Decluttering

I Felt Like A Fraud

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Have you ever felt like a fraud?  When someone compliments you do you feel like you deserve it?  Or do you feel like you’re keeping a great big secret from everyone? Are you always fearful that they will find out you’re not as good as they think you are?

This is what happened to me recently.  The other day I was visiting my mother-in-law (MIL) at the rehab center she is in.  She fell down her stairs on Halloween night (some trick!). Fortunately nothing was broken. She is just badly bruised and stiff.

Anyway, her niece (my husband’s cousin) was visiting at the same time.  We were talking about some of little things I do to help stay organized. One was keeping track of how much water I drink during the day.  I have a quart bottle that is filled with water in the morning.  I put a rubber band around the middle of it.  When I fill the bottle for the second quart of the day the rubber band is moved to the top of the container. That way I know if I’m on the first 4 cups of water or the second 4 cups.

I also printed out labels for my MIL to put on her belongings such as lotion, shampoo, books, make-up bag,  etc.  I learned to do this when my mother had her stroke 2 1/2 years ago and was in rehab for several months.  When things are labeled it discourages people from walking off with them and also makes it easier to identify what is hers.

Anyway, my cousin complimented me on how organized I was. Considering that I write a blog and website about organization I should have been thrilled with the compliment.  Yet, inside I felt like a fraud.  All I could think about was how I had a large stack of papers on my desk that needed filing. Then a picture of my sock and underwear drawer flashed across my eyes.  It is a total mess.  I’d picked up some clothes for my MIL when she went to the rehab center and noticed how neat and uncluttered her drawers were. It didn’t matter that she had 6 drawers to put her clothes in and I only have 3. I still felt like a fraud.

Life happens, but sometimes we can be so hard on ourselves.  I’ve had several rough life changing events over the past 4 1/2 years.  They are legitimate excuses for not keeping my home as decluttered or organized as I would like. Yet I still feel guilty about sharing my tips and lessons on organizing when I’ve struggled so much with it lately.

I know I’m expecting way too much from myself.  I’m sure there have been times that you have felt this way also.

The point is life has it’s rough spots.  And when it gets rough there are plenty of lessons to be learned.  We need to look for them.  We need to learn the wisdom they offer us.  We need to use this wisdom to improve our lives. Then we need to pass this wisdom on to others so they can benefit from the lessons.

During the course of our lives we will get knocked off our track many times. Sometimes we accidentally throw ourselves off our own track.  But we need to pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off.  Then we need to figure out what to do to either get back on our track or figure out how to navigate the new track that life has put us on at this point in time.

I know this post has been rambling on but I want to pass on the wisdom I’m learning from this.  I’m practicing on not being so hard on myself.

When we feel like a fraud we’re expecting ourselves to be perfect, a standard no one can reach. We’re focusing on what we haven’t gotten done instead of what we have already accomplished. When someone compliments us they are obviously seeing something we’ve done that is good.

Maybe it’s time to see what they are seeing!

To a lighter load along the way.

Janice

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Summer Clothes to Fall Clothes

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I live in an area with different seasons. That means I need clothes that will work for a variety of temperatures.  Since I don’t have unlimited closet space, my closet gets pretty stuffed if I keep all my clothes in there. Therefore, it’s a lot easier to find what I want wear when out of season clothes are stored elsewhere.

Earlier this summer I started a clothes closet experiment and wrote about in a blog post. I took all of the fall/winter tops off of one rack and left only the summer ones.  I put them in spare closet. Then I marked my calendar to start going through those tops in September.

Well, it’s on my calendar today! It’s good timing because this weekend will have temperatures cooler than the high 80’s or 90’s for the first time in months. It will be easier to go through fall/winter clothes when it actually feels a little like fall. So I’ve put it on my weekend list.

One surprising thing I found about this experiment is how easy it’s been for me to recognize which summer tops I no longer wear.  I believe this is because with fewer clothes in the closet and only the ones that are suitable for that particular season it’s been easier to see what I wore and what I didn’t.

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying that we wear 20% of our clothes 80% of the time.  A good goal would be to wear 80% of our clothes 80% of the time.  Only 20% will be left for those special occasions.

So now is a good time to start going through the fall clothes and packing away the summer ones.  If it’s possible, try to pack away all out of season clothes. Under-the-bed storage boxes work well for this. Think about the 20/80 rule above when deciding what to keep or not keep.

 

To a lighter load along the way.

Janice

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Has Your Clutter Earned the Right to Live in Your Home?

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A couple of years ago I wrote a post about how things can be freeloaders in our homes.  Many times we have such an emotional attachment to our things that we lose sight of what’s of value to our lives and what isn’t.

I looked up the definition of “clutter” in my Webster’s New World College Dictionary.  Granted this book was the 1997 version and some definitions may have change. Anyway, it says that clutter is a number of things scattered in disorder or a jumble.  It doesn’t say that any of the things are junk, just that they are “scattered in disorder”.

Maybe this definition is part of the problem with understanding if our things are just cluttered or if they are freeloaders.  To understand how I defined what is a freeloader and what isn’t with regards to our things, please check out this blog post.

“Things” Can Be Freeloaders

Our lives are busy and sometimes we just don’t have time to keep everything organized.  But at some point it will become more than just a little mess.  This blog post explains what the difference is.

Is It Clutter or Just a Little Mess?

The more we educate ourselves on what is just a mess, what is clutter, what is a freeloader, and even what is junk and what is treasure, the easier it will be to emotionally detach ourselves from our things. Without our emotions clouding our logical thinking we will be able to decide which things have earned the right to live in our home and which should be kicked to the curb.

This article asks 12 questions that can help you think clearly as to whether your things are junk or treasure.

Is it Junk or Treasure?

Please let me know in the comment section what kind of “freeloaders” you have found living in your home.

To a lighter load along the way.

Janice

 

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One Easy Way to Prevent Clutter

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If clutter and organization are a problem for you (most likely since you’re reading this blog) then I’m sure you’re always looking for an easy way to solve that problem. Even if you take the time and effort to clear out the clutter it’s so hard to keep it from coming back. After all, we have to buy food, clothes, and household items on a regular basis.  Then there is the incoming mail, school papers, gifts, etc.

We can’t prevent everything from coming into our homes nor would we want to. But we do have the power to control many things that might become clutter if we take a little time to plan ahead.

One of the easiest and simplest ways is to use a shopping list. Yes, I said a shopping list. I know that sounds boring and ruins the fun of shopping. But, most of the items that become clutter are purchased on impulse and without planning.

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Creating a habit of making a shopping list every time you go to a store will help reduce the chance of bringing clutter into your home now and in the future. This really is an easy habit to create if you have the right tools always available. I use a white board on my refrigerator for grocery and other household items I’ve run out of or want to buy. I also make sure I have pen and paper to transfer that list to take with me. I know a lot of people are using their smart phones to make the list. It doesn’t matter what you use as long as you make that list before going to the store.

Think about it. How often have you stopped at the grocery store without a list and bought items you thought you needed. When you got home you found there were several cans/packages of that item already on the shelf or in the freezer. If you use it up before the expiration date then that’s great. But if you don’t get around to using the item (because you have too many) before it’s expired then you’ve not only created clutter you’ve also wasted money.

The same thing holds true for clothes shopping, back to school shopping, or any other kind of household shopping. If you make a list before you go to the store you’ll know exactly what you need or want. No guessing involved! That will reduce the times you purchase something that ends up as clutter. Therefore you’re preventing clutter from entering your home to begin with.

Remember, a bargain isn’t a bargain if it ends up as clutter!

So make that list. Check it twice. Then you’ll find it so much easier to keep your home nice.

To a lighter load along the way.

Janice

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