2024 De-cluttering & Organizing Thread

[Vintage VFer]

******UPDATE:******

Please go here: 2024 Decluttering Support and Motivation




Having moved twice in the past few years, I'm doing fairly well on the "de-cluttering" part. I do need to get going with organizing!

A friend sent the "Best. De-cluttering. Tip. Ever." tip that she saw on a forum:

"My husband and I play a game. Whenever we go over to someone's house, we bring something we have decluttered and secretly hide it in their house in plain site. Somewhere that it makes sense for it to be: books on the bookshelf, mugs in a cupboard, etc. We've gotten rid of so much stuff and only one person ever noticed. Our families are nowhere near minimalists. We are easily entertained."

LOL!!!

[monterey vidiot]

That seems a bit intrusive, if not weird.

[Vintage VFer]

Originally Posted by monterey vidiot

That seems a bit intrusive, if not weird.

I'm thinking it is probably just a joke.

[dakko]

Originally Posted by Vintage VFer

"My husband and I play a game. Whenever we go over to someone's house, we bring something we have decluttered and secretly hide it in their house in plain site. Somewhere that it makes sense for it to be: books on the bookshelf, mugs in a cupboard, etc. We've gotten rid of so much stuff and only one person ever said anything. Strangely, we never receive invitations any more."

Fixed it!

[dakko]

We've been very focused on decluttering recently (although I have limited ability so it is going very slowly), but taking an approach that is new to me.

Normally I would empty the contents of, say, a closet and organize keeper items back into said closet. Problem being that it was unlikely I could complete the project in one go, and then the leftovers became another pile in need of decluttering.

This time, we're using Dana K. White's approach of making no additional mess in the time that you're working (so clearing trash, things that go elsewhere.. and putting them there right away, etc). It's working really well for us! DH is even on-board.

We may just be working for 5-10 minutes at a time, but it is really making a positive impact.

[eventmom]

Originally Posted by dakko

This time, we're using Dana K. White's approach of making no additional mess in the time that you're working (so clearing trash, things that go elsewhere.. and putting them there right away, etc). It's working really well for us! DH is even on-board.

We may just be working for 5-10 minutes at a time, but it is really making a positive impact.

this makes sense to me. Right now, I get overwhelmed trying to declutter (a room, a table top). I've been focusing on 'tidying' which does yield some decluttering.

I have listed a couple of items on ebay this year. Have a bag ready to go to the thrift store.

[adawn]

Originally Posted by Vintage VFer

I'm thinking it is probably just a joke.

Hoping it's just a joke

I feel that part of the challenge of decluttering my own space(s) is trying to resist the temptation of perhaps transferring things to others who may not want them or to people who feel uncomfortable saying no or that may already have enough of their own things they're having trouble parting with.

I definitely love rehoming things to places where they are needed or wanted and will be used, and I admit I cannot control, say, where the stuff I list for free or sell on Craigslist/ebay ends up, but I try my best to really think about friends/family who I offer things to. I might mention I'm getting rid of something and if no one says, "hey, I've been looking to get one of those," I just leave it at that.

We got rid of a bunch of flavored vodkas and stuff in the liquor cabinet last year and about half of it was a box of bottles my well-intentioned sister had brought over years earlier because she and her husband were downsizing and she thought maybe my mom might use the liquor when entertaining.

Well, most of the bottles were hostess gifts my sister received and didn't really want/hardly used any of, then she passed them on to my mom who thought *maybe* she would use them and my mom also had a hard time saying "no" to accepting things at that time, then the bottles crowded our cabinet for years before my mom finally decided I could dump them all down the drain and recycle the glass bottles--finally ending the cycle.

But I try whenever I can to get things rehomed to places that need them. Like we inherited a bunch of walkers when my grandma died. I cleaned them up and they went to the local senior center which has a lending closet. They even took some leftover incontinence supplies as they have a nun that picks that type of stuff up once a month. However, they would not take a pair of crutches as they said they had too many crutches already. They happened to be crutches for a tall person so I would never be able to use them so the crutches I listed for free on craigslist and it took a while (even for free) to get someone interested enough to pick them up. All of that took a lot of work and I only mention it as an example to show that I don't just dump everything down the drain so-to-speak.

[dakko]

adawn: I can relate to what you've said about rehoming.

I am being much more selective now in what I keep as being "useful" or potentially useful too. I do enjoy repurposing things, but it is time for us to downsize.

I'm finding that my capacity for making decisions is very low. Removing the obvious stuff first (items that need no decisions) is making it so much easier for me; when I come back to the (mostly) cleared space, the decision making process involves much less dithering and overwhelm.

Several grocery bags of items dropped off at the thrift store by DH this morning. These had been waiting in the trunk of the car for several weeks after the planned trip got delayed. Feels like things are moving again!

There are still a few nicer things that I'll be taking to a very small thrift store in town that is run by several local churches. The proceeds go to helping those in need within our community. I'm setting a goal for next week and have created a reminder. Let's see if I can do it. (it's challenging for me to go out, and it is important to me to use this as an opportunity to begin interacting with people again)

[sciencelady]

I had started a 2024 decluttering thread in our Challenges and Checkins part of this site on 1/1/24…. http://forum.videofitness.com/showthread.php?t=235119

Is it possible to pick a site and keep one of these threads?

[Vintage VFer]

Originally Posted by sciencelady

I had started a 2024 decluttering thread in our Challenges and Checkins part of this site on 1/1/24…. http://forum.videofitness.com/showthread.php?t=235119

Is it possible to pick a site and keep one of these threads?

Whoops, sorry! I missed that.