Decluttering progress, as of March 2010
Mar. 19th, 2011 11:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jackIt seems like there's N sorts of stuff:
- stuff you need to keep which is put away in its place (this is the best sort of stuff, in fact, when I say stuff, I mostly mean the other stuff)
- stuff which you need to keep, but doesn't have a place, or isn't in its place
- stuff which needs fixing
- stuff which you don't need to keep, but still have
- stuff which you don't know if you need to keep or not because it's a big pile of amorphous stuff and you don't know what's in it.
Basically, purge these in reverse order until the categories collapse as much as possible :)
Living room
1. I have purged over 9/10 of my "books I borrowed and had difficulty returning" pile:
- lots and lots to Rachel's lovely lovely new bookshelves
- half a dozen to my parents (we treat our collections fairly fluidly, but things they like and I didn't need to go back)
- several to their owners
- several to my main collection or to charity (because their owners didn't want them, or weren't who I remembered they were)
That leaves just:
- 3 DVDs for Minipoppy
- 1 DVD for Justin
- 1 book for my first girlfriend who I've slowly lost touch with
- 1 book I've not had that long and want to read
2. I have purged two small stacks of paperwork which have sat untouched since I moved in, trashing most of it, but sorting and filing some.
Entertaining contents include:
- Address of previous tenants
- Notes for proposed start-up business ideas we tossed around at university (that never went anywhere in the end)
- Maps and notes for the first roleplaying campaign I GM'd (sessions 9-12/16 of the ad hoc spoons campaign with sonicdrift and her housemate and alextiefling's brother :)
3. There are some stationary/electronics which I go through periodically but wants to be stored in a more convenient manner, and I unsurprisingly need more bookcases, but it is completely cleared out of piles of stuff that I don't know if I need or not
Things still need lots and lots of cleaning, but at least they're comparatively tidy
Kitchen
I have moved some kitchenware around, unpacked a box which had been sitting there since I moved in, rearranged the cupboards and surfaces a little. Again, things still need cleaning, but they've got a lot tidier.
The cupboards are still a bit mixed with stuff I own, and stuff which came with the flat, but it is completely cleared out of piles of stuff that I don't know if I need or not
(There's also a lot of stuff which needs fixing, here and elsewhere, but that's on a separate mental list.)
Spare room
I donated about eight big boxes of books and videos to Oxfam. I have half-a-dozen little boxes of books left, which I want to keep and would put on a bookcase if I had another one.
In fact, when I've purged my books, they're less out of control than I think. I have a fairly large number I like and want to keep, and up to a dozen I want to read, but the spectre of an unfinishable to-read pile (always a risk) has actually receded.
I sorted a box of paperwork and stuff from my last-but-one employer.
There remains a folder of stuff to return to poohsoc, but otherwise it's completely cleared out of piles of stuff that I don't know if I need or not
Bedroom
With Liv's marvellous help I sorted and threw out or donated several bin bags of clothes which were too old/worn/torn or didn't fit or I didn't like and didn't wear. I've also sorted most (but not all) of the paperwork found in the other rooms into my concertina file.
Things which remain cluttered:
- Several small boxes, half of one dresser and one large drawer which contain mixed stationary, geegaws and paperwork
- Concertina file needs a sort-through and reordering
- Some stuff which is in with the χmas ornaments
- A box of electronic bits-and-pieces, and some boxes-things-came-in, most of which I need, but some of which I need to throw out
Summary
In summary, I'm actually very pleased. I feel I exceeded a high watermark, in having less unsorted paperwork than I did when I first moved in :) There's still a lot of things that need lots of cleaning or sorting out or fixing or buying etc etc etc and my flat is still a mess, and my life will probably never be as well-organised as some people's, but I'm very very pleased at the reduction so far!!
In fact, there was never that much clutter, there was just enough I didn't know where to put it and never got started.
- stuff you need to keep which is put away in its place (this is the best sort of stuff, in fact, when I say stuff, I mostly mean the other stuff)
- stuff which you need to keep, but doesn't have a place, or isn't in its place
- stuff which needs fixing
- stuff which you don't need to keep, but still have
- stuff which you don't know if you need to keep or not because it's a big pile of amorphous stuff and you don't know what's in it.
Basically, purge these in reverse order until the categories collapse as much as possible :)
Living room
1. I have purged over 9/10 of my "books I borrowed and had difficulty returning" pile:
- lots and lots to Rachel's lovely lovely new bookshelves
- half a dozen to my parents (we treat our collections fairly fluidly, but things they like and I didn't need to go back)
- several to their owners
- several to my main collection or to charity (because their owners didn't want them, or weren't who I remembered they were)
That leaves just:
- 3 DVDs for Minipoppy
- 1 DVD for Justin
- 1 book for my first girlfriend who I've slowly lost touch with
- 1 book I've not had that long and want to read
2. I have purged two small stacks of paperwork which have sat untouched since I moved in, trashing most of it, but sorting and filing some.
Entertaining contents include:
- Address of previous tenants
- Notes for proposed start-up business ideas we tossed around at university (that never went anywhere in the end)
- Maps and notes for the first roleplaying campaign I GM'd (sessions 9-12/16 of the ad hoc spoons campaign with sonicdrift and her housemate and alextiefling's brother :)
3. There are some stationary/electronics which I go through periodically but wants to be stored in a more convenient manner, and I unsurprisingly need more bookcases, but it is completely cleared out of piles of stuff that I don't know if I need or not
Things still need lots and lots of cleaning, but at least they're comparatively tidy
Kitchen
I have moved some kitchenware around, unpacked a box which had been sitting there since I moved in, rearranged the cupboards and surfaces a little. Again, things still need cleaning, but they've got a lot tidier.
The cupboards are still a bit mixed with stuff I own, and stuff which came with the flat, but it is completely cleared out of piles of stuff that I don't know if I need or not
(There's also a lot of stuff which needs fixing, here and elsewhere, but that's on a separate mental list.)
Spare room
I donated about eight big boxes of books and videos to Oxfam. I have half-a-dozen little boxes of books left, which I want to keep and would put on a bookcase if I had another one.
In fact, when I've purged my books, they're less out of control than I think. I have a fairly large number I like and want to keep, and up to a dozen I want to read, but the spectre of an unfinishable to-read pile (always a risk) has actually receded.
I sorted a box of paperwork and stuff from my last-but-one employer.
There remains a folder of stuff to return to poohsoc, but otherwise it's completely cleared out of piles of stuff that I don't know if I need or not
Bedroom
With Liv's marvellous help I sorted and threw out or donated several bin bags of clothes which were too old/worn/torn or didn't fit or I didn't like and didn't wear. I've also sorted most (but not all) of the paperwork found in the other rooms into my concertina file.
Things which remain cluttered:
- Several small boxes, half of one dresser and one large drawer which contain mixed stationary, geegaws and paperwork
- Concertina file needs a sort-through and reordering
- Some stuff which is in with the χmas ornaments
- A box of electronic bits-and-pieces, and some boxes-things-came-in, most of which I need, but some of which I need to throw out
Summary
In summary, I'm actually very pleased. I feel I exceeded a high watermark, in having less unsorted paperwork than I did when I first moved in :) There's still a lot of things that need lots of cleaning or sorting out or fixing or buying etc etc etc and my flat is still a mess, and my life will probably never be as well-organised as some people's, but I'm very very pleased at the reduction so far!!
In fact, there was never that much clutter, there was just enough I didn't know where to put it and never got started.
no subject
Date: 2011-03-20 11:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-21 12:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-21 02:36 pm (UTC)And I think i assumed your problems were more real: as in, i had a lot of stuff i didn't need but had never purged, but my actual valuable belongs are not incommensurate to my space. Whereas you have more lovely stuff, and not really the room to expand, so you actually have to make some compromises.
Otoh, if you (or anyone) does have stuff you need to sort, you they can make a small start now, eg. Making a simple filing system to put stuff in so it doesnt HAVE to go in piles, clearingly labelling anonymous piles so when youre sorting you know at least what year they date from, etc.
no subject
Date: 2011-03-21 05:20 pm (UTC)