Fighting the clutter

[mdlbear]

It's been a while since I posted about "clutter", and at least as long since I did anything about it. It's been sneaking up on me.

So I spent an hour or two this afternoon cleaning up my side of the bedroom, sorting loose objects into some conveniently-available shoeboxes and generally trying to make room for the computer I hope to install there tomorrow for recording. And while I've been sitting here reading LJ, I've also been doing some long-needed maintenance on some of my web files, and simultaneously ripping the sizeable stack of CDs (mostly Janis Ian, from last year's holiday sale) that's been sitting for months on top of the computer I hope to install in the bedroom.

You see how it all fits together? It's all one big, um,... cluttered web of dependencies.

I'm still looking for one of my two Griffin iMic USB interfaces (the other is sitting on my desk, part of the clutter).

Comments

[harmonyheifer.livejournal.com]

You are on the right track, dragging yourself away from the computer screen, setting a kitchen timer for an hour and just sifting and sorting is the key. The secret is to make time to do this daily until you are back in control of your environment. File boxes, the kinds with the removable lids and handle holds in the sides, that you can get in packages of ten at most office supply stores are ideal for sorting and they stack great too. Sort like with like. put cds in one, paperbacks in another, mail in another, etc. You also need a big plastic trash bag for trash, and a larger box for charity. And then follow through. Throw out the trash, take the stuff you don't want to charity, and make a place for the stuff in the boxes. Yeah, it is a lot of work, but so is living in chaos. Hang in there, I'm sending you powerful de-cluttering vibes.

[mdlbear]

Office Max file boxes are my friends, yes indeed! So are moving boxes, which are just enough bigger that they'll hold three or four of the flats that hold a case of soda.

Now I have to break myself of the habit of shoveling a pile of stuff into a box, scribbling "needs to be sorted soon" on the side, and forgetting about it.

The original idea (ganked from someone else's LJ, I think) was that 15 minutes/day was enough, which is where the 15 minutes tag comes from. Would probably work if I actually devoted a full 15 minutes every day to it...

[harmonyheifer.livejournal.com]

15 minutes a day would be plenty to maintain a room that has already been sorted and cleared, but if your home is typical of most fannish homes, it is going to take an hour a day to get there from where you are now. Clutter usually stems from two problems: 1.) Things need to be put away, and 2.) There is no place to put the things that are cluttering up the space, which is why it was sitting where it was in the first place. Most people need more storage or less stuff. If you have empty closets, bookshelves or storage units, you are ahead of the curve already.

[mdlbear]

Empty? Even the garage attic is full (and if we had a basement or attic they would be, too). Makes it more challenging.

We definitely belong in the "less stuff" category, though there are a couple of places in the garage attic where we could add walls. We'll have a little more room when our older daughter moves out sometime next year.