365 Less Things

Reducing our stuff one day at a time.

Mini Mission Monday ~ Some Alphabet Decluttering

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mini-logoMini 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.

It seems like it has been a while since we had a set of good old mini missions based on something as simple as the alphabet. So this week we shall declutter some items that begin with six different letters. I’ll try to pick letters that are very common so that we can all find plenty of items to let go. The letter doesn’t have to be the initial of the items itself, it could be of the colour, the material it is made from, or any feature of the item. This will make it even easier to find an item to suit. So good luck and happy decluttering.

Monday – Declutter an items relating to the letter S.

Tuesday - Declutter an items relating to the letter T.

Wednesday - Declutter an items relating to the letter G

Thursday - Declutter an items relating to the letter R.

Friday - Declutter an items relating to the letter L.

Saturday - Declutter an items relating to the letter A.

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.

Random Acts of Miscellaneous Kindness

(Little thoughtful acts for no reason but to make a complete strangers life a little easier.)

Straighten up a few items on a shelf while shopping. It will only save a few seconds in a store employees day but it is amazing what you can achieve in a few seconds. I do this by compulsion when I am in a store not so much to be deliberately helpful but because after working in retail for so long I just can’t help myself.

Comments

  1. I like the alphabet missions Colleen. Since I am living with the basics I have little to declutter. I am planning to declutter two chairs I was given. Everyone thinks they are too low to be comfortable. The house sold yesterday. I will be moving out at the end of April. I am praying a place will open up at Glencroft so I won’t have to move twice.

    The random act idea is good. I do this often. Thursday I cleaned up the floor in one of the Easter aisles at Wal-Mart. I don’t understand this idea of leaving things a mess.

    • That’s amazing, Deb J. Congratulations on the house sale. I hope the apartment opens up for you soon.

        • Deb, I’m so happy you sold your house so quickly!! I will agree with you in prayer for Glencroft to open up!

          I have apparently been confused until fairly recently reading about you and your mom. I thought you were already living in an apt type scenario, but that you and your Mom just wanted separate apts. Maybe I’ve missed some comments, but has your Mom already moved to her apt, and is it somewhere besides Glencroft?

          • Brenda, thanks for your prayers. That means a great deal to us. We have been living in our home we bought when we moved here to Arizona. Unfortunately, even though the yard is covered in decorative rock it still gets bunches of weeds and we have 6 fruit trees, 8 rose bushes, 2 rosemary, 1 bougainvillea, and 5 Texas sage to keep up with. It’s just gotten to be too much for either of us to take care of. So we decided to move into retirement living apartments. After living together the 23 years since my father died it is quite an adjustment for Mom to have to not live with me. She has never lived alone. She has already moved into Glencroft and I will as soon as an apartment opens up. You have to put your name on a waiting list and then wait 18 months to 2 years for your name to reach the top of the list.

    • Deb J.,
      So excited for you and your upcoming move. Since everything has been going as planned, I see no reason why your apartment won’t be available when it is time for you to move. Enjoy the last of the process 🙂

    • Hi Deb, I saw on Facebook that your house was sold and left a big Woohoo! I am so pleased for you. Got my fingers crossed for you that a place opens up soon for you so you don’t have to move twice. If you know someone with an RV you should see if you can borrow that and just put your stuff in storage until the time is right.

      • Thanks Colleen. I saw that you left a reply on FB. Yes, I have friends with an RV and am planning to talk to them if I need a temp place to live.

  2. Woohoo! Your house wasn’t on the market long. All the decluttering paid off.
    Hope there’s an opening soon. Will keep you in my prayers.

  4. I got so excited about Deb J’s house selling that I forgot to say another great post.
    Think I only have 2 letters this week that I can fulfill.
    Fri-L
    Liquid eyeliner to granddaughter
    Mon-S
    Soil into flower & garden beds. Know it’s a bit of a stretch, but the best I could do. Lol

    • Oh Calla, I am sure you can use your imagination and come up with something for all the other days. Look at Nicole’s comment she is certainly using hers.

      • Ok, here’s what I came up with
        T- tan scrub ball (new/unused)
        G- gift cards to local coffee shop (2)
        R- wRist wallets (3)
        A-assorted Easter candy

        Thanks for the nudge Colleen

  5. I was just in Aldi and the couple in front of me were few cents short on their payment, they went to put an item back and the manager of the store, who was on the checkout, told them not to worry.
    I think they appreciated the gesture, I know I enjoyed seeing it.
    Cheers

    • Colleen and Wendy F.,
      I love stories like this. It reminds us that we are all in this together and restores our faith in humanity. I also believe that any 365’er would have stepped up to the plate in this circumstance.

  6. Hi, Colleen. I always enjoy the alphabet and colour themes for the mini missions. I have 2 CDs for today – ‘S’ for songs.

  7. I love these alphabet missions –
    Monday S … S-tretched out underwear 3 bras, 2 briefs (bin) . I usually keep these for travel, to toss as I go along. I don’t have any travel planned for this year, so out they go.
    Tuesday T … T-oo big pair of jeans. (donation bag) I had kept these, in case I “needed” them again. I decided not to need them ever again and let someone else enjoy fitting into my fat jeans.

    Just did Thursday R too … I had some R-ed, feather textured knitting yarn that I had intended for ages to make some padded coat hangers with, for delicate garments. On the weekend I tried to knit with it, but found it uncomfortable and hard on my hands. Tried again this morning and decided no thanks. Into the donation bag it went, along with 7 more balls in other colours of the same stuff. Good riddance!

    Need to think hard on the other letters.

    • Well done Stephanie, I have already used your example for S and threw out a pair of briefs last night. They weren’t stretched out but the cut never covered my ample bottom very well. I have a bottom that is difficult to find a style that suits.

      • As someone with a more than ample bottom, may I recommend some that I found at Target (in Western Australia) recently. “Infused with aloe vera” high cut briefs. They are not that high cut, sit under the navel but not too far under, come in lots of colours, and have lots of bottom coverage. Love!
        There are other shapes in this same sort (like bikini), so you need to check when choosing.

  8. I’m going to take credit for some items I donated last week, since otherwise they would “fall through the cracks”. Hope I won’t be in too much trouble for the creative liberties I took haha:

    MON – S – 2 scarves, several sweaters, skirts
    TUE – T – three ring binder, thread
    WED – G – green purse
    THUR – R – repository for jackets (board with knobs to hang things from)
    FRI – L – long “pLeather” coat
    SAT – A – assorted yarn with basket

    Thank you for the fun missions 🙂 🙂 🙂

    • Ohhhh! So much trouble. Actually since you have enough stuff on your list for two weeks worth of mimi missions I will let you off this time. Now don’t let it happen again. 😉
      Looking at what everyone is decluttering make me want to recall what I have sent out the door this week. Now let me think.
      Beads, briefs, paper, ribbon, rags, embellishments, pieces of timber, small outdoor table, old garden pot, posters, and I am sure there is more. They were mostly use it up challenges but they are a favourite of mine so I was happy.

  10. I have another one that relates to THUR – R – refrigerated condiments. We had to get a new door shelf for our fridge, so we had a bunch of condiments on the regular shelves for a week. The new door shelf came today, so I asked my husband to look at the condiments before putting them on the new shelf and he got rid of 5!!! Happy dance 🙂

    • Peggy – good for you! I am ‘cateringly challenged’ but I have a friend who is a chef and she gives me lots of good advice. She says to put a picture up at the back of the fridge and if you can’t see the picture, the fridge is too full. If the fridge is too full, its more likely to hide food that will get wasted. She also taught me to wipe out/clean my fridge once a week before going grocery shopping, so what is still good can be incorporated into the menu. However, the door shelves area have filled up lately, mainly because my husband has been helping with the grocery shopping and he sneaks sauces and dressings into the trolley. I will investigate these tonight!

    • Oh yes, condiments sure can build up in there. Especially when trying new recipes. I am making lasagne on Sunday so I might try to use up a few things in that. Some jalapeños would surely make it a bit more interesting.

  11. Here’s what I have for ‘G’ today, Colleen:

    A souvenir tee from San Francisco, also known as The (G)olden (G)ate City. The tee was a (g)ift.