Wednesday, January 29, 2020
Yesterday was supposed to be a clearing clutter day. I had two volunteers scheduled and both had to cancel. My early volunteer lives in a school district that had a two-hour delay and needed to be with her kids, and my later volunteer felt she was coming down with a cold and did not want to give me her germs. I understand circumstances do not always work out as we plan, but I was disappointed. I was looking forward to making enough progress decluttering that the improvement would be visible.
Today did not start any better. I had two decluttering volunteers scheduled for the same time and one let me know she was sick. So much for my super-productive week with four decluttering volunteers. My other volunteer for today, Lela Rae, did come and she comes with a truck. Lela Rae came over two weeks ago just to do a donation run for me. She filled her truck with bags and bags of items we had cleared out of my shed and cleared half of the donation bags from my patio. Today she started by loading up her truck again.
Even without the other three decluttering volunteers this week, the improvement is finally noticeable today. My volunteers that cleared out my shed a few weeks ago had left a few pieces of furniture in the shed for me to deal with on another day. There was a side table and standard bassinette that were not heavy, so Lela Rae loaded them on her truck and was able to fit all the donation bags from my patio. Lela Rae was also able to fit the items we sorted for donation today in her truck. I still have a few boxes on my patio I need to check to make sure are donation items, but my patio is mostly clear -- for now.
Honestly, Lela Rae and I did not move as many items out of my house as I had on previous decluttering days; however, today we moved out the right items to make a visible change. I have two storage buckets that were crushed from their time in my shed and I have designated them “donate” buckets and labeled them as such. When my seven-year-old, Mika, and I sort her items, she puts her unwanted items in the donate buckets to be taken care of later.
The fireplace nook in my lower level great room is the mess I see the most because it is in my line of sight when I work on my computer and my stuff gets placed there because it is out of the walking path. Lela Rae and I started on the fireplace and worked from there. We skipped a box of printer paper and a storage bucket of photos to leave for when I have cleared out more of my donation items.
Lela Rae and I sorted a bucket of toys that had been started as a donation bucket a year ago, but had random stuff tossed in with them during the year. Kids toys take so long to sort! I pulled out a few toys I knew had been placed on top by mistake and most of the items were either donated or put in the trash. I love seeing the toys leave my house. I have dealt with kid’s toys for more than thirty years and still have many more years to go with Mika.
I still have a large box and a storage bucket of the random papers collected from my older daughter’s bedroom when I packed up her belongings to move. I told her I would sort the papers because she does not have the time currently. I also know if I do the sorting the receipts from 2013 will end up in the trash. Lela Rae and I cleared out about two thirds of the large box and filled up a trash bag. We moved the rest of the papers into a smaller box and simply getting the donation buckets emptied, downsizing the box, and removing the bucket of toys made a visual impact.
My piece of advice to you is to accept that sometimes people let you down. Those three volunteers did not intentionally disappoint me. Real life can get in the way of the best intentions. Do not get derailed when life disappoints you.
Until next time,
Susanne
Please check out my GoFundMe page.
Yesterday was supposed to be a clearing clutter day. I had two volunteers scheduled and both had to cancel. My early volunteer lives in a school district that had a two-hour delay and needed to be with her kids, and my later volunteer felt she was coming down with a cold and did not want to give me her germs. I understand circumstances do not always work out as we plan, but I was disappointed. I was looking forward to making enough progress decluttering that the improvement would be visible.
Today did not start any better. I had two decluttering volunteers scheduled for the same time and one let me know she was sick. So much for my super-productive week with four decluttering volunteers. My other volunteer for today, Lela Rae, did come and she comes with a truck. Lela Rae came over two weeks ago just to do a donation run for me. She filled her truck with bags and bags of items we had cleared out of my shed and cleared half of the donation bags from my patio. Today she started by loading up her truck again.
Even without the other three decluttering volunteers this week, the improvement is finally noticeable today. My volunteers that cleared out my shed a few weeks ago had left a few pieces of furniture in the shed for me to deal with on another day. There was a side table and standard bassinette that were not heavy, so Lela Rae loaded them on her truck and was able to fit all the donation bags from my patio. Lela Rae was also able to fit the items we sorted for donation today in her truck. I still have a few boxes on my patio I need to check to make sure are donation items, but my patio is mostly clear -- for now.
Honestly, Lela Rae and I did not move as many items out of my house as I had on previous decluttering days; however, today we moved out the right items to make a visible change. I have two storage buckets that were crushed from their time in my shed and I have designated them “donate” buckets and labeled them as such. When my seven-year-old, Mika, and I sort her items, she puts her unwanted items in the donate buckets to be taken care of later.
The fireplace nook in my lower level great room is the mess I see the most because it is in my line of sight when I work on my computer and my stuff gets placed there because it is out of the walking path. Lela Rae and I started on the fireplace and worked from there. We skipped a box of printer paper and a storage bucket of photos to leave for when I have cleared out more of my donation items.
Lela Rae and I sorted a bucket of toys that had been started as a donation bucket a year ago, but had random stuff tossed in with them during the year. Kids toys take so long to sort! I pulled out a few toys I knew had been placed on top by mistake and most of the items were either donated or put in the trash. I love seeing the toys leave my house. I have dealt with kid’s toys for more than thirty years and still have many more years to go with Mika.
I still have a large box and a storage bucket of the random papers collected from my older daughter’s bedroom when I packed up her belongings to move. I told her I would sort the papers because she does not have the time currently. I also know if I do the sorting the receipts from 2013 will end up in the trash. Lela Rae and I cleared out about two thirds of the large box and filled up a trash bag. We moved the rest of the papers into a smaller box and simply getting the donation buckets emptied, downsizing the box, and removing the bucket of toys made a visual impact.
My piece of advice to you is to accept that sometimes people let you down. Those three volunteers did not intentionally disappoint me. Real life can get in the way of the best intentions. Do not get derailed when life disappoints you.
Until next time,
Susanne
Please check out my GoFundMe page.