Car

Today, I'm guiding you to declutter the car.

Filing

There are simply some things we don't want that we MUST keep:  papers, receipts, instruction manuals, etc.  I have lately seen advertised a scanner for such items that will digitize them into your computer.  This is a nice option.  A well organized filing box is another.  What typically happens is the stack "to be filed" gets so high, it's too daunting for us to attempt to take care of it.

Set aside an evening a week while you're watching TV for this task.  It doesn't take a lot of thought, just some sorting.  That way, the pile will stay small and you will keep up with it, avoiding piles of paper clutter.

BIG Trash Items

Is there anything lying around the house that just needs to be carried out for trash pick up?  Sometimes we know "that pile" goes to the trash, but every week we pass it and think we'll do it the next week. 

Today, I put a broken college sized refrigerator, a dead computer monitor, and a very large box from a purchase (a month ago) out in the trash pile.  It took me 5 minutes!  The area where everything sat looks much neater. 

Take the time this week to get rid of trash.  It's an easy decision.

Entertaining

I'm getting ready for a party.  As I work backwards, crossing a few things off my list each day, once again I will sing of the benefits of keeping a decluttered home.  A few touches here and there, and things will be ready for company.  It truly saves time to not have to work around piles.  Cleaning can be done routinely and without a lot of time spent.  Now, anyone who has been to my home knows it's a work-in-progress, far from perfect, but decluttering really does simplify your life when it comes to getting ready for a big gathering.

Keep at it, at least one item per day!

Get Rid of It

Here are some more excuses from people who struggle with decluttering:
(Thank you to Don Aslett's book, Clutter Free...Forever!)

1.  "It may be valuable someday."
2.  "It may come in handy in hard times."
3.  "They don't make things like this anymore."
4.  "It still has a tag on it!"
5.  "It was a great bargain."
6.  "As soon as I throw it out, I'll need it."

These statements may be true, but how many items in your home do they apply to?  If it's more than two or three, you are making excuses.

Under the Kitchen Sink

Though you may need to don a medical mask, try looking under the kitchen sink for anything you can declutter today.

Simplify: one per day

If we have the goal to simplify our lives by getting rid of one thing per day, that's obviously 365 items a year.  People have told me that number would barely make a dent in their clutter.  I say, if you are getting rid of one item per day, more is going to go just because of proximity and association.  Keep up the goal!

Batteries

I have a box where I store our extra batteries.  The problem is, many have been there for quite awhile.  I'm going to buy a battery tester to keep track of which are still charged, and which can be disposed of. 

"Goodwill Is My Best Friend"

We were commenting on the cute clothing a couple people had bought at Goodwill yesterday.  One quipped, "Oh, Goodwill is my best friend!  Not for buying things necessarily, but because I am in declutter mode!" 

There's something easier about taking your used items to Goodwill.  You know they are going to someone who needs them in the form of affordable "stuff" or are providing training and jobs for people from the profits.  If you haven't already, start a box labeled "Give Away" for donating.  As you declutter one item per day, put the item in that box.  When full, take it to Goodwill.

Old Cases

We often hold onto old cases of things "just in case" the item shows up.  Today I threw out some digital camera card plastic cases that have nothing inside.  They've been sitting in a drawer for at least three years.

Organizing School Clutter

I see how many papers I send home as a teacher.  Multiply that by several children and it can be overwhelming to parents.  I'll admit to frustration when I have to remind parents for forms I sent home a week earlier, but do understand being buried under all the flyers, corrected papers, etc. 

I'm including link by Lori Morero of clutterdiet.com on tips for dealing with school papers that come home.  Here are some of the highlights along with a few of my own.

1.  Take action immediately on forms that are timely (field trips, information for the office, teacher notes) and put them in a special place your child sees when he/she opens the binder or folder.  I have parents put things in folders that we don't find for a week.  Make sure your child can see them.

2.  You don't need to keep every piece of precious art work.  Scanning them into a digital format is a wonderful option.

3.  Last year I received a kind note from a mother.  They were financially secure, but she was concerned about all the pleas for money that were coming home from the school:  spring pictures, field trips, fund raisers, etc.  She suggested a limit from the school to avoid stressing other families.  Remember, you don't need to buy fall and spring pictures....with all the digital photography, you have plenty of your child!  Toss those flyers with ease.  For fundraisers, often receiving 50% profit on a product is rare.  If you don't have time or patience for fundraising, donate $20 and think of the school receiving 100% profit!  (And then throw out the fundraising packet!)

4.  I would suggest keeping graded papers through the end of the marking period, then tossing them.  That doesn't sound like "Simplify," does it?  Well, I do admit that we teachers grade so much that we sometimes fail to mark a paper or two into the grade books.  If you get a note that your child is missing "assignment X", you can go through the pile and sometimes find it.  (Please be kind to that teacher though...we see hundreds of papers a week!)

5.  Keep a box for each child with work through all 12 years.  One box in the attic made me feel like I was holding on to their childhood a little bit.  I haven't gone through the boxes, but I know they are there.
http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/design/school-papers-organizing?src=rss

Board Games

Check out your board game collections today.  Any missing important pieces?  Any preschool games when your kids are in college?

Organizing Your Day

Decluttering and being productive go hand in hand.  Here is an interesting post from Lori Morero from clutterdiet.com on being productive. 

What's your typical day like? Being stuck in a reactive, race from fire-to-fire, mode is a sure sign that you are making at least one of the three most common productivity-killing mistakes:



Confusing a laundry list with a to-do list. A laundry list is a running tab of all the things that you would like to get done. A to-do list should only comprise those 4-5 tasks per day that are truly important.


Missing opportunities to batch similar tasks. Tackling related tasks, such as calls and errands in one whack is the most efficient way from Point A to Point B.


Failing to Look Ahead. Sooner or later, those important but not urgent things you keep neglecting will demand your attention-- and wreak havoc on your schedule.
 
Look at your lists.  Are they set up for productivity?  Are you planning ahead?  Now is a good time to begin planning for Christmas, actually.  Are you having guests in a month?  Begin planning now for their arrival (cleaning, decluttering, cooking ahead, etc.)  A little done a day at a time saves a lot of craziness when the event is near.

Outdated Media

I stumbled (not literally, thankfully) across the mini cassettes from our video camera this morning.  They are in a plastic bag, sitting unattractively on a shelf in our basement.  All our children's growing up events are on those little things.  Problem is, we no longer have the camera that plays them. 

What to do?  I definitely don't want to get rid of them.  The plan is to some day pay to have a company put them onto a DVD, but that will be after the kids are done with college.  For the time being, I can find an attractive shelf box in which to store them.  It will look nicer and at least appear that I've decluttered!

Refrigerators

I'm talking about the outside of the refrigerator, the part that can hold countless magnets and outdated papers and notes.  Take a look at your refrigerator exterior today.  Is there anything you can toss?  Begin with announcements, magnets you don't like (i.e. plumbing companies), and any school work from the previous school year.

A clear exterior of a fridge seems like a breath of fresh air.  Try putting items you need to keep on there on the side of your refrigerator (if it's available) instead of the front.

Old Yearbooks

This is a tough one.  What do you do with high school yearbooks?  College yearbooks?  At some point along the way, I threw mine away.  Gasp!!  I really haven't missed them at all. 

When I first began teaching, I automatically received a free (albeit paperback) yearbook each year.  Years after I left that school, I decided to take all of those and donate them back to the school for the library.  They actually wanted them.  

It's up to you.  Only you know how often you look into them for a face (even though those faces don't look the same now...ever go to a reunion?) or a memory.

Thoughts to Help with Decluttering

On clutterdiet.com, Lori shares the "ABC's" of decluttering our homes and minds:

A = Acquire  "It's OK to say no to hand-me-downs, not take soaps from hotels, etc."  Watch carefully what you acquire and let into your home.

B = Buying  "Think, 'Do I really need this?"  "Where will it go in the house?"  "How much space will it take up?"  "Can I afford this?"

C = Consenting  This has more to do with saying yes to too many commitments.  When I was a stay-at-home mom, I made a check list that I read over before saying yes.  If it didn't fit my checklist, I said no to the commitment.

Half the battle is not bringing more "stuff" into our homes and schedules.

Trinkets

Today take a hard look at your trinkets or knick knacks sitting around.  Can you get rid of one?

Trashed Car

A suggestion found on clutterdiet.com was to clean out the trash in your car/van each time you stop to refuel.  While the pump is running, take a scan throughout the front and back seats, grab paper, old cups, water bottles, and throw it all away.  This will help your vehicle stay clutter free.

Receipts

Do you save receipts for tax deduction purposes?  Are you afraid to clear out the basket, desktop, or drawer for fear you will toss one that's important?  When tax time comes around, are you making a mad scramble to find every slip of paper?  One idea is to have a mailing envelope somewhere near where you enter the door and put down your purse.  Stick in any receipts that need to be kept.  Toss the others immediately. 

Junk and Drugs

Here are interesting parallels between junk and drugs (again, Clutter Free from Don Aslett)

1.  Both are addictive
2.  Both are expensive
3.  Both make us feel good for a while but the long-term effects are another story
4.  Both start small and innocent
5.  Both grow quickly once started
6.  Both distract and weaken us
7.  Both fool us into thinking we're not hooked
8.  Both require a cure before they will go away

Something to think about as we declutter.

My Hobby

I am beginning to sort through one of my collections:  piano music.  This is a rough one for me.  Books take up a lot of space, and there are quite a few that I don't use much.  But...they are available and accessible when the mood strikes to play country western, 70's, or whatever.  I have a cupboard in which I keep most of the music.  Perhaps whatever won't fit, I'll whittle down.

Do you have a particular hobby that is difficult to sort through?  Try getting rid of just a few least favorites (or even only one!)  We simplify one item a day.

Storage Units

Storage units intrigue me.  Here's why:

1.  I think manning the desk at a storage unit would be a stress-free job, vs. teaching 24 5th graders daily.
2.  They look so neat and organized on the outside.
3.  There are so many of them in town and that wasn't the case 15 years ago.  Houses are so much bigger now as well...why so many storage units?
4.  Why pay hundreds (maybe over a thousand) dollars a year to store stuff? 
5.  Is it really that important to pay to store stuff?  I can see temporarily storing items while you are in-between homes and maybe renting a small apartment, but...
6.  People stop paying and other people can buy their stuff.  Guess they didn't need it that badly to be paying for a storage unit, huh?

And that's why storage units intrigue me.  The end.  (my students are working on getting past these kinds of composition endings right now...you see, I haven't pursued a desk job at a storage unit yet.)

Excuses

Here are more excuses for not decluttering, borrowed from Don Aslett's book, Clutter Free:

1.  "It was here when I moved in."

2.  "I'll use it for a spare."

3.  "I'm saving it for the kids."

4.  "I'm going to finish it someday."

5.  "I'm going to covert this into __________" (i.e. a planter or picture frame)

6.  "It may come back in style."

7.  "I'm going to wear it __________(to paint/work in the yard.)"

If you want your life simplified and stress reduced, don't fall prey to these excuses for holding onto stuff.

CD's

Look through your music CD's (or, gasp, cassette tapes.)  Can you give any away?

Cleaning Around Clutter

If you don't have much time to clean, clear off surfaces.  Dusting will take much less time; vacuuming or dustmopping will be a breeze.  Sinks, tubs, etc. can be wiped down quickly without all the paraphernalia sitting around. 

Get bins to keep bathroom items contained so they don't take up as much counter space.  Store kitchen appliances in cupboards to keep your counters accessible. 

Besides looking messy, clutter makes cleaning more difficult.  Clutter wastes a lot of your time.