Weekend Challenge

I've been lazy in the Weekend Challenges - but I'm feeling better after my stay in hospital. And even though it was just one day, the stuff they use to knock you out takes weeks to get out of your system. 

So, I'm going to challenge you to do something this weekend which may make you feel either uncomfortable or good about yourself.

This weekend challenge is: look at one of your major collections and organise it so you can walk up to it and know exactly what's in it. If this means having to put some of it into storage boxes, so be it. If you have to give some of it away to charity, that's good too. But take it out, pull it apart in every way and make sure you know what goes back.

As I've said in previous challenges this can take 10 minutes or it can take all weekend. I'm going to go through my book collection again this weekend and organise what's going to go into a 5kg bag for a friend in Melbourne. I'll be organising his bookbag next week and posting it off at that time too. This will hurt me in a way I'm not comfortable with, but it's going to help me as well. 

Now, I think there should be another, second challenge, too. A nice little one called 'The Quick Clean'...this is one you can choose to do or not. Find a place in your house which has been neglected and do a quick clean of it. Wash, vacuum, dust and clean that area up. Make this take about half an hour... if it takes longer, you've left it too long. 

Okay, you've got your Weekend Challenges - pick one or both to have a go at! I'm doing them both! I hope you enjoy them; and I'll be getting back into the Weekend Challenges after this week to keep us all in check with our homes. Keep us posted about what you've achieved with your decluttering and cleaning - your successes as well as your setbacks - as every little bit does help everyone else. 

I've Been Away

I've had a week off just last week because I've been in hospital for day surgery - and man, that takes it right out of ya! My Mum stayed overnight and then the simplest things wiped me out... from the grocery shopping (thank goodness she was there to drive me!) to just making the bed and putting away the wiping up.

So, I must apologise for not updating you guys last week. But I did say I was cleaning the house big time for Mum stay... and that was the reason why.

Well, a few days before she did, I donated a big lot of things to my local Vinnies and scrubbed the house as clean as I could get it. But I'm looking at making sure I get more things out the door soon again and make another donation to Vinnies of some clothes I don't wear or fit into - no matter how nice they look.

Then, I have to look at which VCR collectable tapes are to be either sold or donated - and see how much money they'd be worth and sell them. It's now time to get rid of them. 

Mum has noticed that I do need more space - another room for my art and craft gear, and has said that I have 'some stuff!' but she has noticed that I do use everything in the house; which is a good thing. Not only am I an op-shopper, but I also declutter the things I no longer need and buy in op-shops what I want in my house. But I do need more room as well. 

Ironic that I have been decluttering for so long, and yet I still need room to make up a proper house. It's mainly to entertain and make it so my place is easier to get around in... that's all. 

So, what did you get up to while I was away? More decluttering? Or have you op-shopped like me after you donated your unwanted goodies? 

Working Out Well!

After being bad last week, I've done the good thing - to balance out the bad - and donated big at my local Vinnies charity store. Yes, I feel better, and yes the place is looking better too.. and yes I did purchase a few things to add to the house - but nothing expensive.

I have to go into hospital this week, and so I'm working on making the house work better than it has done, tidier than it has been and look and feel better for me when I get home. You see, it's only day surgery and I'm not worried about what's going to happen when I get home - so long I can lay down on my bed and snooze if I need to.

You see, my Mum will be coming here to my place and I've been cleaning the house to make sure she doesn't really need to do anything around the place, just hang out and relax. 

The good thing is that there's just a lot of putting away of things and that's about it really. Seeing I've tossed out and given away a lot of things over the past 6 months, I think I've done very well thanks to my wonderful friend Tutasi (who's gone back to the USA unfortunately - but we're still great friends). 

And I think after this week, I'll still be giving away and tossing out more and more things from the house as the year goes on. 

Yes, this big declutter over the past 4 - 5 years has been very good for me... I can't wait to keep it going. How about you? How's your decluttering going?

Oh Man, I've Been Bad!

There's been a good lot of weeks where I've gone well with my decluttering. But over the past few weeks, I've just been the biggest collector of crap, so much so I'm ashamed of myself!

I've got books, artwork, canisters, mugs and other things I really shouldn't have around the place and they're all sitting in bags in and boxes awaiting for me to do something with them! 

I mean, oh my god! My main mission statement of this has fallen apart!

And you know, this does happen from time to time with even most devoted decluttering queen/king. They fall off the decluttering wagon and they have a bad lot of days and weeks and the place is a complete mess for around a week or a month and then? Then, as quickly as they have mucked it up, they tidy it up!

The unwanted gear is donated to the nearest charity store, the floors are washed and vacuumed, the wardrobe is tidied up again, the bedrooms are cleaned and the living room and kitchen are back to looking their best.

There's nothing wrong with being a badass with decluttering at times and having the house being a mess - and having it in the inbetween mess at times. I mean, you have to have the place look like tornado has gone through it while you're reconstructing it to make it look its best, right? Well, of course it's not going to look its best when you're decluttering or reconstructing it into a new look.

And when I've been bad in every sense of the word, I know I'm not going to have too much room in my place. But once it's all tidied up and put away, it looks like it did before - nice, neat and tidy. 

Well, that's until the next time I bring in something to make it messy again. 

Habits

Over the last year, I've learned new habits in my decluttering. What I need, and what I don't - what will be donated and what will be thrown out in the bin.

However I've also brought into my life habits which I've stuck by. Now, scientists say that it takes 3 weeks to create a new habit and make it stick - so it took time for me to get into this to prove it'll work out. 

And it works! The washing up get done every night and counters are wiped over. I put away my toothpastes in exactly the same spot they were the night before and clean my hair brushes every few days. The bins are emptied every day and the big rubbish bin is put out for collection on the morning of bin day. But these are only the usual habits I've added into my life.

I've still got to get in and make my bed every day and put away the laundry every time I do it. I'm still finding it hard to throw out or donate items - even though I've been doing this decluttering journey for some years now. And now it's an on-going challenge for me to keep the house in some kind of order, I'm hoping to work at saving up some money; instead of going out to op-shops to buy something. 

Yeah, I've been spurging a little too much - and I know it - instead of donating my unwanted gear. But I'm getting there.

So far in the past few weeks, I've posted off three 5kg bags across Australia and have had happy people enjoy the books I no longer want. But I still have books I no longer need; so I'll be looking at donating them to an old folks' home or somewhere else soon.

I have to fix up the back yard and repot my plants this Winter and so I have to get in and stock up on bags of potting mix and then save up big for a few larger pots and then reuse other pots around the place - yeah, it'll be another reuse of old items if I can find them around places or garage sales. 

Getting into the habits of giving and donating as well as bringing things into the home is a delicate balance. You have to remember how much space you have, what you need and what you don't and if you really want to keep all your things in one place. And to make those decisions at the op-shop is good thing; however, when you make the decision and bring it home and realise that item doesn't fit anywhere? Well, it's time to really look at what have; and do you really need it? 

So, what habits have you worked on for yourself to bring your decluttering and organising around to a better place? Leave a comment for us below and we can all help each other.