Become a Konvert in 2015 - Kondo thread 5. All welcome!

[PeoniesforMissAnnersley]

Thought I better set this up when I realised I had inadvertently posted the 999th post on thread 4!

Join us in purging our lives of things which do not bring joy and discover the wonder and magic of folding your knickers!

Wow, aplace... That's some big thinking you're doing there! With a negative spin you could say you've been hiding behind your stuff, but with a positive spin, you've just cleared yourself some space for the rediscovery you were otherwise ready for.

what do we talk about? how do I feel about my current career? what are my interests?

Frankly, yes! Exactly those things! If you need to work it out for your own benefit, then it's a great idea to enlist the help of an outside observer or two. Don't be ashamed to admit you don't have all the answers. Any person who claims to have all this stuff sorted is full of crap, and I bet if you broach it with your friends, you'll find other people who would be glad of a bit of mutual support finding their way.

WellTidy could you eBay the pregnancy clothes and keep the money aside so you can buy replacements if you do become pregnant again? Then you wouldn't need to store them indefinitely.
Otherwise, keep only the pieces that bring you joy.

First evening of Kondo last night, after devouring the book at the weekend. I did tops, bottoms, and underwear drawer. 3 carrier bags for the charity shop and 1 for the bin! Tonight is sports/outdoor wear and pyjamas. It really was easy to get rid of things I've been hanging onto for years....

What aplace said. If you have masses of them, you surely don't need them all?

I got rid of all my maternity wear after having DC2. I was still pretty sure that I wanted to have another one (DP doesn't though, and we are 99% not going to unless it is an accident, which would not be ideal). But I figured that if I needed to I could always get some more, whether buying them new or second-hand, or asking on Freecycle (I Freecycled mine).

So personally I'd say pass them on unless you are going to make a decision within a few months and you really love love love the clothes.

Sorry my message above was directed to WellTidy

Hermione yy I think you're right and I have been hiding behind my stuff. Also, Kondoing my clothes was like a visual summary of where I am in my life and where I've been. DH is very much about planning ahead and it's easy to put off making decisions if everything is working towards some other goal/house/future. Kondoing has made me really embrace where I am just now which is incredibly positive (even if a bit disconcerting!).

Nice one mabelbabel. I love to think of other people getting good use out of the things I don't need any more.

We were really, really skint a few years back and I was looking for a stocking filler for DS. The charity shop had a little Disney character toy which was exactly what he'd asked for. For a few pence I was able to delight my toddler. That was thanks to somebody else passing it on.

Also got some very cheap but very nice clothes for the children there at times. They don't have much at our local, but every now and then I strike gold. Now that we are doing better financially, I love taking my stuff there and imagining that someone might find it who needs it like I did. And even if it's someone with pots of money, it keeps things in use and saves resources, while making a little money for charity. We all win!

Yes this is how I feel too.

welltidy your conundrum is not one that MK addresses easily. She doesn't accommodate the variability of child bearing bodies. Nor storing hand me downs, a similar issue.

This is where you need to be creative and find your own response. I have stored such items in boxes, kondo folded. I have binned non joyful items and will treat myself better next time. Give yourself permission to use what is helpful from the method and adapt what is not.

But also, just question yourself whether it's fear of the future or not.

Morning all - still not much kondoing at the moment as work and things like dentist appointments getting in the way a bit. However - I am noticing that I am getting through work more efficiently and quickly and so am having a bit of time to Kondo some work stuff - not exactly in a category based way but at least getting rid of obvious crap! Anyone else noticed an increas in work efficiency - especially if they are WAH?

I am currently working, translating some clothes descriptions for a website, and they are all technical winter coats, so I found myself worrying about kids winter clothes for next year ;) I actually ended up checking ebay and sales for winter coats for next year - I mean, I have the storage space, and I do like being ready for the cold season ;)

I do notice something going on workwise, educatingarti, I seem to strip down my translations to only just what is needed to convey the source text ;) Inspired by bringmejoys meditation practice, I also tried to be more mindful when I work, and if I lose focus and concentration, just to notice the thoughts and let them go.

It's hard to keep up with this thread and work, though ;)

Feeling a bit emotional reading all of this. Having a messy house makes me really grumpy and anxious so I'm looking forward to those feelings being gone. But now I'm wondering what else the Kondo journey is going to throw up for me. It's exciting that you've all been discovering things. I thought MK was a bit over the top with the life-changing side of things but maybe not!

We're starting to get serious about the idea of moving house soon so this process will be very helpful for that.

Hoping to do handbags and shoes today and maybe embark on the clothes in my daughters' drawers.

Hello all, I've been lurking on these threads since the beginning and have kondoed all my clothes and virtually all my paperwork but am starting to lose momentum so thought that delurking might help!

I am now down to 22 folders but really don't see how I can reduce them any further. Six of those are related to teaching English; I now only teach DS's class once a week and don't need any of the folders for that, but I spent hours putting them all together and, while they bring me absolutely no joy at the moment, I know I'd have even less joy if I did go back to teaching more in the future and had got rid of everything. Then again, teaching never really brought me joy in the first place; maybe I need to have a rethink.

misscph I love your kondo approach to translation (am also a translator)!

Kiwi, I can feel myself getting agitated and irritable if the house is too messy and/or dirty. I do not have high standards and by nature a bit lazy, but I just don't function well if I know there is to much mess/dirt. I work from home, it really distracts me!

Now I know that the mess/dirt is relatively minor, so I can "delay gratification" and priorotise my tasks.

I am convinced that my life is changing with MK, not that it was so bad before, but there is alway sroom for improvement.

Linzertorte, I would keep all 22 folders. it sounds like alot of work went into them. Perhaps you can store the content better? I am thinking ring binders if the folder are very thin?

Having said that, I was also a teacher before I became a translator. To my surprise I wasn't a very good teacher and I didn't enjoy it (I come from a family of teachers in 3 generations). After DC2 a friend from uni became a translator, and she suggested I try it. I never looked back! The friend is now a teacher, as it happens. Do you enjoy translating?

bring, I'm Danish and I translate from English to Danish. 8 years now, and I still love it. I learn something new most days, and it's very varied. And I don't have to commute!

Here's my newly kondo'd airing cupboard (now minus the three bin bags of towels, blankets and duvet that went to the animal rescue place). And I thought I'd 'tidied' it a few months ago, whereas I'd just rejigged the clutter! Taking everything out made me realise that on two of the shelves the slats didn't reach all the way to the front, so bought some wood at Homebase and got DH to replace the missing ones, adding even space.

It's beautiful, Loula ;)

But I think you would find it easier to get to things if you stored vertically, not horizontally. Roll everything and put it in rows, and put it all in open boxes if the shelves are very deep.

I did think about vertical towels but I won't be able to see what's at the back so easily. I will see how it works and maybe invest in boxes later on. Duvets etc are all in pillowcases so not sure if they will stand on end well?

You store spare duvets in pillow cases? That's a great idea! No, they probably wouldn't stand so well, but how many spare duvets do you have?

Boxes can be cardboard boxes, shoe boxes, anything with the right size.

I have winter/summer duvets that are currently used together, they have popper buttons. DH has a tall boy with 2 free shelves (thanks, MK!), so I am thinking the summer duvets wil go there when it gets warmer. I don't have an airing cupboard, the boiler is in the garage. Bedding goes in the divan bed side drawer - with all our towels.

Quite a few misscph1973! but have two boys one of whom still wets bed on occasion, plus when the spare room is used for guests it's a pull out which turns into two singles so they need a cover each. And we have a double but have a couple of winter and of Summer duvet sets...(yes could probably kondo more but they bring me joy - honest! At least seeing them on the bed does. Changing bed linen is the devil's own job)

Can't take credit for the storing in pillowcase idea, probably got it from Mumsnet years ago!

Translators unite! Am one too, language from a small country below sea level, into English . < outs self to anyone who knows me IRL >

Got to do some work now, then Kondomania in the study!

Wow. Just wow.

I've come on to catch up you all are moving much faster than me at the moment it seems and to ask a few questions about, what next? What will you do with the free time? What are the real issues under all of this clutter?

Only to find it's already taken a turn there.

aplace what you said just speaks to me. So loudly I don't even know how to respond.

There are a few things out of kilter here (have been for ages) and this clearing is giving me the headspace to realise that.

Oh, and DH is finally pushing for the promotion he has talked about for 10 years. I think it's giving him headspace too if he realises or not.

Right. Off to catch up.