
*Updated spreadsheet
*Trash taken out and can returned to storage area afterwards
*Bead room is currently being serviced by Roomba

Scheduled for later --mostly next week:
*Run dishwasher -- tonight or tomorrow 
*Bed room -- Roomba
*Living Room -- Roomba once tree and all decorations are out of there
*Begin removing ornaments from tree and storing for next year
*Wrap tree and store in garage
*Remove indoor door decorations and store away
*Remove outdoor wreath from door and store away
*Store Nutcracker collection
*Store Nativity Collection
*Dentist appointment -- Wednesday
*Handyman -- Monday
*Yard man -- Tuesday
*Grocery
*Bank
*Crochet -- aiming for at least 2 rows each day (2 rows = 1 color)  Need 37 colors plus fringe have 11 colors done
*Beading -- aiming for several hours of work per day
*Gym -- Hoping at least three trips this week
 *Organize at least two area

 

[moneysquirrel]

debthaven -- Glad you had a great visit with the family.  Always sad when they have to leave.

chiver78 and startsmart-- Good luck with getting everything organized in prep for your move.

finnime and nikiz628 -- Hoping both of you are back to health soon.

Wisconsin Beth and wvugurl26 -- Great that you manage to eliminate some items.

TheOtherMe -- Great news on new desk.  

[Malarky]

Random accomplishments for the day:

Bills paid and shredding done.  

All clean clothes in bedroom put away properly.  Except sweaters that need folding and to be stacked in the closet. 
Nevermind...I just took 10 minutes and finished the project.  Already dusted so next trip upstairs I'll vacuum and be done with it.

Two loads of washing done.  Two more to finish. 

One kitchen closet shelf emptied and reorganized.

Stray Christmas items boxed and at the basement door.  

One bag of clothes, books and random stuff to go out with the recycling a week from Wednesday.  

Enough for one day.  Time to watch football!

[laterbloomer]

I got my volunteer tasks completed! I have emailed all the final reports off and meet with my replacement tomorrow to go over it. Thus is a HUGE weight off. The side bonus is that this forced me to clear out a box full of paper and records.

[Sharon]

I putter around today and actually got some things done.

Bills Paid

Shredding Done

YNAB up to date

2 loads laundry done, folded, and put away

Miscellaneous filing done

Bed linens changed

Pillow cases ironed

Sorted through more of the random papers that hang out in the office.  These piles are different than the shite pile.  They migrated from the shite pile because I at one point wanted to keep them but wasn't sure what to do with them.

Put up two items on FB garage sale site, hope they sell soon

Getting ready to head over to Mom's in a bit.  I'm taking dinner and then going to watch some TV with her this evening.  We shall see if she got the family room cleaned up.  The last time I was down there it was a horrid mess.  She had been wrapping Christmas presents and there was all the things associated with wrapping all over the place.  It looked like the extra bits of paper that you trim off had just been thrown on the floor to be dealt with later.  I asked her if she wanted me to come over early and help her clean it up and she said no that it would only take about 1/2 hour.  She is always telling me that she will do something and then doesn't have the energy or strength to get it done.

[startsmart]

The yard is coming along! They’ve almost finished taking out the old grass and filled up my green waste toter.

I’ve cleared out a lot more stuff from the side yard and I’m cleaning up the flower pots to give to my mom. Already tossed 2 old hoses and a tarp that was falling apart, I also have some old wood to cut up and out in the trash this week.

New dirt for the backyard will be here Monday or Tuesday and then I’ll start seeding the grass giving it 4-5 weeks to grow.

Nearly finished with the bathroom floor including two of the most difficult pieces. That should be done by tonight and then I’ll glue down the transition piece.

[TheOtherMe]

2020 spreadsheets finished and financial stuff on computer backed up.

Still playing with a set up around the laptop to keep all the stuff I kept on the old laptop desk.  The new one does not have space for that.

Most of this is stuff that I enjoy looking at.  I also put paper bills there until paid.  Now I have a stack of dad stuff to be done.  

There was an old end table that was my parents before I was born.  I've had them with me my entire adult life.  One had lived in the basement and one was being used in one of the bedrooms.  The one in the basement is now sitting by my chair.

It's stable, unlike the old laptop desk, so it should not fall over 2 to 3 times a week, necessitating everything be picked up and put back in it's place.  Now I need to determine where things go and I'm set.

I remember playing paper dolls using these end tables.  My sister and I liked these tables because they were two story houses.  There is the top shelf and then a smaller bottom shelf.

[3catslady]

No internet for the past 2 days.

1/2/2020---2 glass bottles, 5 plastic bottles.

1/3/2020---1 bag of  garbage to the garbage can, 1 bag of plastic to transfer station, 1 bag of glass to transfer station, 2 empty shoe boxes to garbage can, 1 pair of old shoes to garbage can, 1 bag of bags to store for recycling.

1/4/2020---nothing yet.

[tcu2003]

Thanks for the Emily Ley, rec , chocolate lover - I’m going to try her challenge instead this year and today’s Peter Walsh challenge was still meh for me.

[tcu2003]

Okay, if anyone else wants to follow along, here are the Emily Ley challenges so far.


www.facebook.com/emilyleypaper/


Our Annual Simplicity Challenge is HERE!#ASimplifiedLife #SimplicityChallenge2020. 1 step every day for 30 days. Each one takes 15 minutes or less.


Day 1 - Walk your home with a trash bag or five. Be ruthless. Papers. Receipts. Tags. Empty bottles. Go.

Day 2 - Clean out your fridge. Check expiration dates and throw things away.

Day 3 - Clear the clutter from your nightstand.

Day 4 - Simplify your phone. Delete old contacts and unused apps. Refresh your lock screen.

[tcu2003]

Night stand cleared off and cleaned. Ironing done. One load of laundry done.

I’m going to sell some kids’ stuff at a consignment sale in late February or March (dates haven’t been announced yet), so I’ve started sorting and tagging the clothes piece of that. It is so daunting, so trying to at least do a few things a day.

DH and I rearranged DD’s dresser, so that is more organized. She likes to pick out her own clothes (DS totally didn’t care at age 3, so this was unexpected for me) so this will make it easier for her to do so.

[Sharon]

<< Mom Rant Ahead  >>

Guess what the family room wasn't cleaned up.   Mom said that she hadn't done it because she was going to wrap some more presents.  She is working to get as many birthdays covered and ready to go as she can before her surgery.  The totes and boxes of Christmas paper and tags could have all been put away.  The first present didn't fit in the box she thought she would put it in so she sat there for the next two hours and didn't wrap a single present and we couldn't put anything away because she wasn't done.  

I carried down, from upstairs, two totes of Christmas decorations and tree ornaments and put them away in the shop.  On the floor of the shop I see two bags of walnut shells.  I asked Mom if she wanted me to take those out to the trash.  No they are fire starter.  No Mom they are garbage.  I don't think she has built a fire in years but we have to keep all these old walnut shells around because she thinks that she might build a fire.   There is a very good chance that those walnut shells will disappear when Mom is in the hospital.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Dec 30, 2019 20:28:31 GMT -5 Lizard Queen said:

I didn't do great in 2019 with the decluttering. I just didn't focus on it much. Recently, I came to a big realization. I want to hang on to stuff because I have zero confidence in myself. This may not seem so earth shattering to anyone else, but it was a big deal to me. Hopefully this new insight will help me into the new year.

I think that is an interesting connection. I’m not sure if that is why I keep stuff, but it’s certainly worth considering.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Dec 31, 2019 17:12:14 GMT -5 plugginaway22 said:

I'm thinking of bowing out of this thread and concentrating more on savings so that we will be OK if forced to retire early or take part-time jobs.  The only thing that would change is if we finally make the decision to down-size this 4 bedroom, 2 level home.  There is only one bedroom left to re-do and after that I would be fine with listing it.  But there would be lots to purge/donate/get rid of.

I am reading The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, which is a fun read and really talks about not leaving your crap for your children to deal with.  How can it be 2020??

Don’t go! Remember: some of us aren’t actively decluttering; we’re working on organizing tasks, cupboards, papers, appts, etc. Is that of interest to you?

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Jan 2, 2020 16:30:37 GMT -5 tcu2003 said:

Peter Walsh 31 Days to Get Organized Challenge

#31Days2GetOrganized2020

m.facebook.com/PeterWalsh/

Day 1 of #31Days2GetOrganized2020: Walk around your house and see where it is that clutter has built up - kitchen cabinets, closets, garages, whatever it is, make a list of those, and a mental note of the type of clutter that you see being your biggest stumbling block to being organized and clutter free.

Day 2 of #31Days2GetOrganized2020: Do you know what "Memory Clutter" is? It’s clutter we don’t want to get rid of because we’re worried we will lose the memory of we get rid of the thing. Walk around your house and make list of the memory clutter so you have a sense of how much memory clutter you have. #31Days2GetOrganized2020 #ItsAllTooMuch #LetItGo

Oh, memory clutter...brilliant. I definitely need to work on this.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Jan 3, 2020 0:17:22 GMT -5 CCL said:

Well, I almost bought several items at TJMaxx today. Lucky for me the checkout line was really long. I wasn't about to wait thru all of that, so I left without buying anything, instead. At least I didn't add any more to my clutter.

Definitely a win!

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Jan 3, 2020 13:42:30 GMT -5 tcu2003 said:

Peter Walsh 31 Days to Get Organized Challenge



#31Days2GetOrganized2020



m.facebook.com/PeterWalsh/



Day 1 of #31Days2GetOrganized2020: Walk around your house and see where it is that clutter has built up - kitchen cabinets, closets, garages, whatever it is, make a list of those, and a mental note of the type of clutter that you see being your biggest stumbling block to being organized and clutter free.



Day 2 of #31Days2GetOrganized2020: Do you know what "Memory Clutter" is? It’s clutter we don’t want to get rid of because we’re worried we will lose the memory of we get rid of the thing. Walk around your house and make list of the memory clutter so you have a sense of how much memory clutter you have. #31Days2GetOrganized2020 #ItsAllTooMuch #LetItGo

Day 3 of #31Days2GetOrganized2020: It's great to hold onto items that evoke strong positive memories - UNLESS there's so much of it that it's crowding out you living your best life today. Understanding ZONES and LIMITS is key. #31Days2GetOrganized #ItsAllTooMuch #LetItGo

This is the day 3 recap from the video: Focus on memory clutter.  You should have an idea of memory clutter in your home and what you would like to deal with it. Look at where you are going to store the memory clutter items and how much space you have to store the items, whether that is kids' photos or memorabilia or things you have inherited. Look at and designate an area or zone for storage, and how much space you have to store the items in that area/zone. Now you need to start whittling down the items to not just good but great items that bring great memories and great joy.


I'm going to throw out that so far, I don't love the 31 days challenge this year.  I'm feeling uninspired and unmotivated, which bums me out because usually I like his challenges, and they're simple enough that I can fit them in, or do 2 on a one day if I miss a day.

I do understand why you feel that way.

For me though, This is one area I’m terrible at decluttering. It is organized—grouped and labeled—but it isn’t all necessary to keep. And it is in several places in my house.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Jan 3, 2020 14:36:00 GMT -5 Chocolate Lover said:

Jan 3, 2020 14:24:07 GMT -5 azucena said:

I agree.  They seem way more touchy feely than the action plans he used to give.  Maybe you could go back and redo last years from the beg of last year's thread?

My sisters are following Emily Ley on Facebook and she is doing something similar with a daily challenge. I couldn't care less, it's still at the rah rah stage. Gather up trash! Um, I don't let it sit that long, paper or no, so no thanks. If it gets to something I want to do, I might.

Yeah, everyone has different reactions. I don’t allow trash in my house to be left out overnight, so that wouldn’t be a useful goal for me. However, my mother definitely has trash everywhere. My older daughter does also.

But, the memory clutter is actually right up my alley.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Jan 3, 2020 15:24:52 GMT -5 Wisconsin Beth said:

I dumped everything off at school.  The office lady basically said "leave it all, someone will want it"  I've labeled the laundry basket because I want it back on Monday when C goes back to school. 

We have a clothes closet also, and we appreciate it when people bring us their decent donations.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Jan 3, 2020 23:41:49 GMT -5 nikiz628 said:

I never take our Christmas decor down this early (I usually wait until Epiphany), but we bought new living room furniture Monday and I just needed to get the room back in order. Somehow, in the process of taking the tree apart, I threw my back out/pulled or pinched something. I've been on a heating pad all evening. I had H hand me my drawers out of my closet so I can start going through my stuff. Trying to be productive while I am stuck on my butt. 

Yay for new furniture!

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Jan 4, 2020 7:41:00 GMT -5 debthaven said:

This weekend
- call RE agent(s)/Fri
- call painter/Fri
- finish + send P's file/Fri
- bottle bank (DH)/Fri
- order DGS's bicycle/Fri
- wash DS1's +DGS's towels and bedding/Sat
- put out DS2's bedding/Sat

- take high chair/toys/crib to the basement/Sat

- shampoo DS2's yellow rug/Sat

- mend DS3's shirt/Sat

- mend 2 scarves/Sat

- put away Christmas/Sun

- bank

We're back from the airport. We decluttered DS1 and DGS.

Oh no nikiz628 ! I hope you feel better very soon.

Darn it about DS & E.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Jan 4, 2020 14:13:43 GMT -5 finnime said:

I've done no actual organizing or decluttering yet; this pneumonia still has me dragging badly.

I have made plans, though, and hope to get some executed in the next week. At least I'll have decided where and how to start. DH in the meantime has decluttered a couple of areas in the dining and living rooms. 

I’m so sorry about the pneumonia.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Jan 4, 2020 22:27:45 GMT -5 Sharon said:

<< Mom Rant Ahead  >>

Guess what the family room wasn't cleaned up.   Mom said that she hadn't done it because she was going to wrap some more presents.  She is working to get as many birthdays covered and ready to go as she can before her surgery.  The totes and boxes of Christmas paper and tags could have all been put away.  The first present didn't fit in the box she thought she would put it in so she sat there for the next two hours and didn't wrap a single present and we couldn't put anything away because she wasn't done.  

I carried down, from upstairs, two totes of Christmas decorations and tree ornaments and put them away in the shop.  On the floor of the shop I see two bags of walnut shells.  I asked Mom if she wanted me to take those out to the trash.  No they are fire starter.  No Mom they are garbage.  I don't think she has built a fire in years but we have to keep all these old walnut shells around because she thinks that she might build a fire.   There is a very good chance that those walnut shells will disappear when Mom is in the hospital.

Ugh.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Hi everyone!
For this week, Monday - Thursday afternoon, we were mini-vacationing. Thursday afternoon/evening, I was working. Ten hour work day on Friday at work followed by dinner then three more hours of work at home. Today I took DD#2 back to college. That took me from 10am - 6pm. When I got home, I intended to work on my grad school application. However, there was a power surge at on of the schools, so I went to help clean out a freezer and move its contents to a different school’s freezer. Then, DH, who was also helping when I got to the school, wanted to go to out dinner. Daiquiris were involved.

I’ll update with my January goals tomorrow.

[CCL]

Today I paid bills, balanced the checkbook (by the way, I'm the only person I know who does this) and did a bunch of laundry. Kind of a slow day around here. I didn't even go outside.

[Sharon]

Jan 5, 2020 0:07:12 GMT -5 CCL said:

Today I paid bills, balanced the checkbook (by the way, I'm the only person I know who does this) and did a bunch of laundry. Kind of a slow day around here. I didn't even go outside.

I balance my checkbook every month to the penny.

[nidena]

I'll also be decluttering my social media exposure.  Every three or four days, I have been turning my cell phone off and not turning my computer on so that I force myself to take a break from them.  Sunday will be my second time, this year, doing this.  I'm curious to see what I accomplish as a result of doing this.
I'll be cleaning off the table/desk in my room tomorrow.  Since it's the only raised, flat surface in the room, it collects all the paper and magazines and such that I get.  I haven't cleaned it since I got back on Tuesday so it's definitely due.
Bought no new clothes today, despite stops at both Target and Dillards.  It was tough but I stayed focused on the things that I actually there to get.

[nikiz628]

Jan 5, 2020 0:07:12 GMT -5 CCL said:

Today I paid bills, balanced the checkbook (by the way, I'm the only person I know who does this) and did a bunch of laundry. Kind of a slow day around here. I didn't even go outside.

I balance my checkbook every pay week.

[nikiz628]

Jan 5, 2020 0:37:31 GMT -5 nidena said:

I'll also be decluttering my social media exposure.  Every three or four days, I have been turning my cell phone off and not turning my computer on so that I force myself to take a break from them.  Sunday will be my second time, this year, doing this.  I'm curious to see what I accomplish as a result of doing this.
I'll be cleaning off the table/desk in my room tomorrow.  Since it's the only raised, flat surface in the room, it collects all the paper and magazines and such that I get.  I haven't cleaned it since I got back on Tuesday so it's definitely due.
Bought no new clothes today, despite stops at both Target and Dillards.  It was tough but I stayed focused on the things that I actually there to get.

Oh boy, I need to do this as well. I can’t completely break from social media because of a few reasons:
1. I run DS1’s schools PTO fb page. I also run the Little League fb page.
2. So many things DS1 is in involved in use sm for updates, etc.

But I had mentioned to H that I would love to implement screen free hours at least a few times a week and see how it goes. Good luck with your own SM “declutter”.