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Post by blossoming on Oct 3, 2010 11:14:31 GMT -5
sorting is very hard for me. silverware into compartments, the contents of my pocket at the end of hte day, etc.
for me, i know this is one fo the brain things that creates squalor. i've been working on sorting for a long, long time.
just now, i SUCCESFULLY sorted a pocket. i walked away from it twice out of overwhelm. then i thought i can't leave it laying there as the visual sight of that clutter will make me create more clutter.
so, it took time. but i sorted out change, hairpins, paper with phone numbers on it, paper that could be thrown away, a business card, a candy wrapper and figured out WHERE TO PUT EACH OF THEM.
this is a big blankety blank deal for me, i'll tell ya.
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Post by bluefrog on Oct 3, 2010 11:16:25 GMT -5
But you did it, blossoming! WTG!
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Post by BetsyMarie on Oct 3, 2010 12:28:16 GMT -5
Congratulations!
I've always had difficulty making decisions about possessions, and obviously have for years. But I'm finding the more I read, and watch the various 'Hoarders' programs, and actually go through things (sometimes the same problem boxes from years ago), the easier it becomes. I've been doing serious decluttering on, but mostly off, for 5 or so years. But only recently have really figured out 2 of my main truths - no need to be perfect, and it's more the massive amounts, not the organization.
I used to get paralyzed when going through something like my purse that had lots of 'important' odds and ends. I used to need to save every 'good' paperclip, receipt, rubberband, hair pin, thumbtack, plastic bread bag closer..... Not any more. Wouldnt want to waste anything. Sheesh! Not any more.
I'm still very far from perfect (what an odd choice of words), but I'm finding it really gets much easier the more I do.
By the way, I'm slightly dyslexic. Not enough to make a significant difference with schoolin', but enough to know I can be overwhelmed in an environment with 'too much'. That's why I rarely do 'chat', and I steer clear of Walmart. When there is too much visual 'input', my brain gets confused trying to sort out everything, I then can get sort of flustered, and shut down (bail out). I think that happens sometimes when I try to deal with too much stuff.
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Post by blossoming on Oct 3, 2010 12:38:09 GMT -5
for me, it's not quite that i wouldn't want to waste anything though i know that's common on this site. for me, i have dificulty with WHAT is WHAT. as in, these are both papers, but you only save one. which one is it again? so, i tend to just save it all as i can't tell or to throw out a drawer wtih phone bills and change and etc in too as it is all so complicated.
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Post by shopgirl on Oct 3, 2010 15:41:09 GMT -5
Oh, those miscellaneous stashes! They grow huge all on their own, and are nearly impossible to sort. I have entire boxes of those in my garage, some of them from 20 years ago. They are my Andy Warhol Time Capsules. They weigh me down, and make me feel paralyzed.
I have another one started up on my kitchen counter.
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Post by stretch on Oct 3, 2010 16:49:31 GMT -5
I'm terrible at it. I can do obvious things, like all linens go in the linen closet, but my brain freezes up when it comes to odds and ends. Just this morning I was unpacking and came across two wallets that belong to my son. Okay...they're his, so they should go in his room...but then what? And this pack of Steelers playing cards? And these mechanical pencil erasers? Etc, etc, etc. I end up just throwing misc stuff into drawers or bins and forgetting about it until the next move. :/
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Post by messymimi on Oct 3, 2010 16:54:28 GMT -5
Great Work, Blossoming!
I tend to be able to sort, but then get stymied on where to put things. Some things are easier to sort than others, too.
messymimi
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Post by blossoming on Oct 3, 2010 16:55:15 GMT -5
i try to do taht thing, don't remember which site it origianly came from, but only touch something once. put it where it goes. if i can't come up with where it goes, then okay to just toss usually.
but, yes, very scary to me how the contents of one day's pants pocket could lead to a whole ruined house again. but i see it in how my brain works and doesn't work and the way i must work AROUND things in basic situations like these. it's why i know for me, this is a lifelong plan i must stick to.
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Post by cando on Oct 4, 2010 10:51:26 GMT -5
Blossoming, this is a big deal for both myself & my DH. He is the king of dumping out whats in his pockets and he always has a lot and often unusual things. This is where a lot of the clutter around here has come from. You did great taking the time and actually going thru it, etc. Someone else mentioned boxes of it... well, that is us! Boxes & bags, and clutter. Every surface practically. So, many suggested putting a box or cute thingie to catch and hide his stuff and put it in one place where he will put it when he comes in & let him know to do that. Well, he is pretty good at doing it when I have a place & willing to let me move it there if he forgets (often). The problem is when that container gets filled up. Yep, I know... I had the best of intentions to go thru it and deal with it. (Over and over, again) But, we'd never find the time. Then, that container when full would get stacked and piled on top of, and then the surface right next to it... until the entire surface was covered, again. Then, in quick clean up attempts... just boxed or bagged it all up... and there it sits in Room of Doom, in closets, in garage, around ther perimeter of practically all our rooms. And, still the pocket clutter collects on every surface, no sooner than cleared off, it happens, again. I believe this is the most difficult type of clutter -- Pocket Clutter. Great term, btw!!! Well, Pocket clutter & incoming mail & (if folks have kids) then, the papers from the schools. OH, and medical papers and receipts. That's about the main clutter in my house.Tons of papers & pocket clutter! It is getting cleaned up this year, though. I AM determined. Hopefully soon! CD  |
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Post by blossoming on Oct 4, 2010 11:19:15 GMT -5
yeah, it's funny how much issues people have around pocket clutter. as a housekeeper, people would get these humougous piles on their table or beareau of it. and it was like........um, i can't clean your table/etc. with this stuff on it. and you don't want ME to go through it, usually, and declutter it for you, so ummmmmmmm. hmm.....so i would get a box and just start piling it in there so i could clean. and every couple of weeks would add a different box. when after a few months i would get exasperated and realize htey are never going through this no matter what they say and begin the long process of going through it, it was ninety nine percent trash. and the stuff that wasn't trash was pennies. so would ahve been okay to accidentally throw away actually.  . the stuff that wasn't trash, had become it after all this time. like, gift cards that had expired, etc. so that was a real lesson to me that even if stuff has value to being with, it loses it with time. so, taht is why, from my own experience in my own home and also in that of others, that i see the pocket clutter as really the building block of so much other problems. i am beginning to keep my silverware in a holder and not just in a large container. that is "good" but i also know if i'm feeling migrainey and i just CAN'T sort that ti's okay to have it all together too. but no getting out of washing it though. |
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Post by gottaproblem on Oct 4, 2010 14:52:46 GMT -5
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