Been there, done that, still have a few more of them to go.
{{{hugs}}}
Nope. Procrastination R Us. Actually, I’m spending all my time stressing about trying to find work and some of it actually applying for jobs.
One thing I’ve learned is that a major clean up job can take a LOT longer than you originally thought it would. “Finding work” is a necessary thing and a valid reason for putting off some other tasks.
Still nibbling that elephant.
Today, I unpacked and/or tossed the contents of two half-emptied boxes (e.g. I had gotten the job partway done) and filled a small-ish trash bag with clothes and various donatables.
There’s a Goodwill drop-off right next to my pharmacy, so there’s a two-fer errand in my very near future.
Yay! Worked on my Pile O’ Stuff today!
Loaded up the pickup with boxes. Didn’t spend a lot of time on specifics, just shoved already packed boxes in, then loaded up a few more boxes until the truck was full. Took the truckload to the storage unit and unloaded. Deployed D-con mouse killers (advised to do this by the storage unit landlord). I bought a bunch of small desiccant packs some time ago and dropped one in each box, although the stuff I’d unloaded into the unit earlier was much less damp already. Considered the situation.
Next step:
“Rescue” at least one trash can from the Old Place for the storage unit. Start sorting boxes at the Storage Unit. Will need four piles: “Trash” (hence the trash can), “Recycle”, “Donate” and “Burn” (because I’m gonna have more than my shredder can handle and my old landlord will lend me his firepit for the purpose).
Yes, I can do that tomorrow, although I’ll have to start early - I volunteered to deliver meals for Rosh Hoshanah for the local Jewish Federation so I have to be on time for that. After I do the deliveries maybe I can get back to the Storage Unit and get started on the sorting end of things.
I am also getting together things I can move from where I currently live to the storage unit - I mean, if I’ve got it I should use it, right? Not quite ready to put away the summer patio table and chairs or the big fan, but when winter sets in that’s where they are going.
Awesome, decluttering can give you a nice endorphin rush.
I’m almost done tossing things out one giant garbage can at a time. I have a wheelbarrow load ready for tomorrow when the pail is empty again.
Once I know the house sale is going through, there are 2 old particle board benches in my basement I will reduce to trash. Should take 2 loads of the garbage pail to be done. That is basically it.
I think the Storage Unit is going to be a good thing.
I went to the Old Place. Didn’t do a lot of cleaning/sorting/packing, mostly took pictures of my late spouse’s big machinery for a potential buyer, so I consider that time well spent. Also rescued a couple trash cans for the storage unit. They had been used as catch buckets for some of the ceiling leaks. I re-arranged things to catch leaks, emptied out the bins, and threw them in the back of the truck before I headed out to the Storage Unit.
Spent nearly an hour at the Storage Unit going through old stuff THERE, which went very well. As I’ve mentioned, it’s cleaner, drier, the lighting is better, and no emotional baggage. Well, a bit from some of the items I looked through but it’s a better environment for decision making.
I set an alarm because I have other things to do today and the time just flew by, good thing I had set that alarm.
Found out from someone in the apartment building behind the storage facility that the landlord for that building, the storage units, and my current residence may in fact all be the same company. Interesting.
A short article on decluttering:
Another Large oversized garbage pail is going out loaded today. Each week there is just less to get rid of and less to pack & move.
Wowza. I totally cleaned the front mudroom, which I use as my rat room. Then I assembled a small table, which fits perfectly and allows me to double them up - I can use vertical space, but the table is tall enough that I can easily reach the ones on the floor underneath, to feed 'em and change water bottles.
I have two enclosures still remaining down in the basement - and those are the biggest tubs - and now I can easily fit them both upstairs!
I didn’t want anybody in the basement once winter cold came.
Plus, the floor is (temporarily) swept clean.
I’m so happy I got that done!
Only had an hour to squeeze in on my big clean-up, but I got myself out to the storage unit and started sorting. Filled up about 2/3 each of bags of “trash”, “recycle”, and “burn”. Have a neat stack of “keep” which is smaller than any of the above stacks.
I’m doing “first pass” on the stuff I’ve moved to the storage unit. That is, I go through it quickly and immediately toss/recycle/burn the easy-to-part-with stuff. If I’m hesitating I don’t worry about spending the time on it, just set it aside for “second pass”. I find this quickly reduces the pile(s) so it’s not so overwhelming when I go through things more thoroughly. And, at least for me, gets a lot of stuff out of the way initially.
Probably won’t be able to get back to this for another 4 or so days, weekends are always full of working-for-money for me rather than working-for-more-space-and-less-clutter.
Another “weekend worker” here. You’re more productive than I: a single additional box unpacked this evening.
A pile of boxes that Bob had stashed in the idea of using them to ship items has been taken by the garbage truck.
I had asked a friend if he wanted any cookbooks, and he requested some specific subjects. It inspired me to go through the boxes before trying to unload them on other people.
Result: probably a good 4 boxes worth of stuff in the trash (clipped recipes, badly damaged books and homemade cookbooks), a small stack of books I will put in my shop - pre 1940 or special interest, and a few non cookbooks that went to the used book store.
And a directory from my elementary school when I was in second grade.
Still have a lot of cookbooks to get rid of. So many “Joy’s of Jello” cookbooks
Also have a couple of boxes and a bag of clothes in the car to take to the thrift store tomorrow
I have a clutter problem I’m not quite sure how to deal with. Actually, the clutter isn’t the problem…
My mother was a packrat. And when she died, my dad didn’t want anything changed. To the point that the clean laundry she had stacked on a desk in their bedroom was still exactly in place until he died a year ago last week. This is my problem because I lived with Dad because he was too sick to live alone.
After he died, I began to declutter, beginning in the master bedroom in December and the spare bedroom. I didn’t get terribly far before I managed to fall off a ladder in mid-January - while sorting through kitchen stuff in overhead bins - and badly injured my knee. My knee was immobilized for a couple of weeks and then a brace and PT for several weeks.
I’d just about finished with the brace when the pandemic hit and I got sent to work from home, which I still am. And I made decluttering and repainting my big project because eventually I’m going to sell the house, split the proceeds with my brother, and live somewhere else. I mean, if the universe ever stops throwing roadblocks in my way.
But decluttering. It’s actually going great. It was hard at first, lots of tears when sorting my parents’ stuff, but it got easier as time went on. I’ve repainted and redecorated 4 rooms, and I’ve made a fair amount of headway on every remaining room but my own which I’ve always planned to tackle last upstairs, and to a lesser extent the kitchen, though I’m definitely making some progress. Oh, and the cellar remains the final thing to plow through.
The problem is that over the past two or three weeks I’ve found less and less energy to throw at these projects. And it finally occurred to me why: I’m afraid to finish.
This is what I’ve been doing to keep myself from thinking way too hard about how awful 2020 is. You know? I mean, we can’t really forget about it, but when you’re busy not only working from 8 to 4:30, but also getting a lot done after work and on weekends with both the actual doing and the planning around making changes, you don’t have nearly as much mental space to dwell on things.
And that’s probably understandable, the desire to not finish and have scary blocks of time to fill because I can’t socialize, especially with the dread most people feel about winter in general and this one in particular…
but I do need to finish. I really do. How do I make myself comfortable with the idea of finishing, though?
When you finish, you get to sell the place & move into a home of your very own that you picked out yourself to suit your particular life. 
Selling/buying, packing, moving, unpacking, decorating - those are big jobs too!
Tossed some more of my Other Shoe’s stuff, including - how mundane - two laundry hampers he’s had since COLLEGE. Possibly earlier.
I’m forty, for context. Got an easily cleanable & better ventilated plastic replacement for a whole dollah - plus the cats can hop into it to nap.
Still felt like shit tossing “his” hampers away. Even though they’re stained, and missing a rubber foot cap here & there.
I have a completely empty oversize garbage pail. I don’t seem to have any more junk to throw out. This is a weird and amazing place to have arrived at. I might toss some scraps of wood rather than move them.
Of course soon enough, I need to start doing this at my mother’s place. Oh Yay. 
Oh, yeah, I painted & hung some dowels in the kitchen, for S-hooks to hang my spatulas and tongs & the lightweight pans.
Much less clutter in the drawers, now! I’ll have to post a pic …
I’m back. Purple, I finally listed the chairs and media unit on FB Marketplace and the chairs sold the same day. The media unit took a bit longer but it is gone! Rejoice? Oh yeah, I can now get my car in the garage for the winter.
Due to demand because of Covid, my friend’s church is doing a second shredding event this year and I am already sorting papers. I have a looong way to go on sorting papers, but I’ve got one grocery bag full. I sort to shred, recycle, file. While I’m at it, I’ve been sorting books to go to Half-Price and have two bags of those. It feels great. But my priority right now is finding a job so I look at sorting paper as a break I take from job hunting. Still, it’s progress.