In my efforts to control clutter, I like to make it into a game of sorts which I call 23 Skidoo. I have to find 23 items to put away or throw away every day. Sometimes I get very inspired and play 23 Skidoo twice.
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What a great idea - I have a mental frugal pin ball game I play & go ka-ching every time I score a deal - and I could sure use moving the game sense to picking up!
I started doing something similar - 15 things thrown away a day & I set the timer for 15 minutes to do a job I dreaded. I usually ended up throwing more things away & the dreaded jobs usually turned out to be not too bad.
STRING THEORY!!
I do something like that once a year when our annual Saturday Market Yard Sale happens. I go through my house and for every three things, I pick one I can live without. I take it down from the walls or out of storage or from under the bed...and suddenly, I am living with 1/3 less clutter! If it's something I really love but need the room, I simply take a digital shot and have the memory forever!
I have a friend who was diagnosed with Hoarding OCD and her house is so cluttered, you can't walk down a hall or through a door without doing it sideways...I am serious! When I think I am getting too much stuff, and I want to keep it, I just think of her. She is on meds now and getting better, every weekend taking more and more to the local charities. However, I went to a seminar with her and the speaker said that when he was a child, his grandmother passed away. When the family gathered to settle her estate, they found hundreds of unread magazines, 219 cups, over 1000 newspapers and finally, a big bag of string in her attic labeled "STRING TOO SHORT TO SAVE"...
Makes you think, huh?
When I'm cleaning or going through things I always notice I have yet another box, basket or container of things I'll go through "later". Lately I've noticed that I have some things that just sit. They don't have a proper home, I'm not using them, nor do I put them away. Obviously I don't need them. If it has sat around without moving for more than a month, I get rid of it.
I LOVE it. I'm going to start today - twice!!
Every time I watch TV during the day, I make a point of doing something during each commercial. It might be to fold a load of laundry, clean out a kitchen drawer, start the dishwasher, etc. I am often amazed-and pleased-with what I can get done during those 5 minute periods.
Good suggestions, all of these!
When it comes to getting rid of things, try Freecycle (go to freecycle.org, type in your zip code or city to find a group near you) to find a new, loving home for the things you don't want anymore. If you don't think anyone else could possibly want it - um, do YOU?
I have a place where I collect things to freecycle. If the stash has reached a certain size and I haven't freecycled them yet, it's off to the thrift shop with them!
Bear in mind that doctor's waiting rooms can often use more magazines (especially recent issues or timeless ones), and so could the vets living in VA hospitals. Nursing homes, too, I suppose.
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