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Source: (consider it) Thread: AS: Decluttering support
Huia
Shipmate
# 3473

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Pigwidgeon, the idea of using music for timing never occurred to me - brilliant. Thanks.

Huia

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Charity gives food from the table, Justice gives a place at the table.

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jacobsen

seeker
# 14998

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Or audio books. With my bookshelves creeping over every wall, dusting is a mega job. But working through the entire series of Harry Potter as read by Stephen Fry keeps me going. One side of a tape approx 30 mins.

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But God, holding a candle, looks for all who wander, all who search. - Shifra Alon
Beauty fades, dumb is forever-Judge Judy
The man who made time, made plenty.

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Taliesin
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# 14017

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I bought a book called 'banish clutter forever' and yesterday I was going to throw it away, on the grounds that it is itself more clutter, but I opened it insted. It's quite good, I think. I'll try to follow the instructions and report back. I read aloud the bit to my OH about the total stress engendered by trying to remember where everything is.
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Sir Kevin
Ship's Gaffer
# 3492

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Slowly working on Zeke's den (where I am now).

Next task is to get rid of old clothes and put out-of-season items away.

Bathroom #2 will be tidied tomorrow when I repair one of the fixtures.

In the master bedroom empty bags await extra clothes.

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If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Writing is currently my hobby, not yet my profession.

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Jenn.
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# 5239

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Right, you've inspired me!

I have 2 days this week with DH home. I plan to persuade him to take the kids out so I can declutter. I want to be able to find the bedroom floor again...

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Boogie

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# 13538

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quote:
Originally posted by Jenn.:
Right, you've inspired me!


[Yipee] Go for it!

Today I can't face the study so I will wander round the house looking for Hot Spots (Places which attract clutter) in each room. I can see one right now - the kitchen table.

It started with a small pile ...

So today's mission - a clear kitchen table, and to keep it that way.

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Garden. Room. Walk

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Sir Kevin
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# 3492

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We are going to tackle the dining room table tomorrow. My wife said she'd rather work there grading papers when she starts teaching again than use the big office desk in my den which would be even more difficult to de-clutter! You've just inspired us!

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If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Writing is currently my hobby, not yet my profession.

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Sir Kevin
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# 3492

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quote:
Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:
Use a CD. I can get a lot accomplished in the 17 minutes of In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, and the music is energizing.

Too energizing: I'd want to go into my den and keep time banging on the drums!

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If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Writing is currently my hobby, not yet my profession.

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Taliesin
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# 14017

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I am clearing the back room slowly... the aim is to have it cleared before the builders knock the wall down.

but where is all the stuff going to go...

[Help]

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Banner Lady
Ship's Ensign
# 10505

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The purge has begun. I have declared that B4 needs to box up anything she would be too embarrassed for her parents to discover when we clean, and deposit said box with friends.

Fortunately, she knows we are serious!

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Women in the church are not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be enjoyed.

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Banner Lady
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# 10505

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Progress report: today, ALL dirty clothes washed (that's 6 x 9 kg loads). All books in her room boxed (that's 4 boxes). Half her shoes packed (24 pairs). All spiral work books stacked into 3 piles each a foot high. Two crates of craft stuff removed from her room and put in the entry with the other mountain of craft stuff. One crate of blank art canvasses removed. One hatbox full of wool and unfinished knitting projects removed.

Dammit. She is SO my daughter!!!!

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Women in the church are not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be enjoyed.

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Lothlorien
Ship's Grandma
# 4927

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BL, I can tell you a way to get rid of some yarn. Worked very well for me the other day. I had an open plastic tote with no lid. It had possum/merino NZ yarn and lots of good cotton. Some cross stitch. I accidentally knocked over a bottle of balsamic vinegar with a dodgy lid and found it after it had dripped into tote for hours. I pitched everything. She probably wouldn't want it back if a catastrophe like that happened.

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Buy a bale. Help our Aussie rural communities and farmers. Another great cause needing support The High Country Patrol.

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Avila
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# 15541

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Just won ebay auction for filing frame - organisation is coming this way!!

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http://aweebleswonderings.blogspot.com/

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Avila
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# 15541

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quote:
Originally posted by Avila:
Just won ebay auction for filing frame - organisation is coming this way!!

And just spent the evening labelling up lots of files to go in it. I also unearthed a multipocket folder now labelled urgent, pending, this week, next week etc so the papers waiting for something to happen to them have a home, not a pile!!

When the new season's paperchase begins in September I WILL be ready for it!!

[Yipee]

All inspired by these threads, actually inspired to decluttering my life of bad habits so have set 'new year' resolutions on bedtime and eating habits too... Big ask maybe, but by law of averages one change ought to stick, shouldn't it?? But which one....
[Confused]

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http://aweebleswonderings.blogspot.com/

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Nenya
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# 16427

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Well, I'm feeling overwhelmed with it. [Frown] I've got my files and my box to put them in. And I've got trayloads and drawerfuls of papers to sort; I just don't know where to start. [Frown] I've had a long day and I'm very tired.

So I've put them all away and poured myself a glass of wine. [Yipee]

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They told me I was delusional. I nearly fell off my unicorn.

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Firenze

Ordinary decent pagan
# 619

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quote:
Originally posted by Nenya:

I just don't know where to start.


Don't tell yourself you have to sort it All. Just slidle up to a pile and pick up something that catches you attention. Deal with that. Then the thing beneath it, and maybe the one under that... But stop frequently to do other things. Soon you should find that almost inadvertently you've cleared a noticeable amount.
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Jenn.
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# 5239

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Right, tomorrow I start on my bedroom. It has been the dumping ground for 5 years as it is the one room noone other than me and OH go in. Meant to be private retreat. In reality it's a dump. I'm sending OH out with the kids tomorrow morning, putting on some music, starting at one corner and seeing how I get on. Then I'll take the kids out in the afternoon and he can do some. Hopefully by wednesday evening we'll have made some headway.

Yay for cleaning(!) Or something similar.

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Nenya
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# 16427

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quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
quote:
Originally posted by Nenya:

I just don't know where to start.


Don't tell yourself you have to sort it All. Just slidle up to a pile and pick up something that catches you attention.
Love the sidling idea. Slidling sounds even more fun. [Biased]

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They told me I was delusional. I nearly fell off my unicorn.

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Banner Lady
Ship's Ensign
# 10505

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Yes, sounds like it involves socks, a wooden floor and some happy music!

I too have a new filing box, with a packet of new folders sitting on top of it, awaiting my attention. Every year I tell myself I WILL use winter to deal with the paper explosion. Every spring I know I have failed. I have two blanket boxes full of unsorted stuff which 'is just too interesting to chuck yet' - even though I haven't really needed any of it.

I think some slidling might be in order for me too - AFTER I deal with the mess B4 leaves behind her. She leaves in 5 hours for (hopefully) 5 months. I am hoping the time away will be good for both of us.

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Women in the church are not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be enjoyed.

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Huia
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# 3473

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I'm with Firenze on the gentle start. when I was tidying the front room I found that picking up one item and delivering it to the kitchen en route to the toilet disposed of the pile of cups and plates very quickly ( of course it helps that I an om diuretics [Big Grin] ).

Today I have cleared the scotch chest in the spare room and two of the 3 drawers under the divan. I have also walked to the hardware shop for very heavy duty black polythene to put on the garage floor as the 1950s builder didn't put in a dry course and dampness seeps in. The idea is that I will put bulky stuff that insurance won't pay to have stored, in the garage. A friend will store those sentimental, precious things that insurance just couldn't cover.

Now I have to make sure my bed is clear so I have somewhere to sleep tonight [Snore]

Huia -- on a roll [Yipee]

[ 23. August 2011, 05:42: Message edited by: Huia ]

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Charity gives food from the table, Justice gives a place at the table.

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Boogie

Boogie on down!
# 13538

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OK - today the study.

I will start early so that I don't lose impetus.

This is the last bastion of the piles. They think they are safe here and lurk on every available space, mocking me. "You have won many battles, but you'll never win the war" they sneer and smirk.

But I will! One pile at a time!

First I'm going to clear the desk off completely and nothing is allowed back until it has a definite place and final home.

Realistically, this is two weeks' work at half an hour a day.

*Grits teeth and enters battle*

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Garden. Room. Walk

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Nenya
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# 16427

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The study is Mr Nen's territory and I don't think I'll be allowed past its hallowed door again if I mention the word "decluttering." [Biased] It is home to some of the most important paperwork in the house, and you can usually see a fair bit of floor, so for now at least I'm happy to close the door on it.

I think my mistake has been trying to take on too much too soon. I have about 4 different boxfuls of stuff I want to sort. Every couple of days I get them out on my bed, gaze at them despairingly, file one or two pieces of paper and then clear them all off again. I need to have more focus... "Just this box... just this box..."

Good luck to all who are decluttering today. [Smile]

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They told me I was delusional. I nearly fell off my unicorn.

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Boogie

Boogie on down!
# 13538

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quote:
Originally posted by Nenya:
The study is Mr Nen's territory ...

The garage and the shed are Mr Boog's territory - cluttered? Oh yes! Do I care? Not in the least! If he has a major project on he does clear them out but, because I never venture in there I really don't mind how he keeps them. He's soon to have a music room/gym when Boogielet2 leaves on Sunday - another room I can ignore.

Good luck to you too Nenya [Smile]

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Garden. Room. Walk

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Taliesin
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# 14017

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Ok, I'm going to slidle into the bedroom and sneak up on a pile. I did a (big) cupboard shelf yesterday, and gave away the bits of girls' school uniform I'd been hording (freecycle is wonderful, a lady came and gratefully collected) but the net result was a cupboard shelf that just looked tidier and better stacked.

Ok, once more into the breach my friends...

[ 23. August 2011, 08:48: Message edited by: Taliesin ]

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Jenn.
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# 5239

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Made a good start on the bedroom. Waiting for DH to put stuff in the loft and get started on his side of the room. Maybe one day we'll have a romantic retreat!
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Nenya
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# 16427

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This slidling and sneaking seems to work. [Smile] I had 15 minutes this evening while the pasta bake baked for tea. I was going to hop online and then I told myself I'd just go and have a peep at the box in the bedroom... just a little riffle, you know... so there was a bit of putting that there, and binning that, and putting that in the recycling, and making a file for this - and hey presto I had an empty box! A repeat performance after tea gave me an empty file. [Smile] So I don't feel quite as overwhelmed as I did, and I'm now enjoying my glass of wine. [Yipee]

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They told me I was delusional. I nearly fell off my unicorn.

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Banner Lady
Ship's Ensign
# 10505

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One hallway (previously an impasse) has now been liberated.
Today I am liberating the bathroom, pantry and fridge from stuff left behind, and removing the soft furnishings in B4's room for washing. WOOHOO!

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Women in the church are not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be enjoyed.

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Lothlorien
Ship's Grandma
# 4927

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I'm just home from ordering six sets of bookshelves and two other sets of shelving. On to unpacking my books and hopefully some stuff from my mother. Have no idea what my sister has sent me in that regard but the extra two sets of shelves will be for display items.

Am tired of a room half full of boxes and ward robe in spare room has more.

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Buy a bale. Help our Aussie rural communities and farmers. Another great cause needing support The High Country Patrol.

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Boogie

Boogie on down!
# 13538

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quote:
Originally posted by Nenya:
So I don't feel quite as overwhelmed as I did, and I'm now enjoying my glass of wine.

[Yipee]

The desk with the shelf above it and the floor underneath it are now clear in my study/office/studio. A huge throwing out/recycling task awaits. Then the wires need sorting - eeek!

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Garden. Room. Walk

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Drifting Star

Drifting against the wind
# 12799

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I have a merchant chest - one of those with lots and lots of drawers (14, I think), all stuffed full of bits and pieces, old birthday cards, pens, you name it.

Today I am going to clear at least one medium sized drawer.

Honest.

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The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts. Heraclitus

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Chelley

Ship's Old Boot
# 11322

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I am laying on the sofa with a laptop and the Ship (I am on holiday though!) but this tells you how well my decluttering is going at the moment. It's all there waiting! [Roll Eyes]

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"I love old things, they make me feel sad."
"What's good about sad?"
"It's happy for deep people!"

Sally Sparrow to Kathy - Doctor Who

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Banner Lady
Ship's Ensign
# 10505

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Today I spent 10 hours clearing, sorting, packing, cleaning. A dint has been made.

1. I cleaned out the little tool shed in our backyard. TP never bothers to put his garden stuff in it anyway.
2. I purchased 10 large plastic lidded crates. I asked myself what is it worth to me to have all this stuff out of my house? Cardboard boxes would quickly perish in the unlined shed. This seemed the best option other than sending the lot to a rented storage facility.
3. I filled six of these boxes with B4's housewares and soft toy collection. I'm still working on filling the other 4 with her bric-a-brac.
4. I have washed all the soft furnishings stripped out of her room.
5. I have liberated the fridge from all her bottles. Tossing 10 bottles of half drunk water and 4 of half drunk booze means the fridge and I are much happier.
6. I have commenced the bathroom purge. By tomorrow it will be finished. I didn't get to the pantry, sigh.

I told TP truthfully that all thru today I have had The Gloria singing in my soul. His comment was that this was because God ever brings order out of chaos, and that living in cluttered chaos, and cluttering it more and more is a sign of distance from the One who formed us. An interesting observation.

I love my daughter very much, but I feel like at last I can breathe again. I am far too laidback to force anyone else to live the way that pleases me, but Lord knows this cleaning bee has done me a power of good. What is scary, is that it will probably take another 40 hours of work before her room is completely clear.
Whew!

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Women in the church are not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be enjoyed.

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Taliesin
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# 14017

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phew!
well done.


I feel the need to confess to 4624 messages in my inbox, 385 unread. And I do sometimes spend half an hour sorting, deleting and transfering. Tempted to wipe the whole lot and not even read them.

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Drifting Star

Drifting against the wind
# 12799

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5852 in mine, but all read. I sometimes make a half-hearted attempt to put them into folders, but then I think that the search function works so well that there's not really a pressing need to do so.

Now, that drawer... or shall I do some baking?

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The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts. Heraclitus

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jlg

What is this place?
Why am I here?
# 98

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Do both. Bake something and while it is in the oven, spend 15 minutes decluttering a drawer or a shelf or a corner.

That way you won't get tempted to overdo the decluttering (and risking burn-out) and you'll have a nice reward waiting for you.

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Uncle Pete

Loyaute me lie
# 10422

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I automatically delete any email which as a FWD in it. All the hotel comeons, all the airline postings
(well I open those sometimes especially if I am travelling), all the passenger train emails. Except when I am away, I never let my inbox get over 45 or so. I am appalled that someone would keep emails, which are mostly trash.

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Even more so than I was before

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RuthW

liberal "peace first" hankie squeezer
# 13

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quote:
Originally posted by Taliesin:
Tempted to wipe the whole lot and not even read them.

I'll bet you're safe to dump anything more than a week old unread. If anyone really needed you to respond, they would have re-sent the email or called by now.

I keep the past 6 months of email at work because I'm always going back and finding info for people in them. But 3 months would probably be enough, and I never sort it into folders. On the first of each month I just delete the oldest month's worth of emails.

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Drifting Star

Drifting against the wind
# 12799

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x-posted - I was replying to PeteC

I delete all trash emails or disposable emails (notifications etc) as soon as I have read them. Anything that will also be held elsewhere (such as Amazon purchase notices) also gets deleted as soon as it is checked.

There will be some duplication in my inbox because there are plenty of chains of correspondence, and I weed these out as I go as much as is possible, but this can't always be done because people don't always reply in sequence.

Other than these duplicates there is very little in my inbox that I don't need.


jlg - that would have been very sensible. I'm trying to remember what I did while the macaroons were in the oven. I think it was something useful, but I'm not sure - sadly it wasn't clearing out a drawer!

[ 24. August 2011, 21:27: Message edited by: Drifting Star ]

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The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts. Heraclitus

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Sir Kevin
Ship's Gaffer
# 3492

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I just cleared a lot of papers to be shredded off the floor of the den and into a box. I found a book about baseball and several other things that had been missing.

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If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Writing is currently my hobby, not yet my profession.

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Jen.

Godless Liberal
# 3131

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quote:
Originally posted by Taliesin:
I feel the need to confess to 4624 messages in my inbox, 385 unread. And I do sometimes spend half an hour sorting, deleting and transfering. Tempted to wipe the whole lot and not even read them.

I have 25 in my inbox, but this is mainly because I did the twice yearly purge a couple of days ago (I suspect in no small part down to this thread).

I sort by person, then delete. Some are bound to be chatty and I can get rid of them easily. Ones from SMT or my line manager(s) probably need consideration. If something has been a long conversation, I only keep the last one with all the other information in it.

Our house is getting a bit, erm, cluttered again. I enjoy a minimalist house, but at them moment I'm tired so not looking at any paper work, so it builds....

[Help]

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Was Jenny Ann, but fancied being more minimal.

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Boogie

Boogie on down!
# 13538

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Yes - I sort emails by person as soon as I receive them and often before I deal with them. I delete stary spam as soon as I go there. So there are three emails in my inbox!

(One is a 'must read' about first aid which I do intend to read asap - it's been waiting 3 weeks, hmmmm)

My de-cluttering job is still the wires which lurk behind my desk. I unplugged them all and plonked them in a box this morning - so they'll have to be sorted today or no phones/printers etc will work!

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Garden. Room. Walk

Posts: 13030 | From: Boogie Wonderland | Registered: Mar 2008  |  IP: Logged
Little Miss Methodist

Ship's Diplomat
# 1000

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I never clear out my email inbox - it has 4378 emails in it, which go back to January 2008. I delete the spam / junk / circulars etc but anything that come for work stays exactly where it is. This has been invaluable on countless occasions and my boss used to rely on the fact that I could produce any email from the last four years.

I recently had a big declutter of clothes - went through my chest of drawers and threw out the holey socks, or the bra with the underwire poking through etc. I also went through my wardrobe and got rid of anything I tended not to wear, including a jumper which was very expensive but which I hate wearing. I've been holding onto it because it was so dear, but i'm honestly never going to wear it so it's gone.

I'm good at decluttering because i'm pretty ruthless. I occasionally come across things I want to throw but can't quite part with, but i'm ok with that - I just assume I need a little more time to get used to the idea of throwing them out and let it sit with me for a while before revisiting that item. I actually enjoy decluttering / sorting / tidying because I really like taking chaos and making it ordered. I love those programs where you have a really untidy house and the team comes in and declutters and they are left with a nice tidy result. I have a friend who keeps moaning about how cluttered and untidy his flat is and I am desperate to go round there and sort it out for him - i've offered but he has steadfastly refused. I once spent weeks with one of our elderly church members helping her clean out her flat and get rid of alot of the stuff in it. Her flat was disgustingly dirty (I threw out the clothes i'd been wearing afterwards) but it sparkled when i'd finished (and the council took away three lorry loads of rubbish from her studio flat). Perhaps I should hire out my services as a declutterer!

I'm lucky because I live above the church I work at and part of the premises is a very busy charity shop, so decluttering to a charity shop is incredibly easy for me - as simple as taking it down in the lift! It does help me to keep my house fairly clutter free - if its easy to get rid of stuff one of the barriers to decluttering is gone. I would say my house has plenty of stuff in it, but most of it fits the William Morris useful / beautiful criteria. Not all, but most.

Having said all of that - don't ask me about about the big cupboard! Everyone needs somewhere to be messy...

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Tell me where you learned the magic,
The spell you used the day you made me fall....


Posts: 1628 | From: Caretaker of the Overlook Hotel | Registered: Apr 2003  |  IP: Logged
Chelley

Ship's Old Boot
# 11322

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RIGHT... no more hanging around here... music's on... getting on with it now!

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"I love old things, they make me feel sad."
"What's good about sad?"
"It's happy for deep people!"

Sally Sparrow to Kathy - Doctor Who

Posts: 2870 | From: Wonderland, UK | Registered: Apr 2006  |  IP: Logged
Boogie

Boogie on down!
# 13538

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quote:
Originally posted by Little Miss Methodist:
I never clear out my email inbox - it has 4378 emails in it, which go back to January 2008. I delete the spam / junk / circulars etc but anything that come for work stays exactly where it is. This has been invaluable on countless occasions and my boss used to rely on the fact that I could produce any email from the last four years.

No - I never delete either - but I sort them into folders by name [Smile]

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Garden. Room. Walk

Posts: 13030 | From: Boogie Wonderland | Registered: Mar 2008  |  IP: Logged
Chelley

Ship's Old Boot
# 11322

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If everybody else stopped posting on the Ship it'd be soooo much easier to get stuff done! [Paranoid]
ITTWACW!

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"I love old things, they make me feel sad."
"What's good about sad?"
"It's happy for deep people!"

Sally Sparrow to Kathy - Doctor Who

Posts: 2870 | From: Wonderland, UK | Registered: Apr 2006  |  IP: Logged
Moo

Ship's tough old bird
# 107

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It's so much easier for me to deal with an overfull inbox than physical clutter. All I have to do is make sure it's junk and then hit delete.

With the physical clutter I have to decide what to do with it, and then handle the trash bags, storage containers, etc.

Moo

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Kerygmania host
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See you later, alligator.

Posts: 20365 | From: Alleghany Mountains of Virginia | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
JoannaP
Shipmate
# 4493

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I have not actually done any decluttering here as yet, but I have helped a friend - and possibly discovered a new irregular verb:

you have decluttered
I have acquired a useful addition to my wardrobe [Biased]

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"Freedom for the pike is death for the minnow." R. H. Tawney (quoted by Isaiah Berlin)

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." Benjamin Franklin

Posts: 1877 | From: England | Registered: May 2003  |  IP: Logged
Sir Kevin
Ship's Gaffer
# 3492

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Oh?

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If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Writing is currently my hobby, not yet my profession.

Posts: 30517 | From: White Hart Lane | Registered: Oct 2002  |  IP: Logged
JoannaP
Shipmate
# 4493

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A gorgeous pair of little embroidered shoes, that will go very well with one of my favourite dresses. [Yipee]

So not new clutter for me. Not at all.

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"Freedom for the pike is death for the minnow." R. H. Tawney (quoted by Isaiah Berlin)

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." Benjamin Franklin

Posts: 1877 | From: England | Registered: May 2003  |  IP: Logged
Taliesin
Shipmate
# 14017

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I thought the cluttering irregular verb went like:

I am thrifty
you are cluttered
he is living in an unhygenic dump.

we are recycling/reusing
they are hoarding and don't know when to let go.

Posts: 2138 | From: South, UK | Registered: Aug 2008  |  IP: Logged



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