The Desk is Clear!

So, it took a week full of procrastination, two bags of garbage, and two cans of recycling, but my desk is finally clear for the first time in a year. I can write and work on my schedule! I don't have to close my laptop to have a bare surface.

The oldest thing I found in my piles of stuff was a coupon from 2013. I also found some old  2014 Christmas cards, more expired coupons, catalogs galore, and lots of actionable items. I have a small box with a handful of things to file and a shopping basket from my old store (pictured below) with actionable items.

Sorting out the actionable items is my next job. I am thinking about using the Sunday Basket method espoused by Lisa Woodruff. I need to read more about it but it seems workable. Any suggestions, great brain? 

Tackling the Desk

I am not a New Year's person. I don't make resolutions. I don't do the "New Year, New You" thing. I have goals and I reevaluate them every so often but I always look at the January 1st like an odometer turning over. It's amusing but really doesn't have that much of an impact on my life. That is why I hesitated to post this the first few weeks of the year. I was motivated more by time off than the odometer turning over to 2016.

So this is my desk after several hours worth of work and one trip downstairs with a trash can full of recycling. After I post this, I will make another trip downstairs for the same reason. I wish I had taken a picture because it had reached critical mass. The pile to the left of my laptop was almost level with the top of the laptop and the pile on the other side above the printer which is still buried in stuff. I have a few more hours worth of work but I want to get it cleared off tonight. I will still have filing to do and I need to set up my actionable file but I will at least have a work surface by the end of the night.

Why I am doing this? I just can't take it any more. I am tired of being buried in stuff. I am taking three classes next semester in graduate school and I need to be organized. This past semester was a constant struggle since I was always digging stuff out of the pile on my desk. Of course, the desk is just the beginning but you have to start somewhere and this is where I need to start. Now back to work!

Take the Challenge With Me!

After reading this article, I've decided to take the 30-Day Declutter challenge. I start graduate school in  few weeks and I need to complete the job that the wonderful Mina Pahel from Cloudburst Creative Consulting started back in February (more about that later).

So the decluttering starts tomorrow. Who will join me?

New Year, New Progress

Yes, it's an actual post. I have new photos to share here! I spent the weekend of January 10th working with my niece, Hillary. We managed to get my bedroom completely clear. I can see the floor! I still have some work to do on the bedroom closet and I'm tackling it this weekend.

Lots of books mention having a "clutter buddy" to help you clean and sort. Hillary is the perfect clutter buddy. She is not judgmental. She is patient. She helps me think through sorting projects when I get stuck. She is also a great motivator. When I get too tired to tackle one more box, she manages to come up with a fun way to finish my project.

I have a little bit more to complete before I can check off "bedroom" on my list of completed rooms but I am moving forward, not backward. 

Your Brain on Clutter

How Clutter Affects Your Brain here.

I'm back on track with my declutter project and this article is very inspiring.

Need a Coupon from 2007?

If you do, you have until the garbage truck comes tomorrow to call dibs. I didn't make any photo-worthy progress yesterday but I did clean out a large bill full of paper. Old bills, coupons, junk mail, etc. The top layer was dated 2009 and when I worked my way to the bottom, I found something from 2007. That's the danger of plastic tubs and boxes. You think, I'll just shift some of my paperwork from my desk to the box and take care of it when I have time. Then "out of sight/out of mind-ism" strikes. You can't see it so you don't worry about it. In fact, you find yourself complete blind to the box of papers next to you. It becomes part of the scenery. Now I have another empty box! One down, ? to go!

Panic and Progress

On every episode of one of the hoarders television shows, the hoarder flips out because someone moves something important to them. Well that just happened to me. Last night, my niece came over to help me and we made some major progress (see photo left). Today, I went into the craft room where we we working and I couldn't find my box of Christmas/Hanukkah cards. I looked everywhere. I started to panic because I need to work on addressing them this week. I  starting having a panic attack. I felt completely out of control. I felt angry. I felt helpless. I don't like feeling out of control.

When she dropped by the house, she was able to find them for me but for the life of me, I couldn't find them. Please remember, if you are helping someone declutter and you need to move something they might need, let them know where you put it. I'm finally starting to calm down but this really derailed my plans for the day.