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Post by Starting Again on Apr 6, 2017 22:59:13 GMT -5
After purging/giving away stuff in one area, what do you do when you have items (or piles of items) that you DO want to keep, but "putting them away" would involve STUFFING them somewhere that has not been decluttered?
I hate it when I make a new mess when I clean.
If I had energy, and enthusiasm, and determination, and organizational skills, I would do all these things quickly and maybe bring almost everything out (a la Marie Kondo) and purge and organize it all together, and endure the mess, and clean it up as soon as I can (with a smile). But I've tried this sort of thing and end up with "put this away, once I figure out where it goes" boxes (or files, or piles) for months or years.
To avoid making a new mess as you go, could you just do major purging all over, and sometimes organize small areas "in place", WITHOUT putting things away in final places until the places EXIST and have room? (Organizing small areas would make them look better, and start to MAKE room.) Of course you could do some straightening and putting away of stuff you use all the time (even if not in final place), but not "deep organizing" (if there is such a thing). The size of the "areas" might vary, depending on your energy, etc.
I have in the past organized most of my papers all together but haven't felt the motivation to do that very quickly, without making a long term big mess...
Maybe once I really start and "action breeds motivation" this will work itself out. In the mean time, what advice can others give me?
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Post by notanotherdecade on Apr 6, 2017 23:26:48 GMT -5
in purge pile mode here at the moment too. Think I'm going to need to find temporary homes for some things.
The front room had become a dumping ground for purge piles, but I want to sort that room out next, .
Marie Kondo recommends finding your joysparking possessions and disposing or unwanted items Before organising where things go because you won't yet know what you will have left... but I'm too impatient to wait, I want to see results.... MK can be broken down into sub categories, so instead of saying you want to do Kitchen-Equipment today, you can sort out forks and spoons for a few minutes, then glasses and beakers for a few minutes, tidying them out the way once disposal of unwanted stuff is done,
I do have a regular urge to move furniture and contents around, which regularly throws me into chaos, I know I should use boxes more in order to avoid temporary piles on floors and tables,.
Yes action snowballs into more action, but motivation is an intangible, it can come and go like Willow the Wisp. Use it while it is there, but don't rely on it to get you through a mega project.
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Post by def6 on Apr 7, 2017 5:03:17 GMT -5
Starting Again I feel your pain I am dragging everything out of the garage today in the hopes of finding empty cardboard boxes, totes that have almost nothing in them and items that my family has grown out of. Just anything ...something has to give! I need some space. Sometimes, after devoting hours, days, weeks...sometimes it is us that changes, our criteria of what to keep or give or throw. I have a holding area specifically designed for items that I'm keeping that do not have a home. You can let these things "cool off"in this area. When you come back to them, you might keep them or you might donate them. If this area has far too much in it.. of items that you are keeping that do not have a home...that tells you something. I have the "jump in, drag it out and cry later" approach. I will win this battle and I will win this war.
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Post by hollyhock on Apr 7, 2017 7:46:10 GMT -5
Starting Again - ANY sorting or decluttering will make a mess before it's finally finished. It's a fact of life. When I do something like this, and things go in another room that I haven't yet sorted, I put those things in a box and move that box into the new room. (Labelled well) You may be adding to it as you do other rooms. When you get to the room it will supposedly stay in, then you go through that box and put things away, unless you now decide it won't stay. I try to 'hide' that extra box, if I can, under desks and dressers, in closets etc. Sometimes I can, sometimes I can't. I put papers in totes. And piled the totes. All in the spare room - or what I made into a sitting area in my old house. I sorted out the papers after I sorted out everything else - because then I had room to spread out, and it was all contained to 1 room. I have now gone through my papers 3 times: 1) sorted out keepers from garbage - that was all - tossed or shredded what I did not keep 2) sorted by type - things like important papers, things to keep re taxes, hobbies and memorabilia. Then I moved those totes here. 3) sorted memorabilia into categories and they are still in totes in closets. (Still slowly working through hobby type papers (what I call interest papers) and probably will a bit at a time throughout the year. Paperwork will be an ongoing issue for me.) But I do think getting everything into the right room works well. One thing that helped me was Julie Morgenstern's book Organizing From the Inside Out. One of the first things she has you do is decide the functions of each room - say 3 functions. Like, say my living room functions would be relaxing, entertaining, doing hobbies. So nothing that doesn't fit into those functions belongs there. So with that in mind I knew ALL papers went into the spare room. All hobby stuff went into my bedroom except current hobby can be in LR. I exercise in the LR (forgot that one) - its the biggest open space - so yes I keep my DVD's and my weights in the LR - and more DVD's in a box on the shelf of the coat closet. So when I made up boxes of stuff to move into their final location, it was according to that room's function.
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Post by phoenixcat on Apr 7, 2017 9:50:39 GMT -5
Some excellent suggestions here. Like Hollyhock, I mostly define spaces and if I know in concept what room the excess will go to - I move it in there during the clean/sort. Depending on how bad that area is I may just dump it in a bag on the floor. If that room is partially or completely done - then the stuff gets put away. I find it extremely helpful to get the "known exit" items OUT. If you know it is donate, get it to the trunk of your car. If it is known outside recycling like grocery store bags - throw it in the car, etc. And, on your next trip out - drop it off. Every time you accumulate a full trash bag or full recycling container - get it out to its respective location. As you go through the place, you will probably be emptying storage options - bins, boxes, maybe even shelves, drawers, cupboards and closets. These can be put aside for the next room sort. Like most people a rarely used bedroom tends to become storage. If you get to that room last - it will probably be stuffed to the rafters. You can then designate its purpose and use the hopefully empty boxes/bins to sort out items needed in that room. And, yes the boxes may drift out to other areas - if your area is "floor to ceiling" no room to sort unless it is removed but it is helpful if it is sorted and containerized when it is "temporarily" stored in other spaces. And, once you have designated spaces - you will slowly start to see things fill up and you can make donation decisions. Once my drawer designated for shirts is full - then I need to remove something to make room for any new shirt. Or if I come across 10 pairs of scissors - maybe 5 can go  Or, a pair or two can move to the garage or office/desk area or kitchen. You've identified a very common problem. It does all come together - I PROMISE!! Just keep plugging away, don't add to it if you can help it and be willing to let go of some excess once you have sorted like with like. And take out the obvious exit items - donations, garbage, recycling. Just makes sorting the keepers harder when that stuff is in the way.     PC |
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