I got rid of another 500 emails. Suddenly I’m actually responding to people and able to make things happen, instead of losing everything to the abyss known as “inbox”!
I have this problem with a few things. No solutions, just commiserations. (Actually I found these a lot easier to toss on a 5th go through, so there’s hope!)
Today I was going to start decluttering the garage. But then I realized how cool it was for July, and how not sunny it was for July, and instead decided to do more yardwork. It’s like making hay while the sun shines, but the opposite. I hate doing yardwork, so this is a win, in general. Front yard and driveway look much better. But unless you count weeds and thorny things and tree branches and dried leaves as clutter, I have not made decluttering progress. Tomorrow!
THIS RIGHT HERE. YES!
I used to be this person. I had so many shoe boxes of letters that I carted around the country (so. many. moves.) I’ve mostly gotten rid of them now. I literally never looked at them. The “space” that was created by removing them is more soothing to my soul than holding on to things from the past that have no impact on my life. I’m not famous, no one is going to be writing my biography (and even if they did, letters from when I was a kid would have zero relevance).
I recently started clearing out my email as well (I deleted a shit ton of “corporate” type emails in big swaths - thousands). I had been reading the very old ones (> 10 years ago) and it was interesting because so much has changed since then. Who was that person? Or maybe, who is this person now? It’s a little fun, but also not really relevant to my life now, and I am undecided whether I want to just delete the rest or continue to read them (and then delete them).
Finally remembered to list a dog crate and exercise pen on FB marketplace. Got an offer immediately, she’s supposed to pick up on Wednesday 
I have 4 email accounts. 2 now have extremely manageable inboxes, one is almost there and one I never use - but it’s linked to my public Instagram. I deleted about 500 emails today.
Our study/craft room is really depressing to be in and there is still overflow from my last attempt at “yes we’re really going to get through it this time!” Biggest problem is I can’t do it on my own, it has to be a team effort with DH. Anyone got good tips for working with someone on your joint space?
-Be patient. Working on it gradually and building in breaks is better than doing it all at once if moving too quickly will cause burnout or resentment.
-Allow the purpose of the room and the limits of the space guide what you keep. If the room truly lacks storage spaces, it’s okay to spend some money to add a reasonable amount. If there’s already enough storage, work on coming to an agreement with your husband about what will be stored where. If a category of stuff doesn’t fit in the designated space, something from that category needs to go.
-It may help to have the conversation about the room’s purpose separate from deciding who gets what space within the room, to allow time for thoughts to percolate.
If there’s space either in the room or in another room, set up a “maybe”/“not sure” box for items that you/husband think you’re ready to get rid of but aren’t sure on. Set a timeline for dealing with it.
-Try to simplify other parts of your routine (cooking, cleaning, etc.) while you’re working on this to free up time and mental space to work on this room.
Good luck!
You have to be much, much nicer than you want to be. Encouraging and praise-y, not grumbly and pissed off like you feel because all that crap makes you feel grumbly and pissed off.
Time for me to get back into it! I’ve just posted an item to give away on Buy Nothing for the first time in… Maybe over a month?!
I’m not going to set myself a goal # of items to declutter again, but I am going to count how many I declutter in August. Counting what I get rid of is motivating and interesting for me.
Listed a second thing on Buy Nothing. I can do this!! I can get back into the habit of decluttering. I listed a thermos and a hideous toy we hate.
On our recent holiday we finally used the portacot we’ve had for most of Ewok’s life, received free from (you guessed it) Buy Nothing. We hated it, and so did Ewok. It was so terrible that Mr H agreed with me immediately when I suggested listing it on Buy Nothing. BIL drove it back from our holiday for us so we need to collect it from him, then it’s getting given tha fuck away. If we need to use a portacot at some point in future we can buy a decent one or borrow one from someone. It’ll be fine.
On a similar note: we own two highchairs. One is the standard plastic IKEA one received free via (yes of course) Buy Nothing; the other is a fancy Tripp Trapp toddler highchair received free as a hand-me-down from my sister. We only use the Tripp Trapp these days so the only reason to keep the IKEA highchair is for a hypothetical second kid. Well, IKEA highchairs get posted on Buy Nothing every damn week, and if I can’t snag one of those, I can buy one or buy a baby chair add-on thing for the Tripp Trapp. Soooooo it’s totally time to pass on the IKEA highchair.
Listed another thing on Buy Nothing (weird useless Tupperware thing… My experience has been that anything Tupperware branded is in high demand even if it’s useless).
Going to contact my sister today to check whether she’d rather I give away a sling bookcase or if she wants to list it for sale on gumtree.
Picked up some shipping boxes so I can start listing the clothes I have piled in my closet for sale. It’ll be a process, but at least I can start.
I donated about a dozen books yesterday, and also threw out some old makeup and dug out three little travel toothpastes to use up before we move.
So much progress today! Finally got husband to go through his dresser. He really doesn’t have that much stuff, I just knew there was lots in there that’s worn out or doesn’t fit, and honestly it was obscuring the replacement clothes he needs. Got that cleaned and reorganized. Found a couple items he forget he has, too. grocery sack worth of clothes gone there.
Also went through some storage bins we have in the top of our closet. We had 3 bins- only got rid of a small amount in there, but more importantly shuffled a lot of the contents to where it more appropriately belongs so it’ll get remembered and used. From 3 bins down to 1, and a nice big spot we’ll be able to store future baby clothes sizes in.
Pulled out some rugs I’ve been dragging my feet on listing. Got those and our bed frame up on FB to hopefully sell 
Old box spring is listed for free, but we’ll likely just have to take that down to our dumpsters and pay the pickup fee (boo).
Gave away the too-small desk on Buy Nothing 
I am so excited. Now to hope the giftee actually picks up…
Just posted a small bookshelf and the portacot on my street’s neighbourhood group, to see if anyone super-local wants either before I post them on Buy Nothing. Among other benefits, pickup rate is much, much higher with neighbours than with Buy Nothing giftees 
Someone from yesterday’s meetup invited me to her friend’s clothing swap. Assuming her friend is fine with it, I’ll be able to get rid of clothes that nobody is taking on buy nothing.
We bought several small to medium furniture pieces yesterday on the agreement that we would get rid of a set of shelves. The task will require bravery, fortitude and endurance. It currently holds:
I think I should keep these items:
I’m gonna have to shift other things to make homes for these. Hmmmm.
Magazines removed, 5 thrown out. I think ~ 20 to go.
Husband has gotten bigger so no longer fits into most of his clothes. Today we went though them, tried them all on, and now we have a lot to donate. Downside is he no longer has dress shirts or slacks.
