Why is it that the more I declutter, the more I feel there is left to do? I've seen people talking about layers, I guess that's it, or maybe my standards are changing all the time. Depressing though.
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Posted 9 months ago #
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I agree. I'm getting close to the bottom layers now, though.
Posted 9 months ago # -
same here...
it´s really depressing. or annoying. sometimes i literally get angry about my stuff that is still remaining.
some people take before-after pictures to see the progress. i like to write lists with things to unclutter. i cross out the things that are uncluttered, so i can see that i really unclutter, even if it doesn´t feel like that. but it´s really a miracle, sometimes i assume that the things in my place have a secret life and proliferate while i am not at home ;) what helps me: concerning the material things, uncluttering is definitely finite! the number of things is reduced if you get rid of a thing. no doubt! ;)Posted 9 months ago # -
definitely layers around here...because my standards are changing.
things i thought i needed...after some time has passed and i have thought about it, i find i can let them go.
i am trying not to force the process....the goal of simplifying everything shouldn't produce stress or pressure.
i'm just....letting go.
be gentle with yourselves....this isn't something you have to have a deadline for.
i don't know if there is an end point for myself....i keep thinking of mendicant buddhist monks with robes, sandals, a begging bowl and that is all, and wondering if that is where i am heading.
it is strangely attractive to me.
but my husband would have a fit, lol!Posted 9 months ago # -
You would be a very clean and fragrant monk though, Bandicoot!
Posted 9 months ago # -
yeah, i reckon the soap would be the very last thing to go!
Posted 9 months ago # -
I've got a ways to go but I am definitely enjoying the space left behind. Just got rid of our old dining table and still using my inherited table as a desk so while the room is by no means empty it still seems very freeing. Glad the "new" table is a drop-leaf so that we can keep it small when we do move it. We have serious issues with surface clutter.
I find myself frustrated when I am ready to let something go but don't have the time to deal with getting rid of it or when I am having emotional hangups because it is sentimental clutter.
Posted 9 months ago # -
I'm in the same boat - the more I declutter, the more my standards change and I start to see things with very different eyes.
The layer I'm working on now is decluttering consumables. I'm using up duplicates, refrainnig from buying more until I run out of the current stash, and getting out of the habit of keeping "spares" of things like hand lotion, toothpaste, window cleaner etc. Part of it is also looking for the "best" products for me, so I can stop trying things out only to realise they don't work, and then feel compelled to finish the bottle/jar just because I don't want it to go to waste.
Posted 9 months ago # -
Layers is a good way to put it. I am about ready for another layer to leave. Even the things I thought were important, beautiful or useful are looking like clutter to me.
Minimalism looks very attractive.
Posted 9 months ago # -
I think peeling each successive layer makes it easier to do the next one. (And a little time and space away from the the things you "had" to keep makes them easier to get rid of as well.) I started sorting out only the too-big clothes from my closet and ended up clearing out everything that I didn't love as well, even if it still fit. Once I got rolling, it just got easier and easier to decide what I really needed.
Posted 9 months ago # -
Changing a habit has revealed a 'layer' I don't need, the meal planning I'm now doing is allowing me to remove the extras/spares in the kitchen that I kept in-stock because I needed everything I might need on hand. So very gradually the cupboards are getting less full.
Posted 9 months ago # -
I've done pretty well decluttering duplicates. I pretty much only buy a replacement when I use up an item, or in the case of toiletries, when there's only one or two uses left. (though it always amazes me how long that last little bit of toothpaste and contact lens solution lasts!) I do still buy a large stash of toilet paper because I can get it nearly 1/2 price that way, and I have space to store it.
Posted 9 months ago # -
I think "layers" is a great way to think of uncluttering, but one might also think of it as shedding a skin. You know how when you exfoliate you feel great and look all shiny and new, but at the same time the "new" skin is really tender and you have to take better care of it?
I think most of us - me, certainly - have to take a little time to adjust to each newly-revealed layer of decluttered life before achieving full readiness to peel back another. We kind of have to grow into it. So even though it might be irritating to see the new layer (if we see it before we're ready or able to address it) we still need to give ourselves that adjustment time.
@Anita - re consumables, I am decluttering the multiple bottles of spirits in my freezer. (Who needs three layers of vodka?) Gradually. Hic.
Posted 9 months ago # -
For me, the hard core of "I want" is the computer. My ebooks, my programs, my bookmarks, my online life.
I tell people that I will end up owning a robe, a bowl, and a state-of-the-art laptop, and I will sit under a bo tree with a fast wireless connection.
Which suggests that I have a long way to go before I truly relinquish everything :)
Posted 9 months ago # -
I understand where you are coming from. I started decluttering a few years ago and thought I was close to finished quite a few times. But then I re-evaluated more items and found that while they seemed like "keepers" in the first few decluttering rounds, they were definitely NOT keepers now.
Posted 9 months ago # -
Re Anita and her consumables: what I detest about Denmark is the way they have special offers. "Buy two for less money". Thank god that idiocy has not landed in Finland.
Posted 9 months ago # -
I definitely need to adjust to the new layer after a long period of decluttering. Having time to reflect on things has made me more thoughtful when I'm in the stores, but also how much value I placed on possessions, and the times I felt obsessed with getting more.
Yup, the money lost is depressing at times, but sometimes we have to learn the hard way.
Posted 9 months ago # -
Hmm. It's not really layers for me. Well maybe one really thick, matted, knotted, dirty layer that I'm hacking through with a pair of blunt shears.
Some days I think I'm making progress - like when successfully sell or give away an item or take a load of things to goodwill - but then new things seem to keep coming into the house, and we still make do with a mishmash of crappy furniture. Overflow from one room migrates into another.
Watching 'Grand Designs' and those homes with the custom-built wall-to-wall bookcases makes me want to weep.
I need someone to build a portable lightweight cello so I can join you under that bodhi tree. Bike, laptop, cello. Why do I have all this other stuff?
sorry for the rant. Just having one of those days I think.
Posted 9 months ago # -
You guys all have such deep insights into uncluttering as a metaphor. My first thought when I read the OP was, "Well, if we plot our uncluttering successes on a log scale, we're still improving at the same rate!"
But seriously, I hate that manufactured need to stock up on stupid things like lotion and Bic pens and holiday decorations. And I hate the place of fear and insecurity that those manufactured needs come from and breed in. It seems like every I peel another "layer," I find a new reason to be resentful towards consumer industry and advertisers.
Posted 9 months ago # -
Irulan, you know what I've been mad about the last few years? "Seasonality" of children's clothes. Kids grow, but not at an even rate. So my kid keeps outgrowing or losing his seasonal gear after you can't get it at the store anymore.
Fall stuff is in the stores right now. We got him a new pair of shoes for school. He doesn't need a coat. But last year's coat fits him just right, this minute - if he outgrows it in February, there won't be any coats. Long johns, rain boots, gloves, hats, sun hats - you have to know 3 months in advance if you will need them, or you have to mail-order. It's ridiculous. Adults don't grow fast or lose things as often but in Minnesota there ought to be kids mittens on the shelves through April, not pulled in December to make room for swimsuits.
It's *exactly* a "manufactured need to stock up".
Posted 9 months ago #
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