reduce clutter

I still have to
+Recycle my old computer & MP3 player
+Send a lot of clothing to the Good Will
+Get rid of old notebooks
+Look for/get rid of old books, jewelry, pointless junk, etc.
+Destroy old journals

I’ve been getting rid of a lot of unnecessary paper (and being a writer, there’s a lot of that) lately. I’ve also been working on clearing files off of my computer that I don’t need – my hard drive is a disaster of sorts. I’d also like to organize my belongings better – I want a shelf or little cabinet for my photography equipment, since I’ve been getting more lately. I need to not only reduce clutter, but to organize and make more space.

I started on my daughter’s room and worked on it for about 3 hours. Then I applied that same level of dedication to the other rooms and I got it done. I also gave alot of stuff to the thrift store. Since another goal is to get out of debt I’m sure it would have been better to have a yard sale but it would have been another reason for me to hoard the junk so away it went! :) I also have 2 cats so keeping everything orderly just makes everything flow a little better. I also created a list of all the annoying things that I have to fix around the house – least expensive to the most expensive. Once written down on a poster board and placed on my wall, the tasks don’t seem overwhelming. Heck, the first 4 cost less than $40! Besides, it feels good to get all that stuff out of your head. I have a poster board for my household things to do, a board reflecting all of my debt, a board for my need & want purchases (car radio is a want but termite inspection is a need, as is taking the indoor kitties to the vet for their shots) and a board for my dreams. Too much to keep between my ears and it helps me to decide what to do with that unexpected $50 :)

I recently read a book that had an interesting idea for getting rid of paper clutter. Write a date at the top of every paper you receive, telling yourself when you can get rid of the paper. This made me think about clutter in my life, and I realized that I have way too much junk. I have started throwing away lots of the clutter in my room in addition to dating all papers with a “shred date”. I don’t want to just get rid of current clutter, I also want to keep out future clutter.

I just pack a bag of clothes (too big! yeah!).

And I figure, if I kept candle glassses for a year to paint them and give them as x-mas presents… well they are still unpainted. and I am not keeping them till next year.

take that, clutter!

I did a great job last summer with tossing unneeded things. We had a summer houseguest and had to clear the office out to make a bedroom. I still have loads of stuff that I either need to use or toss.

I got too much stuff, no one needs this much junk, I want to clear out all the stuff, I know I would be a lot happier without it.

my plan is to remove everything that has not been used in the last 60 days, that includes pots and pans, dishes, CDs, Movies, Clothes, and all the little things that have been piling

I just realized that I’ve been slowly working on this goal without realizing it. Ha.

Freecycle is a good way of helping me with this, too. So far I’ve given away about ten items I no longer needed or wanted. I’ve got a box in the closet with more items to go onto this list.

Anyone interested – it’s freecycle.org, and there’s likely at least one Yahoo! freecycle group for your area.

Day 1 of this goal – I’m throwing away the useless paper in my room before I go to work. I’ll do the “keep”, “throw away”, “give away” system.

It began with my desk, and it is spreading to the rest of the house. Sometimes I regress and my desk is a mess I confess, but the less I focus on this mess and the more I attack it the neater it gets. Ha.

This is similar to ‘practice Discardia’, so I am marking it as done and continuing with the other goal.