s/o Well-trained Homes January edition--for those who want to level up their housekeeping game but aren't Flybabies

[Angie in VA]

I'm chiming in to sub, and to say that the discussions here have helped me get the dishwasher run every night before bed for the last few nights, and it's been nice to wake up to a relatively clean kitchen in the mornings! Now, if I could just figure out how to get the other people in the household to register the empty dishwasher and put their dang dishes into it instead of the sink... But that's a whole other post!

 

 

When did my family move in with you???

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

When did my family move in with you???

 

:lol: From what I read here, most of us are in the same boat, so I take a little comfort from that. It's so frustrating that, just when I see a little progress and get excited that maybe they're figuring it out, BAM! I come into the kitchen after breakfast and find 8 things in the sink. I start to feel kind of like, why am I bothering?!

 

:cursing:

[Melissa in Australia]

All these cleaning threads have motivated me. I washed the inside windows while and got DS14 to wash the outside ones.  It is amazing the difference that clean windows make to a house. 

[cjzimmer1]

I finished the last 2 shelves in the fridge last night and cleaned the entire freezer side.  I learned we have a too many open chunks of cheese in the the fridge and an even more ridiculous number of open bags of nuts in the freezer.  I consolidated them down and left a couple on the counter and am encouraging the kids to snacks on nuts today.

 

Today I went threw the cabinet with crayons, pencils extra paper etc.  I could of been more ruthless with the spare paper but I just wasn't feeling it today.  But I did empty out about half a garbage bag full of stuff and the top is now cleared.

[Laurie4b]

Did my 15 min in the MBR today after skipping it for 2 days. Glad to be back on track! 

 

Have kept up with the kitchen relatively well. However, I have the same problem with the clean sink suddenly having stuff in it. I live with dh and my adult college kids visit. So yeah. Try while you can to train em!

[Angie in VA]

Yesterday I was called in to work and had just enough time to shower and dress and get there to be on time, so no decluttering or cleaning got done. I had finished one load of laundry and had hung it to dry, but my 2nd load got interrupted and the bed sheets didn't gone till today. At least I had a plan for dinner and we didn't spend any money on that. 

 

Today when I took college kid to get a haircut, I took a donation pile I'd accumulated this week to drop off. I also cleaned out the car and recorded some receipts in the checkbook (that, yes, should have been entered at the time of purchase). 

 

I forgot to run the DW last night (I went to bed first) but ran it while we had a church function this morning. It's emptied and the kitchen is tidy now. 

 

How is every one else doing? 

 

I am loving ASCC podcasts. 

[Laurie4b]

Did two 15 min decluttering sessions in the MBR. Will probably do more tonight. 

 

The "clean while the microwave is on" is working great! I do pour-over coffee and heat the water in the microwave and that takes about 8 min, Today I was able to start working on organizing the pantry because the maintenance work was all done! 

[Storygirl]

I've been sick this week, so I haven't accomplished much other than napping and the very basic chores needed for daily survival. I'm hoping this thread will help me with accountability, once I feel better. Sometime between now and August, we need to move (to be in a different school district), so I've got to get a handle on keeping the house clean.

 

Doing the dishes every night is a good first goal for me. But I won't run the dishwasher overnight. I hate to have a load of clean dishes to deal with in the morning. We have to get the kids out the door to school before 7:30 each day, and when we are trying to empty the dishwasher while packing lunches and eating breakfast and getting out the door....it's not good. I also like to run it when it is full. I don't need the dishwasher to be run on a schedule; I just need for it NOT to be full of clean dishes in the mornings.

[OneStepAtATime]

Slowly creating a specific space for DD for her art area. She has a cabinet for the supplies but not a dedicated work space.

 

DH designed, built and installed a really nice looking pot rack for me this afternoon so I finally have a place for our wok and big frying pan. I didn't know he was going to do it so that was a really nice surprise.

 

I cleaned out the infamous junk drawer and found some useful items. I also freed up the drawer. There was a lot of junk in there. :)

Edited January 14, 2018 by OneStepAtATime

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

I'm using Declutter 365 (on fb, but also emails) to get a daily schedule for decluttering.

 

Thanks for this! I signed up as well, and soon as I get out from under this huge work thing, I'm going to print out the calendar and get started!

 

I've also been listening to the A Slob Comes Clean, and I swear she is me. I'm still waiting for her book to become available in our eLibrary, but I'm next on the list, so it should be soon. 

 

My side of our bedroom has been a wreck for awhile now, with items that need to be returned, laundry that needs to go somewhere, papers that needed to be filed, etc. I got it partly dug out and then Christmas came along, so now there are boxes, and more returns etc. I've been planning to clean it all out one day while DH was at work to surprise him, but that wasn't panning out, so finally I just started yesterday while DD12 had a friend over. I was also cooking a lot, so I only got about halfway done, but I'm making really good progress! I should be done by the end of today. 

 

And I'm keeping on with running the dishwasher every night (except for last night, when I forgot to press Start  :glare:). It's amazing how that one small thing keeps the kitchen SOOOO much tidier. And it's helping me keep the fridge clean too, because I start looking around for things to fill the dishwasher and end up actually emptying out things in the fridge that would otherwise get shoved to the back and forgotten!

 

Today I'm tackling the rest of the bedroom and the small army of 1/4-full, now-flat sodas that are left over from NYE in our little "bar" area. DH doesn't mind the flatness, so he was working on them, but I think their time has come. Oh, and I'm going to make the kids take down the folding chairs that I just noticed are also still leaning against the wall in the dining room.

Edited January 14, 2018 by ILiveInFlipFlops

[Angie in VA]

Did two 15 min decluttering sessions in the MBR. Will probably do more tonight. 

 

The "clean while the microwave is on" is working great! I do pour-over coffee and heat the water in the microwave and that takes about 8 min, Today I was able to start working on organizing the pantry because the maintenance work was all done! 

 

Oooh, what pour-over coffee do you have? I've been eyeing this type of thing since I figured out that mocha = coffee + CHOCOLATE. Who knew?! Everyone but me till a few years ago. 

 

I don't use the microwave much and feel like I'm missing out on prime cleaning time. Rats.

[MrsRobinson]

How does everyone organize paperwork? I don't have an office and need a mobile "office" that can easily move from the kitchen table to ?? wherever its storage space is.

 

Everything is piled in a milk crate in my bedroom closet right now. Plus a box of previous years' important paperwork and really important paperwork like insurance policies, marriage license, passports, etc. Its not very user friendly though for actually getting things done. Anytime you use the word "pile" in your description, that's code for "disorganized." :laugh:

[Laurie4b]

Oooh, what pour-over coffee do you have? I've been eyeing this type of thing since I figured out that mocha = coffee + CHOCOLATE. Who knew?! Everyone but me till a few years ago. 

 

I don't use the microwave much and feel like I'm missing out on prime cleaning time. Rats.

 

Very basic one that I got at Walmart: https://www.amazon.com/Permanent-Dripper-Resistant-Borosilicate-Silicone/dp/B01N2AMZTU/ref=sr_1_fkmr2_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1515960585&sr=8-1-fkmr2&keywords=schott+duran+coffee+pourover

 

So I heat up the water in the microwave. I pour the hot coffee into a large glass with a bit of cocoa and cinnamon at the bottom. It makes it palatable for me since I drink it without milk or sugar. 

[Laurie4b]

I washed the dogs today, and cleaned the bathroom, scooped kitty litter, spent about 15 minutes on the kitchen counters and island, loaded and started dishwasher, washed bedding for 2 beds and remade 1 (ds31 has to make his own 😜), and did the rest of the laundry. Never did go back to the piles I made out of ds10 closet.

 

Sounds like a good day's work! 

 

Piles are my downfall.  I had to stop following organizing systems that began with instructions to "Remove everything from your closet..." By the time I had sorted into piles, my mind would have frozen over, so I'd leave it for later. Then the stuff would stay there until it had crawled back to where it came from or some other place it didn't really belong. 

[Laurie4b]

For this coming week: 

 

• Continue running dishwasher regularly (just dh and I here. Every night is not really sensible.) 
• Work in kitchen to clean up anytime something is in the microwave or on the stove that will need tending to within 5 min or so)
• Dishes done after dinner
• 15 min decluttering 4/6 days in MB
• 1 trip to remove some decluttered items from house 

Edited January 14, 2018 by Laurie4b

[Laurie4b]

For all of you following along with the Slob Comes Clean, is there a sequence to read the blog posts? I don't want to listen to podcasts. And I don't want to spend a ton of time getting to the nitty gritty. 

[Angie in VA]

For all of you following along with the Slob Comes Clean, is there a sequence to read the blog posts? I don't want to listen to podcasts. And I don't want to spend a ton of time getting to the nitty gritty. 

 

 

You could go her podcasts page and then open the page for each podcast to see what she's linked. Some might be dead now, but that might get you to the beginning. 

 

Here is the page for the Podcast #1.  The show notes mention what she talked about in that podcast and might have links to downloads or topics you could peruse. There will be dead links as she published one book and has a 2nd coming out soon. Things that were ebook downloads might not be available now. 

 

Not the most efficient way, but if you don't have the time or desire to listen, that might be a round about way to go through her blog.

 

I started listening from the beginning, so I understand your wanting to go in order. 

 

BTW, thank you so much for starting this thread!

Edited January 14, 2018 by Angie in VA

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

For all of you following along with the Slob Comes Clean, is there a sequence to read the blog posts? I don't want to listen to podcasts. And I don't want to spend a ton of time getting to the nitty gritty. 

 

You also might check and see if her book is available on audio from your library (or Audible, if you use it). I know our Overdrive library has it (and the ebook too). I imagine the nitty gritty would be there as well.

Edited January 14, 2018 by ILiveInFlipFlops

[Angie in VA]

Very basic one that I got at Walmart: https://www.amazon.com/Permanent-Dripper-Resistant-Borosilicate-Silicone/dp/B01N2AMZTU/ref=sr_1_fkmr2_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1515960585&sr=8-1-fkmr2&keywords=schott+duran+coffee+pourover

 

So I heat up the water in the microwave. I pour the hot coffee into a large glass with a bit of cocoa and cinnamon at the bottom. It makes it palatable for me since I drink it without milk or sugar. 

 

Thank you!

[Cosmos]

These were my goals for last week --

1. Keep up with daily routine (I'm already decent at this but I should start earlier in the day). DONE

2. Clean the clutter out of the kitchen or find ways to make it look better (winter boots, ski boots, etc.) No

3. Vacuum the whole house. DONE and I also cleaned the bathrooms and did some other cleaning

4. Try to fix the dryer. It's a good thing my goal was to "try" to fix it. I have been unsuccessful so far, but I did try, so this is DONE.

5. Add some beauty somewhere in the house. No.

6. Finish organizing receipts and tracking expenses. No

 

Not awesome. I think for this week I'm going to try the "X minutes a day" approach because setting achievement goals was not very successful.

 

New goals for this week--

1. Keep up with daily routine.

2. Do the weekly cleaning.

3. Work 15 minutes a day on decluttering, starting with the kitchen.

4. Work on paperwork 15 minutes a day.

5. Add some beauty to my home.

6. Fix the dryer or call a repair person.

 

[regentrude]

How does everyone organize paperwork? I don't have an office and need a mobile "office" that can easily move from the kitchen table to ?? wherever its storage space is.

 

Everything is piled in a milk crate in my bedroom closet right now. Plus a box of previous years' important paperwork and really important paperwork like insurance policies, marriage license, passports, etc. Its not very user friendly though for actually getting things done. Anytime you use the word "pile" in your description, that's code for "disorganized." :laugh:

 

Important papers are filed in binders that live on shelves in the basement. We have binders for automotive, medical, taxes, bank stuff, house, immigration etc.

I do not see a need to have these right by my kitchen table; we can go downstairs to file. These papers do not need prime space to be stored, they just need a safe, designated spot.

Edited January 15, 2018 by regentrude

[eternalsummer]

Important papers are filed in binders that live on shelves in the basement. We have binders for automotive, medical, taxes, bank stuff, house, immigration etc.

I do not see a need to have these right by my kitchen table; we can go downstairs to file. These papers do not need prime space to be stored, they just need a safe, designated spot.

Yep, I keep mine in the top shelf of the closet in our "take in case of emergency" backpack.

 

All temporary paperwork, like registration papers or bills or something, either gets dealt with when it comes in the door or goes in a shelf over the computer that is too high for even enterprising children to reach.  I don't organize it exactly; I just shove it all up there and then rifle through it when I need something.

 

For reminders and calendar type stuff I email myself and leave the email unread until the date has passed or the situation has been dealt with. We keep the email super clean so it's always pretty obvious that the thing needs to be taken care of.

[Soror]

I chuckle every time I see this thread, I never did like Fly Lady :) 

 

I don't have time to read everything this morning but thought I'd pop in while I had a few minutes and it was on my mind.

 

As of late I'm working on deep cleaning, a bit at a time as I can squeeze it in. 

 

I did my room Sat, even cleaned out my closet (which isn't all that big) but needed it. I had all the kids go through their clothes then too, so we have 4 bags going to Goodwill (anything too small for the youngest or things we don't really care for)

 

I did dd3's room Sun, she is 5 and keeps up with the general picking up decently but I do the deep cleaning and organizing every few months to get her back on track.

 

This week I hope to get to:

My bedroom bathroom (it is small with only a few drawers) and the laundry room (dh tends to pile up his crap in there- drives me crazy).

 

For daily cleaning, I've been religious about starting the dishwasher at night. The habit had become sporadic when I didn't feel well in the fall and our schedules got busier. I realized too I need to make sure the kids do their chores in the morning, I had been letting them do it when they wanted but if they wait until 3 to unload it makes it much more difficult to keep it loaded during the day. I've also started doing bits of supper prep at breakfast, I don't know why that didn't occur to me before but if I'm standing there waiting on something to cook I might as well chop some veggies or throw on some meat to cook or such.

[Pen]

Week 2:

 

continue with week 1 (dishes and mail)

 

add one item (not yet decided what--maybe exercise/walk dog as next most important in my life.  It could be very limited, and dog often gets long walks/runs with ds, but it might be more consistent earlier every day for both me and dog).

 

I printed out a year-on-a-page calendar and am now putting check marks through each day's date to indicate that I did the dishes and mail that day.

 

I am having trouble reaching things, and that that is impairing my ability to do certain things easily so I plan to get a reacher/grabber item.  I also determined that the daily dishwashing was impaired due to space to put away the daily use items. Yesterday I removed juicer (not frequent use item) from where it was taking up room in kitchen and am moving it down to basement. A blender which is used sometimes, but not currently daily, also needs a place that is less prime, but not where it would have to be carried from/to basement since it is too heavy and too often used for that.

[Laurie4b]

• Continue running dishwasher regularly (just dh and I here. Every night is not really sensible.)  Ran last night after dinner,   Won't need running until tomorrow night. 
• Work in kitchen to clean up anytime something is in the microwave or on the stove that will need tending to within 5 min or so) Love this. Have gotten so much accomplished. 
• Dishes done after dinner Got visiting adult kids to do dishes, but I had done anything I could ahead of time.
• 15 min decluttering 4/6 days in MB Done . x2
• 1 trip to remove some decluttered items from house 

 

Going out for a while, but when I get back, I need to spend about 10-15 maintenance in the living room and cook breakfast for the week then I'm done for the day!  DONE!

Edited January 16, 2018 by Laurie4b

[craftymama]

New week, new goals (or not)

 

Last week I had two goals...finish the school room which did not happen and my closet which is beautiful.

 

This week I am going to finish the school room even if I have to lock myself in there.  

I am also going to organize the Mud Room.  DH organized it and that just is not working for me.  

Get back in the habit (at least start the process) of getting up earlier.  

 

[Laurie4b]

New week, new goals (or not)

 

Last week I had two goals...finish the school room which did not happen and my closet which is beautiful.

 

This week I am going to finish the school room even if I have to lock myself in there.  

I am also going to organize the Mud Room.  DH organized it and that just is not working for me.  

Get back in the habit (at least start the process) of getting up earlier.  

 

Be sure to take your phone or laptop so you can let us know how you're doing in there! ;)

[KungFuPanda]

I took down my Christmas decorations yesterday. Does that count at next-level housekeeping? No?

[cjzimmer1]

I'm finally starting to feel normal again.  Thankfully we have some good basic routines down about the dishwasher already so the kitchen didn't get too bad.  Kids cleaned most of the house on Friday (key is that is was kid cleaned not mom cleaned) but at least the floor space was mostly cleared over the weekend.  And I finished the fridge and did the whole freezer on Friday.

 

4 year old dumped out all his Thomas tracks today so we will have to pick that up tonight.  

 

Today I straightened the pantry.  I had cleaned it completely a month ago but when the kids put things away they tend to set things in the first available spot so I went through and got that put back in order.  I cleaned our upstairs bathroom including the shower curtain.  I was tempted to skip the shower because oldest DS had scrubbed it good a couple of weeks ago and it still looked clean but trying to remember some of the lessons from ASCC and went ahead and cleaned it anyways.

 

Was going to clean out the arts and science cabinet but after throwing out several hands full of paper I just couldn't bring myself to tackle that today. At least there is less paper in there now.

Also washed the sheets on my bed and ran three loads of laundry.  Waiting for the kids to fold and put it away yet though.

 

Did some extra cooking for later in the week.  

 

Unfortunately I haven't done any homework checking in 3 weeks so I really need to get caught up on that so I probably won't get much cleaning done tomorrow.

Edited January 15, 2018 by cjzimmer1

[Angie in VA]

For all of you following along with the Slob Comes Clean, is there a sequence to read the blog posts? I don't want to listen to podcasts. And I don't want to spend a ton of time getting to the nitty gritty. 

 

 

I know you don't care to listen to her podcasts, but today I listened to #67 "Frugality and My Clutter Problem" and in it she said to read the blog backwards. Of course I thought of you!

 

She says the same thing at her blog. Look here. 

Edited January 16, 2018 by Angie in VA

[xixstar]

Week 3 Goals: 

- continue to support children in daily chores
- clean while boiling water and brewing tea (all times except first cup of the day, lol)
- don't leave cast iron pans for someone else to clean (because there are no cast iron cleaning fairies in my house - why do I do this?)
- do 1 load of laundry every day... **

** If I am to do this, it needs to be paired with part of my routine... so, I think I will start a load of laundry while my morning tea brews, that won't count as cleaning, I will move the load along while toddler finishes his lunch, and it will get folded when the girls get home school: breakfast, lunch, after school.... that suddenly feels like a lot. Getting it in the washer sounds easy enough, everything else sounds overwhelming. But I have laundry sitting in the washer right now that shouldn't still be there, clearly I find moving laundry along a constant challenge. 

Edited January 16, 2018 by xixstar

[Angie in VA]

Week 3 Goals: 

 

- continue to support children in daily chores

- clean while boiling water and brewing tea (all times except first cup of the day, lol)

- don't leave cast iron pans for someone else to clean (because there are no cast iron cleaning fairies in my house - why do I do this?)

- do 1 load of laundry every day... **

 

** If I am to do this, it needs to be paired with part of my routine... so, I think I will start a load of laundry while my morning tea brews, that won't count as cleaning, I will move the load along while toddler finishes his lunch, and it will get folded when the girls get home school: breakfast, lunch, after school.... that suddenly feels like a lot. Getting it in the washer sounds easy enough, everything else sounds overwhelming. But I have laundry sitting in the washer right now that shouldn't still be there, clearly I find moving laundry along a constant challenge. 

 

1. Because it's heavy and can be a pain to clean. Its benefits far outweigh those drawbacks, but that is why we put off cleaning our cast iron. 

 

2. Yes, it does! Are you kidding? You get double points for that! I love having something going while I do something else. Makes me feel so productive and inspires to do even more. 

 

Yesterday I squeezed in 4, count em: FOUR errands between getting off work and picking up ds from his job! Yeah! OK, incentive was money, since one errand included returning 2 items, but it felt so good to get all of that done. And I didn't even know we are expecting snow tonight and tomorrow, but I am still giving myself bonus points for getting those errands done before we get snow. 

 

ETA: Of course no one does laundry and just stands there while it's going, but well begun is half done! And my attitude is slightly colored by the fact that I"m jonesing for a Roomba (or knock off, all recs welcome, btw) b/c I love how my friend sets hers and goes about other tasks. 

Edited January 16, 2018 by Angie in VA

[Laurie4b]

 

• Continue running dishwasher regularly (just dh and I here. Every night is not really sensible.)  Ran last night after dinner,   Won't need running until tomorrow night. T: Still not full enough
• Work in kitchen to clean up anytime something is in the microwave or on the stove that will need tending to within 5 min or so) Love this. Have gotten so much accomplished. This rocks. 
• Dishes done after dinner Got visiting adult kids to do dishes, but I had done anything I could ahead of time. Not today
• 15 min decluttering 4/6 days in MB Done . x2  15 min but more maintenance than decluttering
• 1 trip to remove some decluttered items from house 

 

Going out for a while, but when I get back, I need to spend about 10-15 maintenance in the living room and cook breakfast for the week then I'm done for the day!  DONE!

 

 

[cjzimmer1]

Even though I didn't think I would get anything one yesterday, I found myself in the kitchen waiting a few minutes for DS to get ready to go to work.  I grabbed a rag and started scrubbing spots of the cabinets.  Throughout the day, I continued working on that when I had a few minutes.  By the end of the day I had washed down about half the cabinets.  I'm slowly learning that paying attention to those very small units of time and using them wisely can really add up over the course of the day.  

 

I'm hoping to finish the other half of the cabinets today and maybe getting started on the bathroom cabinets.

[xixstar]

One of my favorite comments this week was dd was cleaning the microwave, one of her weekly chores, and commented that it was hardly dirty at all. I told her that is the benefit to doing chores consistently, they get easier and easier because things stay cleaner. It was like a giant light bulb went off for her!

And on the flipside- did not run the dishwasher last night and the kitchen was no fun to walk into this morning.... back on track with that one!

[Angie in VA]

Even though I didn't think I would get anything one yesterday, I found myself in the kitchen waiting a few minutes for DS to get ready to go to work.  I grabbed a rag and started scrubbing spots of the cabinets.  Throughout the day, I continued working on that when I had a few minutes.  By the end of the day I had washed down about half the cabinets.  I'm slowly learning that paying attention to those very small units of time and using them wisely can really add up over the course of the day.  

 

I'm hoping to finish the other half of the cabinets today and maybe getting started on the bathroom cabinets.

 

This is sinking in my brain too. ASCC said that she saw cleaning her house as a project and that was a big part of her problem. She realized small chunks, those 4 daily habits, make things neater and cleaner. 

 

I've also adopted this w/ listening to her podcasts. I used to want to wait until I could hear an entire ~30 minute podcasts, but now I just listen as I drive to work, home, to the store, etc, while folding laundry, etc. 

[EMS83]

Today I unloaded the dishwasher while the coffee was brewing (Keurig).  Was done by the time the second cup was ready.  :)

 

The weather is making it hard to get my outdoor stuff done; the kids got a lot of outdoor items for Christmas, and we have nowhere to store them except our living room (in addition to my painting junk).  A bike, 3 scooters, an unassembled basketball goal...I'm feeling a bit cramped at the moment.  :D  But the projects are coming along, more slowly now, as we've tried to return to our normal routine.  I may still be done with the indoor jobs by the end of the month, which was my goal (well for indoor and outdoor jobs, but I can't change the weather, so no guilt there).

[Laurie4b]

This is sinking in my brain too. ASCC said that she saw cleaning her house as a project and that was a big part of her problem. She realized small chunks, those 4 daily habits, make things neater and cleaner. 

 

I've also adopted this w/ listening to her podcasts. I used to want to wait until I could hear an entire ~30 minute podcasts, but now I just listen as I drive to work, home, to the store, etc, while folding laundry, etc. 

 

What are the 4 daily habits? Run the dishwasher every night and ?

[Laurie4b]

 

• Continue running dishwasher regularly (just dh and I here. Every night is not really sensible.)  Ran last night after dinner,   Won't need running until tomorrow night. T: still not enough W: Done

   

• Work in kitchen to clean up anytime something is in the microwave or on the stove that will need tending to within 5 min or so) Love this. Have gotten so much accomplished.  W: I found myself doing this without thinking about it today!

 

Dishes done after dinner Got visiting adult kids to do dishes, but I had done anything I could ahead of time.Not today   W Yes!

 

15 min decluttering 4/6 days in MB Done . x2  Done but more maintenance than decluttering,  Yes

 

1 trip to remove some decluttered items from house We are snowed in so this may not happen this week.

 

 

 

Today's plan: Dh is home working because of the snow which makes decluttering the MB more challenging since I like to play music while I do it. I'm going to bring a box or two to the main living area to sort. 

 

Edited January 18, 2018 by Laurie4b

[Cosmos]

For those working on decluttering --

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/home/i-was-getting-buried-in-clutter-heres-how-i-finally-got-free/2018/01/16/c6592f1a-e054-11e7-bbd0-9dfb2e37492a_story.html?tid=pm_lifestyle_pop&utm_term=.39a33f205d3c

 

There's nothing particularly earth-shattering here, but I found it interesting. The biggest take-aways for me --

 

1. Declutter slowly and steadily rather than as a one-time project. Both because it's more realistic for most of us but also because we are more easily able to let go of things if the change is gradual rather than all at once.

 

2. Identify the reasons you personally accumulate clutter. The author identifies sentiment, utility, and aesthetic as the basic reasons. For me, it's clearly utility. I hang on to things in case we might need them later. This is rooted in a fear of waste. And even when I am ready to let go of things, it's important to me to get it to a place where it doesn't go to waste. I can't just take it to the dump. The other reasons don't really resonate with me, but I'm sure they do for other people.

[cjzimmer1]

For those working on decluttering --

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/home/i-was-getting-buried-in-clutter-heres-how-i-finally-got-free/2018/01/16/c6592f1a-e054-11e7-bbd0-9dfb2e37492a_story.html?tid=pm_lifestyle_pop&utm_term=.39a33f205d3c

 

There's nothing particularly earth-shattering here, but I found it interesting. The biggest take-aways for me --

 

1. Declutter slowly and steadily rather than as a one-time project. Both because it's more realistic for most of us but also because we are more easily able to let go of things if the change is gradual rather than all at once.

 

I really connected with Kondo's spark joy sentiment and once I implemented that thought process, I found it much easier to get rid of things.  On the other hand, the idea of pulling everything out and going through it was so overwhelming that I never even tried.  But just keeping the basic sentiment in my head, I went through everything (almost) in my house.  It took me close to 4 years to get through everything because there were certain seasons that I just didn't have time/energy to deal with it.  I know I need to make another pass because I was pretty conservative when I first started but now I'm doing it with the organizing since there is actually space to move things around now.

 

2. Identify the reasons you personally accumulate clutter. The author identifies sentiment, utility, and aesthetic as the basic reasons. For me, it's clearly utility. I hang on to things in case we might need them later. This is rooted in a fear of waste. And even when I am ready to let go of things, it's important to me to get it to a place where it doesn't go to waste. I can't just take it to the dump. The other reasons don't really resonate with me, but I'm sure they do for other people.

 

I'm very much in the but I might need it later category.  For me it's not fear of waste per say but my frugal nature of having to respend the money if it turns out I need it.  I've been in the situation enough times where we simply couldn't afford a needed item and I'm always somewhat fearful to end up in that spot again. Once I decide to let something go, I don't care if it goes to someone else or goodwill or the dump, whatever is the quickest means of disposal is just fine in my book.

[cjzimmer1]

What are the 4 daily habits? Run the dishwasher every night and ?

I think it was declutter bathroom, wipe down the bathroom and a five minute pick-up (if I'm remembering correctly).

[Laurie4b]

https://www.prevention.com/weight-loss/organize-kitchen-for-weight-loss/slide/8

 

Organizing your kitchen for weight loss

[Angie in VA]

What are the 4 daily habits? Run the dishwasher every night and ?

 

 

I think it was declutter bathroom, wipe down the bathroom and a five minute pick-up (if I'm remembering correctly).

 

 

I think that's right. I know it's something in the bathroom. Telling that I don't know. 

 

I've been working a lot of hours this week which is great for our bank account, but decluttering has stopped. I haven't listened to any ASCC podcasts in days, but I have been keeping the kitchen clean and tidy, so that's something.

[Laurie4b]

I am trying to write a new post, but something weird is happening. The bar across the top is all greyed out and I can't use any of the options like color or bolding or emojis And as I'm typing everything stays on one line (I know when I post it will be in a paragraph, but as I am writing it just disappears to the left.) Anyone know what is up?

Edited January 19, 2018 by Laurie4b

[OneStepAtATime]

Cleaned out the spice rack.  Some stuff was definitely expired but I found a few things that I had forgotten I had and they are still usable.  I reorganized so I can see what I have better and types of things are now grouped together.   Yeah!  Took very little time in the end but I had been putting it off for ages.  Based on posts here I decided to work on it while I was cooking.  Thanks WTM.  My spice rack is usable again.  :)

[cjzimmer1]

I finished the kitchen cabinets this week with the exception of the one over the fridge since I didn't feel like getting a hair to crawl up there.  I also still need to do the kickplates but didn't feel like laying on the floor to get those either.  I got the front of the cabinets in the bathrooms and the doors but I still need to clean out the grove where the raised edge meets the panel.  Dust likes to collect there and over time it gets so thick the only way to get it out is to scrape it out with a knife (which I forgot to take in with me when I was washing them down).  I've also started wiping down the walls in the kitchen.  I tend to view that as a big project that should all be done at once, except I never do it all at once because my arms gets tired before I finish the job.  So I'm using my microwave minutes to wash a small section each day.  

 

Our church is hosting a tournament for 200 people tomorrow and I'm doing all the cooking so I haven't gotten much real cleaning done this week but I'm trying to taking advantage of the small bits of time and at least work towards something. 

[MrsRobinson]

I've been reading but not posting lately. I've been super unmotivated. The task just seems overwhelming. It feels like I'll never get through the whole house with decluttering and simplifying.

 

Add to that feeling, the strong possibility that we will be significantly downsizing to a much smaller house this summer. I'm looking for a work from home job that has hours that will work with homeschooling to prevent that from happening but I feel like I need to mentally prepare myself for downsizing anyway. Knowing the local market, our new price range means no school room (we have a HUGE school room now with lots of hands on learning things everywhere and we use it for hours every day) and no garage (our garage houses tons of tools, a workbench, the riding mower, lawn and garden supplies, a "mud room" area for coats, jackets, hats, gloves, shoes, bins of outside toys, bikes and kayaks hanging from the ceiling, the deep freezer, bins with camping gear, pool toys, and more... where will it all go?! :confused1: ).  

 

So I'm unmotivated because I feel like at the rate I am going, I'll never get it all done or if I get past that, then I think, "well I might as well get rid of everything, because we will have room for nothing if we move. But I don't want to move so I'm not going to do anything." Awesome, right?  :unsure:

Edited January 19, 2018 by MrsRobinson

[Pen]

The 4 things are, as I understand it, supposed to be able to vary according to personal needs (such as in if dishes are not a problem in one's own life, choose something else). ASCC's 4 are:

 

Do the dishes. (whether with dishwasher or not) (includes putting them away which can be a separate step in morning)

Sweep the kitchen.

Check for clutter in bathroom.

5 minutes on _______   (cleaning, decluttering???)

 

[Cosmos]

The 4 things are, as I understand it, supposed to be able to vary according to personal needs (such as in if dishes are not a problem in one's own life, choose something else). ASCC's 4 are:

 

Do the dishes. (whether with dishwasher or not) (includes putting them away which can be a separate step in morning)

Sweep the kitchen.

Check for clutter in bathroom.

5 minutes on _______   (cleaning, decluttering???)

 

The bathroom thing is interesting to me. I would say that's the one place we DON'T regularly accumulate clutter. Everything has a spot and people generally put things back where they belong. Everywhere else in the house, we do get clutter --

 

Kitchen -- mail, books, scraps of paper, groceries not yet put away, etc.

Living room -- books, magazines, papers, projects

Bedroom -- clothes, books

 

But the bathroom? Occasionally a hair product or a hair pin is left on the counter but that's about it.