Tackling a Small Pile of Papers Before it Gets Out of Control

Posted on February 23, 2020 by
Tackling a small pile of papers and stuff

I quickly dealt with this small pile of papers and stuff today and felt proud of myself. It might not appear to be anything big, but this is one of my interim solutions that really has worked for me over the last few months, so it’s worth posting an update.

All I do is keep a lever-arch file, a hole -punch, shredding scissors, a concertina receipts file, a pending box and a few other obvious bits in a cupboard under the kitchen counter.

I then deal with each item quickly by filing, shredding, recycling, adding items to pending box and so on. Things are easier to find, and they are not even filed away in a detailed filing system, they are just hole-punched as they come in.

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Posted in 2020 Challenge, decluttering, Getting organised, Household chores, Inspiration, recycling, working mum | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

I’m Not Ready for Death Cleaning Yet, But It Won’t Hurt To Learn About It

Posted on February 22, 2020 by
Audible book

A friend told me about this book and I was intrigued, so I downloaded it from Audible to listen to on the train on the way to London to meet my friends (yes, I’m out two nights in a row!)

I messaged her back saying that it all sounded good and that maybe that’s my problem – I’m giving myself too long to do the decluttering seeing as I’m planning on living until I’m 100. Maybe I should trick myself into an earlier expiry date 😀.

She said that I can still aim for the 100 expiry date, but don’t need to drag the clutter with me the whole time 😉.

I love how honest she is. We help each other!

Margareta Magnusson, the author of The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, says that…

“Death cleaning is not about dusting or mopping up, it is about a permanent form of organisation that makes your everyday life run more smoothly”

Just hearing those words ‘permanent form of organisation’ made me want to write it down and tell the world. How lovely would it be to have a permanent home for everything.

She goes on to explain that you should start with the large items which is an interesting concept. Deep down I knew that the smaller items carry a lot of weight, such as cards, photos etc. I’m certainly not ready to go through those yet.

Train coming into Victoria… so I’ll finish up this post now.

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

Posted in 2020 Challenge, decluttering, Getting organised, Health and wellness, Inspiration, working mum | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Spotting Future Clutter

Posted on February 21, 2020 by

I fitted in a lot today: taking my girls to the dentist, going to work, running errands and then came the lovely part – having a facial and hair cut before going out with some really good friends for a meal.

My girls loaded and unloaded the dishwasher for me during the day which was a lovely surprise, and then hung up some washing without any fuss. Less for me to do this evening.

So, where did I fit in a quick bit of decluttering?

There were a couple of bags of random clutter lurking around the dining room… the usual dumping ground (must work on resolving that one!)

Future clutter if not dealt with

I can speak from experience that random items in bags can turn into future clutter. They end up taking up permanent residence ‘somewhere’ and become a list of items that no one can find.

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Posted in 2020 Challenge, decluttering, delegating, Getting organised, Household chores, Inspiration, Wellbeing, working mum | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

15 Minutes Until Midnight…

Posted on February 20, 2020 by

I haven’t done any decluttering this evening and I’m not likely to either as it’s 15 minutes until midnight. I popped into the kitchen to get a drink of water and was faced with this:

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Posted in 2020 Challenge, decluttering, Getting organised, Household chores, Inspiration, Time management, working mum | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Repeating Decluttering Steps

Posted on February 19, 2020 by

As I moved the washing basket and other items from the bed and back to the ironing board this evening (a reverse of this morning when my husband ironed his shirt) I thought about how the ironing board was clear a few weeks ago (13 Days In Decluttering Mode).

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Posted in Inspiration | 2 Comments

Is it Worth Trying to Sell Unwanted Items Online?

Posted on February 18, 2020 by

When I sorted out the shoe cupboard the other day (61 Pairs of Shoes and 4 Cans of Paint), I left a pile of shoes and other footwear to be ‘dealt’ with (sell, give to charity etc). They’ve been cluttering the corner of the dining room since then, and have been really annoying me.

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Posted in 2020 Challenge, decluttering, Getting organised, Inspiration, recycling, working mum | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

It’s Recycling Day, Yeah!

Posted on February 17, 2020 by
Recycling bins

Although it’s not the nicest of jobs, I do like it when this fortnightly event comes around when I can put all of these three bins out at the same time. As all of the recycling leaves by the back door, it really does make the house feel lighter somehow. My usual routine goes something like this…

  • The indoor food caddy gets emptied into the almost full orange bin outside
  • I look around for any stray plastics, glass and paper, which includes a quick run around the house (particularly bedrooms)
  • I rip up all of the cardboard that has arrived over the last two weeks, instead of my old routine of just storing them in the garage (which was where I was about the put the one below just in case I might need to take the fan back!)

So, did last week’s step work?

When I wrote the blog Does ‘Emptying the Bins’ Count as Decluttering? a week ago, I introduced a new little step and asked the rest of the family to start putting plastics and paper in the separate sections of the pullout bin in the kitchen. I’m pleased to say that most of the items have ended up in the right bins (although I did have to move a couple of plastics from the non-recyclable bin this evening).

It’s going to take everyone a bit of getting used to, but we’ll get there in the end.

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

(Author of https://mywritingnotebook.com)

Posted in 2020 Challenge, decluttering, Getting organised, Household chores, Inspiration, recycling, working mum | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment