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: 2011-03-21 05:20 pm (UTC)