LR: dreams are our way of solving problems and rehearsing what we want to do. The days following my dreams of decluttering and cleaning seem to be my most productive.

Tuesday night groups are helpful, but it is hard to stay up after midnight and then get up early the next morning. I have a headache today from too little sleep.

I stated in the group that my main goal today is to get one contractor bag of living room trash filled and in the toter for pick up tomorrow. I have been doing very well in removing the day to day garbage and trash. It is time to tackle the trash that accumulated during those bitterly cold and icy days when I was housebound.
I am so fortunate that I do not have bugs or rodents. I want it to stay that way.
The ants did their annual march through the house at the beginning of peony season. They come in the bathroom right by the bushes and exit by the kitchen window. I think they must move from winter quarters to summer quarters. i don't kill them because they don't linger in the house and they are good for the flower garden soil which is mostly clay and needs aerating.Their annual migration only takes a few days.

Good morning!

I wrote recently about having a dream where I was cleaning or decluttering. Well, last night, I had a shopping dream.

I dreamed I'd gone to some dollar-discount-type place to buy a certain gardening tool I'd seen there. (They were out of it.) In the dream, I was looking at some other tempting things in that area, and I thought, "Would you really use this in a reasonable period of time?" I passed up things in my dream that I otherwise probably would have bought.

One funny part of the dream (I usually have strange dreams): We've all seen baskets with fake fruit in them, right? Well, at the store, they had little bins with realistic fake, chopped up veggies, including broccoli (inside joke from recent Tuesday night chats). I remember thinking . . . how cute! How novel! How dangerous . . . someone could choke on that! I passed up the temptation to buy any.

However, a sales guy saw me looking at some things and decided to give me a free sample of what I was looking at. He got a sack, put a considerable amount of the "stuff" in the small sack, and put a note inside that it was a free sample. I remember what the stuff looked like. It was a little bit cute but totally useless, but I took it without question, because the guy had gone to the trouble to give it to me. So this wasn't a totally successful shopping trip. (Progress, not perfection.)

That part of the dream ended while I was in the checkout line, so I don't know what would have happened when I got home. I probably would have brought that small bag of free, useless stuff inside and would have set it down on a countertop or on my dining room table, waiting to figure out what to do with it.

But maybe I would have woken up the next day, read more of Mar's and Tillie's posts, and said, "The natural state of the countertop is ?clear.'" And then maybe I would have worked a few more exercises in my BIT book and just chunked it.

Have a good day, all!

I missed the chat! Too much schoolwork.

Please, pray for me. I need to finish that presentation as soon as possible. And I need to sleep also! 🙁

Good night all.

Sorry I can't join everybody on the chat tonight. One of my public speaking engagements is tomorrow morning...that will take till noon, then I have a meeting in the afternoon and have to start preparing for the next time I am working on Sunday. Will try to keep up with maintenance, not leave things in the car, etc.

Peace,
Kathy

I won't be around for tonight's chat, though I'll be back around 10pm PDT or so, and I'll check to see if anyone's still around.

Hello. thanks for the updates everyone, Dianne I am so happy you allowed them inside and are willing to let them help, great motivation for you to get as much done as possible before they come back. Tillie thanks for your support with this clothing thing, it has been difficult to let go of clothes, coming from a poor family with not enough to wear, and embarrassed about the cheap clothes I had. Emotionally attached to all clothes that were expensive with great brand labels.
Last night I did get through 1/2 of the pile, yes Tillie, small sessions over 2 hours. I first took a shower, washed, curled my hair. Dog woke me up at 5am again (I go to sleep around 11:30) and prefer to sleep until 7am. I was awake so did all dishes, cleaned counters and finished going through the clothes. I bagged up 21 clothing items from my good clothes, at end of bed pile, for donations. I dressed in clean clothes that fit and went to CPR class that started at 9am, will renew my RN license one more time so needed to get it done. I think this is the first time in 35 years I took CPR class months before due date, usually wait and have to stress out to find a class. Have had to pay for private class several times.
In the BIT book it has the questions to ask to help let go of my clothes. The ones I used over and over were "how many of these do I have" and "is this important to me just because it is in front of me now". When I started saying how I could alter clothing to fit, I said, if it doesnt fit me now, let it go, I have plenty. For some reason asking, is it important just because it is in front of me, was a question I never considered before and was such an eye opener. I instantly feel attached to item when I pick it up and look at it. To test it, I folded it up and put in donation pile, anxiety subsided as soon as I picked up next item, etc. Still have to empty some space in closet to put these clothes, so will have to do more decision making tomorrow, I am done for today I think.

Hi Tillie. Thanks for celebrating our achievements 🙂

Oh, it's very late! I must go to the school. I have to prepare a presentation for next Monday and it makes me feel nervous, it's a lot of work!

Bye!

Hello everyone!

I wish you all succeed in your projects 😀

Barb: Thanks for sharing. It's great the way the teachers do with this "tidying up" time. Really the best method for beat clutter is to prevent it starts (ha, and until now I learn it!) Sadly, is soooo easy to leave things "provisionally" on any place when one is tired, too busy, "has no time" or is in a hurry, and they accumulate so fast... Uff! I urgently need to get this kind of habits. Keep hope.

Good morning 🙂

Hi Mar 🙂
WAY TO GO! 😀
Fantastic that you now have a table you can use.

Hi LR2014 🙂
YEA! 😀
for making daily plans and accomplishing so much!

Hi Diane 🙂
Sounds like you have a pretty good mental image of how you want the "new" yard landscaping to be.
Such fun making new and improved spaces.
WAY TO GO! loaner puppy for figuring out the doggie door! 😀
Now he will be spoiled and want one at his house too. lol 😀
Diane, just spend 10 minutes on the clothes at a time.
Then go do something else.
Come back and do another 10 minutes, and so on.
Three 10 minute sessions = half an hour and it will all start to add up.
Don't want you to get burned out & frustrated because then you won't do it at all or will not do this task as well as you want it done.

Hi Barb 🙂
So happy to hear that Frank didn't go missing this time 😀
YEA!!! 😀 for having new easy to live with rain gutters! 😀

Hi Dianne 🙂
Good luck and best wishes for hiring help. 😀

Hi Kathy 🙂
WOW!!! You accomplished a LOT! 😀 WAY TO GO!
Sometimes we need to keep things on a counter or end table because that is where we use them.
Clearing the surfaces means removing and putting away all the things that tend to collect on these surfaces that do not belong there.

Last evening the winds blew in the rain showers.
It's dark and cold here today.
Since we are experiencing another year of drought, the rain is wonderful. 🙂
I will amuse myself indoors today with maybe sewing or reading or playing/working in the dollhouse or doing beadwork, whatever. 😀
But first I need to do some daily maintenance stuff.
Happy rain day! 😀

Today my employee and I tackled some of the problem areas still left in my dining room. On one side was a white painted metal "organizer" with a top and two rather narrow drawers and a door at the bottom to a small cabinet, and on the other side was a piano bench with my dog's food in it and an open bin of things I need for online meetings (webcam, headset, notebooks). Also, on the organizer and around it on the floor were five canvas open bins with CDs, DVDs, various electronic cords and speakers, etc. And then there were two plastic bins from, apparently, times I had cleaned up fast or dumped my purse to look for something. I got the piano bench moved into the other room where the keyboard is, moved the dog food jar into the top of the organizer and the dog treats are in there too. In the second drawer are the preprinted home address labels where they have been forever. We threw out a very large white bag of old papers from credit cards I don't have any more and 10 year old tax documents (she tore up the convenience checks, but they were mostly for accounts no longer open anyway, moved old tax records to the tax archives in the garage, retirement account records to the proper place in the files, etc. And then went through the canvas and plastic bins. Moved things to appropriate places, threw some things out. So now there is only the white metal organizer there and it has the things in it I need for online computer meetings, and it has to stay clear on the top because otherwise I won't be able to get to the dog food (top swings up). I moved the boom box that was on the floor there to the top of a plastic file set of drawers on the other side of the room where it can plug in.

So a lot of things (especially paper and files) got thrown out, and some got moved into categories instead of dumped in bins. Some are put aside to donate as well, and marked as such. I am resisting the "clear surfaces" policy though when it comes to my big weekly medicine organizer. It's got to stay on the tray on the counter. I still forgot to take them until 9:30 this morning, 3.5 hours after I got up. Not good. I do better when they are right in front of me on the table. And I'm tired now and lying down.

Yesterday was an easy one. I went to see Godzilla. Was greatly looking forward to it as I fondly recall all those cheesy movies from the 50's and 60's. The spikes on his back were cool but overall it was a waste. I'm a fan of blood and guts movies and blow-up action. This didn't cut it.

Congrats on everybody's good work!

Good morning, all!
Tillie: Thanks for posting the link to online timers over on the "Lost Items" thread. I use the timer on my stove, but can easily get sidetracked in the kitchen and forget what I went in there to do. LOL
Thanks also, for starting a new thread for this topic. It is so much easier to post now.

Mar: I love the "Natural state is clean" statements. My kitchen table and counter are so handy to park things on when I come in. I have to keep after those areas every day.
I learned a lot working with the kindergarten teachers over the past 3 years. Lessons consist of lots of hands-on activities using coloring, cutting, pasting, game pieces, etc. Work areas can get quite messy. The teachers schedule a "tidying up" time right before lunch and before it is time to go home. Everyone pitches in to clean up the floors and work surfaces. The teacher sets a timer or puts on music. The kids get in the habit of learning that "tidying up" is everyone's responsibility.
I need to get back into the daily habit of "tidying up" my messiest places: entry, kitchen, and bathroom. It really does make keeping the house neat and clean easier.

The men finished installing the gutters, downspouts, and gutter covers yesterday. They also did a good job cleaning up afterwards.
Now the helicopters can rain down and I won't have to worry about climbing on the roof to unclog my gutters. It should also save on caulking them where the rotting leaves and maple seeds begin eating holes.
Frank and the dogs coped very well with the workmen after initial anxiety.
The men were here until 5:30. They worked fairly leisurely and took several breaks. But they did a good job and I am paying them for the job, not by the hour.
I did not get to the greenhouse yesterday. After some initial tidying up in the kitchen and throwing in another load of laundry, I will go today. I want to mow and put in the garden before it rains tomorrow.

Have a great day, everyone!

It was supposed to rain today so when I went out this morning with the dog, I started working in the yard on an area of upper yard that has never been fixed up and that is where I want to bring stuff from lower yard to condense my watering. I was out there for hours working before rain started, felt guilty about the pile of clothes in bedroom, I was supposed to do when it was raining. Well here I sit after working on the clothes about 12 minutes. and the yard working in yard all day. I have the clothes in living room started sorting, and now it is not out of sight out of mind, they are messing up my clean living room, so must make decisions. Have to shower first so can try on some of them to make decisions easier, I am wearing a layer of yard dirt and dog hair. I have lots of excuses why I can't deal with the clothes, did you notice? If I could find my timer, it would be easier, love that excuse.
Great time saver, the retriever that is visiting, is able to fit through doggie door, and after a few tries learned how to go in and out without me.

Hi LR, and thanks.

The basic idea is very applicable:

The natural state of the table is CLEAR!
The natural state of the bed is CLEAR!
The natural state of the floor is CLEAR!
The natural state of the (put here what you want) is CLEAR!

LOL

Hi, Mar! Glad to see your post! I agree with you that Tillie's comments about the table and countertops are very helpful. Glad to hear your table is more clear!

Hello everyone!

Happy to have found this place 🙂

I loved your phrase "The natural state of the table is CLEAR", and truly it isn't long term storage! Precisely yesterday I was clearing the table into my room. It was unusable, covered with all kind of things, I could not work nor eat on it. I removed everything what had not to be there and cleaned it. Now it isn't very clear, but at least has no dirt and there is only what I need to have there (a few items).

Wheee! A new thread. I can't wait to see if my post works right! (I'll bet it does!) Thanks for starting the thread, Tillie! Also, Tillie, I copied and pasted your words about the clear tables/counters (giving you credit in my notes) into a Word doc for me to read and reread. That needs to become part of my vision. It's definitely not yet part of my current reality (at least not in certain rooms).

Barb: Your professional organizer is a for-sure LOL story! I don't think I'll put that designer on my helper-nominee list! (Sorry about the hassle with your checkbook situation.)

Dianne: Your story about your friend's professional organizer is definitely encouraging. I'd definitely take that one over Barb's person!

Diane: Thanks for mentioning the idea about the vacuum. Sounds like a plan.

Kathy: Good to see your posts! Yea for all the progress!

Candy: Best wishes for getting the pictures made and clothes put up for sale while you are taking care of those cutie-pies!

Me: Among the things I have done today are some bill paying, some banking, and some clothes drying (at the Laundromat). I probably got some other things done that I've forgotten to list. Also, I had lunch with a new acquaintance. Not only did I want to get to know this new friend better, but I also am trying to move away from isolation. I was once much more social (awkwardly social, but social nonetheless) than I am these days. I have to make a conscious effort to move away from isolation. My "natural state" seems to have turned into "wanting to isolate," and I know in the long run that's not good for me.

Goals for this evening: Spend fifteen minutes working in the BIT book. Spend twenty minutes on paperwork. Spend some time in meditation (haven't done that recently, other than meditating on why my posts wouldn't post). Put away most of the laundry that I dried today . . . which, for those in-the-know, includes the six pairs of new white socks I bought yesterday. (Yes, I will begin implementing my get-rid-of-the-worn-out-white- socks plan.)

Good to see so many at the chat last night! Hugs to all!

Hi Kathy 🙂
you can post an intro if you want to or not post if you don't want to.
We are pretty much relaxed here.
People can post about whatever they want to post about. 🙂
WAY TO GO!!! 😀
for having a CLEAR table to use to get yourself all organized!
Tables and counters are meant to be used for all sorts of reasons.
But never as a place to leave stuff, as if it were long term storage. 😉

Hi Candy 🙂
Good luck getting those things all sold and gone. 🙂

We have been getting a lot of small easy tasks handled today.
All the cats spent many hours out playing in the garden. 😀
I burnt a lot of stuff in the burn barrel.
Killed some wasps trying to build nests around the house.
Scooter (1 yo kitty) keeps trying to catch wasps and today I smashed a wasp on the ground and Scooter ate it.
Someday he will find out why I keep trying to keep him away from wasps. 🙁

I have about 3.5-4 thousand articles of clothing, most of which are for sale. I will throw myself into posting them for sale, so they can get gone. I have 2 yo down for nap and 1yo is with me. she is easier to let go of to play in the yard (((because she cant climb yet and is too scared of the unknown to have me out of sight))) while I take pictures of merchandise.. which is the most time consuming part of selling on Ebay.

just refresh the page to see It Kathy 🙂

I posted a reply here but I don't see anything. Maybe it was too long.

Hi, Tillie and Diane I was on the Sunday chat last night. Is this the right place? Today I took my medical infusion supplies and gamma globulin for the next six weeks, put them on my CLEARED dining room table, and made little kits so I don't have to pull together the necessary supplies for each 3x/week infusion, and it will be easy-to just grab a bag. And then put all the bags in a bin, in my bedroom closet, cleared the table again. BIG NEWS--the employee that I've been paying to come in and help me once or twice a week has just sent me an e-mail saying she's decided to move with her family to TN, and I am not panicking because of the progress I've made. Managed to maintain dishes, kitchen, dining room table, picked up two Rx's. Even made my bed this morning!

Amazing thought, I think I remember how you put it: The natural state of the table is CLEAR!! who knew?

Should I post an intro from the material I posted on chat last night or what?

Dianne,
Before I found this website, I was referred to a professional organizer in my area who was supposed to be an ex-social worker and an expert in dealing with hoarders and clutterers. I finally swallowed my pride and got up nerve to ask her in to do an estimate. After inviting her into my home and talking with her, I discovered she was actually an interior designer. She told me that she would come back and help after I got the place cleaned up. LOL It was not a good experience for me. I trust the resources on this website, but would be more cautious next time I chose to work with any one calling themselves a professional organizer.

Tillie, I had a friend who used a pro organizer one time. It was an ongoing relationship, kind of like therapy, where the organizer checked in on a regular basis and tweaked whatever was needed to get the system to work. It was a big success for my friend. I don't think I have that discipline yet. I'm hoping a quick cleanout of a couple rooms that aren't being used anymore but are very visible will give me that wind-just-swept-thru feeling that uplifted me so much yesterday.

I slept in today til after 12:00! Good thing Laura did a.m. animal care.

GOOD MORNING 😀

DAVE! it is so good to "see" you 🙂

Hi Dianne 🙂
So happy to hear you feel ready to try getting some help. 😀
A professional organizer may be what you are looking for.
Personalities differ and you may need to test out a few before you find one who understands you the best.

Hi LR2014 🙂
Was wonderful to hear that you actually met Cory! 😀

Hi Barb 🙂
It is hard when you are at the plant nursery to not want to over buy.
GREAT idea of making a list of what you have room and time for.

Hi Diane 🙂
Yes, I hate that we are missing out on people's long and well thought out posts. 🙁
Remember to lay out like items, rate them and then only keep the best.
Deciding on and rating only 5 or 6 at a time
then take a break before doing another lot.

I was planning on washing the windows today but we are predicted to have rain tomorrow.
Why wash windows right before it rains?
I will find something else to do today. 🙂

Have a GREAT Monday everybody! 😀

Yes, yes, yes! It loads quickly and it is much easier to post without constantly saving your text. Thanks, Tillie!