Decluttering blog 1: It takes time!
Wednesday, August 29, 2018
No big surprise there. Any worthwhile goal takes time. As with large weight losses, if your house / files /
whatever are at an "overwhelmed" stage, it is going to take time to even attempt to restore some level of
order.
It is also a tough job to start. Just as the first five steps out the door to run are the hardest, deciding and
starting in with the problem spaces in your home are probably the hardest ones.
According to the YouTube videos from ClutterClarity.Com that I stumbled across last week, there are five
resources to balance when taking on downsizing, de-cluttering, or moving.
- Time
- Energy
- Space
- Skills
- Money
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| Mt. St. Omigawd East Nov 2018 |
Funny thing, these are the same elements of ANY goal! When you set out to lose / maintain your weight,
you have to clear out enough time, energy, space, develop skills, and in some cases, spend money on
the tools (like deciding what foods to purchase, whether to join a gym, workout clothing, hire a trainer,
etc.)
As with fad diets, the professional organizing industry may try to sell us "quick fixes" but in fact, as with
weight loss, if we don't manage those five resources above, MAINTAINING the space won't happen. We
might clear it out once (think my January efforts, or my annual "get ready for Thanksgiving dinner" / Fall
Cleaning, Tax Prep for the papers)... but it all comes back, a bit at a time, until we're back at the
overwhelmed state.
I have worked on my home multiple times over my life... similar to how I've worked on my weight multiple
times over my life. As with figuring out the lifestyle to manage the weight (a way of eating, and a level of
activity)... I have to figure out how dealing with my physical stuff becomes a daily thing.
So, here I am again! I have started. I am trying to pace myself and not burn out. I've given myself a goal
of "five years out" to be ready to actually downsize to a smaller living space.
Why five years? To deal with it in a way that honors those resources. To avoid burning out, to learn the
skills, and practice them along the way, to stretch out the budget. And to emotionally adjust to the idea
before I'm forced into it by some unforeseen health situation.
Why do it at all? As a gift to my son, so he doesn't have to do it (in the event of that unforeseen situation).
As a gift to myself, building my personal refuge, right where I live now.
I love my "buffer zone" of yard space. I don't particularly relish the idea of moving into a "senior living
community". But if I hope to stay here with that buffer, I have to be able to keep it as a safe place for my
level of fitness and health. Even if I opt NOT to downsize in terms of moving, having less "stuff" in the
way opens up the ability to take on other projects, such as:
- replacing carpets that the dog destroyed. I have three rooms that qualify for this description, and add
damage the cats have added adds the stairs and hallway to that tally. You have to be able to *get* to the
carpets to replace them!
- restoring furniture. I have five pieces I would like to "do", but there's little point if it sits on shabby,
frayed, stained carpets. Which, by the way, can be a safety hazard to an aging person!
- When the budget allows, I'd like to redo the kitchen and the main bathroom. Put in those "aging
appropriate" assist bars, etc.
But it all starts with a goal, then a plan. For help with the plan, I'm doing something I did with fitness by
hiring a personal trainer. I've started investigating professional organizers, hoping to find one who will
work with the same kind of mindset as Laura Moore (the principal of ClutterClarity, mentioned above)...
who will teach me to enjoy the process, the same as I learned to love exercise, and learned to love eating
healthy.
To get back to the topic line: this morning I set out to handle three related areas that have been gathering
paper and junk since my January efforts last cleared them out: the phone shelf in the kitchen (where I put
things I don't want the cats playing with), the vanity in the master bedroom (which tends to collect
prescription receipts and other junk), and the computer table where I'm typing right now, because it
gathers bills I've paid online!
Estimates, anyone, for how long to tackle these three spaces, which, remember, were cleared out seven
months back? I started after breakfast. I finished about 12:30, breaking for lunch.
Done for the day! That was supposed to be a "small" task. But even small tasks take time.
The bigger task will be to actually follow a better system, so that the gathering doesn't happen in the first
place. I've never been particularly good at this. Nor have I ever much liked it... I'm an "ooh, shiny" kind of
interrupt driven. But if I want to live into my dotage and have my independence... if I want my son to not
have to deal with this as a HUGE issue... it's time to deal with my behaviors.
And which might interest the Spark crew? About the time I started actually *working* on this? My food
and activity straightened out, too. Four days with no avoidance eating!
For today:
- Healthy breakfast and lunch prepared and consumed.
- Water vessels filled. Hydration in progress.
- Recess is planned, and now I'm ready to go out and walk, and it's a nice day for it, too.
- Meaningful activity (decluttering) task of the day - done!
Here's hoping all of you are making the best decisions for a full and healthy life you can, this one and
only Wednesday, August 29, 2018 we'll ever get! We're worth it!
