So, I had my brother help me (he’s an Organizer) and I made some progress in Montreal. I arrived back in PA today, though, and it’s a whole different kettle of fish. It ought to be really easy to keep my place clean here, since I only have my bedroom, bathroom and the common areas to worry about, and since I’m practically never home, and since I don’t have accumulated crap here - it’s all back in Montreal.
My new goal is to do at least one thing - just one, no matter how little - every day. I swear, that should keep me neat and clean around here, at least, as neat as I need to be.
Today I:
Washed my bathroom sink and mirror
Put three loads of laundry through the machines (no folding or putting away, though)
Spent a few minutes picking up stuff from the floor
Am planning on changing the sheets before I go to sleep
Hey, Helen’s Eidolan. I’m still around, but I haven’t done photos for this week. I don’t really feel inclined to do so. I’m not sure who they’re helping (if anyone). I can see that my room is messy or clean, and I don’t think they’re helping with accountability any.
The room itself is largely clean, but the desk has gotten messy again. It’s clear my problem is “horizontal spaces”. This is no shocker, as it’s been my problem for a long time, and is so common in my family there’s one counter in the kitchen of my parent’s house that is designated the “collect-all counter”.
Some of this is simply that I have so little space, and I still have some things to get rid of. Some of it is that I have acquired a few new things, and haven’t figured out how to organize them.
I need a spot for library books that are “to be read” and “to be returned”. I also need to figure out what to do with this Christmas wrapping paper I saved, until I use it on my Christmas gift to be sent. (Otherwise I will be sending unwrapped gifts, and while that’s good for my budget, it is kind of sad.)
That’s about it for now. I’d given the club up for dead. Sorry!
I’ve been working! I cleared a bunch of clutter off the Nemesis Counter, and today I cleared junk off the bookshelves in the living room. Those shelves tend to accumulate stuff in front of the books. And today I did a bunch of chores instead of sewing like I wanted to, which is just as well since my back is a little tweaked and sewing isn’t good for it.
I should go clean up the schoolroom before I go to bed; I tend to get sewing stuff all over it, and really I like it to be ready to go for the next morning. So I’ll go do that now.
I’ve fallen off a little… okay, a lot. Early in the year to lose enthusiasm, right? But I DID clean my car out, because I desperately need some paperwork I thought was in there (it was! Postmarked May!) and because it’s annoying not to be able to take anybody else anywhere in it. Well, lo! and behold, today I have to go to this training thing somewhere else, and one of the guys who has to go also came over and asked if I thought they’d let us take a car, because his car is a mess and the other guy rode his bike, but I said, lo, unto you a car is given! Fear not, for I bring you tidings of floorboards!
It was really kind of a rush in a social way. I honestly hadn’t realized how I hated taking rides and never giving them.
I’ve been busy/not felt well lately, which is causing me to make excuses not to do anything. :rolleyes: But I hope to kick some clutter-butt this weekend. It’s a 3-dayer! I want to work on my junk room, my bedroom, and maybe the laundry room.
I love, love, love my Roomba! It’s forced me to keep most of my floors clear of clutter most of the time. The battery doesn’t work as long as I’d like, but it’ll do 2-3 rooms before it needs to “go take a nap” (as my toddler says).
She’s been doing pretty darn great at keeping her room tidy, too, I might add. I’ve been going in there for a 5 minute clean up about every two hours, and she’s starting to get the idea. Yesterday I heard her singing “Clean up, clean up,” and telling her younger friend, “Soft blocks in dere. No, dere! Good job!”
We’ve got a birthday party this Sunday (heh, my son’s birthday party. Wasn’t my meltdown over his birthday last year the impetus for the original SDMB Slob Reform Club thread?) and I feel pretty good about it. There’s some significant tidying that needs to happen in the office/dining room/playroom (all one room) and Mount Wash-more needs to be scaled again as soon as I get quarters for the washer and dryer, but I’m not too concerned about the rest of the place.
I only managed to fold and put away my three loads of laundry yesterday, as my other chore-time was taken up by food shopping and cooking. Still - one thing was accomplished, which was my goal. Usually I just leave the clean laundry in a different pile on the floor than the dirty laundry, so it makes a big difference in how my room looks.
I managed to do the dishes and make the bed yesterday. But I was sick yesterday, and barely functioning, so I hope to do better today! I need the weekend to come so I can get my husband to do some things, like putting the Christmas boxes in the top of the attic (yes, I know, but he tweaked his back, see…).
It does, doesn’t it? I remember when my ex-husband and I were still living together (and in the throes of a meltdown), and the laundry just piled up on the sideboard in our bedroom. Every now and then he or I or both would make an effort to get it cleared off, and it would look great. Until the next load of laundry…
I think what I’m finding is that, when everything is tidy (or mostly tidy), I’m more happy and productive. I’ve always been a slob, and it still freaks me out how much my attitudes toward clutter and cleanliness have changed. But I like the change, for the most part. But it does make it hard to deal with uncontrollable clutter (like there literally being no good place to put the shoes that must come off because of snow, and no place for jackets). These are the things I worry will cause me to slide back to the extra slob I was before.
Is it too late to join?
My husband and I are moving at the end of February, and I’m terrified that our shiny new (to us) house will end up the way our apartment has. Before we got married, we seemed to go by cycles, depending on how busy we were at work, then in 2006 wedding planning killed our apartment. Killed it dead. Several months later, we dragged ourselves out of that pit and got the place cleaned up, and then I started writing my dissertation, which plunged us back into chaos. Now, I’ve defended, we’re moving, and I have to establish some habits so that the house is never as bad as our apartment got.
So. Boxed up all my pottery (husband pitched a fit when I suggested ditching it), cleaned the bathroom, (mostly) cleaned the kitchen, boxed up all the books (husband pitchd a fit when I suggested ditching them), and cleaned out my closet.
Up next: Storage room and pantry- wish me luck!
Anyone have tips for dealing with an unrepentent packrat of a spouse? I don’t actually think my husband believes anything is garbage, and he only throws things away to fit in with the rest of society.
That is sooo sweet!
I’ve not been doing well at all. Grand total of what I’ve thrown out this week: a pair of bedroom slippers, a watch with a broken band, and a blouse I hate. Pitiful.
Okay, I’m keeping up with the basic house cleaning/dishes/laundry stuff, but I need to work on decluttering. I simply can’t put things away because all of the ‘away’ places are already full of other stuff.
One thing I’ve managed to stick to: NOTHING is coming into the house (other than food & other consumables like soap and t.p.) until I do at least a first pass declutter on what we have. And I’ve extracted a promise from hubby to do the same, with his decluttering assignments being the garage and the unfinished part of the basement. He wants a new computer game? Or that new woodworking gizmo? Then he’ll have to get to work decluttering.
He can start with that ridiculous mountain built of paint cans. Supposedly they’re kept so we can touch up whatever if it gets dinged or scratched – but as I pointed out to him, we’ve lived in this house almost twenty years now, we’ve NEVER done a touch up paint job, and most of the paint is probably no good anymore. Load it in the truch and haul it down to the town’s hazardous waste collection already!
Sounds like you’re doing really well, to me, StarvingButStrong. You’ve thrown things out already, so that’s not pitiful. You’ve gotten your husband on board with the decluttering, and that’s a huge victory. Having someone undoing your work as fast as you can do it is so disheartening, and you’re working to avoid that.
On top of everything else, you’re keeping on top of basic housekeeping. Sounds like the exact opposite of “not been doing well at all”. Is there more to do? Sure. But you see it and you’re going to get it.
This is something for all of us to remember, I think. We need to avoid getting down on ourselves because we “didn’t do enough”. That drags us down overall. Every step toward getting the house or car or garage or desk clean is a real victory. We’re not in this thread because we’re neat-freaks. We’re in this thread because it is genuinely hard for us to clean and keep things clean. So it’s really important to acknowledge ourselves and others when we get it right. Even when getting it right is throwing out three things, staying on top of housework when we’re sick, or cleaning out the car.
Anyway, that’s my piece, and I’m going to go tidy my room up again. I still haven’t figured out places for things. And I think I need to take stuff to the recycle bin outside Whole Foods today, because my understanding is that recycling basically doesn’t happen if you’re in a condo or apartment complex. And, well, I can’t handle that.
PS - not only was my car clean enough that I wasn’t at all embarassed to give people a ride, but the ex-friend of mine who was my best friend for ten years and then dumped me because her boyfriend thought I was a “bad influence”? Her? Who works where we had training? Yeah, she got so fat. So really, it’s a good day. Makes me want to go home and tackle the guest room.
Well yay for me! Today I called up to get the carpet cleaned, and the appointment’s tomorrow, so we spent some time getting things off the floor. I got quite a few things thrown away (mostly the kids’ projects that were hiding in their under-table ‘clubhouse’).
Thank you! Yes, three things gone is something. A baby step, at least.
That was an excellent post, and I’d print it out to keep except I’m trying to cut DOWN on my piles of paper.
Tomorrow…well, tomorrow I’ll tackle the bottom of my bedroom closet. That should be not TOO tough. I hope.
I picked up a nasty cold this past weekend and haven’t gotten anything done. (I haven’t even updated my status on my blog after I swore I’d do it weekly. :o ) But this weekend, I’ve got big plans.
Oh, I so need to do this. I’m embarrassed by my car and try not to park near any other cars at work. This weekend, dang it.
Well, my room is tidy enough for the cleaning ladies who are coming today. I have a job interview today, and I hope that I will be dressed appropriately for that. I only have one pair of appropriate shoes, and they don’t seem to go well with the slacks I thought I’d wear, so I’m going to have to take it a different direction. We’ll see. I think it’ll be fine. I didn’t have time (or money) to go shopping for this interview, since I called about the job yesterday and she liked what I had to say, so she told me to come in today. That’s gratifying, at least. And if I get this job, I’m going over to the cute shoe thread and buying a $25 pair of shoes that I really liked (if they still have them in my size). Then I will attempt the advice in said thread of building an outfit around the great shoes.
Unfortunately, I woke up this morning to my roommate being rather upset. The kitchen sink is leaking. So I had to find new homes for everything under there while she got under there to try to fix it. Unfortunately, her fix wasn’t it, so now I’m waiting for a buddy of hers to come by and fix it up. I will have to shower later.
Yesterday I cleaned the whole dang kitchen, unearthed a tool my roommate needed for something else (it wasn’t in the kitchen), cleared off the dining room table to the best of my ability, and tidied my room.
My goals for the next week (Thursday to Thursday) are to get at least 25% of the stuff that needs to be mailed off gone. Keep the room tidy, instead of having to tidy it on Wednesdays (even though it’s not that bad), and get the cooler down to the garage. Oh, and to look for jobs and leash train the puppy.
I’m glad everyone in here is doing so well. I suspect, tremorviolet that cleaning out the car is a great idea. It’s very clearly delineated, and no matter how big a job it is, it can’t be as big as the house. So it gives you something to not only start, but finish. And then you can give people rides and park near others at work. Zofia, am I on the right track here?
dangermom, the only times my mother hasn’t had some kind of “home helper” was when she couldn’t afford one. Given that some of the things that tend to put her in bed for days are “any kind of twirling movement” (mop the floors, anybody?) and lifting anything heavier than one full plate, I’d much rather pay for her cleaning lady (matter of fact, the “don’t expect it to be returned” loan I gave her last year covers that and then some) than for an old-folk’s house. And I’m not going to be living with her if I can help it.
Your case is completely different, but really, sometimes a cleaning lady is the best option. Even if the one Mom now has enjoys watching over my shoulder while I’m writing stuff in English, which she can’t read…
I haven’t accomplished much either due to sinus problems and/or a cold but I decided that no matter how bad I feel I’ll try to do at least a little something every day, like wash or put away a few clothes, wash a couple dishes, sort through some papers. Every little bit no matter how small has got to help.
