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.
How many times have you kept something because you thought you might need it someday. Have you ever stopped to think maybe you never needed it in the first place. If it is an item that you might only need someday then chances are, if it is an item that only makes a job easier but you could manage without it ,then it isn’t worth the space it is taking up. So lets see what we can find this week that you really won’t need someday.
Monday – Declutter a kitchen gadget that you use rarely but could easily manage without.
Tuesday – Declutter a tool from the garage or shed that is use too rarely to allow to clutter up the space.
Wednesday – Declutter an item of clothing that is used rarely if ever.
Thursday – Declutter excess sheet and towels that would only be needed should you house a much larger number of people than maybe even your house would allow comfortably.
Friday – Declutter crockery and cutlery that would only be required under the same circumstances as the Thursday mission.
Saturday – Declutter medication from your cabinet that you bought to have on hand when you needed them but now are out of date.
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
Eco Tip for the Day
It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow
Thanks to previous mini missions only have two days I need to do. Previously I decluttered kitchen, sheets (only have one set per bed) & towels (only have 6), cutlery ( got rid of good silver & extra set of stainless steel) & all out of date over the counter meds.
I need to work on Tuesday garage challenge, which I have been working on currently. Wednesday’s clothing challenge, i know I have at least one shirt to get rid of. It’s amazing to me that I still find clothing items since I got of half my clothing a few months ago.
I have to say thanks to Colleen & the 365 Community for the great ideas & keeping me on track. I didn’t realize how much progress I had made until I saw that all the mini missions were taken care of but two days. YAY!
Hi Calla, I am going to have to get imaginative next week to see if I can keep you busy all week.
Colleen, “I might need it some day” is Mom’s reason for keeping most things. Either that or “I plan to do something with that when I get time.” She is beginning to admit that someday is not coming and she will never have the time. Now if I can just get her to follow through.
Mon–a bunch of OLD cupcake pans.
Tues–Since we are moving and we will have maintenance people to do the majority of repairs, I plan to declutter some of the tools and gadgets we will no longer need.
Wed–Can’t think of any clothing I don’t use.
Thurs–the only extra towels we have are ones we plan to use for packing when we move.
Fri–Crokery & cutlery we took care of about a year ago. WooHoo!!
Sat–We do a regular clean out of the medications.
Looks like we are doing well with this one.
Hi Deb, perhaps you could amuse us next week by listing the thing for the mission that you would like to get rid of but your mom won’t allow it. I am sure you will have something for every day then. Although you do have a couple covered this week. Actually perhaps you should write next week’s mini mission for me based on what you would like to get rid of.
I will see what I can do and get it to you. Should be interesting.
I really haven’t got much done lately as my spare time lately has been taken up with my younger daughter applying to Universities, Halls of Residence, scholarships etc.
However, some items finally sold on Trademe last week that were kinda holding up progress on the upstairs storage room at work, so hopefully I can do some more work up there soon. I have talked my husband into selling an old piece of machinery that is up there also, now I just need to ‘encourage him on a regular basis’ to actually do something about it.
Hi Moni, sometimes other things have to take precedence.
I am pleased you are having success with selling stuff from the upstairs area.
Was chatting to a friend who has a shed he wants to get organised as he has bits of timber and bottles of screws and tools to use for those ‘future’ projects. He admitted one project required a tool that he had , but he couldn’t find it so he went and bought a new one. After the project was finished he found the tool. This reminds me of the saying ‘ out of sight, out of mind’ imagine if everything we owned was displayed in clear view. No drawers, no deep closets, no sheds at the bottom of the garden . Everything would have a home on a shelf or a hook on the wall. That would be a decorating style worthy of Vogue magazine. Cheers
Hi Wendy F, I like the visual that comes to mind in response to your comment about everything having a home. No jumbled messes! I so want my house to be in that condition. It is not, because I have both daughters & my 2 grandchildren here. My areas look pretty good (except kitchen… younger daughter brings in lots of gadgets). I want every area to look as you described!!!
Actually, I believe, a very famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright believed that all things, as you said, should be out on display. He preferred not building closed storage into houses.
Oh, the dreaded “some day” or “just in case”. It is magical thinking for most people. I suggest to everyone that I have helped to declutter to put all of the some day’s and just in case items in boxes stacked in a very visible area of their home. If they have already made the decision to put the item in the box, they are 1/2 way there. It is amazing how no one wants to look at this stuff when it is visible in their space. Everyone I know that has done this, eliminates these boxes rather quickly. When I have asked what was in the boxes, they can’t even remember.
Hi Kimberley, I dare say they would get over those boxes being in the way pretty quickly.
I have been very busy donating items and tossing some that were not worthy of donation. I took 2 trips to donate this week and am trying desperately to get 2 spare rooms in order. My 41 year old daughter moved out, hence I now have more space but at the same time am having diffictulty visualizing how I want to use the rooms without spending $$. For now I’ll just keep decluttering and maybe I’ll be inspired. I just want to be sure I don’t just settle and keep my focus. I also took some things to my niece, since she had more use than I did.
Funny thing is that I always thought my 1350 sq. ft. house was on the small side but things are really opening up now. We are 3 living in this house….sure wish it was 1 floor instead of 3!
Hi Anna, I agree just keep decluttering for now. By the time you get through that you might have acquired a more minimalist approach to decorating and will save your money.
Colleen,
I am already at that point. Unfortunately, my husband is not. He is very against me donating anymore furniture, even a few small tables my daughter left behind. I will wait and see if I can repurpose elsewhere. If not I’m sure I can sneak them out unnoticed at a later date. The problem is I am trying hard to stay away from shopping, as I realize now that it was always a form of entertainment for me. We went to a show on Thursday and I wouldn’t even walk in the gift shop. Not after donating all those useless kinds of knickknacks.
I must admit that this is one of the main reasons I keep things.
I continue to have at least one item out of the house per week – at this pase I will probably never finish, however I have to start somewhere.
Nothing for me this week, but I’m amending Wendy F’s good idea. I am opening all my cupboards and closet doors and asking myself “really?” when I might see a questionable item. Also, asking myself “is is organized functionally based on use ?” Lastly, is it arranged in manner pretty enough to be viewed? For me, that is important.
Last night while cleaning up after dinner I decided to toss a square non-stick skillet. It was pretty old and the teflon was kind of gummed up from using non stick sprays over the years. I asked myself, do I really need it? Do I already have something I can use? Can I better utilize this space? With these questions, out it went!
Monday – kitchen gadget: coffee grinder
Tuesday – a tool from the garage or shed: not my stuff
Wednesday – an item of clothing that is used rarely if ever: sweater, capris, necklace + I took approximately 20 items to thrift shop last week
Thursday – excess sheet and towels: I keep these all in one chest because we plan to downsize and will need them for packing
Friday – crockery and cutlery: did this already this year…I have some more, but I’m not ready yet
Saturday – medication: did this twice this year already
I have some things I’m hung up on, actually almost everything right now. I’m not sure why. I found a beautiful coffee and tea service that I made at a ceramic shop years ago in a drawer in our garage. When I first saw it, my thought was: oh, yay! I can declutter this. Second thought: oh, this is really pretty, I might want to keep just the teapot or just the coffee pot. I cleaned up the teapot and found a place for it. I think I’m going to donate the rest without cleaning it up. I also found some silver plate items that I’m ready to declutter. These need to be sold and I’m not into the hassle of that.
Not sure yet what I’ll do. I found an old mandolin that I bought at a garage sale years ago, thought I had already decluttered it. At the time I bought a beginner’s instruction book and learned to play one song. Then I put it away. Last week I took it out to declutter. Then I thought: I would LOVE to be able to play this. My second thought: but I wouldn’t love to spend the time learning. My cousin is in town this week. She plays guitar and would love to learn the mandolin. She would get new strings, tune it and learn. I would probably just leave it laying around for awhile. Perfect, huh? I’m really having a hard time letting it go. Not happy that it’s so hard right now…a learning curve I’m sure.
I also realized that I have a “collection.” I thought I was not a collector. It’s teapots. I have 4. I would call that a collection.
I’m still decluttering though some of it is hard. Guess I just need to keep on with the easier stuff and wait til I’m ready on some of the other.
My daughter of “Box Mountain” fame decided to go through her kids shoes and clothing… all on her own!!! I am not allowed to call it “decluttering” because she “hates decluttering” LOL. There is more than one bin worth of stuff to donate, yippee! I think she also went through her toiletries, because I have seen some of those things being used or in the trash. Will have to ask her later. For now, happy dance!!! 🙂
I’ve been working on the garage. Power washed floors yesterday. Found some things to get rid of. Yay!
Flat edged shovel & hoe, neither I have used in 10 years.
Long handle extension for paint roller
A worn out broom that needs to go in the trash
Large plastic trash can.
Still have the shelves to go through, expect to find more items in that process.