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 … [Read more...]
A thing a day ~ Days 9 & 11
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 … [Read more...]
A Thing a day ~ Days 5-8
So once again I have been into the craft supplies to find some items I am happy to relinquish. I listed them on Freecycle.org and they were claimed and should be collected on Thursday by a lady who is getting them for a friend who loves to scrapbook but lives on a low income. I so love it when my excess stuff goes to those who otherwise could not afford to enjoy them. In fact it makes it easier to let things go that I might otherwise cling on to. I hope to make a connection with this person so that in future I might be able to gift them some more of my crafting supplies. “If we do … [Read more...]
A thing a day ~ Days 3 & 4
The item for day three is a batch of cleaning rags etc, from my laundry, that don't perform very well. What use is a cleaning rag the doesn't leave you with a perfect finish. So these are going in the bin. I'd donate them but that would only be foisting the problem onto someone else. The items form day four are a selection of greeting cards that I have filled out ready to post for the December birthdays. They may not seem like a declutter item to you but the truth is that I have been so slack at posting birthday cards this year that the stash I have has become like clutter to me as … [Read more...]
A thing a day ~ Day 1
It has concerned me for a while that my posting here at 365 Less Things has been very sporadic, and that even has begun to occur with the Monday Mini Mission posts. I put this down to a couple of things. One is personal commitments that seem to take up so much of my time of late. And the other is that my interest in writing about decluttering has waned with my lack of a decluttering goal. This goal concept has always been a thing here at 365 Less Things but I didn't realise how much of an encouragement it was for me until recently. With the lack of an actual goal to work towards when it … [Read more...]
My personal guidelines on document files.
Going through and decluttering your filing cabinet can be a nightmare when it has been neglected for a long time. So I have written a set of guidelines below that I use to declutter my files and to avoid paperwork buildup in the first place. Don't file anything you don't need to keep. By "need" I mean absolutely should keep. Don't allow anxiety to force you to keep documents that aren't really important. Only keep tax papers for the government prescribed length of time then declutter them. Switch to as many digital documents (bills, newsletters, school notes etc) as possible … [Read more...]
What is right for you?
I often get comments from people contradicting my suggestions regarding what to declutter and pleading their case on why they keep certain items or collections of things. Avid readers love their books, baking enthusiasts love a good range of pans and utensils, crafters, like myself, will cater to their craft, perhaps even over cater. There are also shoe lovers out there, fashionistas, modellers, family history caretakers, plant enthusiasts, collectors of all sorts of things... The purpose of my blog is not to insist that we all live a completely minimalist lifestyle. I don't, so it would be … [Read more...]
Love it or heave it (Revisited)
As you may have guessed, due to the lack of them, I struggle to come up with new posts these days, mostly because I declutter much less now, therefore the inspiration for posts isn't constantly forthcoming. Today it occurred to me that I have been blogging about this subject for over six years now, so why not repost some of my old articles. They are still as relevant as they ever were, not everyone has read through all the archives and we could all do with a refresher of information previously disseminated. So without further adieu here is todays revisited post. Take a look around your home … [Read more...]
Clutter, why?
Clutter isn't about what we have, it is about why we have it. We acquire stuff for many reasons, aesthetics, functionality, sentimental, recreation and entertainment and even societal, just to name a few. In fact those few reasons just about account for most of the excess stuff in our lives. So lets just take a closer look at them. Aesthetics ~ The stuff we enjoy mostly because it is pleasing to the eye such as art and décor items, fashion accessories, jewellery. Functionality ~ These are items we acquire that are useful to us in some way, generally to make our lives simpler or … [Read more...]
The key to action is enjoyment
I received a comment from Bernadette on the 365 Less Things Facebook page this week that said... "I enjoy getting rid of things. It is so liberating. Got rid of a bunch of old photos today." And that is a great example of the key to getting anything done, which is enjoying the process. If you can get yourself to that point, with any challenge, then how can you fail. After all, who won't do whatever they can to find some time in their day to do the things they enjoy doing. I have always enjoyed my decluttering which was what made it such a success for me. Even when it also required … [Read more...]