It is a slow process to reduce the stuff in my life.  For me, I have to take one hour, one box, or one little corner of my house and really go through it.  I may do this once a day, or once a week.  I can’t do it at once because there are too many things I need to do in my life.  Whether it’s something for the kids, for the hubby or for myself.  I have to work the declutter in a bit at a time.  I’m sure it is more rewarding to just do it all at once.  But I can only declutter so much and after a bit of time, all of a sudden it becomes harder for me to get rid of stuff.  I can tell when I start to put things aside and think, I can use that.  Or, remember when we…?  Or, I could still… Once those thoughts start getting into my head, I need to stop and do something else.  But even that little bit I’ve done feels good.  My closet is still nice and clear of stuff.

It’s especially true as I go through the garage.  I find stuff in the garage and while I throw a lot of it away (my goal is one bag a week) some stuff goes into the house.  The point is that they should be going with like stuff.  Usually I find craft stuff and I put it in my office.  Or I find more extension cords and put them with the other electronic stuff.  I’m putting things in their spaces but those spaces will get full and then I’ll have to go clear them out again.  I feel like I’m rambling and things are never ending but here’s my process and hopefully it makes sense.

At this moment, things inside the house pretty much have a home.  It’s not clear of everything because I haven’t gone through everything (like the restrooms or the kitchen).  But things aren’t going crazy.  It’s not where I want to be but they’re manageable.

Then I go through the garage because it’s the garage that drives me crazy.  I grab a box and I go through it, most of the items are trash.  So I throw them away.  I’ll see a screwdriver and I’ll put them with the tools.  Then I’ll see a gardening tool, and I’ll put it with the gardening stuff.  Then I have an empty plastic bin.  I’ll take it into the house, wash it, and then bring it into my office with all my other plastic bins.  And suddenly, I have way too many plastic bins.  What am I going to do with all these plastic bins?  For now, they are in my office closet because I can’t bear to throw away a good plastic bin.  At some point, I will need to organize my office closet.  I’m not there yet but I will need to tackle that space at some point too.

~Melanie