s/o Decluttering challenge - maintenance is my problem!

[Faithr]

I go on decluttering binges several times a year but I never get to the bottom of things and my major problem, I realize, is that we all have terrible habits which create the clutter problem to begin with. So I'll declutter something and then right away more clutter takes its place.

 

We have too much stuff!

 

We bring way too much stuff into the house but don't get things out as often as we should.

 

Often I'll bag up stuff to get out of the house but won't be able to get it to Good Will or Salvation Army for a while (that's an extra trip and we are busy!) and then somehow it gets mixed back into the other clutter again.

 

We don't have a place to put lots of things we do have.

 

We don't put things away as a result.

 

Even if we do have a place to keep something we often forget that we do. We then go buy more of whatever it is we wanted but couldn't find because we couldn't recall where we put it!

 

Or if we do remember where we put it, we are all in the bad habit of leaving stuff out where it clutters up things and then gets mixed in with other stuff or gets scattered all over the house.

 

Or different people will put things in different places thinking they are putting them away correctly but really they are not.

 

What do you do when the whole family has bad habits and no common sense for these things?

 

I need to learn maintenance skills so that I can keep clutter at bay.

 

What do you do?

 

I am going to try to re-instill the habit of spending 20 minutes each evening tidying up. I used to be better at this but when the kids got older and we starting being out more in the evening it fell by the wayside. Anyway, that is the babystep I hope to focus on this week.

 

Any thoughts, ideas, commiseration, advice?

[Melinda in VT]

Check out the book The House that Cleans Itself. It does a great job of helping you think through why you have a hard time putting stuff away and helps you organize your house to work with your natural tendencies. Very helpful.

[Stacia]

I like the book "It's All Too Much". (See if your library has it so you don't add more clutter, lol!) It makes you think about the purposes for your spaces, then encourages you to clean them out so that they serve their purpose. By doing so, maintenance becomes easier because you have a defined area for certain things as well as space to put those things away.

 

Anyway, yes, I can commiserate. It seems that I fight a constant battle against clutter here. The biggest thing that helps is to get rid of enough stuff so that the remainder of what you have actually fits into the space. For example, I used to hate putting away laundry (because it was too much work to find space to put the clean stuff away). When we cleaned out closets & drawers, it made it so much easier & nicer when putting away laundry.

 

My dh hates clutter. So, it helps me that's he's willing to take all the stuff for donation. As soon as I bag stuff up, he puts it in his car & drops it off w/in the week. If you can't manage to get it to a donation place, make some calls. Many organizations will come by & pick it up. All you need to do is call, tell them the day to stop by, & make sure your stuff is sitting outside on your porch or in your driveway. Definitely a big help when trying to move stuff out w/out adding extra errands to your day.

[Laurie4b]

I feel your pain. Flylady.net is helpful to me. I don't like to get the email reminders, but you might. Her system is helpful.

 

Another thing I've done is to hire someone to help me with decluttering and pay that person to get the stuff to Salvation Army, etc, because I tend to do the same thing and not get the stuff outtahere.

[Faithr]

Yippee It's All Too Much is on the Kindle. I got a Kindle for Christmas and part of the reason is that we are drowning in books! Dh doesn't even like me to go to the library because in all the clutter books get lost and then overdue. He maintains that it is cheaper to buy the book, so that adds to the clutter. So the Kindle is my way out of this! My darling, wonderful, kind, hardworking, sweetheart of a dh is worse than I am when it comes to clutter!!!! But he does try and he understands the problem. It is kind of like the blind leading the blind however!

 

Thanks for your input though. I appreciate it.

[Tammyla]

I found the Flylady book at the library and realized it/home organization and cleaning was never going to be finished.

 

I've experienced how 15 little minutes a day of focused work can produce wonders by the end of the week, month, year. Now that winter has set in and the holiday messes are behind me, I need to once again do another big declutter top to bottom. It will take lots of little bits of time here and there, and my expectation/plan is to be done by spring. This is now my January routine.

 

 

 

Enlist help or shove two bags in their hands and tell them to fill one with trash and the other with donations. Put the bags or boxes directly into your van, truck car and drop them off the next time you leave the house.

[Ellie]

The Sidetracked Home Executives (which is where the Flylady got her start).

[cdrumm4448]

Enlist help or shove two bags in their hands

 

That made me laugh out loud. Only a mom would understand.

[Scuff]

When I box up something, I immediately put it in the back of the van. Then, it's in the way when I go grocery shopping. Very annoying. So, if it doesn't get done any other time, it gets taken then. That's how I force myself to get stuff out. Some charities will pickup, also.

[Tammyla]

My library now has a copy of this, and I can't wait to check it out.

 

The Sidetracked Home Executives (which is where the Flylady got her start).

 

That made me laugh out loud. Only a mom would understand.

 

It can work, I even give them an odd number like 17 or 23 items per bag. It gives them concrete directions and they can do it. Countless times I've answered questions like, does a stack of paper count as one item or can I count each of them.:glare: My answer is always the same...any way you like, just don't stop until you fill the bags.:D

 

Now they're older and just accept the bags, hoping I won't come in to help.

[hornblower]

There's another trick to this which I learned when we were living in a small condo:

 

-every time you bring home a non-consumable, non-perishable item, an item of similar volume or greater has to be put into the give-away box. If the house is full already, you can't be adding to it. It can be quite fun to 'trade' stuff like this.

 

-and yeah, have a permanent bin/box in the car or near the car where you put things which need to go to charity. If you want to, you can set up another box for things which you think you can sell on craigslist etc. rather than giving away.

 

I've gotten awful about clutter since we moved here because we have a fully finished basement which we don't use for anything except storing crap. This year, I'm going to clear all that stuff out.

[The Governess]

When I find things that I want to get rid of, I bag them up and immediately put them in the car.

 

After Christmas and birthdays, etc. the girls have to pick what old toys they will get rid of to make room for the new.

 

Any time I come across some too-small or too-worn clothes while I am folding laundry I immediately bag them. I have designated people that these hand-me-downs go to right away.

 

I throw out unwanted mail as soon as I bring it in the house.

 

I do what you are trying to start doing again: Spend 20-30 minutes each night straightening up and putting things away. Dh puts the girls to bed while I clean up dinner and get things tidy again. This system works really well for us. You're right that it is hard when you are away at night, though! That throws everything off for me, too.

 

I have a decluttering obsession, which helps immensely. I can't seem to clean a room without trying to remove some of its contents permanently. :tongue_smilie:

[GaHadley]

one of my (many :lol:) problems is that we don't actually have a goodwill or similar place in our town. the nearest one is 30 miles away, and I avoid the big city for the most part.

 

also, clutter breeds around here! My dh is amazed that I can throw away half a dozen bags of trash in a day and still we have so much junk!I need to try to get rid of 20 things a day for 2010 :)

[Peela]

I used Flylady for years but kind of wing it nowadays. I recommend her as a good place to start to get yourself some better habits, a bit at a time.

I suggest you keep decluttering though- more often than several times a year. Just making decluttering a regular habit has made a big difference here. When I declutter an area, I don't want it looking messy again in 5 minutes, so it helps me get my act together to keep things tidy...one thing just follows on from another. But without the dectluttering, I cant see my way clear to get a tidy space anywhere so I am unmotivated and overwhelmed. Regular and ongoing decluttering is the key for me. Its amazing how good I can feel just getting a drawer or a shelf or table surface clear of clutter.

[kalanamak]

Often I'll bag up stuff to get out of the house but won't be able to get it to Good Will or Salvation Army for a while (that's an extra trip and we are busy!) and then somehow it gets mixed back into the other clutter again.

 

 

 

Bag up in drawstring kitchen plastic bags and double knot. Stow in trunk with cheery reminders ("If you are out that way, drop off the 3 sacks in the trunk....")

[hsmomof2boys]

I am with you on this one. I find it easy to bring new things home, hard to part with the old. I find that scheduling a pickup from a local thrift store helps. I schedule it for a few days out and it really motivates me. I keep it in the garage, and I ask them to knock on my door and I open the garage!

[Faithr]

Melinda in VT, I want to thank you! I've been reading The House That Cleans Itself and it is THE best book I've ever read on my housekeeping problems. The author could have been writing directly to me!!! I've tried Flylady and never could really get it to work but this book seems so on target with my weaknesses and how I can realistically deal with them. So thank you so much for your suggestion. You don't know how much it means to me!