Tossed out a old pillow instead of putting it in a closet, cleaned the pile of stuff on my desk so I could have a space to start a beading project, I cut up a old tshirt into rags for the garage, 4 piles on kitchen island became one pile, got rid of socks with holes....very scattered but productive!....thanks for all your tips!
Gayle, This is exactly what I needed to hear today. I listen to you and Ed daily as I am catching up on all your past videos. I have a large amount of sentimental items from my parents and struggle in "stuckness". Your ideas have given me some clarity to have grace with myself. Thank you so much.
About your upcoming "back to basics" program. Years ago Gayle, you gave us some golden advice..."clear the floors first!." This has saved me from many falls. And focuses me to begin work in one area, in each room, every day. If I just get the floors cleared of shopping bags, laundry baskets, shoes, toys, etc. in each room, then that is a perfect place to start. "Clearing the floors first" is now my "default setting" for where to begin. This saves me from being paralyzed, having to decide where to start, in each room. Thank you so much, Gayle, for that most helpful, safe advice, because it has really worked for years now.
My biggest struggle comes when I have a bunch of social engagements in a row and my routines get messed up. It's hard to get back on track after that. Hearing you say that anything we do is making progress really helps because I do get stuck "in quicksand." Thank you for always knowing what to say to keep all of us moving to live a better life.
For the Tittle: I get stuck when I get a bunch of daily company. There's more cooking, more snacks, that get set up, etc. I'm tired after it's all over so I don't feel like cleaning it all up. I say to myself, "It's too hard." "I can't do it all right now." "I feel frustrated that my house can't stay clean." I can get unstuck by: doing a little at a time...throwing away the garbage...loading the dishwasher...vacuuming the floor, etc. I find if I tackle the easiest job first, I see progress and want to do more. I need to do something that shows improvement like putting all the dirty dishes in the dishwasher and running it. I listen to RUclips for motivation to try to regain order, too, especially your videos.
I've been listening to you for a few years, I must have listened to the old videos at least twice. You are my go to when I need a voice to accompany me through my decluttering stages. I keep repeating to myself ''thin the heard'' 😆 the craftroom is my last cluttered room. Photos, scrapbooking and sewing materials overflowing from the closet. Yes I would appreciate a new podcast on getting rid of extras in the craftroom! As for last weeks tiddle, I'm about 99% ready to sell/give away my grandmother's China set. I always look forward to your advice, wisdom and sense of humor!
Something my husband does... My husband is in charge of the mail in the house because he is a shred-a-holic... Not that he likes to shred things, he just feels the need to shred things that I would probably just throw away. To keep the shred pile from getting unruly, he keeps the shredder next to the sofa along with the "shred me" basket. He then uses commercial breaks to run a couple things through the shredder or sort the day's mail. The trick to this is set up. He sets up an area where he spends a lot of time with the items he will need in order to perform this mindless activity. I have a similar "downtime" strategy. I use microwave time. So, I like to eat frozen dinners for lunch. Rather than start the microwave and then go sit down to wait, I use the 4 minutes of microwave time to scan my kitchen for things that didn't make it into the trash can, tools I left on the counter, dishes that are drying on the rack and can be put away, changing the trash or recycling can, etc. It's a little thing and a tiny amount of time, but since I'm already standing in the kitchen, and it's such a small increment of time, I can almost always convince myself to just do it.
"You'll reach stages of temporary partial organization... You'll mess it all up again... But each time it swirls back together into better versions of what you want... That's like constant refinement to the better goal. ". I had like with like in May 2021. Since then, it's gotten swirled a little bit. Thank you, Clutter Fairy, for yet again giving me the vision i needed of what needs to be done. (For me, a mess is a mess and sometimes i forget how far I've come!!!).
I really like the idea of being lighter in the world. A lot of times when we get rid of the furniture and the heavy things-often stored on the floor, we can get such a feeling of openness and space.
One thing I heard the other day is to just make it better - it doesn't have to be perfect. Just picking up the obvious trash and/or things that belong elsewhere - ie water glass or coffee cup makes the area better. Small successful steps for improvement.
I had the thought, was that Ed's idea for the batter analogy and then he said that was Gayle's idea. Okay, y'all are in my head! Due to health changes my home became a junk warehouse it seemed. I was so accustomed to just sorting and cleaning as needed but then I had to change tactics, smarter not harder. Recently when I opened a cabinet and there wasn't much inside, wow! Joy in the little things!! I'm still working thru boxes of photos too. Some day that might be completed or my grandchildren will inherit them...just saying.
❤️ This resonates with me so much, since part of my 'stuckness' is often attributed to having Narcolepsy with Cataplexy; ironically, the best way I have found to explain those disorders to those who don't understand them is by comparing them to the likeness of being stuck in quicksand. And yes, progress in small, bite-sized snacks is usually the best medicine. Although, when I do have the rare, really good day, I'll milk it for every hour I can 😂😂 That's just the OCD/perfectionism in me that Narcolepsy normally refuses to entertain on most days 🤷🏻♀️😂
I think the boxing everything up would be a bit extreme for me & also drive me crazy not finding things -- however, i think that sometimes it is a good idea to just empty a rm & sit in it for awhile 'until' we can get a clear vision of the space. Most often, we have items that we are looking for spaces to put, bc those items have no home & we don't want to get rid of.(usually cramming them in somewhere) ..But it would be better, in my opinion, to envision how we would like the space to feel & try to create that. Doing this in enough spaces w/ great results, might help us to release a bunch of items that are No longer Relevant as we see things w/ more 'clarity'. .. also for items we do want, we will find ourselves coming up w/creative solutions for the space.
No one talks about walls. They are a big part of what surrounds you. I think they can look cluttered by too much on them, whether it's bold wallpaper or lots of things like pictures or pot racks hanging on them--or around them as drapes or plants. Walls are one thing often overlooked in decluttering.
My husband & I have had wedding china for 51 years. I am sure I can count on one hand how many times we've used it in all those years. So ! Why keep it ? It's not even a pattern I love! I mentioned getting rid of it to my sister & she wants it. She likes using china...so maybe she'll get use out of it ! China isn't our thing. When I get rid of just a small thing....or maybe just a couple pieces of paper, I tell myself, clutter came in via big & small. It can go out the same way. As long as more is going out than coming in, I'm making progress.
I too had trouble getting rid of good china, crystal. Until I saw on Oprah show on the dangerous amounts of lead in our dishes/glasses! We are consuming that lead along with our meals! I felt awful when I realized even my children ate/drank out of these leaded dishes/glasses. I got rid all these leaded things immediately. The Oprah show explained that the USA could not manufacture these leaded products, by our laws. But the USA laws allowed these products to be imported from other countries. (this also included the toys full of lead our kids play with)
Good for you! 🎉 I feel like fine china was the aspirational working Victorian woman's social indicator to show that she was as good as any genteel Lady, and I think that mindset has lasted through several generations. These days, we have more stuff than we know what to do with, and most of us will never have to impress the Queen with our tea service when she comes to visit... so if we don't enjoy it for ourselves, we shouldn't hang onto it! 😂
@@patwagner9308 😄 I think it's safe for me to assume that about my own home, too! 😉 And I forgot to mention in my previous comment-Congratulations on 51 years! 🎉😯🎉 That's an inspirational achievement! Hope you have a lovely week. 🌸
@@mungbean345 Thank you ! How thoughtful. Well, I married the right guy. That's what it takes. We were so young....(20 & 21) but knew what we were doing. From what I hear, the Queen has a pretty full schedule so......... 😄 I wish you a lovely week as well ! 🙋♀️
Back to basics and simple strategies and steps to get unstuck, that's exactly what I would find useful right now, reminders of all that. I don't think getting so specific (e.g. craft rooms) is so good as it alienates everyone not into crafts. The advice for decluttering is the same for everything anyway, put like with like, reduce the pile, get rid of inferior or unused stuff etc.
Lol can't stop laughing at "the haaand" 👋 🧚♀️ 😆🤣😅 It's making me think of one of my fave Jim Carrey movies - "Liar Liar" "Here comes...... the....CLAW!!!!" 🤏🖐👀
Good Info for decluttering....The Hand at the back looks too scary for me to look at the screen....Maybe you can change the background to something more calming to our vision..Thank you...
Tossed out a old pillow instead of putting it in a closet, cleaned the pile of stuff on my desk so I could have a space to start a beading project, I cut up a old tshirt into rags for the garage, 4 piles on kitchen island became one pile, got rid of socks with holes....very scattered but productive!....thanks for all your tips!
And that unused old pillow took up a lot of space. It's great when you toss a big space waster, feels so good!
Sounds to me like you made significant progress!
Thank you for all the wisdom you share. You and Ed have been my companions on my downsizing journey. I’m pleased to share that it’s going very well.
Gayle, This is exactly what I needed to hear today. I listen to you and Ed daily as I am catching up on all your past videos. I have a large amount of sentimental items from my parents and struggle in "stuckness". Your ideas have given me some clarity to have grace with myself. Thank you so much.
About your upcoming "back to basics" program. Years ago Gayle, you gave us some golden advice..."clear the floors first!." This has saved me from many falls. And focuses me to begin work in one area, in each room, every day. If I just get the floors cleared of shopping bags, laundry baskets, shoes, toys, etc. in each room, then that is a perfect place to start. "Clearing the floors first" is now my "default setting" for where to begin. This saves me from being paralyzed, having to decide where to start, in each room. Thank you so much, Gayle, for that most helpful, safe advice, because it has really worked for years now.
So true and thanks for the reminder.
Christine - so happy to know that advice has been an idea that stuck for you! Thank you for watching so loyally for so long! We appreciate it!
My biggest struggle comes when I have a bunch of social engagements in a row and my routines get messed up. It's hard to get back on track after that. Hearing you say that anything we do is making progress really helps because I do get stuck "in quicksand." Thank you for always knowing what to say to keep all of us moving to live a better life.
Glad it helped!
I would love a craft room episode!
She has one!
Quicksand survival! What a brilliant metaphor for decluttering!
Lol Thing from The Adams Family . Great topic & great tips. Thank you.
Gayle enjoyed your webmaster as always and motivated once again to keep going. Thank you both!
For the Tittle: I get stuck when I get a bunch of daily company. There's more cooking, more snacks, that get set up, etc. I'm tired after it's all over so I don't feel like cleaning it all up. I say to myself, "It's too hard." "I can't do it all right now." "I feel frustrated that my house can't stay clean." I can get unstuck by: doing a little at a time...throwing away the garbage...loading the dishwasher...vacuuming the floor, etc. I find if I tackle the easiest job first, I see progress and want to do more. I need to do something that shows improvement like putting all the dirty dishes in the dishwasher and running it. I listen to RUclips for motivation to try to regain order, too, especially your videos.
Sounds like you're doing a great job motivating yourself!
I've been listening to you for a few years, I must have listened to the old videos at least twice. You are my go to when I need a voice to accompany me through my decluttering stages. I keep repeating to myself ''thin the heard'' 😆 the craftroom is my last cluttered room. Photos, scrapbooking and sewing materials overflowing from the closet. Yes I would appreciate a new podcast on getting rid of extras in the craftroom!
As for last weeks tiddle, I'm about 99% ready to sell/give away my grandmother's China set. I always look forward to your advice, wisdom and sense of humor!
Something my husband does...
My husband is in charge of the mail in the house because he is a shred-a-holic... Not that he likes to shred things, he just feels the need to shred things that I would probably just throw away. To keep the shred pile from getting unruly, he keeps the shredder next to the sofa along with the "shred me" basket. He then uses commercial breaks to run a couple things through the shredder or sort the day's mail. The trick to this is set up. He sets up an area where he spends a lot of time with the items he will need in order to perform this mindless activity.
I have a similar "downtime" strategy. I use microwave time. So, I like to eat frozen dinners for lunch. Rather than start the microwave and then go sit down to wait, I use the 4 minutes of microwave time to scan my kitchen for things that didn't make it into the trash can, tools I left on the counter, dishes that are drying on the rack and can be put away, changing the trash or recycling can, etc. It's a little thing and a tiny amount of time, but since I'm already standing in the kitchen, and it's such a small increment of time, I can almost always convince myself to just do it.
"You'll reach stages of temporary partial organization... You'll mess it all up again... But each time it swirls back together into better versions of what you want... That's like constant refinement to the better goal. ". I had like with like in May 2021. Since then, it's gotten swirled a little bit. Thank you, Clutter Fairy, for yet again giving me the vision i needed of what needs to be done. (For me, a mess is a mess and sometimes i forget how far I've come!!!).
Glad I found you,Gayle and Ed. Love of hints and help.
I really like the idea of being lighter in the world. A lot of times when we get rid of the furniture and the heavy things-often stored on the floor, we can get such a feeling of openness and space.
One thing I heard the other day is to just make it better - it doesn't have to be perfect. Just picking up the obvious trash and/or things that belong elsewhere - ie water glass or coffee cup makes the area better. Small successful steps for improvement.
Exactly !
Stuckness, Norway - my home town 😮
LOL! Love that you made it a city - just remember that you CAN move to a new city!
you guys are beautiful people!
They really are
Love you guys! You are so relatable.
I like that one-step advice.
Yes
I had the thought, was that Ed's idea for the batter analogy and then he said that was Gayle's idea. Okay, y'all are in my head! Due to health changes my home became a junk warehouse it seemed. I was so accustomed to just sorting and cleaning as needed but then I had to change tactics, smarter not harder. Recently when I opened a cabinet and there wasn't much inside, wow! Joy in the little things!! I'm still working thru boxes of photos too. Some day that might be completed or my grandchildren will inherit them...just saying.
Thank u for your encouraging words! So helpful
Glad we could help!
Very good info today...have to do shoes next which are in two closets so I will do one closet to start....TFS
Thankyou
❤️ This resonates with me so much, since part of my 'stuckness' is often attributed to having Narcolepsy with Cataplexy; ironically, the best way I have found to explain those disorders to those who don't understand them is by comparing them to the likeness of being stuck in quicksand. And yes, progress in small, bite-sized snacks is usually the best medicine. Although, when I do have the rare, really good day, I'll milk it for every hour I can 😂😂 That's just the OCD/perfectionism in me that Narcolepsy normally refuses to entertain on most days 🤷🏻♀️😂
Aww, I'm disabled and chronically ill, and I relate SO MUCH to this comment! Hang in there and keep up the good work. ✨
I think the boxing everything up would be a bit extreme for me & also drive me crazy not finding things -- however, i think that sometimes it is a good idea to just empty a rm & sit in it for awhile 'until' we can get a clear vision of the space. Most often, we have items that we are looking for spaces to put, bc those items have no home & we don't want to get rid of.(usually cramming them in somewhere) ..But it would be better, in my opinion, to envision how we would like the space to feel & try to create that. Doing this in enough spaces w/ great results, might help us to release a bunch of items that are No longer Relevant as we see things w/ more 'clarity'. .. also for items we do want, we will find ourselves coming up w/creative solutions for the space.
No one talks about walls. They are a big part of what surrounds you. I think they can look cluttered by too much on them, whether it's bold wallpaper or lots of things like pictures or pot racks hanging on them--or around them as drapes or plants. Walls are one thing often overlooked in decluttering.
Darn, I thought I was being slick by buying a bunch of floating shelves... gallery walls, tapestries, and hanging plants, be damned!
😆 Lol that hand.....!! 🖐🤏
Legendary indeed! 🥰💯
My husband & I have had wedding china for 51 years. I am sure I can count on one hand how many times we've used it in all those years. So ! Why keep it ? It's not even a pattern I love!
I mentioned getting rid of it to my sister & she wants it. She likes using china...so maybe she'll get use out of it ! China isn't our thing.
When I get rid of just a small thing....or maybe just a couple pieces of paper, I tell myself, clutter came in via big & small. It can go out the same way. As long as more is going out than coming in, I'm making progress.
I too had trouble getting rid of good china, crystal. Until I saw on Oprah show on the dangerous amounts of lead in our dishes/glasses! We are consuming that lead along with our meals! I felt awful when I realized even my children ate/drank out of these leaded dishes/glasses. I got rid all these leaded things immediately. The Oprah show explained that the USA could not manufacture these leaded products, by our laws. But the USA laws allowed these products to be imported from other countries. (this also included the toys full of lead our kids play with)
Good for you! 🎉
I feel like fine china was the aspirational working Victorian woman's social indicator to show that she was as good as any genteel Lady, and I think that mindset has lasted through several generations. These days, we have more stuff than we know what to do with, and most of us will never have to impress the Queen with our tea service when she comes to visit... so if we don't enjoy it for ourselves, we shouldn't hang onto it! 😂
@@mungbean345 what an enjoyable response from you.....made me smile...& I totally agree. Pretty sure Queen Elizabeth will not be paying us a visit ! 😄
@@patwagner9308 😄 I think it's safe for me to assume that about my own home, too! 😉 And I forgot to mention in my previous comment-Congratulations on 51 years! 🎉😯🎉 That's an inspirational achievement! Hope you have a lovely week. 🌸
@@mungbean345 Thank you ! How thoughtful. Well, I married the right guy. That's what it takes. We were so young....(20 & 21) but knew what we were doing.
From what I hear, the Queen has a pretty full schedule so......... 😄
I wish you a lovely week as well ! 🙋♀️
Another great topic. But I gotta tell you, I was so nervous and once wanting to yell, "Hey, Gayle, lookout! There's someone trying to grab you!"
Back to basics and simple strategies and steps to get unstuck, that's exactly what I would find useful right now, reminders of all that. I don't think getting so specific (e.g. craft rooms) is so good as it alienates everyone not into crafts. The advice for decluttering is the same for everything anyway, put like with like, reduce the pile, get rid of inferior or unused stuff etc.
A tape measure can help with making an idea real.
That hand is scary, it's going to get you Gal
LOL - it was a little creepy, kind of "Halloween"-esque.
Lol can't stop laughing at "the haaand" 👋 🧚♀️ 😆🤣😅
It's making me think of one of my fave Jim Carrey movies - "Liar Liar"
"Here comes...... the....CLAW!!!!" 🤏🖐👀
🎵 Insert "Jaws" 🦈 theme song here.....😆🤏🖐🧚♀️
Good Info for decluttering....The Hand at the back looks too scary for me to look at the screen....Maybe you can change the background to something more calming to our vision..Thank you...
The hand freaked me out a bit too!