Mini Mission Monday is about finding ten minutes a day to declutter. To make it easy for you, each Monday I set seven declutter missions, one for each day of the week for you to follow. It takes the guess work out of decluttering and makes it easy and “fun” for you to achieve some quick decluttering.
Most clutter is annoying, mostly in a subtle way that is just niggling in the background. However some clutter is more annoying. So let us work on that more annoying clutter today. Hopefully in the attempt we will all identify some items that we will feel much better for getting rid of. So lets begin.
Monday – Declutter some items from an overcrowded area. Perhaps the utensil drawer, office desk drawer, bathroom cabinet, sock drawer, linen closet… . Being about to use these areas with the hassle of overflow will make your life that little more pleasant.
Tuesday – Declutter an item that is annoying because you just don’t like it. Perhaps an unwanted gift, something visually unappealing, or just something you lost interest in a long time ago.
Wednesday – Declutter something that is annoyingly inefficient, such as any items that don’t work properly or doesn’t do a good job of what it’s purpose is. Perhaps a kitchen gadget that isn’t time saving, an electronic item that has lost some of its function…
Thursday – Declutter an item of clothing that is annoyingly ill fitting.
Friday – Declutter something that may be causing you, or someone else in the household an allergy problem. Dust collectors would be a prime target for this mini mission, such as trinkets, fabric décor items, old rugs, excessive cushions…
Saturday – Declutter something left behind by a previous member of the household. Check if they want it back and give them a deadline as to when it needs to be collected or out it goes.
Sunday - Sunday is reserved for contemplating one particular item, of your choice that is proving difficult for you to declutter. Whether that be for sentimental reasons, practical reasons, because the task is laborious or simply unpleasant, or because the items removal requires the cooperation of another person. That last category may mean that the item belongs to someone else who has to give their approval, it could also mean there is a joint decision to be made or it could mean that the task of removing it requires assistance from someone else. There is no need to act on this contemplation immediately, it is more about formulating a plan to act upon or simply making a decision one way or another.
Good luck and happy decluttering
Random Acts of Miscellaneous Kindness
(Little thoughtful acts for no reason but to make a complete strangers life a little easier.)
Monday is totally done! We just emptied the pantry and put it back together due to it having nearly reached being unusable. There is now a box of “Use it up we aren’t replacing it!” (which we are actually making good progress on). Got rid of canning jar rings as I’d amassed way more than I need. We threw out the few things that were past date (less than we’d been afraid of) and moved some things to more logical homes. It’s a step-in-pantry again instead of a lean-over-stuff-and-hope-it-doesn’t-fall-on-you-pantry! I think it’ll actually stay nice as well, due to the structural changes we made in how it was set up and ejecting stuff that shouldn’t have been in there.
Friday will be a dust mask that I messed up and kept around after using and used again and it gave me a multi-day massive allergy attack. I don’t know where I took it off because I was feeling so miserable but as soon as I find it it’s going in the trash.
Glad to hear you have identified a couple of items for this weeks mission. Well done Kayote.
Good ones Colleen. Well, I did the opposite of declutter. I bought two chairs and an end table for my new apartment. Of course, when you realise that the only thing I had in my living room was my recliner, a fold up side table and my craft table then you might understand. Now I can have visitors. I have one more thing to buy and then I will have a bunch of stuff I can put away where it belongs instead of having sacks of stuff still sitting in a closet floor. I also was able to declutter several plastic containers, some clothes, some organizational items we saved in case Mom needed them, and some extra electrical cords now that we no longer need to have some of the things that are provided here as part of the rent (life a super dandy wifi router, etc.). I’m happy.
There are always a few things that need purchasing when one moves to a new location. We just sold a couple of Ikea tub chairs that we have had since living in America. They fit but were in our bedroom in this house but they were really too big and filled two corners to capacity. Over time I found two secondhand chairs that I really liked that were smaller but can also be moved to the dining table when we have a bigger crowd for dinner. Now I have a project of upholstering one of the chairs when I stumble upon just the right fabric.
I have been looking for second hand chairs and couldn’t find anything I was willing to buy for the money they wanted. Then these went on a great sale so got them and spent less than I had seen any 2nd hand ones and these were in the color I wanted. I was super happy.
Well done.
Lots of good ideas here as usual! I had a fairly large load to drop off at Goodwill today which covered most of these categories. Two suits of my husband’s which no longer fit him, an air mattress which we haven’t used for years and which was taking up an annoying amount of space in the guest room closet, together with the machine to inflate it, which was one of those single-purpose items. I was so glad to see all those things go. The biggest relief however was getting rid of a porcelain doll which we had given my mother-in-law as a gift decades ago; she just loved it and always kept saying that it would eventually come to me so of course when the time came I felt obliged to take it even though dolls really aren’t my thing. It bothered me every time I saw it and finally this week I told my husband that I meant no disrespect but I just couldn’t stand it any more, especially those funny eyes it had, and he said he had never liked it anyway and wanted it gone as well. So that’s some very annoying things that have gone out of our lives this week!
That doll sounds like the perfect example of what this weeks mini missions are all about. Well done. And I am so glad that your husband was on board with that declutter.
Christine, I had to laugh about the porcelain doll! We bought one for my MIL over 20 years ago because she loves dolls. MIL re-gifted it to us a few years ago even though I do not like dolls. This toddler-sized doll moved with us and required it’s own large tub so it wouldn’t break a finger, etc. I posted my dilemma on 365 and you all helped me to send this creepy doll packing! She was one of the very few items that I have not donated or gifted. I got too much joy sending her down the garbage chute 15 stories. It was very therapeutic!
Claire, this made me laugh! Sometimes the garbage chute is the perfect method to dispose of these annoying things!
What great week of missions Colleen!
After years of cluttering I can say this week I don’t have anything! YAY!
Like Deb J I’m actually thinking about getting more chairs. Four wooden folding chairs so I have enough seating for the holidays. I have an empty closet to store them in when not being used. Even if I get them I still have to use every chair in house to have enough seating.
Hi Colleen,
I think I did Monday and Tuesday today! I donated a spring / fall jacket, loved it but a little small for me… and a blue velvet coat also loved but I felt guilty when I wore it because I have so many coats and I know there are people who don’t have any… Those would be Monday, too much in the coat closet 🙂
Tuesday would be the 3 small decor items that I was neutral about and some costume jewelry rings because even though I didn’t dislike those things, they weren’t adding anything to my life 🙂 I also donated a cheap shelving unit that no one was using 🙂
I recycled an expired inhaler (at a pharmacy) from a time I had bronchitis. I spoke with the pharmacist about how to declutter/recycle my BIG baggie of expired capsules & tablets of all sorts… He gave me a few options 🙂
Yesterday, I gave a co-worker a brace of ring sizers, I don’t even remember where it came from… Her son makes rings, so I thought he might use it… She thought he might, too 🙂
Hi Peggy, I recently had a large bottle of expired medicines and my pharmacist told me to take it to the city jail. Not the first place that would have come to my mind, but I went along there and I have to say it felt rather strange as there was so much security to get inside it, but sure enough they had a big bin where these items can be dropped off. I was glad to get rid of that bottle, and very glad to walk out of that jail!!