kittychaos : chaotic kitten

It's all Happening

2010-02-11T12:18:51Z

So, last time I posted the family visit was nearly here, and the work on the new bathroom was also on its way. I haven't been able to update because I've been so very busy, but things are going quite well.

The family visit went well. The house, while still cluttered and messy, was such an improvement on last year that I didn't feel too embarrassed, and the workmen started their work a few days later.

It is quite difficult for me to have so many people coming in and out of the house, when even with people I know well it's not easy, but somehow I'm getting through it.

They are mainly working in the kitchen and the bathroom so most of my efforts are on keeping those rooms, and the stairs and hallway clear. I'm being forced to learn how to maintain these areas, rather than do crisis cleaning when it gets bad.

It's hard, and I'm working on it a lot, but I'm getting through better than I might have expected.

This time last year...

2010-02-02T12:18:45Z

This time last year I was exploring a lot of the reasons behind my hoarding, finding helpful advice and information elsewhere online, perfectionism, mantras, comments, challenges, difficulty in discarding items and learning more about hoarding.

Feeling Slightly Better

2010-01-31T11:28:16Z

Feeling a bit more like I can get back to the tidying. I hate the flu! Still very tired.

I need to focus on the upstairs landing today I think. It has lots of random clothes and books on the floor, and on top of a book case there are all sorts of miscellaneous things that have been there for a long time. This is one of the areas I have to clear before the work starts on the bathroom, plus if I can clear it before the family visit it will look better for them too.

So I think that's my goal for today. Slow and steady wins the race. But I'm not sure I have time for that, ironically!

I'm sick!

2010-01-29T10:03:08Z

Just when I really, really need to be blasting the tidying in preparation for the family visit and the workmen, I've got the flu. I can barely move. I can't believe it!

Really hoping for a quick recovery!

Micro Lists

2010-01-27T15:56:01Z

I have discovered a new helpful list tactic. It is for when I really feel like I can't carry on with this gargantuan task, and I have called it Micro Lists.

A few days ago I had been doing some annoyingly slow tidying, and I was annoying myself with my lack of energy and action. I was sitting in a chair and all I could see was what needed doing, and all I could do was sit there and look.

I got my notebook which contains my lists, and wrote Micro Tasks as a heading.

I then wrote a list of tiny, tiny tasks that I could see needed doing. It was literally as simple as

* pick up the pen off the floor

* tie the top of the rubbish bag

* fold that skirt

I felt better writing down exactly what needed doing, and then I felt energised and set about completing the 8 tasks on the list, which took in total about 3 minutes. I then crossed each item off with a sense of satisfaction, and my frustration with myself had completely disappeared.

With day-to-day decluttering this wouldn't work. You would spend more time writing the details than you would doing them. But when you are completely paralysed by being overwhelmed, it is a trick that is worth trying.

Problem Areas #2: Trying to Maintain the Kitchen

2010-01-25T12:36:57Z

The kitchen is the room that my mental health worker and myself always focus on first, when she visits. We sort it out so it looks great. Then in the two weeks between her visits, it gets disgusting.

This is the room that varies the most! I need to get much, much better at maintaining in this room.

Because it's used frequently, and cooking uses utensils and can be messy, the variety between clean and bad is massive.

I clearly need some kind of maintenance habits to start introducing.

DAILY: wash up all dishes and pans

clear up spills and mess

put away food

WEEKLY: wash the floor

properly clean all surfaces, which will be easier if I wipe up properly every day instead of leaving it

Problem Areas #1: Clothes that have been washed

2010-01-22T12:26:47Z

I have a wash basket by the washing machine, where clothes that need washing go. That's fine and under control.

Then I wash them and hang them up to dry, which is also fine and under control.

But then... I'm useless!

They stay on the clothes dryer for ages. Then when I do my next wash and need to move them to dry the next lot, I pile them on the kitchen chair. Then, when I need the chair, I pile them on the stairs. The stairs piles grow and grow. I choose what clothes I want to wear from the piles!

I clearly need to get into better habits. The problems start when the clothes are dry. I always INTEND to take them straight upstairs to the bedroom when they are dry, but it never, ever happens.

Possible solutions:

1. put them on the stairs, but make sure that every time I go up the stairs I take them into the bedroom.

2. make sure I always choose what clothes to wear in the bedroom, then I might be more motivated to make sure my clothes are in there.

3. have a basket or container specifically for taking the clean, dry clothes upstairs. Piling them up in my arms as I currently do makes it difficult.

Maintaining as well as Dehoarding

2010-01-20T13:00:23Z

I am now in the position where I am trying to maintain tidyness in some rooms, while still having to dehoard in others.

I've become a bit of a dehoarding expert, but not so much maintaining. I think a lot of it must be about regularity, habits, and doing a bit every day. I'm used to dealing with crisis tidying - I find it hard to get motivated to pick up the odd bit. I leave it til it's bad then sort it all out.

But with the upcoming workmen in the house I need to keep certain areas clear for the length of time they will be here, which will be about 4 weeks. This could be a good learning experience for me. Or it could lead me to a nervous breakdown!!

Areas to maintain: living room, kitchen

Areas to do a bit more work on and then maintain: hallway, stairs, landing

Areas to still dehoard: spare room, bedroom.

The combination of focuses is overwhelming and confusing me a bit, I have to admit. This is all new to me.

What I Need To Do To Prepare

2010-01-18T12:45:58Z

* Nothing in the hallway

* Nothing on the stairs

* Nothing on the landing

* Nothing in the bathroom

* Clear kitchen so they have access to the electrics

* Path to the boiler in the spare room

The hallway and stairs isn't a big job - I've been working on those anyway so not too much work to completely clear those.

The landing will be a couple of hours work I suspect. Perhaps a bit longer. There are clothes and books and papers and junk piled around, and I need to move the bookcase on there too.

The bathroom will be maybe an hour's work, maybe not that much. Again, I've done quite a lot of work in there anyway.

The kitchen is good today, but is one of those rooms that messes up EASILY!! I need to try and do maintenance so it doesn't get disastrous, so that it's not too much work. Challenging.

The spare room is the absolute nightmare. I need to get started, rather than looking in there, saying to myself, "Woah, too much to do, don't know where to start" and walking away again.

Preparations

2010-01-15T12:38:31Z

My mental health worker visited yesterday, and we worked hard on cleaning the kitchen, and did some cleaning and tidying of the bathroom in preparation for the workmen.

She was very encouraging about the progress I have made, particularly in the living room.

The worst bit of preparation I need to do is clear a path in the spare bedroom. The workmen will need access to the boiler, which is in the spare room. The spare room is totally full. Totally. Bags and boxes and junk and everything else. It's an 'easy' place to just throw stuff when I can't find a place for it.

I don't have long, and I have a lot of work to do. Trying not to panic and get overwhelmed and freeze. But yikes, it's a big job. And a very limited time to do it in.

Workmen Approaching Too!

2010-01-13T12:41:28Z

A few months ago I had a visit from the landlord, telling me I'm going to get a new bathroom fitted.

I've now got a date for when the work will start, and it will be 3 days after my big family visit! Not sure if this is good (I'll have done a lot of tidying already) or bad (the stress!!!!).

The work will take 4 weeks... I have real stress about having people I don't know in the house, so four weeks of different people in and out fills me with horror.

I'm hoping I can learn things from it, that I can cope with it, and that it's all worth it. I'm scared, though. And I have a lot of work to do first.

I will not panic. I will not panic!

Family Visit Approaching

2010-01-10T12:02:47Z

Couple of weeks now until I am having family to my house for a post-Christmas celebration. I am planning what to cook, and mainly trying to continue to tidy tidy tidy.

I really hope that they are impressed, if only compared to last year's crisis (for me!) visit. The house is still a mess, it is still cluttered. But it is SO MUCH LESS of a mess, and SO MUCH LESS cluttered that I am daring to be a little proud.

I keep making plans of what to tidy and what to prepare, and I think they are all too over-ambitious because I'm not sticking to them. But I am getting a bit done nearly every day, which feels good.

How I Decide Where to Get Rid To: FREECYCLE / FREEGLE

2010-01-08T14:57:18Z

Internet sites like Freegle and Freecycle have done marvellous work in helping anyone and everyone to keep stuff out of landfill, as well as getting rid of their own clutter and getting a load of free stuff too.

You sign up to the online group for your local area, and start reading and posting messages, which are offers of items, or requests for items. Say you have an old phone you want to get rid of. You post a message saying what you are offering, and any conditions (e.g. that the person who gets it will have to collect it from your house, or that they must be able to collect on a certain day). People in your area in the group whose phone has just broken, or who have just moved house and don't have one, will contact you by email. You then choose who should get the phone and make arrangements. Then it's done! And a bit of clutter has left the house.

PROS

* People often freecycle broken items which they would not be able to donate to other causes. They advertise them as faulty, and often someone who knows how to fix those things will take it and mend it, or use the parts.

* It can be very quick. You might post an item for offer in the morning, and have it collected that afternoon

* Usually the person who wants the item comes to collect it from the person who's offering it, so you don't need to carry it anywhere or even leave the house, if you don't want to!
* It feels good to be helping out people in your local community.

CONS

* If you read the 'OFFER' listings too much, you will be tempted to accumulate more clutter, especially if you have a weakness for anything free!

* You strictly don't get any money for your item

* Some people have had problems with arrangements being broken, but I have freecycled loads of stuff and that has never happened to me.

Freecycle is a great way to get rid of stuff which is clutter to you, but which will really be of benefit for the person who receives it. It even gives a practical solution to getting rid of things which are useless as they are broken or damaged. And finally, if it's something large, it's much easier to have someone pick the item up from you, than to try and get it on the bus to the charity shop or the Post Office!

Nice Day Off

2010-01-06T22:26:16Z

I spent a deliberately dehoarding-free day today visiting family. It was nice to be away, to see the people I love, and to get a good look at the houses of people who know how to manage them!!

My mood has been a bit low lately, and hopefully the happiness of this get-together will help to diminish that.

When doing such a huge project as dehoarding a whole house, days off are not only recommended, but vital.

How I Decide Where to Get Rid To: EBAY

2010-01-04T14:29:57Z

Deciding where to give your excess junk to is a tough one, there are many benefits to decluttering by selling your stuff on ebay, freecycling it and donating it to charity shops. There are also other options such as holding a yard or car boot sale, giving your stuff to friends, and just throwing things in the bin.

So, first I will look at ebay (same applies for other online auction sites, I'm sure!).

PROS

* You can get money for your stuff

* You can find buyers for more obscure items you have, a much wider audience than anything 'real life' and local

* Something you might have sold for pennies at a real life sale can sometimes prove surprisingly popular and end up selling for £30

* You can do it in your own time. You can do it bit by bit or all in one go.

* It may help you to believe the dehoarding is worth it, if you are very preoccupied by the thought of getting rid of things that you have paid good money for, then offering it for sale can feel like much less of a slap in the face than giving or throwing it away.

CONS
* It can easily end up where a corner of your room is piled with 13 bags full of stuff 'ready to ebay' and it never gets done

* Post office queues

* You have to be fairly organised to manage payments, packaging and posting the right items to the right people

* Items may not sell

* Some people find the technical process of listing an auction to be quite tricky.

* Once you are on the site, you have to be very strict at limiting how many auctions for sale you look at! Don't replace clutter you sell with clutter you buy!

A few things that have helped me to get rid of stuff on ebay, rather than have bags of stuff which never goes anywhere.

1. Space limits. I chose a large bag, to put things 'to ebay' in. When the bag got full, that was that. The only way I could add more to the 'to ebay' bag was to get rid of some of the stuff already in it. So I would look back through what was in the bag, and either get started on listing the items, or realise that some of the stuff in the bag could just go to the charity shop.

2. Time limits. Say to myself, "Yes, you can sell that on ebay rather than donate it, but if it isn't listed by {insert time limit here, say the end of next week} then it has to be donated.

I think that ebay can be a great part of your dehoarding tactics. If you already use it then you'll already have an idea of what sells, so if it's clothes, then those which are new with tags are more likely to be bought. Also vintage items, and anything that can be considered collectible. But have a play around, it could be a good addition to your skills bag!