Goal Tracking: Declutter and Cleaning

I'm still in the kitchen, small steps a day ...

I CAN SEE THE TOP OF MY DESK!!!

Unfortunately, technology has changed so much since i actually used my desk that the artifacts contained therein are pretty much obsolete - hole punch, staplers, scotch tape, highlighter pens. Back to the future! Or forward to the past?

So glad you found your life insurance policy before it lapsed, Rose76!

I've had mixed success. I've been better about tossing stuff lately. Stuff that has been lying around the house waiting for me to get to... projects I'll never finish... things I'll never use again, or might use two years from now... things I don't really like.

Oh! I have a tin full of sample beauty products I've collected throughout the years. I used one of the samples the other day and it gave me HIVES. The rest is going in the trash!

Last night I was looking for an ingredient I needed for a recipe I was trying. I know I have some, just couldn't find it because I have so much food that I can't quickly see what I own.

I tossed a lot of random, outdated jars and bags of stuff...

My kitchen is "retooled" - almost done. i.e. the conversion from big freestanding shelves that the inspector said were illegal to narrow shelves. Almost done. Tiring, tiresome work. But almost done.

You are making me want to reboot my kitchen! I keep looking at things on shelves and thinking, I should throw that out, I never use it... but still I sit. Time to get cracking!

I've gone back to using toggl, a time tracking app (free, on the phone or web). I spend WAY more time cleaning than I realize. Why does my place still look so gross?!

I filled up a trashbag with crap from the kitchen and gave away a box of food that I will never eat.

I discovered this thread for the first time tonight and read every single post! I identify with so much of what's here. We moved about 4.5 years ago from a house we had been in for 22 years. We've yet to completely unpack! It's just overwhelming. Boxes upon boxes upon boxes. Too many details to go into but I'm hoping I will gain some motivation from what I've read. Thanks!

I filled up another trash bag with crap (well, half of one, but it's a big bag, twice the normal size!)! I also wiped down a bunch of surfaces in the kitchen. I need to have a contractor come in to quote me on some repairs, so motivation...

It really is overwhelming! I've been here for 10+ years and still have a couple of boxes I haven't unpacked (but I've opened them!).

I usually feel like it is pointless to even start because nothing will make a dent... but I can now see these empty spaces in the kitchen where I have thrown things out.

I think the worst thing I did to myself was buy/install additional storage units. I did it to have more space to organize my overcrowded shelves, but all I did was add more stuff and overcrowd those...

I tried to quit smoking a bunch of times but never actually did when I planned it. One day I woke up and was just done. It was still hard to stop, but it was like some switch got flipped.

I think that is starting to happen with the house. I am getting so annoyed lately at looking at a mess, buying duplicates because I can't find what I am looking for, spending too much time just moving crap around from one place to another, etc - I'm starting to just throw stuff out. I really hope this lasts.

I am getting used to seeing wide open spaces!

I realized i was letting obstacles get me down, so i googled quotes for overcoming obstacles, got a new wallpaper for my phone - "the obstacle is the path" and got a kindle book by the sameish title. I also ordered one last mini bookshelf for the kitchen stuff - that should take care of it, and we can then move on. Cuz right now, finishing the kitchen is an obstacle.

I hope to tackle 2 boxes today. They have trophies and plaques in them from when we used to coach a women's softball team. We haven't coached in 10 years! Craziness!

Yeah I found cleaning up to really help my energy. Felt a lot better. They talk about it in Feng Shui

Yay! I did the boxes and added bonus...spouse helped!!!!!! Part of the problem at this house is that neither one of us is motivated individually or as a team. This was a great breakthrough even if it was just a nick and not a full fledged dent!

I have emptied a box yesterday and one today and shredded some old unneeded documents that were in a folder. This is huge for me!

Congrats on the boxes! You are on a roll!

I like the sound of 'the obstacle is the path,' something else for me to Google!

Whenever I need to motivate myself to clean I just watch that show and it motivates me.

LOL, I've never seen that show before. They seemed sort of mean to that woman they were helping, but the place looked great!

Oh wow, I started another episode - it sort of makes me a little sick to watch all the close ups of gross stuff.

Oh.My.Gawd!!!!!!! I couldn't live in that nastiness! I stopped watching it after she picked up the cat poo!!!!!!! I feel better about my dust bunnies now!

Haven't had time to do any boxes the last few days but I did manage to shred 2 notebooks of old financial papers related to my deceased mother. Better than nothing!

I have an open box on the dining room table that is overwhelming with no end of assorted and sundried papers, newspaper clippings, art supplies, etc. I try to grab 1 article from it when I go by and deal with it. Sometimes I ignore it! But I am trying!

Since the beginning of the year, I have steadily worked my way through my house. All that I have left now, is the office where I need to archive documents (I work for 3 companies), and sort out some personal goodies. Otherwise I have been tossing and cleaning like mad. All the curtains got washed and every cupboard in the house got emptied, half the stuff donated, and the rest very neatly packed back. Sort of the way I always used to be. My drinking got in the way of my cleaning for too long.

Now I know what I've got and where it is.

I clean every day (sweep etc) but do a deeper clean at least 3 times a week. I can have a heart attack when the wind blows and dust blows in, especially in the kitchen and bathroom.

The last few months worth of cleaning and decluttering has been very good for me.

That's very inspirational, Sabrina!

I was also motivated by the video SophiaG posted (and a plumber coming tomorrow). I didn't know that you could clean certain things, I thought the dirt was just permanent. It sounds dumb, but I started using a toothbrush to clean a bunch of stuff that I thought was permanently stained and now I have lots of white surfaces!

I'm getting more of the kitchen counters cleaned. Got started looking at one cupboard where I keep my flour & had noticed flour all over the place after I noticed ants going there last summer. What a disaster. Weevils in everything. Little tiny holes in the bags, not sure if it was the ants trying to get in or the weevils trying to get out. Finally got all 3 shelves cleaned & reorganized & tons of bags of messed up flour to dump into my woods to go back to nature.

Got several of those plastic filing boxes to put the hanging file folders in. Got all my loose recipes filed in one & working on all the paperwork that I've just thrown in boxes. Got a shoe rack put together to hold shoes in the closet & a boot rack for all my boots...holds more that advertised.

Only problem is that I make more of a mess while organizing so it's difficult to manage until I get finished get it all put away. I hate the disaster this house has become...but slowly working on it & at times not doing the fun stuff in order to do the important though not all the time

Weevils are one way to clean out a pantry, for sure! I found evidence of them this weekend also - the grains are well protected now, but I though the bag of dried chilies would be safe and it wasn't. I dumped them in the berry patch, hoping it's a good deterrent for rodents so I can get more fruit this year.

I need to clean up the kitchen and finish the dishes but I don't feel like it