It’s easy to come up with excuses why we aren’t organized. But that won’t change anything. The only way to go from disorganized to organized is to admit we have a problem in certain areas of our lives. Continue reading
Posted in Clutter, Organizing, Planning
If your New Year’s resolution to organize your home has already been sidetrack, don’t give up. You may need to shrink down your approach.
Try starting with a small project. Sometimes containerizing a small mess will help you feel like you’re back on track. It can motivate you to organize more areas.
A container can corral small items so the area looks cleaner and is more efficient for you. I did that today using a small container I bought at Target for $1.00.
Here is what this area looked like before. Continue reading
Posted in Clutter, Decluttering, home office, Organizing
I was looking back at some of the posts I wrote over the past four years. Here are a few of them I thought you might like.
“Being Organized is a Journey Not a Destination”
“Change Your Attitude Change Your Life”
Posted in Clutter, Decluttering, Organizing
A couple of years ago I wrote a post about how things can be freeloaders in our homes. Many times we have such an emotional attachment to our things that we lose sight of what’s of value to our lives and what isn’t.
I looked up the definition of “clutter” in my Webster’s New World College Dictionary. Granted this book was the 1997 version and some definitions may have change. Anyway, it says that clutter is a number of things scattered in disorder or a jumble. It doesn’t say that any of the things are junk, just that they are “scattered in disorder”.
Maybe this definition is part of the problem with understanding if our things are just cluttered or if they are freeloaders. To understand how I defined what is a freeloader and what isn’t with regards to our things, please check out this blog post.
Our lives are busy and sometimes we just don’t have time to keep everything organized. But at some point it will become more than just a little mess. This blog post explains what the difference is.
Is It Clutter or Just a Little Mess?
The more we educate ourselves on what is just a mess, what is clutter, what is a freeloader, and even what is junk and what is treasure, the easier it will be to emotionally detach ourselves from our things. Without our emotions clouding our logical thinking we will be able to decide which things have earned the right to live in our home and which should be kicked to the curb.
This article asks 12 questions that can help you think clearly as to whether your things are junk or treasure.
Please let me know in the comment section what kind of “freeloaders” you have found living in your home.
To a lighter load along the way.
Janice
Posted in Clutter, Decluttering
It may feel like it’s near the end of the Garage Sale season but now just might be a great time to have a sale. With all the back to school shopping going on many parents are looking to stretch the budget and will buy some items at a garage sale (see below).
If you live near a university or college those students will be looking for used furniture and other household items to fill their dorm rooms or apartments.
It takes time to put together a big garage sale but if you have a fair amount of the items listed below you might want to consider having a quick garage sale in the next couple of weeks. That way you could take advantage of the back to school rush and clear out some of the clutter from your home. Plus you’ll be able to make a little extra money to help with your own back to school budget, if you have one.
Most schools do not reimburse school teachers for all the supplies, books, and other educational materials they have in their individual classrooms. I know that at some of my past garage sales I have had teachers, especially new ones, looking for items (books, educational games, etc.) to build up their classroom resources for their students.
So check out the list of items below and if you have a fair amount of them you no longer use, consider planning a garage sale as soon as possible.
There are a lot of online sites to advertise your sale for free. You can also put an ad in your local paper. You might be able to post a note about the sale in your local grocery store if they have a bulletin board for sale items.
Here are a couple of sites that you can advertise for free if they are in your area. Check them out.
Posted in Calendar, Clutter, Garage sales, school
If clutter and organization are a problem for you (most likely since you’re reading this blog) then I’m sure you’re always looking for an easy way to solve that problem. Even if you take the time and effort to clear out the clutter it’s so hard to keep it from coming back. After all, we have to buy food, clothes, and household items on a regular basis. Then there is the incoming mail, school papers, gifts, etc.
We can’t prevent everything from coming into our homes nor would we want to. But we do have the power to control many things that might become clutter if we take a little time to plan ahead.
One of the easiest and simplest ways is to use a shopping list. Yes, I said a shopping list. I know that sounds boring and ruins the fun of shopping. But, most of the items that become clutter are purchased on impulse and without planning.
Creating a habit of making a shopping list every time you go to a store will help reduce the chance of bringing clutter into your home now and in the future. This really is an easy habit to create if you have the right tools always available. I use a white board on my refrigerator for grocery and other household items I’ve run out of or want to buy. I also make sure I have pen and paper to transfer that list to take with me. I know a lot of people are using their smart phones to make the list. It doesn’t matter what you use as long as you make that list before going to the store.
Think about it. How often have you stopped at the grocery store without a list and bought items you thought you needed. When you got home you found there were several cans/packages of that item already on the shelf or in the freezer. If you use it up before the expiration date then that’s great. But if you don’t get around to using the item (because you have too many) before it’s expired then you’ve not only created clutter you’ve also wasted money.
The same thing holds true for clothes shopping, back to school shopping, or any other kind of household shopping. If you make a list before you go to the store you’ll know exactly what you need or want. No guessing involved! That will reduce the times you purchase something that ends up as clutter. Therefore you’re preventing clutter from entering your home to begin with.
Remember, a bargain isn’t a bargain if it ends up as clutter!
So make that list. Check it twice. Then you’ll find it so much easier to keep your home nice.
To a lighter load along the way.
Janice
Posted in Clutter, Decluttering, Organizing, Planning, shopping
I was reading a blog post from “Be More With Less” where she talked about doing experiments on how to live with fewer things. She said to look at these experiments as temporary.
This seemed to hit a cord with me. The definition of experiment is: a test, trial, or an act or procedure for the purpose of discovering something unknown.
The unknown could be to see if you can live without the clutter. Of course everyone’s definition of clutter is different. Many times the fear of having nothing left after we clear out the clutter keeps us from taking actions. A temporary experiment with decluttering might just be the way to discover those fears are unfounded.
I decided to give it a try. Somehow my clothes closet has grown smaller over the past several years. I thought it would be a good place to set up an experiment. I will be tackling only one section at a time to avoid that dreaded overwhelmed feeling.
I decided to take everything off the 3 foot rod where most of my tops are hanging.
I piled them on the bed and then separated them by winter, summer, and all those T-shirts that have accumulated from special events or vacations.
I packed away the winter clothes in under-the-bed boxes. I didn’t do any decluttering yet. I’ll deal with it this fall.
I put all the extra hangers in another closet then put the summer clothes back in my closet. I did get rid of 6 summer tops but I know I need to declutter more.
After hanging up the summer tops from on my bed I realized I had 13 more clean tops hanging in the laundry room. I hadn’t brought them upstairs yet (not in this picture). So needless to say my closet will still be crowded.
My next step is the “experiment”. I pulled all the vacation/event T-shirts out of the closet (they are in the above picture) and hung them up in a closet in another room. I always think I’ll wear them to work out in the yard but I never do. I might even see if there are any other tops I can put in the other room.
I marked my desk planner to make a decision on Sept 7 when the summer is winding down. Maybe by then I can accept the fact that I can live without them and give them away.
Summer is the time we naturally “lighten up”. Take advantage of this time to experiment with different areas that are cluttered in your home. Pack away books, trinkets, and other items on your shelves. Live with the uncluttered summer cottage look for several months. Then decide if you miss all those things.
Remember, the experiments are temporary. You’re preforming the experiment to see if you can live without so many things that clutter up your home. You aren’t required to get rid of anything just yet. Of course if there are things you can get rid of now then go for it! That will be less to deal with later.
If you have ever preformed an experiment like I described above I would love to hear about it.
To a lighter load along the way.
Janice
Posted in Clutter, Decluttering, Organizing, Simplicity
During this past month there have been so stresses in my life I haven’t spent any time on writing blog posts. I have spent some time taking care of myself to heal some of the emotional wounds that have been building for a long time.
One way I took care of myself was to go to the annual St. Louis Book Fair. It is sponsored by Macy’s as a fundraiser to benefit local non-profit education and literacy programs. It’s been going on for 60 years. I remember going with my mother and sisters when I was a child.
Because I have way too many books for my current bookshelves (their double stacked already) I have avoided going to the fair for about 5 or 6 years. This year was different. It was time to get back to doing something I love. But it also required making a promise to myself to declutter some of the old books so I don’t feel guilty about buying new ones.
With some birthday money (my birthday was last Thursday) I went to the book fair on Friday. I ended up buying 19 books. Some were cookbooks (3) and the rest were non-fiction books. I didn’t even go over to the fiction book section because I still have a few I haven’t read yet.
On Saturday I found a box and started going through one shelf at a time to pull out some books I could get rid of. If you’re a booklover like I am you know how hard it is to let go of them. Since the majority of my books are non-fiction I always feel like I’m giving away a valuable resource. Even with so much information easily available on the internet I still find it had to let them go.
So far I have 23 books in my box. Yea me! Since I bought 5 books last week at Goodwill (first time there in over a year) plus the 19 books bought at the book fair I feel I have done pretty well so far. Even with pulling that many books off the shelves I still don’t have enough room for the new books. Therefore I will get another box and work on filling that one. I have four more bookcases like the two below.
My local Macy’s store collects books year round for this book fair. My goal is to have a least 30 and hopefully 40 books to take to the loading dock by next week. I’ll be paying it forward so those books can be sold next year to help support the education and literacy programs. That way more children and adults will be able to learn how to read all the magic and knowledge that books contain between their covers.
There are lots of ways to pay the love of reading forward. I remember one year I had a garage sale and because it was cold and rainy there were very few customers. Right before closing up a young woman came in looking for children’s books which I had a few. She said she was going to be a new 1st grade teacher in the fall and was buying reading books for her classroom. I gave her the whole pile of books for free. It felt so good to help out a new teacher that would be able to instill the love of reading to her many students.
So pay the love of reading forward by donating your books to a charity, local school, or a new teacher starting out. If you’re not reading them anymore then they aren’t doing anyone any good sitting on your shelves.
To a lighter load along the way.
Janice
If you’re planning on having a garage sale be sure to check out the eBook:
“How To Declutter With A Garage Sale”
It will help you from start to finish with clearing the clutter out of your home.
Posted in Clutter, Decluttering, Graditude, Organizing
March is National Craft Month. If you are a hard core crafter, occasional crafter, or even if you used to do crafting you probably have a lot of supplies stored in various drawers, containers, or closets.
If you enjoy multiple crafts like I do that can add up to a lot of supplies. Over the years my interest in different crafts have changed. Many times those supplies get stashed away in a container, not seeing the light of day for a long time. If this has happened to you it may be time to declutter some of those supplies.
Clipart from Clipartheaven.com
Unused supplies and unfinished projects are a red flag telling us it is time to make some tough decisions. Here are few questions to ask yourself when trying to determine if you should keep them or not.
If you have decided you no longer enjoy a particular kind of craft then it’s time to declutter those supplies. You don’t have to throw everything out in the trash. There are plenty of places you can donate them. This includes those half finished projects as long as you have the materials to finish them. You will be blessing others while at the same time cleaning out your craft area.
Here are some suggestions on where to donate. I’m sure a few phone calls will give you several local places happy to take those craft supplies.
Clipart from Clipartheaven.com
If you enjoy sewing or knitting and have a lot of extra supplies/materials there are several ways you can use your skills and supplies for a good cause. Many charities donate finished projects to help newborns, children, cancer patients, and elderly people. I have done this before by sewing bibs, burp pads, and changing pads for my local Newborns In Need chapter. These small projects helped me clear out some extra fabrics I had sitting around. If you don’t want to do the sewing or knitting these kinds of charities would love to have your fabric and yarns so their members can make the projects.
It feels good to use your skills to bless others. Here is a site that lists charities that are looking for donations of finished projects.
http://www.craftforcharity.com/charities.html
It’s time to get your creative juices going or pass those supplies on to someone else so they can get their creative juices going. Either way you’ll be clearing out some of that craft clutter laying around the house.
To a lighter load along the way.
Janice
Posted in Clutter, Crafts, Decluttering, Graditude
By this time of year many of those New Year’s Resolutions have gone by the wayside. It’s time to review them again and decide which ones really matter to you.
It could be you had great expectations of what you would be able to change and accomplish this year. After almost two months not much progress has been made so now you’re beating yourself up. STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!
You do not deserve a beating. What you do deserve is some self-compassion.
It’s hard to change some habits. It’s hard to stay disciplined and motivated especially if our resolutions are very general and vague. It could be you need to change the way you think about your resolutions and the actions you want to take to accomplish your goals.
Have you ever found yourself being so motivated to do something that you didn’t even think about what you had to do, you just did it? What was it that made you so motivated to begin with?
A few weeks ago I found myself motivated enough to clean up an area of my finished basement without all the stress and procrastination I had been using to avoid it. I had invited some friends over for Super bowl weekend. Our finished basement has a big screen TV on one side of the steps and on the other side is a table and old kitchen cabinets lining the walls. This is my sewing and craft area. It also had become a dumping place for many things that I didn’t know where to put them or I was too lazy to put them away in their proper place.
Anyway, I knew I would be highly embarrassed to have my friends see this mess. After all, I write about decluttering/organization and here was this disastrous mess!
Hey, I’m the first to admit I’m not perfect but this mess was just plain out of control. So to avoid any embarrassment I was highly motivated to clean up the mess before they came over. The storage room has a door I can close so a lot of the stuff went in there. Now I’ll need to tackle that area but at least my friends didn’t see it! An added benefit is now I can actually use the sewing area to sew things.
I was talking to a friend recently and she too found motivation to clean up her finished basement. Her husband was babysitting their young grandson one day. He later told my friend that he would love to play with the grandson in the basement area but it was too messy and not safe for him. That motivated her to finally take the action to clean up the area.
We both found a motivating factor that made it easier to take the actions needed. Mine was having company over and not wanting to be embarrassed by the mess. Hers was having a safe and better place for her grandson to play.
Sometimes it’s hard to come up with a strong motivating factor. Just wanting to have a decluttered house probably isn’t going to motivate you to take action. Having company over for a holiday dinner might be.
So instead of beating yourself up for not taking actions on your New Year’s resolutions try to find a motivating factor that will make you take the actions needed. Start small with something like cleaning off the dinner table so the whole family can sit down together. Getting your kitchen cabinets organized could eliminate frustration when asking your family to help prepare the meals. It will be easier and more fun for them if they can find the right bowl or pan without having to dig through a messing cabinet.
As much as we should be motivated to do things for our own pleasure or safety I find it usually is easier to take action if the motivating factor involves the pleasure or safety of someone else, not just myself. I’m not sure if this is human nature, cultural, or family upbringing. It really doesn’t matter. The more you take action to declutter and organize your home not only will your family benefit, you will also reap the benefits.
It’s a building process. The more actions you take the more you will want to continue to take actions. Discipline by its self is the hard way. Find a good reason to motivate yourself to take one particular action. When that is done find another good reason or motivating factor to take another action.
To a lighter load along the way.
Janice
Posted in Clutter, Decluttering, Organizing, Planning
Have you ever found yourself thinking; "Wow, if I had a garage sale I could makes lots of money and get rid of all this stuff!" I know that thought has crossed my mind more than once. This eBook can help you make that happen.