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So, you wanna be clean. We can do that! But it takes work. This thread is devoted to a mash-up of two popular cleaning philosophies--Unfuck Your Habitat's claims of cleaning a little bit, every day, and KonMari's de-cluttering wizardry. We're going to start with KonMari, as it is meant to be a 3-day purge that results in you (should you keep it up) never have to tidy again. Based on Marie Kondo's cleaning philosophy and widely popular book, the "Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up", KonMari has three basic principles: 1. You should only keep the things that bring you joy. 2. You should thank your objects for the service they do for you--and treat them well. 3. You don't have to feel guilty about getting rid of your things, as they've served their purpose to you. If you're like me, you spent a shitton of your time cleaning, but never seemed to see things improve. No matter how many trips to the container store I made, no matter how many life hack organizing tips I followed, things inevitably fell apart again. KonMari has solved that issue for me--I simply had way, way too much stuff. I grew up in a home full to bursting with organized clutter, and it was hard for me to teach myself how to get rid of things. I've just finished a three day KonMari fest, after previously only applying her work to my book collection, and it's an amazing difference. Now, how to clean like a Japanese professional organizer and now millionaire: We're going to move via categories, and we are going to follow these IN ORDER. The order is clothing and shoes, books, miscellaneous items (i.e. papers and magazines), and finally items with sentimental value. I added in the categories of craft items, cosmetics, media (DVDs and video games), and technology/gadgets prior to the miscellaneous items as my husband and I follow typical goon pursuits and had a lot of things. When de-cluttering, take EVERY SINGLE ITEM that fits that category and put it in a pile on floor. For clothes, that means gathering every item of clothing you have from around your home. ALL OF IT. If you forget a costume in the attic, a jacket in the mud room, or a t-shirt in the car that item IMMEDIATELY goes out the door. If it was important you'd remember it, guys. If you have a lot of things--say, 100+ pairs of shoes--go ahead and gather them according to sub-cateogies. So long as you move through all tops, bottoms, accessories, bags, socks, and underwear you're okay. Make decisions that are honest with yourself. Ask yourself if you really need a thing, and why you're keeping it. If you're like me you have a lot of work clothes you feel are kinda meh but serviceable. Well, gently caress those clothes. They don't make you happy, you probably don't wear them that much, and as long as you have something to wear out the door you're fine. Into the donation bin or trash they go. IMMEDIATELY. There is no Hoarder-esque waffling or late night raid of the trash compactor. If you come across things you want to keep but are in need of repair, be they a computer or a pair of shoes, you have one week from finding them to get them fixed. I put these broken objects all in one box. Likewise if you have things that need to be returned to others. Again, you have one week. If you don't care enough to force yourself to drive to the tailor or to finally buy some canned air then the item isn't something you truly need. If you plan to sell items they must go into a designated box or pile, and you have again just one week to list them. Now that you have a smaller pile of objects that spark joy in your life--or that are necessary, like papers you need to grade or a work uniform--it's time to put them back. Before doing this, though, let's add Unfuck Your Habitat into this KonMari lifestyle. Unfuck Your Habitat maintains that marathon cleaning--which is what KonMari is--is unsustainable. Rather they advise doing 30 to 20 minutes on, then ten minutes off, cleaning in your house. They move from room to room, with the plan that eventually you build yourself into a schedule. The main tenants of UfYH are: 1. Marathons don't work, but consistency does. 2. Make your bed every day! 3. Follow a checklist every night before bed to start the next day off right. UfYH is wonderful for people who are clueless about cleaning, as they break down how to clean almost everything. The thing to remember is KonMari is about tidying, not cleaning. Her book will teach you about how to decide what objects you bring into your home and treasure, and how to fold and display them, but not how to clean your grout. UfYH will teach you how to make your toilet sparkle and how to keep your books from dry rotting, not to think about why it is that you spend money on things that you actually don't enjoy. So if you're following KonMari to a tee and just started, you now have a massive pile of clothing on your floor. You're done all your laundry, you've finally picked up the dry cleaning--all your poo poo is in one central location. You dig through it, being ruthless. Things that fit 20 pounds ago? gently caress it. Weird sweater that your mom gave you? gently caress it. 800 t-shirts you're really, really attached to and totally are going to make a t-shirt quilt out of, even though it's been 6 years? gently caress it. Seriously. As you bin or toss the items, think about two things: why did you buy this thing, and did you enjoy it. Mentally thank the item for making you happy at one time, and for it's service, then say goodbye. Once you have your donation bags they are sealed and leave the room. You don't open them again. Those items are now waiting for a new home and have said their goodbyes to you. If items need to be thrown out, take them to the curb NOW. . Now that you've handled your first category it's cleaning time. As furniture is empty, move it and sweep/vacuum/mop behind it. Dust and polish it. Fix up nicks. Wipe out the inside of drawers. Then, and only then, put your items back. It may be shocking to see drawers mostly empty, or a closet with only three pairs of shoes where there used to be 50. You may panic that you've wasted money, or thrown out something you need. This is natural, but think again of the object (KonMari) and yourself (UfYH). Your things do work for you everyday, and deserve to be in a home that is clean. By taking care of the items you treasure you're extending their lifespan. Meanwhile YOU deserve to live in a home that is clean with nice things. And so it goes, from category to category and from room to room. Once you've finished your KonMari plans, UfYH (or something like it) will ensure you continue to keep things cleaned and maintained. One of the most important parts of this process, though, is the mental one. Think about what you buy, and why you buy it. KonMari and UfYH are filled with stories of people who claim after finally tidying that they do better professionally, have their skin clear up, lose weight, save money, etc. And it makes sense, because with these methods you're simplifying your life while also building up your personal accountability. In this thread we can talk about our progress/folks can ask cleaning questions/people can post their struggles with saying goodbye to a pile of once-loved objects. Share your successes, your failures, and the notes from first grade you found. Get cleaning! Resources: http://tidyingup.com/ http://www.unfuckyourhabitat.com/
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Sep 10, 2015 17:53
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Cool thread, good info in here. As a slovenly bachelor, I tend to expand my pantry onto my kitchen table and it always bums me out when I have people over, cause I either have to explain it, or move it somewhere temporarily. I keep meaning to do something about it, but I rarely do. Guess I should get on that poo poo.
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Sep 10, 2015 18:00
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Yay! I'm so glad you made this thread. I have a complicated relationship with stuff and so I lack the courage to fully KonMari my belongings, but I have been on a big tidying kick regardless and her basic principles are always front and center for me as I go through my things. UFYH is amazing, too -- just looking at all of the before and after pictures are so inspiring.
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Sep 10, 2015 18:23
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Yay, a KonMari thread!! I love the KonMari method so much  I'd been doing it awhile prior to reading the book, purging my wardrobe every six months to rid myself of things I hadn't worn that season (my wardrobe is pretty much divided up into Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter) and it felt so freeing. But until I moved halfway across the country, I hadn't done it for anything else. Now I own far fewer books, magazines, cosmetics, etc. I keep sorting and tossing every so often, when I have time, because as the days go by things that may have sparked joy at the beginning may do it far less the next time I see it. The only problem I've encountered is how much I like to purchase; even with the questions "Does this spark joy?" and "Do I actually need this?" I find myself running out of space. I'm living at home again while I complete my bachelors, taking up what was once my bedroom and is now the library/guest room, so maybe some of the issue is just not having as much space as I normally would. But I'd like to reconcile my filthy capitalist need for space and stuff with my desire for a peaceful area, and be able to expand and contract as the space I inhabit dictates. Has anyone else dealt with this, and if so, how have you combat it?
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Sep 10, 2015 18:28
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oopsie rock posted:Yay! I'm so glad you made this thread. I have a complicated relationship with stuff and so I lack the courage to fully KonMari my belongings, but I have been on a big tidying kick regardless and her basic principles are always front and center for me as I go through my things. UFYH is amazing, too -- just looking at all of the before and after pictures are so inspiring. I'm thinking I'm going to do weekly "challenges" for myself and others in here--though our apartment is now KonMari'd, come May we're moving cross-country and picking up a storage unit's worth of stuff back on the east coast, and so it would be great to for us to minimize as much stuff as possible. So this weeks challenge is food. Pull a KonMari on your pantry, food storage, refrigerator, freezer, and drawers. 1. Defrost the freezer, and clean the inside of your refrigerator. 2. Food purchased for the pantry that you've never eaten must be a) cooked this week b) taken to a food bank or c) tossed. 3. Organize the pantry, with food about to expire in the front. 4. Go through all dishes/utensils. Clean what needs cleaned, get rid of gadgets never used, and throw out all broken/useless things (i.e. Tupperware without lids). Anything else that needs added to the list?
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Sep 10, 2015 18:30
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district 12 posted:The only problem I've encountered is how much I like to purchase; even with the questions "Does this spark joy?" and "Do I actually need this?" I find myself running out of space. I'm living at home again while I complete my bachelors, taking up what was once my bedroom and is now the library/guest room, so maybe some of the issue is just not having as much space as I normally would. But I'd like to reconcile my filthy capitalist need for space and stuff with my desire for a peaceful area, and be able to expand and contract as the space I inhabit dictates. Has anyone else dealt with this, and if so, how have you combat it? I also have horrible consumerist urges, but since most of the things I love to buy are things I somehow consume -- I sell/donate/swap video games and books when I'm done, I buy fun cosmetics/bath stuff and eventually finish them, etc. -- I've imposed a sort of credit system on myself. Like, I have to finish X number of games or cosmetics before I can buy a new one in that same category. When it comes to books, I can use the library all I want but I can only add one book per month to my personal shelves. Gaming my consumption/spending like this pretty much put a halt to my endless acquisition of stuff, but since I already have too many of these things it's not easy for others to see the progress I've made. Depending on what kind of things you like to purchase, maybe applying a similar "X out, Y in" restriction could work for you? I mean, assuming you are not buying more permanent items like housewares or collectibles (though you could restrict yourself with those, too).
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Sep 10, 2015 18:41
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district 12 posted:The only problem I've encountered is how much I like to purchase; even with the questions "Does this spark joy?" and "Do I actually need this?" I find myself running out of space. I'm living at home again while I complete my bachelors, taking up what was once my bedroom and is now the library/guest room, so maybe some of the issue is just not having as much space as I normally would. But I'd like to reconcile my filthy capitalist need for space and stuff with my desire for a peaceful area, and be able to expand and contract as the space I inhabit dictates. Has anyone else dealt with this, and if so, how have you combat it? I think it depends on a few things--what are these items? Do these items fit into your budget? If the answer to the first is "carefully curated items I love" and "to second is yes, have you seen my 401k?", then your issue is more one of space. And that's okay! Not everyone needs to be a minimalist living in a tiny house with multiple-use mason jars. Maybe the KonMari chapter where she talks about labels could be helpful? Meaning, how are your things stored? Can you see all of them? Or can they be stored out of line of sight? As far as expanding and contracting based on the space you have now there really isn't a way to do that unless you're willing to purge things you like for the sake of space. As someone who also posts in YLLS, I would be okay with taking clothes off your hands.  I still have an issue with books--I know we have a storage space with approximately 15 tubs of them that I will be going through in October, I know I don't need any more--but it's hard not to bring them home.
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Sep 11, 2015 14:21
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FearCotton posted:I'm thinking I'm going to do weekly "challenges" for myself and others in here--though our apartment is now KonMari'd, come May we're moving cross-country and picking up a storage unit's worth of stuff back on the east coast, and so it would be great to for us to minimize as much stuff as possible. Aside from personal laziness, one thing that makes it hard to do a full sweep is that my husband sometimes claims things I would otherwise toss. Even if his reasons are legit. But on the flipside, I do want to be tidier for his sake, too, so I guess it evens out.
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Sep 11, 2015 16:34
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Obligatory https://www.reddit.com/r/declutter shout-out, too. It's all KonMari, all the time. The fiancee and I have been doing this a lot since we moved a few months ago. Our new place is way smaller than the house we were in before and we were submerged in stuff. It's really easy to get forget just how much poo poo you accumulate over the years... I was convinced we would only need a 14' moving truck and ended up filling a 17' truck. It was a wake-up call, for sure, and really made me evaluate my relationship with my belongings. So far, I've sold a few hundred dollars worth of stuff - got rid of a lot of books that were sitting on my shelf for no good reason, selling off clothes I have and don't wear, tools and projects that never materialized, etc. I also haven't really bought much of anything in this time since knowing I'm going to have to put that stuff somewhere makes me evaluate things way more.
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Sep 13, 2015 00:08
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oopsie rock posted:I also have horrible consumerist urges, but since most of the things I love to buy are things I somehow consume -- I sell/donate/swap video games and books when I'm done, I buy fun cosmetics/bath stuff and eventually finish them, etc. -- I've imposed a sort of credit system on myself. Like, I have to finish X number of games or cosmetics before I can buy a new one in that same category. When it comes to books, I can use the library all I want but I can only add one book per month to my personal shelves. Gaming my consumption/spending like this pretty much put a halt to my endless acquisition of stuff, but since I already have too many of these things it's not easy for others to see the progress I've made. Depending on what kind of things you like to purchase, maybe applying a similar "X out, Y in" restriction could work for you? I mean, assuming you are not buying more permanent items like housewares or collectibles (though you could restrict yourself with those, too). FearCotton posted:I think it depends on a few things--what are these items? Do these items fit into your budget? If the answer to the first is "carefully curated items I love" and "to second is yes, have you seen my 401k?", then your issue is more one of space. And that's okay! Not everyone needs to be a minimalist living in a tiny house with multiple-use mason jars. Maybe the KonMari chapter where she talks about labels could be helpful? Meaning, how are your things stored? Can you see all of them? Or can they be stored out of line of sight? I think both of these are good posts. I took heed of them and tried to go through my wardrobe a bit again, because it is primarily clothes that are taking up all of the space in regards to my things. What I discovered is that there is very little I want to part with. Not to mention that at this point my wardrobe is pretty well finessed and the act of paring down has left some glaring holes, so anything I purchase fulfills a specific wardrobe desire/need. In short, I think it's just a lack of space that's causing the crowding, and I'm not currently at a point where I have anything I can remove, so I'll just have to become savvier about storage. Thanks for the feedback, I'll be sure to keep things in mind as time goes on 
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Sep 15, 2015 02:02
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So, I'd never heard of KonMari until I was reading the Blue Story thread last Thursday night and when it was mentioned there I got curious enough to Google it. I ended up buying the eBook, read the whole thing on Friday and KonMari-ed my clothes on Saturday. Please forgive me for rambling a bit with some thoughts: I can't say that I followed the KonMari strategy 100% faithfully. The principle of paring down your stuff to that which gives you joy is fine, but she really does gloss over the idea that everybody needs clothes (and other stuff) that meets basic needs. If I only had one pair of pants that gave me joy and were suitable enough to wear to work, I wasn't going to throw out everything else and wear the same pair of pants every day (which would NOT give me joy). I did gather all my clothes in the house and pile them onto my bed (except for my ski gear, because I knew I would be keeping it so I didn't bother to dump that out, and my dirty laundry, which I looked through separately), and then I went through every item. But for me it was mostly less about whether it gave me joy, and more about whether it gave me angst ("I like this but I can't wear it until I take it to the tailor") or anxiety ("I want to wear this but I worry that the length looks too weird") or guilt ("This was a thoughtful gift from a loved one but truthfully I don't enjoy wearing it"). I gave myself permission to get rid of stuff that made me unhappy to see it. I also got rid of stuff that I didn't much like but kept around in case I needed it but I never actually needed it. And I got rid of stuff that I hadn't realized I was no longer interested in wearing: stuff that I had worn a lot in the past, and I still liked it fine, no issues with it, but I never actually considered wearing it when I was choosing something nowadays. I guess I just hadn't noticed that my style had changed and this stuff no longer suited me as well. It makes me kind of sad to get rid of stuff, especially stuff I have memories of enjoying, or that I like in principle but was never able to enjoy wearing, for whatever reason. But I like being able to look in my closet and dresser and seeing only things I can wear (even if I'm not 100% sure that they literally "spark joy"). In particular, it's always been a challenge for me to find tops that are appropriate for work that I'm comfortable in, so I've had a tendency to accumulate stuff that I barely like, or keep stuff that has issues but I worry if I get rid of it I won't have enough options. It turned out after I culled what I didn't like (and re-assessed some items that I was reluctant to wear because I wasn't sure about but I never took the time to check if they were actually okay), I have plenty of options. This morning, instead of spending several minutes trying to dig out the one decent thing, or the least intolerable thing, from a sea of crap, I was able to just open the closet and spend a minute scanning the row of blouses before picking the one that I thought would be BEST for today, among a bunch of other items that all would have been perfectly fine. That made me happy! I am reluctant to invest too much hope or confidence in the idea that I'm transforming my life (or even just my wardrobe), and that I'm going to be able to keep up these habits and won't just revert to how I was before. I do think, though, that it shouldn't be too hard to keep the principle of getting rid of stuff that makes me unhappy. I'm slightly more skeptical that I'll be able to maintain the KonMari methods of folding and storage, but we'll see. For tops and bottoms, the deviation from my previous methods aren't too severe, so it's possible, but I fear I'll get lazy about folding every pair of socks and underwear (which I used to just cram in). On the other hand, I ADORE opening my underwear drawer and seeing all those neat little folded packets all lined up. That is my new favorite thing in the world. So maybe I can keep it up. Next stop, I guess, is books, but I may detour first into cleaning out our kitchen pantry, and/or organizing my video game consoles and accessories, both of which are needed pretty desperately. (Incidentally, I was a little puzzled at the mention in the OP that this was a three-day process; I didn't remember reading that in the book and I can't imagine going through all my possessions in just three days. I did a search of my eBook and it mentions the process taking half a year.) BTW, when I mention getting rid of stuff, I mean donating it. Between my clothes, and a bunch of old housewares that I'd decided to donate months ago but hadn't gotten around to dropping off, I filled my car to the brim on Sunday morning and took it all to Goodwill. (I started panicking a little bit on the way there about whether I needed to check everything one more time to make sure I wasn't losing anything I needed, but I suppressed it.) I just hate when I read about people de-cluttering and it sounds like they threw tons of decent stuff in the garbage.
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Sep 15, 2015 23:49
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Propaniac posted:I can't say that I followed the KonMari strategy 100% faithfully. The principle of paring down your stuff to that which gives you joy is fine, but she really does gloss over the idea that everybody needs clothes (and other stuff) that meets basic needs. If I only had one pair of pants that gave me joy and were suitable enough to wear to work, I wasn't going to throw out everything else and wear the same pair of pants every day (which would NOT give me joy). I've heard the same criticism of her method, but I've also heard that people include "utility" in their interpretation of what she means by "joy." Like, my can opener does not make me joyful (even though it is red with white polka dots -- thanks, mom!) but it serves a very practical purpose and my life is improved by its presence. It's the kind of thing I would need to run out and replace if it went out with the rest of the decluttering pile, at least. I'm going to start thinking like you did -- considering feelings of angst, anxiety, guilt and unhappiness I think could go a long way in helping me personally when I sort through my stuff. I still don't know if I could do one ruthless sweep, but my many, many small sweeps have resulted in 20+ boxes of donations to Goodwill since April, so I'm still making SOME progress.
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Sep 16, 2015 00:42
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oopsie rock posted:I've heard the same criticism of her method, but I've also heard that people include "utility" in their interpretation of what she means by "joy." Like, my can opener does not make me joyful (even though it is red with white polka dots -- thanks, mom!) but it serves a very practical purpose and my life is improved by its presence. It's the kind of thing I would need to run out and replace if it went out with the rest of the decluttering pile, at least. This is my criticism of KonMari as well, and where I apply UfYH--I don't love having three filing cabinets, but I need them for work in a very real way, so keeping them organized is essential. If you focus less on the "joy" aspect and more on the "does this make me sad? why?" end then that's good. I've noticed that, more and more, I'm incorporating the KonMari method into my thinking. I went to buy a bunch of stuff at MAC, only to have a really honest conversation with myself about why I wanted this line when I already have a lot of cosmetics that aren't even halfway used. I think when you're already a rather frugal person when you do splurge it's easy to rationalize almost any purchase...even if you shouldn't/ Today's challenge is alllll digital. Go through your ipads/phones/kindle/ipods/external hard drives/usb drives--everything that lives in that floating cloud. Start going through it. I found old papers I wrote on Hamlet in 12th grade, which obviously went, but I also found an entire drive of photos from a pre-Facebook world.
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Sep 16, 2015 14:32
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I saw a TED talk where Marie had a question from the audience about items you need to keep but don't love. She said try to make yourself love it, and hopefully with time you'll come to appreciate those things more.
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Sep 17, 2015 02:42
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I also interpret these ideas as simply valuing the things you own while attempting to buy only things which you will value in the future. This is in opposition to shopping things only on sale and compromising what you want to save money. If you own a relatively small number of things and want to keep it that way, ideally, you should be able to spend more on a single item than otherwise. Of course, budgets, incomes, etc must all be considered. But I have seen people spend a lot of money on clothes during sales and, while they are happy immediately after, the joy fades and they tend to hoard these items in closets for long periods of time. Perhaps even a single use. Small quantity high quality reduces need for replacement (hopefully) and need for space. Keeps your focus on a handful of items versus a walk-in closet of once-worn clothing. Or a mountain of lovely plastic tupperware. Or shoes. Or anything, really.
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Sep 17, 2015 18:32
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FearCotton posted:Today's challenge is alllll digital. Go through your ipads/phones/kindle/ipods/external hard drives/usb drives--everything that lives in that floating cloud. Start going through it. I found old papers I wrote on Hamlet in 12th grade, which obviously went, but I also found an entire drive of photos from a pre-Facebook world. This challenge frightens me, for fully organizing my digital life is a rabbit hole I may never be able to climb out of once I start. But so that I could feel good about giving it a shot, I did just go through my Google Drive docs and did some housekeeping! And I consolidated some CD storage, which is not exactly part of the challenge but it was something that needed to be done and I feel good about that, too. Part of my problem with organizing things digitally is that I can never decide whether I prefer nests of folders or if I like everything in a given category (like music) to be dumped in one single folder. My digital photos are a mish-mash of folders organized by event and big catchall folders that kinda chronicle my life at the time in a set of random pictures. Every so often I organize or de-organize depending on what I prefer at that moment, and when I run out of steam I end up with the haphazard "system" I have now. Somehow I can still find everything without resorting to the search bar, though, so I can live with it for now.
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Sep 19, 2015 17:15
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I think I'm gonna give this a shot. I have poo poo that's been in my possession for closing in on 16 years and since I'm also about to move again it's probably a good idea to start severing with some of it. I have a hard time letting go of things, especially old school notebooks because I get this thing in my head like I'm going to need my notes again. Clearly I don't. Maybe starting with the bookshelf tomorrow, already cleaned off the table. Also I am totally guilty of saving old clothes for clothing quilts.
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Sep 19, 2015 20:01
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Arus posted:I have a hard time letting go of things, especially old school notebooks because I get this thing in my head like I'm going to need my notes again. Clearly I don't. I have this problem too.  I always feel like because I rushed through some of the readings in college that I should reread them later because I know I would enjoy them. Which is true, but realistically I'm not going to dig through that pile of papers in the corner..
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Sep 19, 2015 20:32
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Arus posted:I think I'm gonna give this a shot. I have poo poo that's been in my possession for closing in on 16 years and since I'm also about to move again it's probably a good idea to start severing with some of it. I have a hard time letting go of things, especially old school notebooks because I get this thing in my head like I'm going to need my notes again. Clearly I don't. Maybe starting with the bookshelf tomorrow, already cleaned off the table. I held onto my notes from the first year of graduate school for about 10 years, and only used them heavily when I was studying for my qualifying exam about two years after the classes. I finally went through and got rid of the notes from most of the classes. I couldn't bring myself to get rid of the notes from the three best classes, but I didn't want the binders on my bookshelf anymore. I ended up scanning them. It was about a weeklong project on and off in the evenings, but it got rid of the physical clutter, but allowed me to keep the notes for classes that I really enjoyed.
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Sep 19, 2015 23:30
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EPICAC posted:I held onto my notes from the first year of graduate school for about 10 years, and only used them heavily when I was studying for my qualifying exam about two years after the classes. I finally went through and got rid of the notes from most of the classes. This may wind up being the case for me next year, but I am still holding on to old math notebooks I guess for some hidden fear that I'm going to forget how to do it before I take the GRE. I haven't looked back on a single one. The excuse I keep making now is I'm going to recycle them but I haven't gone through and cut out all the paper and I doubt it'll ever happen. 
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Sep 20, 2015 01:12
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Arus posted:This may wind up being the case for me next year, but I am still holding on to old math notebooks I guess for some hidden fear that I'm going to forget how to do it before I take the GRE. I haven't looked back on a single one. The excuse I keep making now is I'm going to recycle them but I haven't gone through and cut out all the paper and I doubt it'll ever happen. Just flip through them one day without a specific purpose and see if some emotional value can be had. It's crazy how even reading the math notes you wrote can remind you of the other things that were going on in your life at the time. Maybe even a few times over a week, if the notebooks haven't done anything for you by the end of the week when they're at the forefront of your mind they're probably unnecessary.
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Sep 20, 2015 08:31
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Tea.EarlGrey.Hot. posted:I have this problem too. When I was just a few years out of college I scanned most of my notes (using the totally awesome Fujitsu ScanSnap!), and then when I found a couple stragglers 5+ years later, I realized I was never ever going to look at them again and I tossed them without scanning. Sometimes you have to actually hold onto something for years without using it before you realize you're going to continue to not use it and that you're better off getting rid of it.
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Sep 20, 2015 15:16
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My main hobby is cooking and baking, and I have a nice big pantry with lots of exotic ingredients. Well, I just got pantry moths and those assholes got into EVERYTHING. I had to throw out over half my food and I need to thoroughly clean everything else. It's a huge bummer but also really liberating to see a clean pantry with organized rows of food and not have it be overflowing and cluttered. Even though I'm doing this out of necessity, I still thought about the KonMarie method when going through everything and I chucked some stuff that wasn't infested because I knew I'd probably never use it again.
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Sep 20, 2015 15:39
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I've been half-assing the KonMari system, with the intention that I have until spring to finish doing the system in slow motion, and then once it's spring, I'm going to go through everything again, in the intended three day blitz. I know it's not how you're supposed to do it, but I seem to have an awful lot of clothing that needs repair, books that I either still need to read or that I'm fine tossing but want to read one more time before it goes, etc. My plan is that for everything that I think to myself "just a little more time!" on, I have until the spring blitz to actually do it. Normally I spend winter snowboarding and going out drinking with friends as my hobbies, but now that I'm instead spending a winter pregnant, those are both pretty off the table, so (at least in my head) all of these various projects that have been sitting around undone should be manageable in the time I've allotted myself, even though it isn't the KonMari method as intended. I've meanwhile put an official block on buying anything new in a category that I see as pending further work before I can call it done. No more books, video games, fabric, yarn, clothing (other than maternity clothing or if I recognize an actual clothing need) etc until spring. And then I'll have a newborn and likely won't be having time to buy more stuff anyway, so it's effectively me saying I'm not going to buy anything until around this time next year. I'm nearly done with books, and don't see papers as being too cumbersome; finding all of them and hauling them to a single place is likely going to be the most onerous part. I've saved too many papers for too many years. I'm thinking of swapping the sentimental and miscellaneous categories, however. I don't really HAVE much sentimental stuff if any, and I've long since come up with a system for it. I've got a box that my grandfather made me when I mentioned needing a recipe box, but it... is in no way useful as a recipe box. It's bigger than a lunchbox and really made me question if he knew what a recipe box involved. But it's a sturdy box that my grandfather made with the best of intentions, and the last thing he ever made for me before he passed away. So all of my keepsakes and nostalgia items are limited to what I can fit in that box, since I've accepted that it has virtually no use whatsoever, but that I still don't want to be rid of it. Miscellaneous, however... uggghhhhh. Miscellaneous stuff is going to be a bigger category than everything else combined. I've started breaking out sub-categories as they occur to me, but ugh. It's the one category that I'm really and truly dreading. In happier news, I'd seen mention of UFyH in the Blue Story thread (which is where I'd first seen mention of the Kondo book) and somehow passed it off as not the title of a website/app/apparently soon book? but instead assumed it was someone telling her to un-gently caress her habitat. So I'm delighted that this thread's corrected me, and can I just say that I find the app delightful? I haven't managed to interest my husband in the Kondo organizing, but as soon as I started talking about UFyH, he asked for a link to the app and was immediately on board. I've started adding my Kondo tasks to the app just for the sake of remembering them. UFyH is the best. I'm actually finding the two systems as being fairly complementary, since I'm not doing KonMari quickly this time around. UFyH doesn't follow the systematic categorical approach, so when I'm doing random 20 minute tasks, it's easy to keep in mind my KonMari game plan (themselves tasks that I've set up in the app) and make sure that when I'm not quite sure where something goes, that it goes with other like things, in preparation for that category. I'm looking forward to Spring, when I'll be doing my real Kondo purge, three days snap decisions and all. I'll just be going into it already have a relatively clean home, with like items already fairly well arranged, will have already drastically reduced the number of items I have, and will have come to grips with the fact that any project that I haven't made any meaningful progress with over the next six months needs to be purged.
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Sep 20, 2015 19:23
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oopsie rock posted:Every so often I organize or de-organize depending on what I prefer at that moment, and when I run out of steam I end up with the haphazard "system" I have now. Somehow I can still find everything without resorting to the search bar, though, so I can live with it for now. And this is where UfYH is a god send. Do 20 minutes on, 10 minutes off. Don't marathon things like this that are huge, or important to you. Here is what I do: I keep three external hardrives--one for work/school (which in my case is oddly the same thing), one for photographs and personal videos (yay wedding film), and one for media--all my music backed up. I do this because I work on a teeny tiny netbook. About once a year I go through and purge/organize these drives. Anything important on my laptop immediately, every Friday, goes into these drives and into Googledoc. For the first month or so you will feel like an insane person for working with this system, or ANY system you devise for yourself. That's okay! Eventually though you'll be so, so thankful you have a system that makes sense. In terms of papers and notes: As a graduate student I totally get the urge to keep old notebooks and notes. But don't. Really. Toss 'em. KoniMari has a whole section of her book devoted to this very topic--I can't do it justice, really, so I suggest just getting a copy of the text and reading it. But the gist is that you should toss these things, thus freeing up literal and mental space to return these things. If, after toss math books, you go out and buy a GRE math book and work through it all, you know what you consider important. If you don't buy said math book then you know it's not high on your list--which is still 100% okay!--and now you also have more space in your home and life to determine what you DO consider important. In terms of updates: Tonight after I've finished my own adulting tasks I'm going to post five challenges for home, office, and general life. I'm going to continue to add to these challenges every week, the idea being that you can do one, or all, on your own time and schedule.
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Sep 20, 2015 20:42
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FearCotton posted:Tonight after I've finished my own adulting tasks I'm going to post five challenges for home, office, and general life. I'm going to continue to add to these challenges every week, the idea being that you can do one, or all, on your own time and schedule. What up, challenges? So these are things I'll be doing this week, using the combo of UfYH and KonMari. Join me, goons. 1. Medicine--collect ALL medicine and medicine related items (so. many. bandaids.) Go through and purge items that are old/expired, make a list of things missing, and consolidate everything. 2. Cosmetics/grooming tools--go through all makeup KonMari style, then clean all cosmetic brushes. Also hair brushes. According to How Clean is Your House, your tooth brush needs to be replaced every three months. So, uh, do that too. Also clean out medicine cabinet/bathroom cabinets and give a good scrub down. 3. Bedding! KonMari the linen closet. Wash all bedding, even that awful comforter that needs to be dry cleaned. Throw out ruined items (fun fact: animal shelters will take old bedding and towels!). Do your pillows have covers? They should! Wash pillows. Flip mattress. Pull an UfYH and make your bed everyday. 4. Linen--an expansion of above. Go through all towels/rugs/etc. 5. Pet edition. Do you have a pet? Go through all paperwork and organize it. Clean cages/bedding/etc. We have cats, so I need to not only change the liter but also wash out the whole box. Gather ALL toys and toss those that have gotten too ratty. Check to see if vet appointments need made/pet insurance needs purchased/all registrations are paid. Do an extra good brushing/nail clipping/etc.
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Sep 21, 2015 09:31
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I've got a question that's not about KonMari or UfYH, but this is the closest thing to a "general cleaning" tips thread: What in the ever-living gently caress can I do about dust? Every place I've lived, no matter what I do, there is dust EVERYWHERE. I sweep weekly, usually mop as well, and dust my flat surfaces. We have an average-hair-length cat and short-haired dog, so I know that contributes, but it still seems like an absurd amount. I don't see nearly as much in my friends' and families homes (well...most of them) so clearly I'm doing something wrong. As an example: We just moved into this house about a month ago. When we first moved in, we did a deep clean, including "overlooked" places like the blades on the ceiling fan, under/behind the fridge, corners of walls/ceilings, etc...and have done weekly sweeping and moping since then. Tuesday night, I swept and mopped the entire first floor (all hard floors) even though I already did that on Saturday. Then I dusted the flat surfaces (used Pledge + microfiber cloth for wood, and Windex + microfiber cloth for glass entertainment center.) I walked out of my bedroom Wednesday morning, and in the bright stream of sunlight coming in through the window was just as much dust as I always see every morning. And here's a picture of my coffee table, literally less than a full day after cleaning:  (Yes, I know it's scratched to Hell...combo of the Cat and my GF not thinking and doing "crafting" on it without a mat underneath.) Covered in nearly as much dust and hair as I removed the day before. The vacuum came yesterday afternoon, and first thing I did was use the upholstery attachment all over the couch. I have a feeling a lot of it was coming from there, since until now I haven't had a vacuum that had attachments to clean it with, so maybe some of the dust and hair was from that. My GF seems to think it's mostly "road dust" from leaving windows open, but in the last place we lived, we had just as much dust, even in winter, and it was on a less busy road. I just think that whatever we're doing is "wrong" somehow. I've tried paper towels, both with just water and "specialty" dusting products (Pledge, window, etc...,) I've tried the microfiber clothes, dry, with water, and with dusting products, etc...The paper towels with products seem to work best, but I feel and using so many paper towels both because of money and the environment. Microfiber with products seem to do almost as good a job (at least at the time of cleaning, as you can see, it doesn't last.) I'm open to any and all suggestions.
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Sep 24, 2015 19:53
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I've got a crazy dust problem too, despite constant vacuuming, cleaning, changing air filters, etc. I've considered getting an air purifier or filter to help out because yeah, it seems like poo poo never stays clean
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Sep 25, 2015 16:37
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[quote="Laminator" post="450655336 it seems like poo poo never stays clean [/quote] Well, part of it might be road dust--do you live in a dry place? That, plus pent dander, can be a big cause. Ways to maybe fix it: 1. Air filters are an excellent idea, and I highly recommend them. Do you have forced air/ac/heating? Clean out the ducts. 2. How are you dusting? Try using something damp first, working from the tops of the house (fans) downward (floor). 3. Do you have carpets? Sometimes the under matting "sheds", and that'll gently caress up your day. Deep washing the carpets will help that. 4. Don't just vacuum the couch. Take every pillow/rug/moveable fluffy surface outside and beat the living poo poo out of it. Then either wash or vacuum it. 5. Bathe your pets monthly. It'll help with their dander. 6. Get some plants. Some ferms/other indoor plants will help keep the air fresher and thin the dust. Hope this may help!
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Sep 25, 2015 21:58
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FearCotton posted:What up, challenges? Thanks for continuing the challenges! I was inspired by your current round of cleaning tasks to: - finally get around to cleaning my makeup brushes, which I've needed to do for ages. I also tossed some older liquid products and am going to give a serious look at the rest of the stuff in my stash, which has been sitting around unused since I lost my job a few months ago -- I pretty much only wore makeup to work. Also, my biggest concentration of "someday" items lives in my makeup stash and it's probably time I got real about things, like those non-neutral eyeshadows that I never wear despite their superbly pretty finishes, and maybe also the ungodly amount of neutrals that all look basically the same on me anyway. Now that my brushes are clean I can actually start wearing and evaluating all those someday items. - wash all bedding, which had the added benefit of triggering an extended tidying up of the linen/supply closet so I could put the clean sheets away properly. All the shelves are organized now, and I happily found some stuff I thought I had gotten rid of/lost! Also, I mentioned recently in the incremental improvements thread that I had a sudden urge to organize my closet by clothing type. I'm so glad I did it. It's so easy to see everything now! I can certainly live with a bit of disorder in my closet, but I think the organization is better for me -- especially since I would often get the shopping itch because I felt like I didn't have enough clothes, which seems absurd now that I can see everything easily. I can see myself getting closer and closer to becoming the tidy person I've always wanted to be. I still have a big "stuff" problem standing in my way, but it's getting easier to manage as organizing/cleaning becomes less of an agonizing ordeal and more like a daily habit.
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Sep 27, 2015 13:22
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Yesterday ruled. Bit of background: It's been about a year since I started my career, and started by living in a 2br/2ba and just kinda left a bunch of poo poo that I rarely touched strewn about the second bedroom, and just had a table in my living room with a bunch of junk on it and just kinda, boxes and whatnot that i never bothered to throw out. It was cluttered, but not enough that it impeded my ability to go on my computer and go to bed, which is basically what I did after work, so I basically ignored it. That was the first six months, and then I moved into a room in a house for under half the rent, but that room was small as poo poo, and even with a ton of my stuff in storage, felt oppressively cluttered. About three months ago I moved into a larger room in the house because the previous tenant moved out. Upon seeing this thread, I decided to really step it up and make a serious effort to not have that room feel cluttered, with stuff on the floor. My main problem, of course, was not having a place for everything. I've been progressively doing things here and there, purchasing plastic drawers and getting rid of some old clothes that I'm not happy to wear. I've not yet reached maximum tidiness, but holy poo poo this is the first time in my independent adulthood that nothing is on the floor without being a container itself, or in the closet, and it feels great. My clothing drawers are...less cluttered on top than before. There are vitamin bottles that I've resisted designating a 'put away' place for, but it just now occurred to me by writing this that I only use them for 30 seconds in the morning so OF COURSE I have no reason to keep them in the open all the time. I probably was thinking like I would forget to take them (the horror), but "opening" and "closing" my regular tasks is something I need to incorporate into my morning routine. I had a streak of a few days last month of making my bed every morning, and flaked on it for a while, but I'm hoping to get a week in a row and turn that into 2 and so on. Just posting in this thread has gotten me excited to get home and put away those bottles and a couple of other things I've been hesitant to make a place for because the surface of my dresser felt like "place enough." I always fret about moving, so I told myself that I have to prove to myself that I can make a nice environment out of my current situation, before I move out. This challenge has had the added benefit of making it easier to pack once I do want to move, which is what always gets to me (oh no I'll take too much time oh no I won't be able to use what's packed oh no where to put all these boxes). Now most/all miscellaneous stuff is in boxes by default! Sweet!
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Nov 3, 2015 00:30
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Plus_Infinity posted:My main hobby is cooking and baking, and I have a nice big pantry with lots of exotic ingredients. Well, I just got pantry moths and those assholes got into EVERYTHING. I had to throw out over half my food and I need to thoroughly clean everything else. It's a huge bummer but also really liberating to see a clean pantry with organized rows of food and not have it be overflowing and cluttered. Even though I'm doing this out of necessity, I still thought about the KonMarie method when going through everything and I chucked some stuff that wasn't infested because I knew I'd probably never use it again. A few months ago I KonMari'd a bunch of my fabric (I do sewing- not as much as I should considering the amount of fabric I have, but I'm hoping to get more into it). It's very freeing to be able to get rid of things and having a framework (Do I really want to wear/use something made out of this fabric?) helps a lot.
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Nov 3, 2015 04:36
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FearCotton, I just wanted to say thank you for introducing us to KonMari. I've always loved to organize/declutter, and this tickled my fancy. I folded the contents of my sock and underwear drawer, and something about this particular method felt very soothing to me. Who knew folding laundry could be so refreshing?
Scandalous Wench fucked around with this message at 06:44 on Nov 7, 2015 |
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Nov 7, 2015 06:38
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I've loosely followed this KonMari method since this thread started and I ended up throwing/giving away at least half of my belongings, I don't feel like I've lost anything in the process rather that I've gained a tonne of free space, and a kind of freedom now that I don't have a sense of obligation to those objects. Now I'm painting the house which I'd been putting off for years since moving things around seemed so monumental before, and that's motivating me even more since a coat of paint is making this place look really good. Honestly I only read this thread to laugh at filthy goons but it has genuinely improved the way I live, thanks FearCotton and everyone who's posted
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Nov 11, 2015 14:38
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I got the KonMari book for my birthday (thanks, mom!) and even through the woo-woo -- greet your house! Fold your socks so they have room to breathe! -- I understand the principles behind everything she says. It's all been knocking around in the back of my head lately and I'm beginning to sense a shift in myself. Doing her method in one go as instructed is still scary and intimidating for me personally, but the book has still helped me with my ongoing decluttering. One specific thing from the book that resonated with me is this: if you've been holding onto something with the intent to get to it someday and it's been years and years and someday still hasn't arrived, then maybe the purpose of the object was to teach you that you didn't need it after all. A huge percentage of the stuff I own can be classified under "someday" objects and I'm finally starting to get real about these things. For instance: - My pile of unread books is taking priority over my newer acquisitions, and if a book doesn't grab me within the first 30-50 pages, out it goes. I managed to get rid of two books in a series this way! It turns out it just wasn't for me after all. But then I got sucked into an 800-page brick that turned out to actually be interesting, oops. So much for quick progress with the books. But at least it'll be off the shelf for good soon. - I got rid of a bunch of old work clothes that I wore minimally (or, shamefully, never) because of whatever reason, and which don't actually fit me well anymore. It's kinda rough to get rid of $300+ worth of pants that didn't get enough wear, but at this point they're aspirational (maybe they'll fit me better someday!) and that's not a good reason to keep them for longer than the 8+ years I've already had them. - I also have been a little more ruthless with other clothes that mostly inspire guilt for the lack of use I've gotten out of them. My closet is looking better by the day! - My too-large-for-me stash of nail polish is getting culled more aggressively. I know there are a handful of colors I definitely want to keep, so I've had to evaluate the rest one by one. If I like the color but it looks horrible on me, then it's gotta go. If the color looks good but the application is crap, then it's not worth keeping either. This is going more slowly than I'd like but I have surprised myself with some of the elimination candidates so far. - I went through my makeup and was able to eliminate nearly half of it; I have a lot of stuff I love to look at but never wear. I'm not even wearing that much right now as it is, so I probably could've gotten rid of more, but I don't want to get rid of the stuff I know I will wear when the occasion arises. This was more about being realistic about what will actually GET used, and there were plenty of obviously wrong-for-me items. I've also made an effort to keep more of my backup items (office supplies, toiletries) in storage so that I don't become overwhelmed by the sight of them. It's all stuff that I'm going to be using within a year, so it doesn't make sense to toss it just because I have too much right now, but it's been helpful to quit rotating my entire stock at once and instead just focus on keeping a more limited amount at the ready. It probably sounds like I'm justifying hoarding certain things, and I probably am, but in a couple areas this has actually been an effective first step in getting rid of the out-of-sight backup stash. I'm not sure it's going to work with everything, though.
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Nov 11, 2015 15:48
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I'd been hearing about this for a few months and this thread finally convinced me to give it a try and I got the book, so thanks. If anyone is skeptical of any particular thing you hear about this method: just give a try. I was the guy who never folded laundry or even put in a drawer. I now enjoy folding my clothes and putting them away vertically, KonMari style. The main thing I'm struggling with now is what appears to be allergic reactions to dust, cat dander and other things stirred up by moving stuff that hasn't been moved for years. If you're even slightly allergic you should probably consider wearing a dust mask. I'll be using my 3M respirator when I do any more work from now on.
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Nov 11, 2015 22:03
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I've kept this thread bookmarked as a reminder, and I finally picked up the eBook (figured a good first step is not getting another object, right), which is definitely helpful because the stories and details help you establish the right state of mind. I was worried about having trouble discarding things, but it turns out it's not too difficult. In addition to the room I rent, I also have a storage unit meant to keep stuff that wouldn't fit when I moved to this room, as well as kitchen stuff that there's simply no place for here because my landlord is overdoing it and converted a den and dining room into bedrooms. They'll go into my kitchen when I move to a 2br with whomever I find on craigslist that isn't a degenerate flake, and with whom I can actually communicate. Anyway, I had a big box of clothes (as well as a few boxes of stuff that I'm tossing to Goodwill) and managed to get that onto my pile along with everything else. I ditched 80% of my gym clothes because I exercise elsewhere now and I realized a lot of them I didn't enjoy wearing even if I were going to the gym. I filled two 13-gallon trash bags with clothes, which probably reduced my total by about one third to half (hard to tell). I don't have the hang of the folding technique, but "it doesn't matter how you fold the sleeves" was one of the most relieving statements I've read so far, and I can still basically make the vertical thing work—all my non-hanging shirts now fit in one drawer instead of two, and my non-hanging pants (including swim trunks) in one and a half instead of 3. Now I need some help with the "rising to the right" concept for the closet. Below is how I have it right now, and it doesn't seem quite right.  I've been treating long-sleeve shirts as automatically "heavier" than short sleeve, but I'm not sure if that really make sense. Also I don't wear my dress shirts that often, but I might wear them to work more if I view them in a different light, because I do like them but feel like they're "supposed" to go with a suit jacket. Any tips would be appreciated.
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Nov 28, 2015 18:03
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Stinky_Pete posted:Now I need some help with the "rising to the right" concept for the closet. Below is how I have it right now, and it doesn't seem quite right. I think of it as longer, heavier fabric and dark colors to the left and shorter, lighter fabric and colors to the left. I wouldn't get too caught up in trying to follow the rules to the letter though. Personally, I've gotten stalled on media. I've been collecting vinyl records at estate sales over the last year and have maybe 100-200 of them, sorted into keeping (cataloged and not) and selling (cataloged and not) and need to listen to again before deciding. Listening and cataloging takes so much time that I've been putting it off for weeks. I should probably just push on to other areas like the kitchen (dishes, appliances, gadgets, pantry) and hobbies (homebrewing, woodworking) and come back to the records since they aren't taking up much space.
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Dec 23, 2015 18:44
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Do you all schedule specific days to KonMari one designated category (i.e. clothes, kitchen items, bathroom stuff)? I read the book a few weeks ago and really liked it and felt inspired, but I've been pretty busy with work and the holidays and have only had time to straighten up and clean what I already have, and get rid of a few things here and there as I clean other areas. I haven't had a whole day or even a half day to lay out all my clothes and just go through everything, despite desperately wanting to. I will hopefully have 2 or 3 free days in the next month or so, but does anyone have advice or strategies on getting over the hurdle of not having time to do a full KonMari session in one go? Should I just break up my process into even smaller categories (i.e. shirts in one go, workout clothes in one go, etc.)? That would be more manageable and achievable on work nights.
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Dec 23, 2015 19:47
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dead lettuce posted:Do you all schedule specific days to KonMari one designated category (i.e. clothes, kitchen items, bathroom stuff)? I read the book a few weeks ago and really liked it and felt inspired, but I've been pretty busy with work and the holidays and have only had time to straighten up and clean what I already have, and get rid of a few things here and there as I clean other areas. I haven't had a whole day or even a half day to lay out all my clothes and just go through everything, despite desperately wanting to. I got started on a weekend where I could devote most of both days. I think it's important to devote as much time as possible for the first session to get the biggest impact so that you see the value of the method and get motivated to keep going. But I agree that as working person it's hard to set aside 2-3 days without interruption to do everything all at once. As long as you are going by category or sub-category rather than location then it's probably fine to break it up more after the first session.
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Dec 23, 2015 20:31
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