The magic of tidying

[Dimity]

Hi @Former-Member I'm glad you've found something that works for you. I've been depressed for a long time and have done little more than keeping up with food shopping, laundry and dishes. Re-establishing a routine has been quite hard for me but I'm getting there. I'm dealing with a backlog of clutter and maintenance. Even scheduling tradespeople has been challenging because of my disrupted sleep patterns. If I can get on top of this and also improve my health and fitness it will be a Good Year for me.

Thankyou for responding, it means a lot to me and I really appreciate it. It's good to see that a weekly cycle works for you. Do you also have a routine for selfcare and relaxation,?

[Eve7]

I love this thread @Dimity and am so grateful to you for having the initiative to start it.

I have scaled back my grand plan for decluttering to a more manageable daily schedule minutes per day eg today was 3 minutes. Tomorrow will be 4 and so on each month,

[Dimity]

You have to start somewhere @Eve7 . I started with 8 items/day...

[Eve7]

This is on my bucket list @Dimity to 

[Dimity]

I tend to stop and start @Eve7 . Today I dealt with papers, mostly charity circulars and advertising flyers. I need to clear a working space again for sorting. Do you have much to contend with? 

[Eve7]

I moved from a very big home to a small duplex and I need to get rid of a lot more stuff @Dimity 

Everywhere I look there is clutter but I’ll get there.

I have sent my snow dome collection to Lifeline

[Dimity]

Sometimes it's hard to let go of collections we're emotionally invested in. You did well to release that space @Eve7 . Marie Kondo leaves bric-a-brac and memorabilia we're attached to til last.

Ì hope the downsizing and move are working out well for you and you're enjoying the new neighbourhood. 

[Former-Member]

Hi @Dimity. Yes, I also have a weekly routine for relaxation and self-care. I try to sleep as often as I can because sleeping helps me cope. I also have very long showers. When I'm preparing a snack or dinner, I try to do some house cleaning at the same time so that by the time I start eating, I've already done some chores. After dinner, I quickly do my dishes so that way when I wake up in the morning, there is less housework to do. I just do all of my cleaning in stages.
Hopefully your decluttering projects will work out in the end and I hope you continue to stay well.

[Dimity]

Thanks @Former-Member you have some great strategies for keeping up with it all. Staying active and in the moment rather than disconnecting might be a key takeaway. The routine seems important. When I'm not coping I can let things slide and not really notice what needs doing. So getting into good habits is the answer. I'm working on it! 

Thanks for your support. 

[Bow]

I like to tidy when in the mood. And have been very much in a decluttering phrase the last year or so. It amazing what we can actually live without. I am a bit sentimental... and do keep things and am thankful we have a big garage to store crates in. But every now and then I like to go through it all and cull stuff. 
my mum is a terrible hoarder! And I think my daughter is too.