Overwhelmed again. When is the light at the end of the tunnel?

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Overwhelmed again. When is the light at the end of the tunnel?

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Started 1 year ago by klutzgrrl
Latest reply from pkilmain
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klutzgrrl
Member

My daughter has finally decluttered her bedroom. This is a wonderful thing and I'm really proud of her. The trouble is, her 'stuff' is now lining the hallway, back of the couch and migrating into my office, waiting to be sorted for the market stall we'll have next week.

I'm always at the borderline of being overwhelmed by housekeeping - there's just so much stuff to be done, cleaned, tidied, chorse... you know. Plus trying to unclutter and make forward progress.

So this is almost too much. Have you faced this stage in your uncluttering process? - where you thought you'd made progress (I've been doing a lot) then suddenly you feel back at square one....

I think I'll make a start and be quite ruthless - the market stall is about one large kitchen table in size so I'll put the things in that space and also try to think would I realistically pay money for it.

I guess if I at least get that done so the hallway is clear, that will feel better. Surely one day I'll feel like I really have uncluttered and I'm not just Sisyphus eternally doomed to push this dang rock up the hill again....

Posted 1 year ago #
Rosa
Member

It happens over and over again, and you get to practice restarting a stalled project until you're really good at it.

The light at the end of the tunnel is in one week, at least - and as you sort out what you're taking to the stall, try putting it into whatever you're going to transport it in. Boxes? Bags? Laundry baskets? So you're doing two things at once.

Posted 1 year ago #
bandicoot
Member

klutzgrrl, i know about market stalls.
if you have some spare chelves or boocases, you can get yourself some vertical selling space and get more on that table.
and take stuff in crates to pack under the table, so you can refill the table as soon as stuff sells.
think like a retailer, wrest every inch of commercial space you can....and keep it full and gorgeous-looking.

as for the other part, i think it is very understandable to hit a wall now and then.
especially when it is a big job to begin with.
try and focus on the knowledge that at least the stuff is a BIG step further towards being gone form your house.
it has left the bedroom and it is merely transiting through the hallway, en route to it's new exciting life in someone else's home!

i've done my major uncluttering...and i didn't have that great a volume of stuff to begin with. (but the maintenance is ongoing and i know i'll have to be vigilant for the rest of my life).
but it's the mental blocks that hold us back and keep us down. and we can change what plays in our heads.
keep congratulating yourself on what you have managed so far. and keep the vision of how you want it to in your mind always. you have made progress and you know it.....keep thinking of that, not of how much is left to do. try and think of just the next small thing you have to do.....it makes it all a lot easier.

i think you are just have a bad day....or even just a bad few hours.
this will pass, i promise you.
have a cup of tea, take a break, meditate for thirty minutes.
the world won't stop and you'll feel a lot better and able to cope with whatever is next.

Posted 1 year ago #
klutzgrrl
Member

Thanks for the stall storage/transport suggestions! Good ideas. I'm hoping to have it all ready to go so it's just load up the night before, pop them on the table ready to go. Figuring out pricing will be tricky, and having enough change.

I think I get frustrated when the stuff in progress overtakes the space that's been cleared - it makes it seem like I'm marking time, instead of moving forwards. A nice cup of tea did lift my mood! lol!

I'll keep reminding myself that this time next week it'll mostly be gone! If the market works out well it might become a regular thing while we declutter - the stalls are so cheap it's much better than a yard sale.

Posted 1 year ago #
bandicoot
Member

a cup of tea fixes most things, lol.

my post is so full of typos that i am dying here.
chelves and boocases?
i need a cup of tea myself.

Posted 1 year ago #
Jacquie
Member

You perhaps need to decide what's going to be done with the stuff which doesn't sell.
Are you letting it back in the house?
Or are you only going to let back in selected items with good potential for sale at a future sale?
Are you having a 'junk box' on the floor, with all items 50c or whatever?
Are you letting that stuff back in?
Presumably this is mostly (all?) your daughter's stuff - how much does she need the income from selling it. What are her ideas about the remainders.
If you are going to bring some back home, take the time to pack it well as you pack up, then you will have the smallest possible bulk to store (experience of bringing stock home from craft fairs here!).
There is much pleasure in watching the stuff leave the house, but much discouragement watching it come back in, especially if you don't really want it.

Posted 1 year ago #
bandicoot
Member

jacqui those are excellent questions.
it's good to have a strategy beforehand, so you aren't discouraged when some of it inevitably fails to move.
and yes, it sure pays to pack things with care for the homewards trip.

i think if my parents had made me sell my unwanted stuff when i was a kid, it would have been a terrific lesson in all sorts of things.
like...how easy it is to buy and how hard it is to sell.
and
how most things devalue enormously as soon as you unwrap them at home.

Posted 1 year ago #
Nina
Member

Yes, I've been at that place too. When you have actually decluttered...but most of the stuff still sits around (now in the open) and is waiting to be sold/donated/dumped. I do think it helps to have a time frame on the things, to know when it will be out of the house (for good!!). And I would agree that you should think about what to do with the things that don't sell - I personally have found that more and more I am just glad at this stage that stuff is gone and prefer to donate it (or throw it away) then wait to sell it. After all a tidy/uncluttered home has it's value too and I prefer that to trying to make a few more bucks.

A tip for further uncluttering - while you are uncluttering allready deicide what goes where so you don't have to go throught things a second time.

Posted 1 year ago #
Claycat
Member

After the garage sale or market stall, I leave everything that remains in the car, and it goes right to the thrift shop.

Posted 1 year ago #
jbeany
Member

I used a big FREE sign at the end of my last flea market. Within 20 minutes, I had hardly anything left to donate. If you aren't worried about a tax deduction, then it's incredibly freeing to come home empty handed instead of with a load of stuff for future sales or things to take somewhere for donation. I'm with Claycat, though, if you prefer to donate things, then don't take them out of the car until you get to the store. Never bring them back into the house!

And yes, the old saw about it getting worse before it gets better is very true! But it will get better.

Posted 1 year ago #
klutzgrrl
Member

It'll definitely go straight away. Here in Australia we don't get any kind of tax deduction for material donations to charity (only for cash) which is a pity. But I'm being fairly picky so it will be good quality items.

I'm hopeful that we'll at least get -something- out of the sale, as she's keen to raise money towards an overseas trip, and getting something for her old things will encourage her to tackle the boxes that are in the garage! On the other hand, if there's not much come out of it, as you said Bandicoot, a bit of a lesson there - how little things are worth. I checked the ebay prices for a couple of book series she has and there were hardly any bids on them - very disappointing.

A lot of this stuff is so 'bitsy' - plastic playsets with a hundred little bits - UGH! To be honest I'd cheerfully bin those things. When I bought anything like that for them it was a case of making them happy for that birthday or Christmas, not caring about it otherwise. I don't want to spend money on plastic bags to hold them as I really don't expect them to sell. But you never know, maybe it will be just the thing to keep someone occupied for an afternoon.

I hadly made any inroads on it yesterday. Today I'm going to pick up some empty cartons from a local shop so I can containerize the small items. Having it stacked and ready to go will help.

Posted 1 year ago #
susique
Member

i have decluttered a lot over the past, now all items go straight to donation. very lucky to have a thrift store that uses all funds for pet sanctuary and help with spay/neutering. don't feel bad dropping things off there, actually good about it. can also volunteer at this store or at the sanctuary.

in the early days of decluttering had several yard sales. would have made much more money had i been more serious about the things that eventually left the home. yard sales became a hassle, storing items until the day and asking for family help (mainly storing). because of the pet thrift store and another community store i try not to think about how much i could make at a yard sale anymore. what i do think about is when shopping is all of the things sold/donated, it is hard to bring things back in when i realize do not need. getting quite good at shopping (still like to look) and leaving the store empty handed.

got in a bad habit of going to other yard sales and found great things for little money. one day realized it was those items i was now decluttering. now i don't go yard sales anymore.

Posted 1 year ago #
trillie
Member

Oh, I have faced this stage of "it looks worse before it looks better" so often... Sometimes you really wonder where it all was before you dragged it out into the open. And at one point, I had had a pile of boxes in my very narrow hallway for so long that after they were finally gone, I noticed that for a few days, I still automatically slid sideways to be able to pass by where they had been! So I learned I really need to make sure that the officially decluttered things keep moving somehow, so they don't magically merge with the background until I don't notice them anymore ;o)

It really helps to look at stuff taking "steps": First, it took the step out of your daughter's bedroom into your hallway, its next step will be into the car, and the final step will be into other people's hands. I think what Jacquie and Jbeany say is vital: Make up your mind about whether you will let the decluttered stuff step back into the house. And I think that "FREE" sign is a great idea. Good luck with that market -- maybe remember to bring tea in a thermos? :o)

(And to live up to my reputation as Teh Link0r: There are a few threads with advice on yard sales, tagged yard sale, especially Major yardsale.. need ideas!. Maybe some advice will be good for your market stall, too.)

Posted 1 year ago #
Jacquie
Member

susique said "got in a bad habit of going to other yard sales and found great things for little money. one day realized it was those items i was now decluttering."

Just this morning I have put out for charity (whichever bag comes through the door first) a jacket with the 'Age Concern' label still in the back of the neck. I paid £5.99 for a jacket that I never even wore long enough to get the last charity shop's price tag out of. Duh.

But I had a smile to myself at the look on the face of whoever unpacks it!

Next time perhaps I should just put £5 in the collecting tin and leave the 'stuff' at the shop.

Posted 1 year ago #
themusiclivez
Member

susique - That's what happened to me! I would go to flea markets and buy books and CDs and guess what? Those are the items I am getting rid of now. I, too, have stopped going to flea markets and tag sales.

Posted 1 year ago #
librarygal
Member

"I get frustrated when the stuff in progress overtakes the space that's been cleared - it makes it seem like I'm marking time, instead of moving forwards" - klutzgrrl

I suggest:
1. Breathe deeply, in and out... a lot... ;)
2. Your mantra: In a week this will be gone (out of my sight)

I agree with Jacquie and others, it's important to have an "exit" strategy, which you do--everything that doesn't sell will be donated.

This is a process and like anything that takes time, it can be very frustrating.

I have not yet made it through the tunnel. I haven't accomplished the "everything in its place" home yet. I've never been without boxes (of extra junk) in the corner or hallway. I've gone from 20+ boxes, to 12, to 8, to 5. Whenever I start the process again, a box is opened (explodes) and I purge things around the house at the same time, I feel physically overwhelmed by piles and emotionally overwhelmed by the mess. Yes, I had the stuff before that, but it wasn't on every surface, sorted into piles, or worse... waiting... It was getting to me yesterday. Sometimes I feel like the Stuff will win. But then I remind myself, 'Hey, you used to have 20+ boxes and now you have 4. Way to go!' So my light at the end of the tunnel isn't that clear (I wish mine was a week away!), but it's there.

It sounds like what's bothering you is how the stuff is spilling or encroaching into your space. Perhaps when you are done organizing it for the sale you'll feel it's controlled, or perhaps you could move it to where you don't have to look at it all day?

Good luck and hang in there.

Posted 1 year ago #
pkilmain
Member

I quit going to yard sales for the same reason! I hate having them so I don't. If I'm weeding my clothing, I offer the nicer things to friends/family and dontate the rest.

Since we live across the country from most of our family, we have no problem immediately donating unwanted things that appear as gifts. The best of these we used to save for a "Chinese auction" "yankee swap" whatever you call it party we attended each New Year's. We haven't gone the last 2 years, so that box needs to be donated as well (and will be at Christmas, since it's kept with the decorations).

I shop at the thrift store but only with definite things in mind. I often buy paperback books there when I'm about to go on a trip, and leave them when I finish, or if they make it home they go straight to the donation pile or the return to the library pile. Now that I have an iPad with Kindle books I'll stop getting the paperbacks. :)

Posted 1 year ago #

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