Hi again folks. The days keep slipping away from me while I have been spending them mostly not at home. This week should be different so I’ll hopefully have time to play catch up and maybe even post more often. Last week I managed to declutter a few things. Actually, as you can probably tell from the mini missions this week, I decluttered a lot of things, however they weren’t from my house. So I have been very busy decluttering one way or another. I certainly have inspired my daughter-in-law. She got so into declutterin in her daughter’s room that I though the poor kids was going to have to run around naked. Well, that may be a bit of an exageration because she still has enough underpants and socks to sink a battle ship so purhaps only half naked. Needless to say the charities will be doing well out of that room alone. Which reminds me, all that stuff is in the trunk of my car so I had better drop it off today.

But back to my decluttering. as I said above it has been a struggle to find the time but I am constantly on the lookout. I found a shirt that I got secondhand, I think for free from a friend, that I was going to alter but have now decided that the colour is too drab so out it goes. I also emptied some more of those spice containers that don’t work well and will be giving them to my friends Wendy F. Then there was the second batch of Christmas cards for the season, which will not be replaced as I stil have an abundance. I’ve used the same photo as the first batch because I forgot to take one in my haste to get them in the post.

“If we do not feel grateful for what we already have, what makes us think we’d be happy with more?” — Unknown

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.

I have been decluttering at my son and daughter-in-laws house while helping take care of my grandson as his mum has just had knee surgery. I am somewhat limited in the areas I can work in while the little guy is napping, so the kitchen has been the focus much of the time. However I have gotten to one other area plus I have identified two others that need serious attention. So all these spaces will be the focus of our mini missions this week. So here goes.

Monday – Declutter at least 5 things from a child’s bedroom or playroom. If you don’t have children then declutter 5 items from your own “play” area.

Tuesday – Declutter some items from your garage or similar storage area.

Wednesday – Declutter some items from your pantry.

Thursday – Declutter out of date medicines.

Friday – Declutter some clothing items.

Saturday – Declutter old bath towels or bed linens.

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

Actually I am not even sure what day I am up to with the Thing A Day mission. I have been so busy with grandparenting this week that I don’t know if I’m coming or going. So lets call it 12, 13 and 14 and I’ll go back and do the count when I get a spare minute. 

Here are the three items for those days and then I want to talk just a little about a non related subject to my items.

Now on that non related topic. The kitchen and all it’s clutter. So while grandparenting I have taken it upon myself to do some decluttering at my son and daughter-in-law’s house. And being that the baby is asleep a lot upstairs, the kitchen, which is downstairs, has been the centre of my attention. So far I have focused on pantry items and have thrown out a far quantity of out of date food stuffs and also began some use it up challenges on things that will expire soon if not eaten.

And once again it has come to my attention that not only are kitchens one of the most likely places for clutter in any home but they are also often so poorly designed. Clutter is bound to accumulate in cabinets of any kind that have deep shelves so why they have so many in the basic kitchen I will never know. This is why I have converted a lot of my shelves to weight bearing drawers. These can be slid out to reveal everything at a quick glance. Unfortunately the home the I am working on is even more poorly designed than most and doesn’t even have a proper pantry, has a very deep corner cupboard where plastic containers, pot and pans are kept and one very tiny thing deep cabinet in an odd shaped corner and way too many high cabinets that are hard to get at.

So I am going to try to come up with some cheap, simple solutions to try to alleviate some of the issues with the kitchen at hand in the hope of making it more functional . Meanwhile I have at least cleared some clutter and identified items that are good for some use it up challenges.

Take a long hard look at your kitchen and see what you can declutter, consider getting it better organised ,maybe reconsider how you stock it, or perhaps all three. Because inefficiency and waste is a hard pill to swallow.

“If we do not feel grateful for what we already have, what makes us think we’d be happy with more?” — Unknown

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.

If you were around last Holiday season you might remember Nicole V making up a fun set of mini missions relating to Christmas. This year she has updated it so you can all have another shot at finding seven items to decluttering to match this theme. So here it is.

Mini Mission Monday – A-hunting we will go 

By Nicole V

Since Christmas is fast approaching, I thought that this week’s mini missions could take the form of a Christmas or festive season scavenger hunt of sorts. The letters of the alphabet, festive items, poems, stories, colours, carols, the 12 days of Christmas and Boxing Day will all be used in a merry mix of decluttering inspiration. Be as creative as you like and do let the rest of us know what you’ve decluttered.

Monday – Declutter something (festive or non-festive) that begins with any of the letters in the word “Christmas”. If you are game or are having a slow day or are simply an overachiever, then by all means declutter one item for each letter.

Tuesday – Declutter any item related to the season – this could be anything pertaining to

decorations, music, entertaining, gifts, or something from your festive to-do list, etc.

Wednesday – Pick any Christmas poem or story and declutter something associated with or related to it. It could be something mentioned in a line of the poem or story or a theme or anything, really.

Thursday – Declutter something in one of the colours associated with Christmas. Apart from the traditional colours of red, green and gold, this could also include silver (“Silver Bells”), white (“White Christmas”), and blue (“Blue Christmas”), etc.

Friday – Declutter something associated with any Christmas carol. It could be anything

mentioned in the carol or reminiscent of it.

Saturday – Pick a number from 1 to 12 and declutter that number of items. They do not necessarily have to be identical or festive items. If you really want to challenge yourself, go ahead and declutter 12 items.

Sunday — Declutter something from a storage box or from any “boxy-looking” item (such as your refrigerator, pantry or cabinet) in your home. You could also get rid of an item that you might have boxed up for a certain period of time as a “separation test” or simply declutter a box or container that you no longer need.

Good luck and happy decluttering

So it seems that most of the excess in my home is crafting items. Not that that would come as a surprise to most of my long term readers. So once again today my decluttering turns in that direction.

This brings to my attention the problem of acquiring things that end up partly used or, worse still, not used at all. This often happens when one encounters things that they like the look of, and acquire them with the intention of using them in the future when an occasion or inspiration arrives.

Often the compulsion to acquire such things in the moment is the fear that if you don’t take the opportunity, then and there, that the item/s won’t be available in the future. Given we tend to do this over and over and often end up rejecting them at a later date. You would think we would learn from our mistakes. Yes we have success with this occasionally when we actually do use the thing’s but more often we don’t.

So what we need to do is resist the temptation because even if we miss the opportunity, so what! There are far more worthwhile things worth regretting in our lifetimes then whether we didn’t by that pretty dress or that lovely piece of scrapbook paper, etc. Because my experience is that something as good, if not better, will come along in the future to purchase when you actually have a use for it. And hopefully you might never have a need to purchase it at all, saving money and space in your home.

Anyway that is enough about that. Just give it some thought in relation to your stuff.

And here are my decluttering efforts for the last three days.

1. The first batch of Christmas cards I am sending out this year. You may wonder why I would consider them to be decluttering items. That is because I made so many cards to sell last year that not only have I had more than enough for my shop and to fill other orders I still have leftovers at home and expect not to sell all the stock I have. So sending these out reduces that excess just a little.
2. Cheap stamp pads that aren’t good for crafting.
3. Excess ribbon that I put in with the Freecycle giveaway before I delivered it this week.

 

“If we do not feel grateful for what we already have, what makes us think we’d be happy with more?” — Unknown

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.

The easiest things to declutter are the ones that are obviously clutter so lets take a look around our homes and see if we can find six such items that are no longer useful in our lives. Free up the space for a little breathing room.

Monday – Declutter something you just don’t like.

Tuesday – Declutter something that hasn’t been used in a long time.

Wednesday – Declutter some of a collection of things that don’t fit nicely into the space provided.

Thursday – Declutter some excess of any large collection.

Friday – Declutter a next to useless single-purpose-gadget.

Saturday – Declutter something from a past you that no longer fits with your lifestyle.

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.

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

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.

The things we do usually require stuff. So this week we shall declutter items that relate to the things we do. Or maybe more to the point items we once used for the things we do, or did, but now just sitting around cluttering up our space.

Monday – Declutter something you use for cooking.

Tuesday – Declutter a sporting or recreation item.

Wednesday – Declutter something you clothe yourself in.

Thursday – Declutter something related to your beauty routine.

Friday – Declutter a hobby item.

Saturday – Declutter something related to your work.

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

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.

We’ve done it before and now we are doing it again. What is our clutter made up of and can you find an item for each day this week that is made from a different material. I bet you can. I look forward to comments about how clever you have been and extra points for thinking outside the box.

Monday – Declutter something made from plastic.

Tuesday – Declutter something made from wood.

Wednesday – Declutter something made from paper.

Thursday – Declutter something made from fibre.

Friday – Declutter something made from glass

Saturday – Declutter something made from metal.

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

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.

Homes have so many nooks and crannies where stuff can be hiding, out of sight and out of mind. Good chance is that if they are out of mind then they aren’t even necessary. So lets take a look in some of those out of the way places for a little clutter to dispose of.

Monday – Declutter something from the upper reaches of a closet.

Tuesday - Declutter something from under a bed.

Wednesday - Declutter something from a lesser used drawer.

Thursday - Declutter something from the back reaches of a kitchen cabinet.

Friday - Declutter something from under a sink/basin.

Saturday - Declutter something from unexposed sections of a display cabinet, buffet, coffee table or similar.

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