Hi To All!
I stumbled across this site by accident and liked it. I really want to organize by house so as to free up more time to do the things that are most important to me. I am a newbie to this site and would like to know best how to navigate around so as to get the most out of it. So far I have read some super post. My plan is to start with one room at a time. Ground zero in my house happens to be the kitchen.
Thank you for any help offered.
Tiggy
Tiggy, Read the thread called "Overwhelmed Newbie" to get some great advice and inspiration. Good luck to you!
welcome, tiggy.
for me, uncluttering is an ongoing process.
life itself has a way of bringing in clutter, so for me, the most important thing has been to develop habits and ways of thinking that stop clutter at the source.
ie: really consider purchases. re-train friends/family about gift giving.
i've been on an nclutter roll since mid-oct.
first i had a strict no-spend month in november.
thn i started working on some major hotspots as i could, through december.
and since the start of january, i have been tossing two items per day.
toss= trash/recycle/donate/gift....just get it out of my reality and into someone else's.
my kitchen was the place i had to start, also.
i was 5 years overdue for a major renovation and that REALLY helped, last year.
i went ruthlessly through stuff and gave a lot away and not only that, i (politely) refused offers of stuff from my mother and friends.
i have just got back from a working trip to korea.
i had to carry a lot of equipment with me, so was forced to really consider my personal stuff.
i've discovered i can travel lighter and faster than i ever imagined.
now i am applying the same rules to myself at home.
when it starts to happen, it truly is it's own reward. you will also find this.
so...just get started and you will be amazed!
Hey Tiggy,
Slow and steady wins the race. I am currently decluttering the whole of my house as well and like you attacking one room at a time. The only advice I can offer is make sure you really focus on the one space and get it right the first time, that way afterwards only a little maintanence is required to have a clutter free house for life.
Good luck
Greg
I tend to "flit" from area to area and focus on things-of-a-kind or categories of things. For example, you might have CDs in every room of the house. It is easier to deal with them if I know I have collected them into one place. Tools (screw drivers, allen wrenches, etc.), books, office supplies, even kitchen items are easier to sort if i can see all of them. One of the difficulties of this procedure is having the space to collect. I would also suggest it's the second procedure rather than the first (which is easy - take out the obvious trash and leave the undecided for later). I can't imagine, Greg, getting it right the first time. Maybe the 7th time. Maybe each time is part of the maintenance?
I think it's valuable to "touch your stuff" at least once a year. You still may not be ready to part with an object but at least you have visited it. It gets easier from there to realize you don't want or need it or it might be broken, mildewy or rotten and easy to toss.
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