2024 Organize & Declutter

[soupandstew]

Oct 20, 2024 11:54:24 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

When I'm really behind, I find it helps to remember I didn't get to that state overnight and I likely won't get out of it overnight either. I second just starting by doing something. If things aren't more important than others, just start with one.

Developing habits takes time and I'm never successful if I'm trying to do it all at once. I need to get some things ingrained so they become more automatic and take less thought before I add more.

Thank you for saying this.  I was raised with the idea that anything less than perfection is abject failure and, even though I am very old now, I still hear that voice sometimes and start thinking, "why do I bother if I can't do it all/do it perfectly etc."  Then I start repeating, "Pursuit of the perfect is enemy of the possible" and remember it is truly one day, one task at a time.  

[startsmart]

I’m back, after a very hectic week, to my list. I took Monday off for my birthday and then had just Tuesday for a week of work stuff before a conference Wednesday to Friday. Tuesday night was also a candidate forum and meeting I had to chair. Plus I had a shoulder injury flare up which meant I couldn’t lie down to sleep tues or wed nights.

This week I have a $70k grant application due and almost no time to work on it.

The congressional candidate from Tuesday night got my cell phone number and texted me over and over while I was at the conference.

So today I’ve been sweeping, catching up on dishes, hosing down the outdoor rug, doing laundry and unpacking from the conference. Once I get my list updates I’ll go back to those few tasks leftover.

[NastyWoman]

I have never made a secret about why I am decluttering. But that narrow focus has me quite dissatisfied today. I cleaned out a kitchen cabinet that holds all my spices, herbs, oils, etc., - everything I use for cooking. Now while I have tossed quite a few items it feels like I made zero progress today. None of the stuff that I put back will be taken when I do move. It just is not allowed in a shipment. 
On an intellectual level I know that this needed to be done and it will make a difference when the time comes but there is no satisfaction. My feelings and my brain are out of sync wrt to the work I have done today.

[Ava]

Well, I'm going to start with small steps so it doesn't become overwhelming.

For this week:

Things to do twice a day:
Use the water pik when brushing teeth, flossing
Clean litter boxes morning and evening
Do skin care
Use Minoxidil


Other:
Do a general cleaning
Organize my purse
Create a cleaning schedule


I have to start somewhere.
What surprises me is how disorganized I am when it comes to the house, purse, personal care.
But on the other hand I'm always on time, I pay all the bills timely, and Im extremely organized when it comes to finances.

I'll check in next Sunday. Hopefully I'll make some progress on my list. What I listed to do twice a day are the daily habits I want to become second nature to me, to do them without even thinking about it.

[seriousthistime]

Sounds like a good plan Ava.  

Good luck!

[seriousthistime]

I got rid of four throw pillows and a pet cot through Buy Nothing. 

I have three throw pillows that don't seem to have any takers so I put them in a couple of plastic bags to take to Goodwill. There was still room in one bag so I went through my t-shirt drawer and added about 8 t-shirts.  I topped it off with a hoodie. 

[TheOtherMe]

Today's to do list is to find a house cleaner.  I'm not going to get what I want from any of these cleaners but I need a house cleaner and I will deal with it.

[moneysquirrel]

Thought I posted yesterday but it must have been lost.


debthaven -- So glad that you are home and that the surgery is done.  Take care of yourself and follow doctor's orders so that you will be 100% back in no time.

TheOtherMe   and startsmart -- Happy Belated Birthday!

Nothing much has changed for me.  I am keeping up with the house, laundry and dishes.  My classes are continuing and I am in the process of remaking items that sold.

This week's list:
* Meetings -- Monday and Tuesday
* Classes -- Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday -- Not sure if I will make the Wednesday one.
* Eye appointment -- Laser on one eye -- DS is taking me -- lunch will follow
* Zoom with J -- Friday
* Craft show -- Saturday
* Need to make some earrings to replace ones sold (Christmas theme) Last two weeks did Halloween and Thanksgiving ones
* Pack car -- Friday
* Laundry -- several loads
* Deliver necklace set to B -- Tuesday
* Contact M about pins ordered
* Post on FB about show on Saturday (it is about the only thing I post on FB)

Need to get started so I better post this before I lose it.

[Iggy aka IG]

TheOtherMe , happy belated birthday!

debthaven so good to see you.  Glad everything went well.

seriousthistime , NastyWoman , startsmart and moneysquirrel well done!

Ava , what helps me is list making, just as you've done.  I have several lists including one with long term projects.  it's down to crunch time as far as my upcoming annual Halloween party, and as I recently posted been gone most weekends, so I felt behind.  The first thing I did when I woke up yesterday morning was write a to do list (and one for DH, too).  It really helped keep me motivated and on track.  I also have a to do list here at the office which is kept on the computer monitor stand in front of me.

~~~~~~~
This weekend:
-6 loads of laundry, including kitten towels and blanket.
-After the above, I ran a small empty load with bleach to clean the washing machine interior.
-Finished the dominoes game with the neighbor kiddos so we could clear off the rec room table for the party.
-Emptied and refilled the dishwasher twice.  Dishes are still not completely done because of the reasons below:
-Made Halloween cupcakes with the neighbor kiddos, and then invited their parents over for supper.  The boys helped with peeling potatoes, shredding cheese and setting out plates.  It was adorable.
-Batch cooked spaghetti with homemade meat sauce and pasta shells and cheese for the freezer.
-Made tempura mushrooms and slow cooker beef sliders for supper.
-Finished decorating for the party.
-Put away several storage totes and covered the puzzle so we can use the kitchen table for the party. 
-Picked up my side of the closet.  I still need to rotate tops.
-Emptied two garbage cans, refilled the Keurig and the ice trays twice.
-Planned this week's suppers and prepared a small Walmart list.
-Watched two college football games and one NFL game.

The only thing I didn't get to on yesterday's list was cookie baking.

[TheOtherMe]

I've sent several text messages and FB messages for cleaning.  Some of these are people who said they wouldn't mask.  So I will run HEPA air filters and mask myself and not let them physically near me.  

I have to find someone to clean because I don't clean and haven't cleaned my house since the 1980's and I am not starting again.

[Iggy aka IG]

New plan.  When I wake up in the middle of the night and cannot get back to sleep within a decent amount of time, I am going to get up and do something productive.  This morning, I emptied, refilled and started the dishwasher, hand washed a bunch of items, refilled the ice trays and Keurig, wiped down several countertops and the sink, assembled cookie ingredients, straightened up a pantry shelf, took inventory of staples and added a few to the WM and Sam's list, and made the bed.  When I left the house, I took out the trash and then went to the bank.  I may be sleepy later, but I feel better. 

[TheOtherMe]

Oct 21, 2024 15:51:02 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

I've sent several text messages and FB messages for cleaning.  Some of these are people who said they wouldn't mask.  So I will run HEPA air filters and mask myself and not let them physically near me.  

I have to find someone to clean because I don't clean and haven't cleaned my house since the 1980's and I am not starting again.

I have hired a cleaning lady who will come on Tuesday.  Another company is also interested and gave me a quote.  I may use the 2nd company for a very deep clean and have the cleaning lady for the monthly cleaning.

[soupandstew]

Oct 22, 2024 14:00:11 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

Oct 21, 2024 15:51:02 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

I've sent several text messages and FB messages for cleaning.  Some of these are people who said they wouldn't mask.  So I will run HEPA air filters and mask myself and not let them physically near me.  

I have to find someone to clean because I don't clean and haven't cleaned my house since the 1980's and I am not starting again.

I have hired a cleaning lady who will come on Tuesday.  Another company is also interested and gave me a quote.  I may use the 2nd company for a very deep clean and have the cleaning lady for the monthly cleaning.

I am so glad you found someone to clean.  

[TheOtherMe]

Thank you.  I don't know how to do it properly any more and I don't want to learn again.  

In further thinking today, I am going to hire the deep cleaner, too.  There is no way the new cleaner can do a deep clean in 3 hours or so and she isn't coming until 2 PM.  

[Iggy aka IG]

This could apply to organizing.  This morning, I found not one but two unused coffee gift cards in my email.  I transferred them to the old gift card I've had for years and will use it on vacation next summer.

I really need to clean out my email folders. 

[debthaven]

It's official ... I'm being replaced for my last three face-to-face classes, so I don't have to go back to school. HR wasn't very nice about it, but oh well. I'm relieved. 

DS1 & Co arrive tomorrow night for the weekend on their way to their new place. TBH it's a bit too soon for me to have people staying, but I'll be happy to see them. 

Yesterday was a week since the operation, so I'm trying to walk more (using forearm crutches). It's not easy. DH has been a star.

[TheOtherMe]

I'm sure it's painful.  My aunt who had so many surgeries said she would never have gotten through rehab without her husband.  He made her do her exercises.

She lived an hour away from any medical facility so he had to be her physical therapist.  She said she would cry and he would tell her she could do and she would do it.  

[haapai]

I've been cleaning out the garage.  I'm at the stage now where I have space to put the garbage bags of unwanted items that exceed what I can put on the curb tomorrow.  This is definitely progress.

I haven't forced myself to make a whole lot of difficult decisions yet.  I'm finding a lot of duplicate and redundant items and tossing the worst of the two.  A lot of stuff is just getting moved around a bit.  

I am at peace with the reality that it will probably take years to get rid of all of the hazardous materials that cannot be tossed in the normal waste stream.  There are paints and solvents and oils scattered and secreted all over.  I'm not going to attempt to collect them all and get rid of them in one huge trip.  There will be multiple trips to the hazardous waste disposal site. 

[seriousthistime]

Pleased to have had Habitat ReStore pick up the large chair and a half (not the super comfortable one, which I'm keeping) and large ottoman, and the vanity/top/shelf unit left over from the bathroom remodel.  I freed up some space in my dining room where the chair/ottoman were resting after I rearranged the living room, and in my garage.  

I can now park on the side of the garage that works out better for me.

Here, I am pretty much limited to getting rid of hazardous waste during a recycling event.  They have them once every six months or so.  I have plenty of latex paint to get rid of too.  They want us to let it harden in the paint can before we put it in the trash.  I should set a goal of doing that with one can of paint per week. 

[haapai]

I've always used those recycling events too.  Around here, they seem to occur around Earth Day in May.  There may be other events, at other times, but I have never looked for them. 

I have no idea whether it is cheaper to get rid of hazardous waste through these events (which use a lot of volunteer labor) compared to using a commercial service that also accepts household hazardous waste.  I have a lot of hazardous waste and it eats up a lot of floor space in the garage because common sense tells me to give each canister its own space on the concrete slab and not to stack them on top of each other.  I don't want them to fall and spill and I definitely do not want them to mix.

I may land up using a commercial hazardous waste disposal service just to get that corner cleared out.  It may cost double what the volunteer-staffed events will charge me, but it will give me room.  Also, I may have some items that the typical Earth Day event will not touch.  I seem to remember my parents doing a lot of things with linseed oil and now-banned wood strippers when I was a teen.  I may have grabbed some of that tricky-to-dispose-of stuff when they were strapped for time after selling their house.

[seriousthistime]

Can you recycle latex paint through the hazardous waste program?  That's what I have most of, and we can't recycle it that way.  We have to destroy and trash it. 

[seriousthistime]

When I moved long distance and bringing along partial bottles of multiple cleaning supplies was not feasible, I put it all in a Buy Nothing post and someone came and got it all.  

I wonder if that would work for oil based paints and stains. 

[haapai]

Oct 24, 2024 13:52:50 GMT -5 seriousthistime said:

When I moved long distance and bringing along partial bottles of multiple cleaning supplies was not feasible, I put it all in a Buy Nothing post and someone came and got it all.  

I wonder if that would work for oil based paints and stains. 

I suspect that it would not work.  Most cleaning supplies are pretty innocuous and they tend to be in their original containers, which tend to be less than a decade old.  If I passed a display of partial bottles of household cleaners arranged on a curb or on a buy-nothing group, I would not hesitate to grab the toilet bowl cleaner or the carpet cleaner.  I might even grab the whole lot because disposing of what I could not use would be easy.  Most of those household cleaning supplies can be dumped down the drain.

Paints and stains, not so much.  I doubt that I would encounter paints and stains that were the color that I wanted, or even the same color as the splashes on the lips.  Despite how pricey paints and stains can be, I'd probably pass on them unless I had a specific project in mind and the color did not matter.  I'd have to be pretty desperate to waterproof or cover up something to do that. 

[Sharon]

In my area they take the latex paint at the hazardous waste site and then mix it all together and resell it in 5 gallon buckets for a very reasonable (low) price.  It is usually a brownish color and people who don't care what color they are painting their house will pick some up and call it good.

ETA:  Our transfer station (D u m p) has certain days of the month where they take things like paint, household cleaners, hazardous waste etc for no charge.  They want it disposed of properly

[snapdragon]

I'm back after hosting my brother for the last 3.5 days. It was decent and we had a OK time but I am so glad to have my house back to myself.

We went to several beaches

Played a round of mini-golf and some arcade games.

We had a early version of Thanksgiving, we also decorated a Halloween Gingerbread house too.

Went to Westport and ended up leaving early. We did see the lighthouse and the watchtower but after that we were done.

Ended up taking him to lunch on the way back to the train station.

Coming back, I stopped at the DOL and picked up the license plates to the truck. 

4 loads of laundry were done today. Along with being a complete loaf -- I am peopled out for the next few days.

[seriousthistime]

That's how I feel after having company (or being company) for a few days.  I need some quiet time to recoup. 

[startsmart]

I'm about to erase the 2 week old list and retain the things I have yet to complete but here's what I got done: 

1. old dresser in the trash
2. Move outdoor table and chairs to the shed for winter
4. Move the contractor's saw into my garage
6. Move rototiller to the shed
8. Update front porch paint
9. Move trash on front porch to dumpster
10. Move hammock stand to the shed
11. Move grill to the shed
12. Send email newsletter before meeting
13. Clean the fridge
14. clean the freezer
15. Organize pantry
16. Do laundry and change sheets
17. Take out trash
18. Clean litter boxes
19. Clean kitchen counters
20. Move politics boxes
26. Sweep Stairs 

Whew. Lots of clean up tasks for winter, I am still working on the pool and a few other outdoor things before I'll consider myself ready. My unofficial goal is the election to finish the pool because that's when we had a hard freeze 2 years ago and the pool froze over before I could empty it out. Since I don't need an ice rink in my backyard, I am working on it every day when I take the dog outside. 10-20 gallons at a time and it'll get done. 

[Sharon]

startsmart have you considered using a pool pillow.  You just need to lower the water a smaller amount, then put in the pillow and tarp it.  I also treat the water with shock, algaecide, and raise the PH.  The purpose of the pillow is to give an area for the ice to gather without putting pressure on the sides of you pool

[moneysquirrel]

Oct 21, 2024 10:43:16 GMT -5 moneysquirrel said:

This week's list:
* Meetings -- Monday and Tuesday
* Classes -- Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday -- Not sure if I will make the Wednesday one.
* Eye appointment -- Laser on one eye -- DS is taking me -- lunch will follow
* Zoom with J -- Friday
* Craft show -- Saturday
* Need to make some earrings to replace ones sold (Christmas theme) Last two weeks did Halloween and Thanksgiving ones
* Pack car -- Friday
* Laundry -- several loads  Got a few loads done but plan to get at least one more done tomorrow.
* Deliver necklace set to B -- Tuesday
* Contact M about pins ordered
* Post on FB about show on Saturday (it is about the only thing I post on FB)

Need to get started so I better post this before I lose it.

Its been a very busy week.  Haven't looked at what the next week brings.  Just got home from the craft show and a little tired.  Will try to catch up to you later.

[startsmart]

Oct 26, 2024 13:26:21 GMT -5 Sharon said:

startsmart have you considered using a pool pillow.  You just need to lower the water a smaller amount, then put in the pillow and tarp it.  I also treat the water with shock, algaecide, and raise the PH.  The purpose of the pillow is to give an area for the ice to gather without putting pressure on the sides of you pool

I’ve seen these but prefer to empty it for a few reasons. My pool is small so the 700-800 gallons to refill doesn’t really impact my water bill. I don’t have a filter or pump so it gets grimy throughout the season. This is my chance to scrub out all the algae before winter. Then I just flip it upside down (it’s metal) and cover with a tarp until spring.

It’s not hard, just time consuming 😃

Today I went upstairs to put away some boxes, clean the litter boxes up there and found my Halloween/Fall decor. It’s a little late but I’ll keep most of it up until Thanksgiving.

I’ve also been ironing and cutting the fabric I bought during my birthday roadtrip and making lots of little hexagons.

This is the quilt I’m working on right now: imgur.com/gallery/sdPr0nd

And hope to finish green this month and then do the last 1/4 (all blues) in November.