The Declutter Diaries is a series of posts I did for a former blog as a glimpse inside a real decluttering project [with occasional editorial comments from my present self]. You can start with Day One here.
After a few days of working, I’ve realized that there are some basic “tools” I keep needing. For the current work zone, I haul in a dustbuster, plastic bags, and boxes for sorting stuff into. For small items, I needed a big “pocket,” so I turned my kitchen apron into a decluttering “uniform.” [You can read more about putting together a declutter kit with cleaning apron here.] In the large front pocket I can stash small things I find like money, screws, small parts, etc. and there is a sharpie (for marking boxes), a pocket knife (my multipurpose tool), a dusting cloth, and my trusty PDA. [Yikes! This is a little dated now, but a PDA is like a cell phone without a phone or internet, but with some apps]
Originally I was going to use a notepad and pen, but then I realized I can do lot’s of amazing things on my PDA like keep my calendar, make notes of things, schedule tasks, and even play MP3s. How cool is that! [Oh Past Self, you have no idea how much cooler a cell phone is going to be…]
For sorting, I have a large trash can, a plastic crate for things that need to be returned to their proper places, boxes for things to sell/donate, and boxes for things that are currently homeless. The trash can gets emptied whenever it’s full and the stuff in the crate is supposed to get put away at the end of the session. [And might I add that getting those donate boxes out of your house quickly is important–don’t wait around for the perfect donation opportunity.]
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The boxes to sell/donate will be dealt with as I have time or opportunity. I think the homeless stuff will be sorted and “housed” at the end of the decluttering project when there will be more space and I can think about where it makes sense to put it. [Good idea. You don’t have to do everything as you go. Focus on one thing at a time.]
I also have a few boxes that have future “projects” in them. These are things that I plan to return to in the fall because if I try to deal with them now, I’ll bog down. Things like boxes full of photos, sewing projects, etc. [Know yourself. If a particular box is going to be too hard to deal with (jammed with sentimental stuff or a lot of papers), don’t let it slow down your progress. It’s okay to set some things aside to deal with at another time.]
Some of these boxes may turn into “emotional withdrawal” boxes, which means I can’t face getting rid of it just yet. But maybe in the fall after I have dealt with the big project, I’ll be ready to tackle it and finish it, or decide I really don’t want to after all. [Your clutter didn’t appear in a day, and sometimes you have to go through stages of letting go of it.]
So what tools are you using? Wouldn’t you like to have a great “uniform” like mine? Maybe you should create a way to carry around those tools you need while you’re decluttering… [here’s that link again to building a declutter kit]