August, 2012 Declutter Strategy

Share your decluttering activities and ideas.
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Harriet
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August, 2012 Declutter Strategy

Postby Harriet » Wed Aug 01, 2012 8:40 am

Are you experiencing avoidance? :( Good news - you're absolutely normal.

We hope you'll join us in this thread, where we encourage each other to give our lovely homes a minimum of 15 minutes per day in declutter appointments.

BUT WHAT IF... ... what if an area is obviously in need and 15 minutes just isn't cutting it? It could be a sign of avoidance. How many of us have avoidance? 100 percent. :lol: Here's one solution!

Organizing expert Dorothy Breininger says we have all had to ignore the clutter in household areas sometimes. Then the clutter builds, resulting in unpleasant feelings, and then avoidance of the space. But we can make a plan to reclaim it that will ease our minds and KEEP it decluttered.

"In areas that have been ignored (especially if there are many). I ask myself, 'What is the area of biggest concern today and what can I do for 30 minutes to make headway or progress in that area?' "


Breininger advises working at the 30-minute-a-day level (or more if you choose) until an area of most concern has reached a point you can feel good about maintaining. But she says it's likely that will be the very area in which you'll still struggle against avoidance in the future. So at that point, don't move on yet - make a maintenance plan.

"In terms of advice about these feelings of avoiding a space - it is normal. We all do it. The question is, how much time do we let go by without doing anything about it? I ask my clients to discover their own pattern. Example: Messy bedroom? Client cleans it on Sunday. Every Sunday. On Monday, she leaves some of her clothes on the floor. Tuesday, she changes purses and leaves magazines sliding on the nightstand, on Wednesday, the hairspray and brush don't make it back in the drawers and so on. She's now okay with all of this because she knows that every Sunday, she's going to clean it back up again. That's just one way to make it work."


So when we finish decluttering a space that's been ignored, we must run, not walk, to our household chore plan and formally include a declutter of that space!

See? We're all going to be sane yet! ;)


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Re: August, 2012 Declutter Strategy

Postby BookSaver » Fri Aug 03, 2012 10:26 pm

Documenting recent declutter progress:
* removed enough from long-term storage areas to fill 2 tall kitchen size trash bags
* several old lipsticks thrown in the trash
* 1 old pair of shoes thrown in the trash
* small bag of books donated to library book sale
* keeping up with reading daily newspapers so they can be recycled

ellyphant
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Re: August, 2012 Declutter Strategy

Postby ellyphant » Fri Aug 17, 2012 11:20 pm

Decluttered: 2 books, 1 sports bra, old coffeemaker, old porchlight, 1 skirt

Many papers shredded, more to follow.
How you do your work is a portrait of yourself.

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Harriet
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Re: August, 2012 Declutter Strategy

Postby Harriet » Mon Aug 27, 2012 10:08 am

I found this recent article very interesting and potentially helpful. It started me thinking about how to get some of my storage in my master bathroom up above counter level and therefore more efficient. Corral Clutter to Make the Most of Bathroom Space

With the school year now underway I'm thinking I can give more time to declutter and I'm a little excited about it, actually. :D


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Re: August, 2012 Declutter Strategy

Postby Harriet » Mon Aug 27, 2012 10:21 am

Skippable cleaning-program disappointment as usual.
I watched the "Hoarding:Buried Alive" program at 8 yesterday and recorded the new one. The one I watched was about the woman whose blond teen boy gave up and went to live with his grandmother so he could have a bed. Again, disappointment because they went directly from the hopeless scene (niece stalking out of the total pile-up because no progress was being made) to a reveal of the completely finished home! Sigh. How does that help anyone? For a half-minute, they showed the men from the clean-up crew pulling things out of the refrigerator, but didn't try to be informative. (How did they then clean the refrigerator? Or did they give up on it and buy new? Should they have worn masks since their eyes were stinging? How did they disinfect?) We went from never seeing one glimmer of floor to a perfect showroom zero-clutter home without explanation, and the sink magically worked, too. ????

To me, here's the program you film if your intention is to actually help viewers who want to learn, rather than just create a piece of gossip:
1) You spend 15 minutes on personalities of the family, concerns, counseling.
2) You spend 25 minutes educating about the family's hands-on work and the how-tos of the process: clearing, fixup, replacement, disinfecting, pest control, cleaning surfaces. If some of this has to be done by handypersons they hire, that's real, too - teach it.
3) You spend 10 minutes on "reveal", benefits and appreciation.

TaDa! Much better program. I suppose I still hold out hope that "Hoarders" new season in October will show more real change and less gossip.

ellyphant
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Re: August, 2012 Declutter Strategy

Postby ellyphant » Mon Aug 27, 2012 7:33 pm

Old non-working clothes dryer and storm door decluttered today! These were picked up for free by a very industrious young man who is collecting scrap metal to turn in for money. My disposal service wanted $25 to pick these up--so glad to get rid of them for free.
How you do your work is a portrait of yourself.

sherinjoy
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Re: August, 2012 Declutter Strategy

Postby sherinjoy » Wed Aug 29, 2012 12:14 am

Harriet - I've never watched the Hoarding shows because I am way too visual-minded - those scenes would be etched in my mind for weeks - but I wanted to respond to your critique of a better formula.
You described the "Clean Sweep" shows by Peter Walsh, which is why I was so inspired by them. He showed the family, the issues, and then - most importantly - the process of decluttering with the family working side-by-side with Peter. He would address the issues as they arose during the decluttering, so that they would learn from their clutter how to keep it organized when he left their home. If someone just comes in and cleans it out and the family doesn't learn anything, guess what - the clutter will return. I wish that show was still on, it ended years ago. He's on Oprah's station now, but not the same format.
Just like the weight-loss programs that focus on losing the weight, but not the issues that resulted in weight gain to begin with. The Biggest Loser winners have gained all the weight back often, because the focus was on winning the competition. Then they went back to their old lives and nothing had changed, so they gained it back again. Sad.
My favorite for inspiration and motivation (my weight is fine, but the declutter process is a parallel experience) is Extreme Weight Loss Makeover, which takes an overweight person through a year-long program to lose the weight. And they show them in their life 6 months afterwards, and they have learned the lessons incorporated into their lives, so they don't gain the weight back. It is a summer show that just ended last week, but you can look it up online. Chris Powell is the trainer/coach.

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Harriet
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Re: August, 2012 Declutter Strategy

Postby Harriet » Fri Aug 31, 2012 9:36 pm

I've enjoyed Peter Walsh the few times I've seen him, sherinjoy, usually on someone else's show doing a special. I never could get Clean Sweep's channel then, whatever it was, even though I was able to get so many other satellite channels. Don't know why. But the show was mentioned by others here and I could tell they liked it. The old How Clean is Your House shows were great and I think they could've done so much with an hour. Dd adored HCiYH, which shows it was good common-sense entertainment.

I see the potential in the hoarding shows and think of them as "improvement" shows. I enjoy thinking what I would do in the situation and seeing whether the organizer "takes my advice" or goes another way because of obstacles. Organizer Dorothy on "Hoarders" usually does what I would have done, so I like to watch her and tell her what she should do! LOL! Organizer Mark is their famous one, of course. I think that show's producers see more potential interest in their organizers' work and give more time to view what they do. Even so, they can fall into the sensationalism trap.

Delighted that some decluttering resulted in finding 2 misplaced things today. A relief, because they could have been replaced of course, but it would have taken time and trouble. Again, my desk's sliding keyboard level "ate" one. At least I knew how to look there since it had happened before. The other was simply under other papers, which were breeding - what happened to the paperless society we were supposed to have become by now? :roll:

ellyphant
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Re: August, 2012 Declutter Strategy

Postby ellyphant » Fri Aug 31, 2012 10:11 pm

I have wondered the same thing about that "paperless society", Harriet. I sometimes think computers have caused more of a need for paper. Years ago, DMIL and I discussed what one could possibly use a computer for in the home! I told her that I had heard recipes would be on the computer and we wouldn't need cookbooks anymore. Had not dreamed of online banking, shopping, etc...at that time--or that one's friends would live in the computer!!
How you do your work is a portrait of yourself.


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