Soldato
I need a massive clear out but the task is so daunting and I really don't know where to start. But I do tidy up and move stuff around now and then so it feels like I've done something.
Decluttering your house.
- Thread starter Mysterae_
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I find the best way is do a small amount more often, don't think about the overall task just the small task in front of you.
Be systematic, so say start with clothes first
Soldato
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we moved from a pretty cramped 3 bed terraced house 2 years ago, into a large 5 bed detached and were worried we would struggle to fill all of the space.
We needn't have worried at all.
My missus buys so much crap (mostly related to kids) I have to walk sideways through doorways and the hallway quite often, its honestly depressing.
We had a bit of a get together/party for my my little boys birthday a few weeks ago and the missus cleaned and tidied the house, we both commented to each other how nice it felt to walk around a tidy house, she said she would make an effort to keep it like that now, it hasn't happened, its as bad as it was in the space of 3 weeks.
doesn't help that we are currently mid bathroom renovation, so there are tools and bathroom furniture lying around everywhere.
We needn't have worried at all.
My missus buys so much crap (mostly related to kids) I have to walk sideways through doorways and the hallway quite often, its honestly depressing.
We had a bit of a get together/party for my my little boys birthday a few weeks ago and the missus cleaned and tidied the house, we both commented to each other how nice it felt to walk around a tidy house, she said she would make an effort to keep it like that now, it hasn't happened, its as bad as it was in the space of 3 weeks.
doesn't help that we are currently mid bathroom renovation, so there are tools and bathroom furniture lying around everywhere.
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I cleared out loads of bicycle stuff the other week as it's been on the todo list, quite a difficult task that was. Turns out i forgot to do the spokes so did that this morning after i kept reading replies here and it stayed on my mind.
Such a waste of time really, by the time i got through it all and organise i could have earned enough money to just buy what i needed again anyway. Kept 3 of each size as emergency spares and chucked near most of the rest. There was a good few hundred
Such a waste of time really, by the time i got through it all and organise i could have earned enough money to just buy what i needed again anyway. Kept 3 of each size as emergency spares and chucked near most of the rest. There was a good few hundred
Soldato
Do I remember you saying something about having ADHD a while back? I'm just the same with clutter (got diagnosed about 18months back)
I just want to be able to give stuff to folk who can make use of it, I've even got boxes of old tech clutter (socket A heatsink and fan anyone?) in boxes in the garage after clearing it out by old room at my Dad's house and the thought patten is, someone somewhere might have a use for this - perhaps I should go through it all and list it on MM for postage only and asking folk to make a small donation to a charity if they get something, but I can't be bothered, because I know it'll take a long time, perhaps 5=10 % of the stuff will be of interest to anyone, then I'll have to post that, and it'll have used up a lot of time and got rid of very little, but I can't take it to the tip because something ,might be usful to someone and therefore its a waste to dump it.
I've even saved leftover bits from jobs, thinking I might need a spare one of those one day (tbh, there are a lot of situations where it would be easier if I could get hold of somehting that is now obsolete - but only a few times it matches up, most of the time it misses with what I've kept not being used, and what I need not having, but sometimes it does, possibly many many years later)
Its this: It might just be usful to me / someone else could have a good use for this / it was expensive when I bought it. Thinking that stops me clearing stuff out
Soldato
Yep, diagnosed 2021. I generally am ok with a "messy" environment if it's useful stuff, or projects/activities I'm still doing. It just seems as I get older there's more unfinished projects and less time. And then it snowballs because it's harder to get into a project when I have to make space for it etc!
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But when you do find a use for something, damn it feels good. I have loads of M5 size washers, and funnily enough when i mounted a pc monitor on an arm, i had bolts from another monitor, and those random washers which were needed as the bolts were too long.
If it's organised and you have space, hoarding is good.
Associate
would love to get rid of some stuff as a starting point and have done in the past. Stuff makes it in bags to the garage where the Mrs will sometimes go through them to make sure she wants to get rid of stuff.
Did clear out some of my books and dvds recently, got rid of some old clothes to find she had claimed the space for even more of her stuff......
Did clear out some of my books and dvds recently, got rid of some old clothes to find she had claimed the space for even more of her stuff......
A big driver for me to sort out the garage is that I've got a few DIY projects planned for next year and I don't want to spend ages looking for anything. I also don't want to have buy something that I know/think I already have, somewhere! It's as if I'm putting an obstacle in my way or giving myself an excuse before I even start something.
How do people deal with cleared spaces becoming dumping grounds for stuff. I clear the worktops or the mantle piece and then family member starts putting their stuff on it again, as if it’s got a message on it that’s reads “random stuff to be dumped here”.
Get a new family
Soldato
I've known for a while that flat surfaces are my enemy - I "tidy" stuff onto them, place them there for later, generally use them as storage and fill them. Whereas more recently as I tidy/aim to downsize my stuff, I'm realising open spaces actually make me feel a bit uneasy. Especially if I expose new wall space. Feels weird seeing bare wall and open floor with skirting visible. I've always been used to a space being "maximised" in terms of what is stored and available there. My mum's house had walls and walls of books, video tapes, cassettes, art, etc etc. it's a very weird thing to realise I might not like the open space minimalist look.
One thing I'm good at is I avoid putting stuff on floors though. Hence flat surfaces being a danger.
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Soldato
We shall not speak of the Tidy Desk Brigade. A desk is supposed to be used and should have Stuff on it for doing Things!
"Surrounded by things they love" is a great way to phrase it
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I've never understood how it was even slightly possible to have a clean desk.
Soldato
I shall QA for a small feeSee the previous page for my work. However, there will be a consultancy fee
Soldato
Shh he's rich man, let's double teamPfft, quality comes as standard here sunshine
Soldato
If the famaly start putting stuff back just grab it when they are not there and put it in a bedroom - When thay ask where has it gone say bedroom but your not sure which one.
I heard of one woman who's daughter wouldn't pick up her dirty clothes from bedroom floor and put them in washing basket she just pushed them all under the bed - Later the daughter asked where is her clean clothes.
I don't know they were not in basket.
She did it after that.
Come to think about it I think it was the wife before we got married - You had to jump from door to the bed if I remember correct.
I heard of one woman who's daughter wouldn't pick up her dirty clothes from bedroom floor and put them in washing basket she just pushed them all under the bed - Later the daughter asked where is her clean clothes.
I don't know they were not in basket.
She did it after that.
Come to think about it I think it was the wife before we got married - You had to jump from door to the bed if I remember correct.