Upended by Natural Disaster

As you my know, we had an earthquake in Ontario last week, just a bit of a tremor in our area. In fact I didn't even feel it, although my neighbour and some of my friends did.

"What does this have to do with decluttering?" you ask.

A friend who was visiting walked into my office to check something on the computer. "What happened in here?" he asked.

It appears that the earthquake had had just enough power to bring a 2 shelf bookcase and all its contents tumbling from the wall - magazines, papers, books, too much I guess. I remember when we put it up a couple of years ago that we had only found one firm stud. I live in an old house built in 1870 and its innards are certainly not up to the present code of bracing every so many inches. So now, aside from my normal clutter, I had piles of books and papers lying all over the floor and desk, along with a hole in the wall!

Hopefully this "natural disaster" will help me make more progress in my office. I had been thinking for a while that I had too much on that shelf unit. So, the sorting has begun, and once more I am on the path to organization. At least that is the dream...

procrastination

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P785j15Tzk

This is borrowed from YouTube, but when I saw it I knew I had to share it with you. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Maybe we'll get our stuff done tomorrow.

Day 30 - Letter L - Looming Prospects

Number 2 son and his girlfriend are coming home this week-end. It's amazing how the prospect of seeing them is motivating me to crack the whip and dig into the piles of paper that I have accumulated here. Did I happen to mention that the office is also the guest room?

I have made it through several piles already and wonder why I don't just do this every week. Maybe I could make myself a new habit. At the end of each week, I could take the time needed to tidy up all the loose ends and close the door knowing that my work space will be ready for a fresh start come Monday. What a wonderful thought.

You probably know by know that I am a bit of a dreamer, but as Prospero says, "We are such stuff as dreams are made on." The Tempest (Act IV Sc 1) I like the dream. Maybe I can make it the "stuff" of my life.

Speaking of "stuff", this little break is over and it's back to work for me.

Day 29 - letter C - Continuing

Susan commented on my last entry. Yes, Susan, accountability is definitely good.

I have managed to keep my kitchen fairly spotless since my last update. Just doing the "clean as you go" routine has really helped. Mind you, when unexpected company dropped in yesterday. . . :(

Needless to say, this morning was a clean and vacuum morning!

It is a continuing process, this decluttering. I am someone who likes to create, finish, and then move on. But this process seems to always be there, demanding attention! I even heard about decluttering in a sermon recently! Convicted, I am once again determined to tackle my office.

Through the Word Guild Digest today, I found my way to a new blog by Laura Davis called The Writer's Keep. Todays entry was "How to Be Organized in Your Writing" She made some really good points, and although I will probably never be that organized, she did inspire me to try again. Thanks Laura.

Day 28 – letter C - Called to Account

Strolling through a concert hall at intermission, I heard the greeting, “Helen! Helen!” Turning toward the sound, I was greeted with a friendly smile.

“How's the decluttering going? I haven't seen any blog posts lately!” Susan, one of my readers, was calling me to account.

I do have my reasons, of course...like all good procrastinators do. But, that is not the point. Susan's comment showed me once again the importance of accountability. She was making some progress, as was I, but the whole thing of laying it out before someone really is a motivator, at least for me.

Last week I went at the kitchen with a vengeance and brought it to a sparkling shine. The counter, cleared of all but the essentials, smiles at me every time I walk by. For me the lack of clutter becomes an invitation to enter and enjoy the clear working area or to sit with candles on the table, in other words to relax within the hub of my home.

As I have shared before, when one part of the home is happy with its arrangement, the other areas call for a few moments of care as well. Carpets vacuumed, newspapers put into the recycle bin, phone table cleared, closet and cupboard doors closed – these little things really take but a moment, but oh, how they enhance the feeling of freedom and light!

So, why not take fifteen and join me in clearing the clutter in your neatest rooms. The euphoria that follows just may push you to something more challenging. And when you get tired of the challenges, you can always grab a cup of tea and sit back and admire the spaces you've conquered!

Keep smiling. Keep calling me, and each other, to account. Thanks Susan for getting me back on track!

Day 27 – Letter I – Imagine

Can you imagine? “A place for everything, and everything in its place.” The well-known mantra for decluttering enthusiasts seems like a far-off vision at times.

I like to imagine what that kind of world would be like, what that kind of home would be like. I keep trying, but somehow, I haven't arrived yet. Perhaps it's because I take these long hiatuses in my journey to decluttering.

It's great to have grown kids, to see them every now and again (like at Christmastime)...and yes it's great that they hold me accountable when I need it.

“Mom, I haven't seen much on your decluttering blog lately! How's it going?” OUCH!

So here I am again, imagining, and trying to bring reality into line with my dreams.

Christmas is a great motivator for tidying! My house looks terrific when you come in the front door. Welcoming lights twinkle on the garland over the door. The living room is in order with all the newspapers and old magazines safely tucked into recycling. I can even see the dresser top in my bedroom. The windowsill beside my reading chair has an orderly feel, with all non-current material put away. My kitchen counter is gleaming, and the dishes are done.

Where did all the clutter go? Unfortunately it found its way to the usual spots in my home...the laundry/storage room and the office! Once again I have boxes sitting nearby as I type waiting to be sorted and put into their proper place. On the positive side, I did clean off the table by the computer this morning, knowing I was going to be getting back to my writing work, AND I do have another full bag of papers ready for recycling!

I guess it is a step by step process for me. Sometimes, when I am being hard on myself, it feels like one step forward, two steps back. If I look back over this blog though, I realize I have made significant advances this year. And for that I am happy. Here's looking ahead to 2010...hopefully a year of two steps forward and only one step back. I may as well accept the fact that I am never going to be a Martha Stewart, but I can enjoy being me and celebrate my small victories along the way.

Here's wishing you a good year on your journey to household sanity. I hope you will feel free to share your successes, and yes your failures with the readers of this blog as we battle on together. Maybe we'll encourage each other so much that by 2011 we'll feel like we have come through as conquerors!

The Endless Circle

Here I am again, caught in the emotional wheel that has to do with clutter.

I arrived at a good space in my organization and felt triumphant about myself as the conqueror of the invasive monster. Going with the flow of that “high”, I took on new projects, got involved in more areas of interest, and have been working on sprouting this dream of writing, but . . .

You guessed it. Here I am once again, sitting by a desk that is covered with papers to file, junk to toss and a whole assortment of other things yelling at me to attend to them. HELP!

Emotionally I have gone into a bit of a funk, berating myself for never getting ahead. The whole “How could you possibly be in this space again?” battle of negative self talk is having a raging good time in my head! And that certainly does not help to lift the mood or feed the will to get back on track.

Maybe I need a twelve-step program for compulsive clutterers! I wonder if anyone has designed one. I'd be the first to sign up. After all, I'd rather be at a meeting talking about clutter, than out on the front line dealing with it.

Or . . . hmmm . . .

Perhaps I need to get off the computer, grab my 3 boxes and attack my house once again with Fly Lady's Boogie Fling. (See Day 2 of this journey)

This business of clutter really is an emotional wheel!

Day 25 - Letter O – Oh, No! Not Again!

This whole decluttering concept seems a little like getting stuck in a revolving door. You get in your little corner and push away, but you never seem to be able to get out! At least that is how I've been feeling lately.

Once more my office has its piles of paper. I am, on the whole, keeping on top of the rest of the house to the point where, within a half hour or so, it can be quite presentable. The problem is that, more often than I care to admit, when I am tidying those other areas, my paper clutter from there makes its way in here. So I sit with piles...by the computer, on my desk, on my table. When will I ever learn?

I need to figure out how to get my toe out the door enough to stop it from spinning. In the meantime, I can just shut the office up and bask in the deluttered state of the rest of the house.

Notes from Innisfree: At Last - Proof of Superiority!

Notes from Innisfree: At Last - Proof of Superiority!

Day 24 – letter A - Assess

I had an opportunity lately to assess how I am doing.

My sister comes to visit from time to time and always comments on how tidy my place is. I used to think she was either joking, or else trying to encourage me to keep going with the project. The other day though she said, “Your place is so much better. You don't have nearly as much mess around.”

Now I could have chosen to be insulted that she spoke the M--- word out loud, but instead I was thrilled. My decluttering attempts are obviously reaping rewards. She commented on how airy it feels because I don't have “stuff” lying around like she does. I enjoyed the praise, and it has encouraged me to keep going.

Last week-end my son who gets home just 2 or 3 times a year came for a short visit. “WOW! Mom! This is the tidiest I've ever seen your place!” Once again, I took it positively. I may even have glowed a little.

I did feel obligated to show him the office closet and his comment there was “How can you possibly have so much stuff?” But he went on in the same breath to remember that I had moved from a much larger house to this apartment. AND I reminded him that I am a retired elementary school teacher! (We are well known to collect for the “just in case...” days!) But despite the fact that my closet looks full, I know that I have boxes of things in there that are on their way to being sorted, and that I stuck them in there in a hurry when I got the carpets cleaned. Yes, you're right...they're still there! I'll get to them one of these days.

In the meantime, I am glowing and enjoying my somewhat tidier home.

Day 23 - H - How Am I Doing?

Every now and again, it is good to sit back and evaluate. How are you coming along with your decluttering?

I look at my place and I realize a few things, some positive, some negative. If you are at all human, you are probably the same!

On the positive side I am sitting at my computer with a relatively clean table surrounding it. Notice the word “relatively”. I found a great organizer at Staples. I believe they call it a Bankers Box. It is one of those cardboard boxes that you put together with 8 compartments that will hold 8 ½ x 11 sheets. I have it together and have been using it to TRY to organize my writing papers. I have held back from sticking on the labels provided until I am sure how I want to use it.

I also picked up a gizmo for holding my office phone and desk lamp. It has a place at the side where I can keep the phone book, some notepads and pens. This sounds like a silly little thing, but for me it has been most helpful in that it frees up the table space beside my computer desk so I can lay out other things that I am working on. In the little cubby that is beneath the phone, I can store unsightly but important things, such as bills to pay and other business items that need immediate attention!

I have this wonderful colour-coded filing system I developed for such things (I think I mentioned that earlier). My problem was that once I filed things, I tended to forget them...not a good idea with bills. I am hoping that having them somewhat visible in this little cubby will help me to keep more on top of this part of my life.

So, I am making progress with the office papers.

Another great motivator for the rest of the house was getting my carpets cleaned. I had a professional coming in to do it. I decided I needed about 2 ½ weeks to be really tidied up before he came. Well, I got sick for about 2 weeks. I'll tell you, it is amazing what you can accomplish with a tight time line! Mind you I was up EARLY the morning he came and was still putting the last boxes away as he was setting up, but hey, it worked! What I have found is that once it was tidy, I was more motivated to keep it that way...and I actually started doing extra cleaning of things I haven't touched for a long time. e.g. washing my artificial plants. Good grief, I think I'm getting domesticated!

On the negative side, as you no doubt noticed, I had let this blog slide. I was focusing on another blog which I write, My Stratford at blogspot.com. Thank you to Susan Barclay of the Word Guild for giving me a push to get back on track here. I find that I get gung ho on one thing and then get easily distracted onto something else. Maybe I'm ADD or something. I prefer to think "too creative for my own good". I need friends who will hold me accountable. With decluttering too, it is easy to get motivated for a while, but hard to keep going. Gathering a friend or two who are working on the same type of thing can be very helpful. So please do comment, do keep me at this, and together we just may move a more peaceful co-existence with our home environment.

Day 22 – C - Chaos

Once again I find myself in my messy, disorganized office. I have lots of excuses! Someone came to visit and I did a quick scurry through the house, threw everything in here and shut the door. My purse got too heavy so I took everything out and set the things I didn't need on my table...to go through when I had time. I haven't been feeling well and just don't have the energy. My children's program finished up, so I had to bring my paperwork home to sort it here in the comfort of my office. Really, Helen? You find this comfortable? I have lots of boxes collected for my purging efforts...but there they sit.

I feel like I am stuck here back at the beginning. Somewhere along the line I missed following up on that motto. “Everything has a place and everything in its place.” In my case, and possibly yours, it all comes down to self-discipline.

So this is short today. I am determined to clear the flat surface by my computer. I'll let you know tomorrow how that goes.

Why don't you join me and just pick one little spot to clear? Good luck! Happy cleaning!

Day 21 - YEARLY, SEASONAL, MONTHLY, WEEKLY?

During a couple of seminars that I attended recently, the speakers mentioned goal setting. Last night, I read an article from a January magazine (yes, I am still back in January in some of my magazines!). It was all about New Year's Resolution, and how this author decided not to make any but rather to live with resolve day by day. Interesting food for thought when applied to my clutter.

In the house there could be benefits in breaking down the tasks, just like we do our goals. Today let's focus on one yearly task.

I happen to be involved in a couple of organizations with minutes, agendas, etc. I am TRYING to keep these on the computer now, but I still tend to collect things at the meetings and bring them home to join the pile. Once a year it would be a good idea for me to cull what I really don't need to keep. I have decided that now is the perfect time, because the meeting season is winding down for summer. If I do it now, when it all starts again in September I'll be ready with a tidy file system . And maybe, just maybe, the effort that it is going to take to do it this year will teach me to cull as I go in the future!

So why not grab your resolve and join me in a paper purge!

Day 20 - M – Minimize!

As you can tell, I got waylaid from my project of decluttering my life in 35 days. So here I sit, surrounded once again by the growing mounds of paper and other assorted things in my life.

I am happy to report though that even though I haven't been blogging in the past while, I have been making some progress.

One of the things that has come to the forefront during this cleansing adventure is the whole idea of minimizing. I realize that I have been greatly affected by the journey of my parents through the Great Depression. They, as was the case with so many of their generation, became hoarders. “You never know when you might need it.” Perhaps there was the underlying fear that they could lose everything again, as so many had back when they were young.

I definitely inherited their genes, although I must admit, I have been fighting against that tendency for many years now. Moving frequently during the early years of my marriage was a definite learning tool in this area. Do I really need two or three (or ten!) of those? It's amazing what you can get rid of when you know that every little bit of weight costs you more! After we became more settled (and started hoarding) I used to joke that every two years we should pretend that we were moving! Although a joke, there is some wisdom to the idea. It begs the question, “Why do I keep what I keep?”

Maybe more than anything else, looking at our clutter with that question in mind might help us to get to the philosophical place of being able to let go!

So, my friends, grab those boxes that we mentioned early on in this adventure, and minimize, minimize, minimize!

DAY 19 – Letter F – FOR GOODNESS SAKE!

“For goodness sake, Helen! Just get at it and get it done!”

I was talking to myself once again about the state of my office.

Then I thought, for whose sake am I trying to master this paperwork? It is certainly not a sign of goodness, in my estimation. (Good housekeeping, maybe, but not goodness!)

It should be for MY sake. But sometimes that just doesn't seem to be enough motivation. At times it is, but then it gets away on me again, as I find more interesting ways to occupy my time.

But, aha! My son called and is coming home for the weekend. I haven't seen him since January...when this project was already underway with boxes piled all over the office. Have I told you that my office also serves as the guest room?

Usually when someone is coming, all the papers go into a box and get hidden away. (That's partly how I got into this problem in the first place!) I am really going to TRY not to do that this time. I have cleared away a few containers, but I do have my work cut out for me before he arrives tomorrow.

So, whether it's for goodness sake,
or for your sake,
or for the company that's coming...

for whatever reason, KEEP AT IT! Don't give up.

The reward will be the ability to see the top of the desk and the closet floor. It will be the knowledge that there are no hidden boxes awaiting your attention. It will be that wonderful feeling of overcoming a huge hurdle and the warm glow of victory.

ONLY THE LONELY

“They're gone forever
So far apart”

Did Roy Orbison know that he was singing about my socks? About my plastic container lids? About....?

You get the picture. Why do I hang on to things that are one of a set, lonely and unusable on their own? Well, NO MORE! The lidless and bottomless plastic is in the recycle bin. The socks are a task set for today.

I wonder what other lonely things I have in my home. If you have any ideas, drop me a line in the comment box and we'll get rid of them together. Hey, how about lonely mitts, lonely shoes, lonely puzzles with pieces missing? We could create quite a cleansing just by getting rid of those items that lie isolated and incomplete amongst our clutter.

Have fun with your project today. I've gotta go. My socks are calling.

Day 17 – letter G – GO, GIRL!

I am back from holidays, a nice break after a challenging work assignment. I have discovered that when I am working outside of my home, it is much more difficult for me to manage the decluttering. My hat goes off to all of you who manage to do both!

Coming home from a break away always leaves me feeling fresh and ready to take on my world again. Seizing the moment of inspiration, I tackled some more of the kitchen. It is amazing how canned goods get lost in the shuffle in my cupboards. I hate to tell you how far past due some of them were! They are now in the garbage, and things I decided I had bought on impulse and probably won't use are ready to go to the House of Blessing. Every little bit counts in this process of regaining control.

This morning I tackled the front garden, a stern reminder that I need to get this household stuff cleared before the good weather tempts me to abandon ship and sit in the garden with my tea enjoying the long awaited spring and summer.

Wishing you a wonderful Easter with family and friends. Remember to seize the moment and “Go, Girl!”

Day 16 – letter N – "No! Not now!"

“No! Not now!” my mind pleads with me whenever I think about retackling the clutter in my office. “You have so many other things to do. This whole process is such a pain!”

Like a whiny teenager it goes on and on reminding me of deadlines looming, articles that I want to write and marketing tools needing to be prepared. It comes down to the battle of dividing my time between the urgent, the necessary, and my long-term goals.

Some days my clutter-busting goals win the battle. For example this week I went through all my bathroom cupboards, threw out a lot of outdated products, rearranged things to a more convenient place, and added a huge check mark on my list of to-dos in this process! I transferred the now unneeded shelving unit to my office closet. With a new home for them in sight, I took inventory and organized my CD's that are still waiting to be sold. Instead of carboard boxes on the closet floor, I now have a neater and more efficient arrangement for that part of my career. This is good, and encouraging.

Some days though, it seems like I am in survival mode, just trying to maintain what I have done so far. Spring arrived this past week with temperatures around 15 C. My cat is not the only one in this household with Spring Fever! Being an avid gardener I am just itching to get my hands in the mud. Good thing it snowed again last night. I don't want to rush the process out there. I am recognizing though that my timeline for indoor cleansing is shortening. Soon the garden will call and I will be lost to indoor activities unless it rains.

So when my brain howls, “No! Not now!” I need to remember my long term goal. Even if I don't feel like it, the answer must be, “Carpe Diem. Now IS the time!”

DAY 15 – Letter I - INPUT FROM OTHER “CLUTTER CLEANSERS”

The informative and inspiring comments that I have received from some of you have prompted me to dedicate this blog post to letting you encourage each other to keep on with the task. If I were to tell the truth, I would have to say I totally fell “off the wagon” this week. Working full time at a particularly exhausting placement, leaving early and arriving home physically and emotionally drained, left my good intentions crashing down around me.

Dealing with my internal “clutter” by going to bed at 7:15 last night has me feeling much better this morning. I was up early, have put through two loads of laundry and done the dishes that were beginning to pile up on my counter, as well as in my “dishwasher” under the sink (see day 2).

So here are some ideas and encouraging news from other readers.

My sister Kathy from Massachusetts shares, “Isn't it encouraging when there's something that has immediate visible results? (That's why I like to make the bed first- a big swatch of space is cleared and tidied right away. It feels so satisfying that I get inspired to keep on going). I have been realizing that everything I have ever accomplished happens pretty much step by step. I learned to play the piano one note at a time; the sticking to it is what helped me get good at it."
"I remember Dad having a cartoon on his desk - something about procrastination being "the thief of time". That has stuck with me since I often puzzled over that cartoon. I dusted his desk many times, with all those gazillions of knick-knacks on it, and I think that helped me decide to be a little more Zen in my approach when I grew up. Keeping it simple seems to work best for me in terms of my surroundings. Otherwise I lose stuff and get stressed out about it."
"I do notice when I am in a creative right-brain phase I become obsessive about whatever I am doing and everything else goes out the window. Chaos reigns. (Boy, can I relate to that!)"
"I tend to get overstimulated really easily and have noticed that I am much more calm if I keep the mess at bay. So I try to clean things when I see them so they don't escalate. Somehow it is easier for me to put something away right away than to have to pick it up later."

Elena, (Kathy's daughter) says the most important thing for her is that everything HAS a place, so that everything can be put IN it's place.

A friend here in town has been telling me about shredding mounds of paper records from years back. We do tend to get in the habit of keeping those financial things for income tax, but often keep them for many more years than needed. She has also culled those recipes, you know the ones that you clip thinking “I'll try that sometime.” Really, if you haven't tried it yet... will you ever? After clearing my mother's recipe clippings when we were getting our family home ready for sale, I remember thinking I would NEVER allow myself to do that, and with each move over the years, I have gotten rid of a few more recipe books. But they do have a way of building up again, so that corner of my kitchen needs to be a little side task some day soon.

It has been very gratifying to have people write or catch up with me to say, “Hey, I am enjoying the blog and guess what I've done?” Please do leave your comments on this site so others can see them and be encouraged as well.

That's it for today. My desk top (yes, it also fell apart somewhat this week!) is calling my name.

Day 14 – letter S – SO . . .

Have you ever had one of those days, (or should I say weeks?) where life gets extremely busy and you feel like saying “So what!” to the whole idea of decluttering?

That was my space for the past couple of weeks. Supply teaching assignments, a sudden opportunity to speak to the local Kiwanis club about “Kid's Company”, my church's after school club, a push to finish my promotional bio sheets, some other opportunities to write, and a bit of personal “stuff” thrown into the mix....you get the picture. Decluttering was the farthest thing from my mind.

I did notice a few things, however, that give me hope.

Once you experience that sense of peace when you walk in the front door, being greeted by delicious open space rather than the “Oops, I forgot to put that away” sort of entryway; when you walk into the kitchen in your early morning daze, and no longer see last night's dishes drying in the rack, or worse still, waiting to be done; when you don't have that “Oh, no. I can't” feeling about inviting someone home on the spur of the moment; once you've experienced these things for long enough....even for the short time we've been working on this, you get to enjoy the freedom that decluttering brings. Like old Henry Higgins, you discover that you've “grown accustomed to that space...” Yes, I know, HE grew accustomed to her face, but WE, we can grow accustomed to that sense of freedom in our home. As Martha would say, “That's a good thing!”

Even though I was falling off the wagon, so to speak, on my decluttering mission, I kept having little spurts to keep the process going. For one thing, I started getting up earlier, even setting the dreaded alarm! Discipline in any area seems to have a habit of leaking into other areas of life. For that I am grateful. I found myself grabbing moments to do my “Boogie Fling” (see day 2) and felt proud of myself when I managed even that small step. Despite the craziness in other areas, I tried (and let me emphasize “tried”) to keep the areas I had already worked on up to snuff. If truth be told even the word “tried” is a bit of a stretch. At times in the past two weeks, I really let things slide.

“Why do I do this?” I ask myself. I don't know. But I do know that I don't like it!SO..... We come back to the question, “What do we do when we fall off the wagon?”

Yesterday I decided to tackle my office closet. Like a mausoleum stacked with cardboard coffins, it holds the remains of my career. I pulled out one and cracked open the lid. Things I will use at Kid's Company are now neatly stored in folders in my new Kid's Company filing system. Things that I have no idea why I kept are safely esconced in the garbage. (That felt good!) Things I will try to sell, and if not will give away, are in their own small box and are NOT allowed back into the closet! As I sit here typing, I can look over and see a little bit of closet floor smiling at me as that area begins to come to life again. The rest of the office....that's for another day, maybe even today if I stop writing and get back to the project!

Something that helps me to get back on track is accountability. I told you, my readers, that I was going to do this. I have a few good friends who will ask, “How's it coming, Helen? I haven't seen a Blog entry lately.” Even though sometimes I wish they weren't quite so supportive, it does help. I would encourage you to tell a couple of friends what it is you are trying to do. Share your successes. Ask them to hold you accountable. If you are anything like me, it is just too easy to give up. We need emotional support, so don't be shy; ask for it.

I think this entry has reached the point of procrastination, so I will wish you a good day and go out to inspect the damage... no, to bask in the successes. Enjoy your day, and remember to stay grateful for small steps!