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Post by maryinaz on Feb 10, 2024 13:57:21 GMT -5
well yesterday was a crazy day but I did manage a 15 min session. Today it's been snowing all morning and now it's changed to rain. I've managed to do 2 sessions plus some other things I've kind of been working in a corner behind a pile of stuff, most of which will be leaving as soon as I see the people / go the places it's going to. So right now it doesn't look like I"ve done all that much, but when that pile leaves it's going to make a big difference.
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Post by mylittlescholar on Feb 10, 2024 18:33:22 GMT -5
META GOAL: set up at least the first draft of my systems
ART/SOCIAL: prep for Valentine Card making gatherings  KITCHEN: research and purchase a large cabinet for big pots and appliances (this means trips with the RV to other towns)--first one schedule for 2/15
reorganize the countertop set up new blender for spring smoothies and soups research getting the vintage chairs reupholstered (I'd rather not do it myself, but it's probably prohibitively expensive) (and DVD's mom's chair while I am at it)
reorganize the glass jars OFFICE:  hang calendar organize 14"x14" cabinet  buy art hangers--got the wrong ones buy more art hangers--actually I just remembered DVD bought some. where are they?
hang art--did one but it fell down  create an inbox create a scrapbook catch-all create a receipt catch-all retrieve shredder? process paperwork: four sessions 15+ minutes each
FINANCES: make appt to switch to credit union  open a new account ask about financing a car make the move - gather IRA info
- get cashiers check and close accounts
- deposit cashiers check
- open money market and CDs
- open equity accounts
gather info for additional accounts and consolidate
- estate account
- SEP IRAs
- CU IRA
update all of my automatic payments with new info - review info on bank website
- review info on phone
- review info in emails
- review info in browser
learn how to use tools in apps download free tax form do one session before the 24th (free tax help day at library) call w/ MediCal question
NUTRITION/HEALTH: Weekly Goals: - two meals and one snack (vs. two snacks and one meal) twice a week
- review inventory w/ DVD once a week
- make menu plan w/ DVD once a week
- make shopping list once a week
revise the shopping lists I typed up schedule shopping: - Tues or Sat farmer's market?
call re: status of cpap! appts: - nutrition
- allergy
- allergy
- physical therapy
- nutrition
FITNESS: set up resistance band station and try it once
try yoga once to see if I can add it back in--did a few stretches after long walk
keep knee straight when not using it--this has helped
(first physical therapy appt is on the 28th)
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Post by phoenixcat on Feb 11, 2024 11:00:10 GMT -5
1) Get the home office/library to normal/regular use. Right now it has goat paths - unused furniture, unused electronics and paper, paper, paper everywhere. Not even an uncovered chair to sit on. The offshoot of this will be relocation of a lot of furniture, a lot of electronics and a lot of donation, trash, recycling, e-waste recycling out of the house. Been working on this for the past week to ten days: 1) Removed all loose items, bins and boxes from the floor and surface tops into the other guest room. Sorted like with like. Categories - donation, recycling, trash, filing, trust paperwork, general desk items like envelopes, etc., items that need further review like coins/jewelry that we inherited and memorabilia. Found dishes (and gifts!) I purchased last May. Found an anniversary card that I wanted to give DH (3 weeks past the anniversary-oh well). Roughly 60 bucks into garbage - rebate checks that expired and outdated $2 win lottery tickets.  2) Removed all the binned electronics (ones from previous sorts). 3) Removed all the stuffed animals and cleaned them. 4) Removed all the knick knacks off the book shelves and reorganized all the books behind them. Don't have a final count yet but donating multiple book series. 5) During the pandemic - I created two home offices. Now, I'm going back to "semi-normal" living. As such, three small (three shelf) bookshelves that were in the main area - were moved back. They match the 2 six foot book cases already in there. 6) A small lateral file cabinet from the guest room was moved in there. 7) DH wanted to keep his computer desk and I wanted to keep my roll-top desk so they switched places.  . Much more practical considering that DH was spreading wires throughout the room. 8) I reserved the span of the small bookcases as "charging central" - almost 9 feet of area for DH to charge all the things that make our house a "smart house". We have two boxes of electronics that were on his desk and in various areas that were unused (still need to review). We also have a box started of ones that can go to e-waste or donate. 9) Also reserved two small shelves (4 inches tall) for things he wants to keep - putting decorative trays in there to hide the wires. Had DH "load from the back" so that wires aren't everywhere - we untangled a ton as well - snake pit!! 10) Moved a MASSIVE MASSIVE MASSIVE custom built dresser to the other guest room. 11) Moved an antique glass door bookshelf out to the main area. Looks fantastic! 12) Cleared out the closet in there to make it "travel central" - all the suitcases, laptop bags, etc are in there now. 13) Removed two small shelves that hold bins and decided to give away. Also giving away a computer desk from the other bedroom. 14) Went through magazines - donated a bunch so far. 15) Went through children's books and put them all in a decorative basket - mine, my mother's and my grandfather's. Guessing some of his that are in good condition may have value. Mine and DM's are in pretty bad shape - probably need to add to a burn pile. 16) Put back all the knick-knacks and stuffed animals 17) Found a source based out of DM's and FOL's home state that will take religious materials for distribution to third world countries. Gathered up about twenty pieces so far including Bibles, hymnals, and faith based books. One whole shelf in the glass bookcase has been devoted to the religious material I've kept. Another half shelf to books where we know the author - DH's family has LOTS of published material. And, then a shelf + of books that appear to have value - first editions but some not in the greatest condition. To be honest - I loved typing that all out  . Really looks like I did something! Scary part is that there are SO MANY MORE STEPS - primarily dealing with that mess I moved into the other two guest rooms.   PC |
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Post by mylittlescholar on Feb 11, 2024 14:20:09 GMT -5
consider donating the unreadable children's books to artists or crafters. emphemera like that is precious!
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Post by desposito on Feb 11, 2024 14:44:08 GMT -5
Phoenixcat, that is an amazing amount done.
Roughly 60 bucks into garbage
Ouch, that hurts! I've done that occasionally, but only with rebate checks that were a dollar or two--still hurts, though!
Good for you for donating book series, somehow it's even harder to part with books if you have the complete series.
Diane
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Post by phoenixcat on Feb 12, 2024 10:16:39 GMT -5
Thanks mylittlescholar - good idea when I get to that point! desposito Diane - yes that money discard was painful. DH gets $20 rebate checks from his contacts purchase and the checks expire after 90 days.  . FYI - anyone that uses 800 contacts - in very teeny, tiny print on the bottom left of the receipt - they tell you that your purchase is available for a rebate.  Anymore I use my kindle for 90% of my reading - that is another area of clutter.  So, the series I'm keeping are ones that I definitely want to re-read. I have several authors that write multiple series and usually I only like one enough to keep for re-reading. I'm going to check with the library and see if they want them for their sale room.  PC |
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Post by maryinaz on Feb 14, 2024 8:37:28 GMT -5
Well I haven't gotten much done the past few days; had a 3 yr old in tow over the weekend, then my part time job yesterday. But today is a new day with a long list of things needing done which I'll put in my blog post. In the meantime going to try to do at least one 15 min session here in the house.
Well so far I haven't done any declutters today but I might manage to make myself do one before I go to bed.... We shall see....
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Post by maryinaz on Feb 14, 2024 20:49:55 GMT -5
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Post by desposito on Feb 15, 2024 14:06:33 GMT -5
Hi mary--yes, I imagine having a 3-year old over for the weekend would preclude anything else getting done!
I had a good week doing challenge work, in fact, a good week in general, because I'm mostly maintaining my decluttered status and it gives me so much motivation to do other things.
This week I did 20 more minutes of book site data entry to complete the hour goal, 50 minutes of old paper to complete the hour goal, and 30 minutes on organizing and putting away Christmas cards--lots more to do on those. I have only about 20 pages to go in a book from the book box I'm working on, and have already started another book from that box.
I have also completed 7 of the plant pottings out of 8. The huge job was my two big Dracaena massangeana stalks that have been rooting in water for a long time, I put them together in one giant pot. I have no idea how they'll do, but I really wanted to try to save them, so we'll see. Since there were two large cuttings I'm counting that as 2, it took a long time to accomplish and I still haven't cleaned up the mess I made on the floor while potting them up. I also had 2 tiny pothos cuttings in separate tiny pots, those I put into one pot and counted it as one since they were so small. I had a bunch of kalanchoe offsets that I had taken off the edges of leaves, and I had put them in a flat dish of soil. They all produced tiny roots, so I took all of them and divided them between two small pots to continue growing. I also repotted my Stenocereus pruinosus--this is a cactus I have to call by it's Latin name, because the common name "ghost cactus" or "grey ghost" refers to a lot of different kinds of cacti that have a greyish coloring to them. Finally, I took half the cuttings I made recently from my Dragon Fruit plant and potted them up. Still half to put in another pot. This is another plant that I should call by it's Latin name - Hylocereus undatus - since when they are houseplants they never produce dragon fruits. I have never even seen a dragon fruit in person, although they are pretty in photos!
1-Get back to baseline every day - I think every day this week, can't remember the beginning of the week, though!
2-Clean underneath upstairs kitchen sink - this project is DONE!
3-Finish taxes - this project is DONE!
4-Make one crockpot dish 5-Work on second book box - almost finished with book #20 from a box of 24, started book #21 which I will continue reading, that leaves only 3 more to try
6-File everything in my desk "to file" basket - 10 minutes done
7-Plant goal (total of 8 plants) 7 of 8 done
8-Continue refrigerating seeds that need cold stratification 9-Christmas card organizing and storing - 30 minutes done
10-Password project - 60 minutes 11-Old paper - 60 minutes - this project is DONE!
12-Book Data Entry - 60 minutes - this project is DONE!
13-Set up new plant table and grow light in living room by 2/25
Diane
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Post by Ally on Feb 15, 2024 17:22:56 GMT -5
I'm joining is a little late.
I am on medical leave and am supposed to be taking it easy (not lifting much or bending) but I really want to get some stuff done, so I'm cheating, although I am still avoiding heavy lifting.
Today, I put out TWO trash bags filled with junk over the past weeks along with one bag of kitchen trash (smaller bag)
I also have been feeding the paper shredder daily, which I compost with the chicken manure and kitchen scraps. It's getting filled an average of once a day. I'm shredding my old school papers, notes, reports, printouts, along with old financial documents (20-35 year-old paystubs and bank statements, all neatly sorted in order by year).
I also put out a box of old junk mail, magazines, etc for recycling.
I also filled a box with old books that I plan to take to a recycling center eventually.
I'm hoping to do repeat all of the above over the next 2 weeks.
I'm scheduled for my post-op visit on Feb 28 and then should be released back to work at that time (I'm scheduled to start back to work on March 1)
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Post by def6 on Feb 15, 2024 17:48:29 GMT -5
February has been amazing so far. I've been working in my garage cleaning and clearing 1 shelf per day also while keeping the laundry done and the housework current. I've found that this is just a good idea for me to actively declutter daily.
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Post by maryinaz on Feb 15, 2024 22:23:27 GMT -5
Wow everyone is doing great! @ally better late than never! I have a sign right above my desk that says "If you don't start somewhere, You'll end up Nowhere" and that thought helps me get up and going sometimes. Shredding paper.... Oh my when cleaning out my mom's office, there were TWO 4 drawer filing cabinets, STUFFED full! She passed in Jan 2019, there were bank statements and canceled checks in there from 1979  There was soooo much I started out by just tossing any statements from banks that were out of business, like there were at least two then sorted all the papers and if they didn't have an account # on them I didn't worry about them. I just focused on shredding the ones with account # or personal info. I was filling in a drop off at my place so packed them in boxes and buried them. Shredded paper went in the compost here too. Tonight I did manage to do a 15 min session in the kitchen. We won't discuss how many hundred hours of cleaning it actually needs. |
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Post by desposito on Feb 16, 2024 10:14:27 GMT -5
Yes, Mary, paper sorting can be a nightmare, I'm trying extra hard this year to get my old paper under control. I have current stuff pretty well organized in a file cabinet, but I have lots of old notes and lists and things to go through so that I don't leave an incomprehensible mess to anyone having to clean my stuff out when I die. I don't want someone thinking this is important paper and having to spend time on it.
Def, you really are doing well this year! I have always said that you have to declutter on a regular basis or else you lose the momentum, you are proving this to be true.
Ally, you sound like you got a good start to the month too, there are still two full weeks so hopefully you'll keep going. Paper and magazines are a good thing to work on if you're supposed to be taking it easy, you can do those sitting down. Of course, you might have to have help moving boxes of paper since those get really heavy. Good luck with continuing the purge!
Diane
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Post by Ally on Feb 16, 2024 10:26:13 GMT -5
February has been amazing so far. I've been working in my garage cleaning and clearing 1 shelf per day also while keeping the laundry done and the housework current. I've found that this is just a good idea for me to actively declutter daily. Congrats on your progress!  Yesterday I watched a youtube video by a professional organizer (I think that's what she calls herself.) Anyway, she stated that unless we declutter on a regular basis (daily/weekly), we are going to end up in a cluttered mess again. It makes sense, but I needed to hear it. somehow I have magical thinking that if I declutter, it will stay that way, but it never does!
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Post by desposito on Feb 16, 2024 16:25:36 GMT -5
I have magical thinking that if I declutter, it will stay that way, but it never does
In reading this, Ally, I realize there are two ways to look at decluttering--the normal decluttering that everyone has to do every day is to put things away and keep their homes neat. The kind of decluttering I mean should really be called "de-hoarding"--making the hard decisions to give things up that we've purposely kept. I guess both kind of decluttering need us to do them frequently, since in our daily lives we're going to cause messes with our regular possessions so we'll have to continually clean back up after ourselves. Although--I keep hoping that if I keep PEEPing eventually I'll catch when I'm making a mess and stop myself. That is happening a little more now that there are so many days when I have my home at baseline--the mess is more obvious so I'm more able to stop myself.
But it's the de-hoarding that I say has to be done on a regular basis over a long period of time. We hoarders are very good at only seeing what we want to see, and not looking at the big picture--or at least, not being honest about the big picture. So when we make ourselves think about our de-hoarding goals every day, or at least every other day, it keeps the big picture in our mind all the time and it's harder to pretend that we don't have a problem. Plus, like any other habit, doing something on a regular basis is necessary to make it second nature--and if thinking about the need to purge things becomes second nature, we'll be less likely to take more things into our homes.
De-hoarding is hard work! But so worth it.
Diane
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