365 Less Things

Reducing our stuff one day at a time.

Declutter With Friends: Let the games begin! Part 2

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The following post was published previously however it has reached it’s comment capacity. As there are still readers who are enjoying participating Nicole has come up with solution of republishing it so the game can continue. Maybe reposting will also entice a few more players. Enjoy!

A guest post by: Nicole V

Do you know the word game in which a player begins with a word in a particular category (countries or cities, for instance), with subsequent players taking turns to say a new word that begins with the final letter of the previous word? Once a word has been given, it cannot be repeated and any player who is unable to come up with a word is out of the game. It is usually referred to as the ‘Last and First’, ‘Last Letter Game’ or ‘Last Letter Word Chain’ although I’m sure there must be other names for it. Well, I was thinking that it might be fun for us 365ers to try out something similar while decluttering, but I wanted to make it a more challenging game, one involving quick thinking and action and one in which anyone can come in at any time and make a quick play in real-time. I decided to throw down the decluttering gauntlet and wait to see who is the fastest 365er to take up the challenge. Here’s what I came up with:

1. I begin by decluttering three forks from a drawer.

2. Whoever is fast enough then continues the game by quickly thinking of and finding an item to declutter from any one category – either number or item or place – to play in. This could be eitherthree items (but not forks) or an item beginning with the letter ‘k’ or ‘s’ (the second last or last letter of forks*) or any number of anything (that is not a fork) from any drawer. If you select the number category, you have to declutter identical items. So, if Colleen is the quickest player who is able to continue the game, she could then either declutter three bowls or one (or any number) kettle orspoon or a non-fork item from any drawer in her home. She will then update the rest of us in the online comment thread.

*In the case of plural nouns, you can use either the last or second last letter of the word to continue under the item category – in the case of the forks, this would mean that the next item can begin with the letter ‘s’ or ‘k’. Thank you, Colleen, for your input regarding this.

3. The game continues with any 365er who is quick to identify something to declutter and comment about. There is no need for the item to leave your home immediately, you just need to identify it and earmark it for decluttering (whether you donate, recycle, shred, etc) as soon as possible. But you have to be quick on the draw as the categories will keep changing depending on how fast another 365er declutters something and updates the rest of us about it. If another 365er has read the latest update and quickly decluttered something and updated the online comment thread before you were able to list your item, you’ll have to either:

(a) Recategorize your item under one of the other two categories, if possible, or

(b) Keep that item and jump in on another round or

(c) Quickly look for another suitable item that relates to the current round and play it before someone else does.

4. To keep it interesting, items cannot be repeated in consecutive turns – if someone declutters shoes, the next person cannot declutter shoes as well (and must find another item that begins with the letter ‘e’ or ‘s’) but the person after that can. The number of items decluttered and the place or room that the item was decluttered from can, of course, be repeated in consecutive turns.

5. Be as creative and imaginative as you can possibly be (or get away with!) regarding the categories and have fun!

So, with apologies to Effie Trinket, all that’s left is for me to say: “Happy Decluttering Games and may the odds be ever in your favour!”

Comments

  4. (1) more bottle of lotion from shelf

    I’m doing a use-it-up on lotions so I may find even more. This one was rancid, so it went in the trash.

  5. (1) lotion from bathroom (also rancid, I’m kinda glad…I didn’t like these anyway)

  17. 6 language books from (shelf)
    1 (s)hower head from basement
    (1) Pac-Man TV game from drawer
    4 small whiteboards from (drawer)

  21. (1) long sleeved (t)ee from closet
    (1) (e)ye serum from shelf
    (1) pair of houseshoes from closet (shelf)
    (1) hair gel from (shelf)
    2 hair picks from (shelf)

  33. (1) basket with silk flowers from guest bathroom
    (1) bar of (s)oap from guest (bathroom)
    (1) Anne Geddes (p)icture from guest (bathroom)

    Yay! 2 triples!! I hope I did them right. Most times when we go out of town, I come home and try to declutter our guest room and bath a little more because I found it uncomfortable staying where there’s not enough room for my stuff because my hostess had her guest room so beautifully decorated.

    • Good job, Deanna! I don’t mean to sound like an ungrateful guest, but it’s always nice to have space to be able to lay a few things out – I do understand what you mean about the guest room. It’s also much easier to relax in a room that doesn’t have stuff all over the place.

  38. 1 Arbonne massage oil from closet (shelf)

    This one was hard for me. They make a fragrance called Unwind which I love. I’ve used the Unwind body mist for a lot of years as my perfume. I’m almost out, so I was planning to use the massage oil in the same fragrance…heavier but with more staying power. It was rancid! I was very upset briefly, then I started wondering how long I’ve actually had it…a lot of years! I got over it quickly when I started trying to remember why I didn’t use it. Maybe too heavy for my taste?

    • (1) stack of hanging folders from (closet shelf)
      (1) bag of folder tabs from desk drawer

      It is amazing how many things we have that we will never use!

        • I try to use different sorts of descriptions while playing this game, as I’ve gotten the system’s “duplicate comment” too many times. So I use “bits and bobs”, “bits and pieces” “odds and ends”, “miscellaneous items”, “assorted items”, etc, and try to describe things in different ways.

  44. (3) plastic containers from freezer
    (3) (s)lices of apple pie from (freezer)

    Bringing pie slices (in containers) to work to be eaten by coworkers.

  46. (3) houseshoes from closet

    I broke my big toe a couple of days ago…caught it on a chest and fell. It has a cut all the way across the top. There was lots of blood. After checking it out, I stuck it back in my houseshoe to catch the blood. I didn’t know it was an arterial bleed, and it filled up my houseshoe…one houseshoe in the trash. The other two are a pair of shapeless ones that I could cut the toe out of and wear on my injured foot to keep it warmer and protect it a bit. Those 2 will go in the trash as soon as my toe is healed a bit more.

  49. 2 packs modelling clay from (cabinet)
    12 assorted small items from (cabinet)
    1 small paper bag of craft items from (cabinet)

  50. (1) DirecTV account from our budget

    When I posted about this about a year ago, we reduced our plan but weren’t ready to let it go entirely. Now it’s gone…$80 a month more in our budget now…yay!