declutter 15 minutes a day

1. already on my 43 things as a separate item (ex. hang my pictures; get rid of old clothes) OR
2. cannot be done without getting some new furniture or some other intermediary step.

In other words, it is not longer a matter of putting stuff away or throwing it out. There’s no more simple clutter-sorting to be done. I’m giving myself a huge pat on the back!

Today I determined that the boxes of books and magazines cannot possibly be dealt with unless I either get a new bookshelf or get rid of some books – or a combination of the two. Something to consider on the weekend. I did, however, put away everything that was not books – and I also found my missing hammer, so I can hang some pictures on the weekend. The clutter is getting much smaller. I might be done by month’s end?!

I went through some old writing to determine what drafts to keep/ type up and what drafts to throw away. I also went through a box of what I thought was books, only to find that it was full of random odds and ends, some of which are worth keeping and some of which are not. Some of that stuff is still on my dining room table (to be gone through tomorrow) but much of it is gone!

I think I need to buy one more bookshelf to hold my extra books and magazines – or maybe some combination shelves and drawers would be nice, as I also have some other odds and ends that need to be stored. Maybe I will hit IKEA up this weekend.

Today I spent my 15 minutes finishing the last of my papers! I now have NO MORE paper clutter. I was also able to cross a goal off 43T. I have a few more things to clear up before this goal is done, but I am SO CLOSE!

As well as today’s 15 min, I made up for time lost over the last two days. I’ve cleaned up and filed, shredded or recycled all of my personal papers now. I just have the one box of teaching materials and a few other things to go. When all of my current clutter is gone, I will mark this goal complete – even though continuing to prevent clutter from building up will be an on-going activity.

I’m so excited!

I’m a bit behind on these two days because I haven’t been home much. I owe myself about 20 min. of cleaning. I did put away some papers and some mail; and I also took the old bike from my patio to Goodwill.

Today I filed away ALL of my remaining personal papers EXCEPT all the product warranties, instruction booklets, etc. I’ll start those tomorrow.

I was really unmotivated today but finally made myself focus. There’s another big pile on my dining table now, but that’s because I emptied out the last box of personal papers and sorted out all the shredding and recycling. Tomorrow I file!

I’m more than 3/4 of the way through the last box of random papers. Is this possible?! There are some other boxes left, but they are more sorted and contain books, magazines, teaching materials, etc. And all the inserts from every product I’ve ever owned! That should take a while. I got a good chunk of paper shredded, filed or recycled today. The end is in sight!

I got one bag of papers and other things cleared out of my dining room today, and made a start on the first box of papers there. I spent half an hour but barely made a dent. I have to remember that the whole point of this thing is to proceed slowly but surely.