Gentle Christian Mothers Community - View Single Post - Decluttering thread? Challenge? Accountability?

RealLifeMama · 12-31-2017, 07:09 PM

I can totally relate to the onion principle! And the domino effect.

Deciding where to put things, if we need them at all, and then what to do with them if I decide we want to keep them seem to be the toughest part for me. If it is out in a pile, chances are it is because I didn't have a good place to put it. We have no storage.

For specific goals....We got rid of 1000 things a few months ago. I set a challenge, printed off a grid that the family could color in squares
as we went, and then we celebrated with a big family outing when it was finished. The family has never been so involved in the process!
We are in the second layer of the onion now, I guess. We are doing it again with just 500 items. Anyway, that might be fun for your family. I don't tend to see progress well, so if I start doubting progress, the family can point to that, and we know we have accomplished something.

A Slob Comes Clean (Dana White, the homemaking blogger) has been helpful to me with decluttering. Her podcasts are the best! They are great to listen to while cleaning or decluttering. Her two questions have helped a lot. There are only two questions, not like 10.

I am still thinking about my particular plan of attack. I am thinking that I will try a combination of room by room and category by category.
Honestly, right now, books and school stuff is the most difficult because we never really figured out what do with all that stuff when my MIL moved into what was our school room. It needs to be dealt with the most, but it feels impossible because I just don't know what to do with all the things we are not currently using but I want to keep.

Anyway, I am definitely with you all and will cheer you on!

Oh, I'd love to post pictures, but I don't know how. How to do that?

12-31-2017, 07:09 PM	#4
RealLifeMama Rose Garden Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 18,256	Re: Decluttering thread? Challenge? Accountability? I can totally relate to the onion principle! And the domino effect. Deciding where to put things, if we need them at all, and then what to do with them if I decide we want to keep them seem to be the toughest part for me. If it is out in a pile, chances are it is because I didn't have a good place to put it. We have no storage. For specific goals....We got rid of 1000 things a few months ago. I set a challenge, printed off a grid that the family could color in squares as we went, and then we celebrated with a big family outing when it was finished. The family has never been so involved in the process! We are in the second layer of the onion now, I guess. We are doing it again with just 500 items. Anyway, that might be fun for your family. I don't tend to see progress well, so if I start doubting progress, the family can point to that, and we know we have accomplished something. A Slob Comes Clean (Dana White, the homemaking blogger) has been helpful to me with decluttering. Her podcasts are the best! They are great to listen to while cleaning or decluttering. Her two questions have helped a lot. There are only two questions, not like 10. I am still thinking about my particular plan of attack. I am thinking that I will try a combination of room by room and category by category. Honestly, right now, books and school stuff is the most difficult because we never really figured out what do with all that stuff when my MIL moved into what was our school room. It needs to be dealt with the most, but it feels impossible because I just don't know what to do with all the things we are not currently using but I want to keep. Anyway, I am definitely with you all and will cheer you on! Oh, I'd love to post pictures, but I don't know how. How to do that? __________________ A, Mother of Dancing Diva, 21 Boy Wonder 19, Mr. Cool 15, and Ninja 13 Sunshine, 11, and 8 year old Joy Last edited by RealLifeMama; 12-31-2017 at 07:16 PM.

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