OH shit! sorry love – hopefully not too much damage. Thats insane to be so dusty in such a short period - now i need to check mine immediately.
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I’ve missed my target of having my garage all cleaned out. I got side tracked when and sort of lost steam. Hopefully I’ll start back up shortly after the new year. 
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In the new year you can start afresh! I can really recommend looking into the Mari kondo thing, she has a YouTube channel also. It helped me a lot to stay on track w my mountains of stuff. She really breaks it down. And then you’ll win against all the stuff! 
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It’s a constant battle that I tend to every day. I pick up, and vacuum all the time. Keep up with the dishes, and laundry. I try to keep all the important things done, like sinks, toilets, counters and such.
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Mari Kondo has some good ideas for sure. She’s definitely worth taking a look at, even if the whole of her method doesn’t resonate with someone.
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totally. most annoying I found how wasteful she is. nowhere is mentioned that you might need to stuff to repair or spares or to donate, sell buy used idk. none of that. or separate the stuff you’re putting away. really rubs me the wrong way.
still saved my ass tho.
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Thank you so much for putting this out there… I’m the same! 
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Almost 5 years later, I’m still learning to manage my stuff! It’s gotten a LOT better, btly leaps and bounds! It no longer takes 5 to 7 days to get our house “company” ready, now it’s just a day. Soon it’ll always be company ready (hopefully). Progress!![quote=“HDSober, post:237, topic:52849, full:true”]
Thank you so much for putting this out there… I’m the same!
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Getting rid of that Mach-E will create all the room you need
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Ok, I am really going to try to get serious on decluttering.
Do you think it is better to choose a certain area and try to organize that or set a timer and try it that way?
In the past I have always tried doing a space and slowed down, got distracted, etc. I saw a suggestion for timed cleaning, maybe timed tidying would work?
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If you get distracted or overwhelmed easily, do both. Choose an area first, but keep it really small. Don’t choose a room or a whole cupboard or surface area. Start with something like the cutlery drawer or sock drawer.
Set a timer as well, but keep it realistic and achievable. 30 minutes for a drawer? Including wiping it clean, putting what you keep back in and disposing of the rest.
If you feel you’re in the swing after that, chose another small area and reset your timer. If you have enough after round one, you will have the sense of achievement and you are less likely to end up with a half finished task.
Edit: plan your reward for finishing the task: nice cup of tea? an episode on Netflix? cake?
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All things of one kind all together in one go. Then break. Then the next kind of item.
Clothing, books, toiletries, kitchen stuff, electric stuff, papers and Fotos. Etc.
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Honestly, there is so much stuff (four people’s worth, one of whom is a bit of a hoarder, one is a bulk buyer, and we have been in this house 15 years) that those categories are super overwhelming. I could try to make smaller categories within, just one person’s clothes, just the toiletries in the bathroom (not the storage room too etc).
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Yes, clothing: one person. Jeans. Jackets. Underpants. Tights. T-shirts. Long sleeves. All the categories you want.
It took me 4 weeks for my one p household. I also used to be a bit of a hoarder.
Check out the Marie Kondo stuff. She’s annoying af but her method is helpful.
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This is one of my favourite topics and past times. Sorting and order not only frees space physically, but also mentally for me. See space, feel space.
My method is not for the faint of heart. I choose a project, like : living room, or kallax shelves, or clothing. Then I break eggs and cause chaos. Then eventually it will look better after a full days work. Mine is a bit obsessive and 
, usually ends in backache.
My new pledge is to try minimalism to avoid this altogether. I’ll get back to u if that ever happens……
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Don’t start with the difficult stuff like paperwork or personal items. Start with something small without any personal attachment, so you can start on a boost. Cleaning supplies? Towels? Tupperware?
Lay out some ground rules for sentimental items: how many baby shoes do you need to keep? etc
Don’t keep things out of guilt: yes, aunt Mildred gave it to you as a gift 20 years ago, but it’s still unused at the back of the drawer… get rid! If it holds monetary value, but you don’t use it or can’t stand it, sell it.
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I second all the ideas put forward so far. Another idea that has worked for me in the past is something you can use as an adjacent to whatever other thing you might do because its meant to be sort of a “slow burn” type of thing to get things done over a long period of time, and for maintenance, but consistency is key.
The idea is to choose a number of items (I like 10, but it can be whatever) in one specific area (this could be a room, a drawer, a closet, whatever) and then every day you ‘handle’ that number of items in that area. Once you’ve picked it up, you need to decide what you’re going to do with it. Do you really need it? Does it have a home in your home? Things like that.
This allows you to constantly be working on the de-cluttering, even if there are days you can’t dedicate a lot of time to it, which not only keeps it top of mind, but can give you little pieces of success which can mentally/emotionally be something that pushes you forward.
Good luck!
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