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!

I can't get into them psych stuff now (got to make tea) other than to say I have also had a serious lightbulb moment and feel so positive about 2015. This is the first time, in a very long time, that I feel so positive about my life and I am giving joint credit to MK and you guys!!

Just cleared a huge pile of paper but that's probably only about 10% of it. Heyho, it's a start.

Also, I wasn't particularly worried about going through the sentimental stuff. I didn't really think I'd be bothered because I don't have all that much. However, I have just opened 'the box' only to discover letters off my best mate, must have been just before I got pregnant. Hmm, had to close the box and will eat with them another time!! It turns out, I do have a heart after all

Affluenza definitely! When you consider what all these bags of stuff have cost in £££.

Perhaps, kondoing will innoculate us against falling for the all the 'consumerism is happiness' in the future?

Great box, Bringme!

BTW, maybe there is a relationship between employment and cluttering? Possibly any job the involves constant intense mental activity clutters our minds, so that we have little mental energy for the other parts of our lives?

In reverse, I am thinking of people who work/worked in physically demanding employment: coal miners, factory workers, etc. At the end of their shifts they were physically exhausted, often spent their leisure time in mental activities like choirs, bands, education, art, politics and so on. Hmmm.

I think I've become a more careful spender - although I've always been semi careful anyway due to a tight budget. So now I regularly find myself holding an item in a shop and asking myself if they bring joy. Most of the time they don't and I don't buy.

Not really kondoed much recently but I have started a monthly shopping list and meal plan which is enabling me to run down the excessive cupboards in the kitchen plus tidy up the frudgr. I feel like I've taken control of another bit of my life. But I need to move the boxes I've cleared out of the house before I can do more.

I have literally Kondoed the kitchen table!!

We moved house last year and the round table looked totally wrong in our kitchen. Every time I looked at it I felt fed up and so today I decided enough was enough. Popped it on our FB selling page locally and got £20 for it- yay!

Also listed lots of bits on eBay too!

Feeling very positive about this Kondoing.

I don't think clutter is profession related either but perhaps certain professions might be sensitive to it? Only in the sense that a certain type of person may choose teaching as a profession and that personality type is also more sensitive to clutter. Am I making sense cos I'm not sure I am to myself.

I just have sentimental stuff left now, folks as I am not allowed to deal with the toys. I am not ready to face them yet though. Hiccup's post has reminded me that I have a whole stack of letters from my very close friend, who died a few years ago.

Our common ground isn't really the clutter... It's the readiness to get rid of the clutter. And while I don't see a link with me having been a teacher, I totally see a link with me packing-in teaching: challenging the status quo when I worked out that it didn't serve me well.

I really do believe that there's a primitive link between clearing/cleaning our homes and making life changes... All those pre-Christian rites of Spring. It's a bit like the grown-up version of a new pencil case to get you enthusiastic about going back-to-school.

And I know not everybody identifies with the woo, but it's really no less rational than clinging onto things that you don't even know what they're for!

Wow Cadbury. The Holt Grail.

Interesting thoughts about employment iqueen. I would agree with that. We have a certain amount of mental capacity for all sorts of things, which gets filled/used up and gives less space. So lots of mentally demanding work would make other decisions harder. Lots of evidence for this e.g. In self-control. Exercising it earlier in the day makes it harder to exercise it later.

I was thinking how this connects with MK. The secret is the default being everything is going. So there are fewer decisions to take - just what stays. Rather than having to make a considered choice for everything, which just feels mentally overwhelming so we avoid it/ put it off.

Given so many jobs these days are mentally based not physically based in the developed West, another reason for cultural tendency to clutter?

Lots of interesting thoughts from everyone today :-) Day 2 for me and I've finished my clothes. Another 2 bags for the bin. I sort of did books last week before I read the book, so I might give myself permission to move on and go back to them again after papers (can't face taking them all off the shelf again just yet).

Besides I don't have spare time at home now until Friday, but will be looking forward to it!

Bringme, I just got my haircut after breaking up with most of my clothes

On your good advice, I've Kondoed the bathroom. When the children finally go to sleep, I'm going to have a candle lit bubbly bath and ignore the mould on the ceiling

re professions, someone upthread was talking about shift workers in demanding jobs: I'm a nurse, and haven't been in an art gallery for years. But interestingly, since my marriage ended I have been thinking about having a soothing meander around an art gallery, or a visit to the theatre! Haven't actually done anything about it though.... Maybe in a few months when I've finished Kondoing I'll feel like I have the space in my life to do such things

The break-up haircut! Great comparison, bring!

I've had the same lack of hair style for about 15 years, all I do is wash it and brush it, and when it gets hard to brush, I have a trim (usually when it reaches shoulder length) at whatever hairdresser that has the fewest windows (I hate being on display). I have absolutely no idea how to style my hair and haven't used a hair dryer since my teens (it breaks my fine hair)! Wonder what that says about me? Wonder if I am going to do something about it this year because of Kondo? I certainly dress better now that I have fewer clothes, it's not so confusing to get dressed any more ;)

I think my clutter was created in part by being dyslexic (struggling to create systems), people being kind and passing items on to us (kids toys/clothes/furniture etc), buying items myself (mostly second hand) and generally struggling to get rid of anything. I was a messy kid, a messy teacher and am now a messy mum to 4 boys but not for much longer!

I was actually very tidy before I had kids. It's looking after multiple people's belongings that is hard! Full time work doesn't help either. So the solution MUST be less belongings.

And I really have to work harder at teaching the kids to not throw their dirty colthes everywhere, it can't be that hard, it's just the initial checking every time they get changed that takes time.

They are quite good at making their beds and they set/clear the table at meal times. They also make their own eggs in the morning. DS age 7 cleans the pans on occasion - for him it's playing with water ;) Which brings me to a great tip: You know the vinegar /bicard science experiment (volcano)? As most MN'ers know, it's also great for cleaning. Let the kids clean with it, they love it! DS cleaned the sink with vinegar/bicarb and had a great time!

I bought the kids swimming goggles today, they have never had any, but as they now swim so well, they got some as a reward. I found myself sneakily taking the boxes, they are perfect for drawer organising!

Appleblossom, there's something really calm and beautiful about your art gallery plan. That's exactly the kind of thing you should bring into your life as a counterbalance to your work!

I was about to type 'I'm not a teacher' but I have just spent the last hour tutoring a relative But actually I'm not a teacher. Professionally, I'm a writer and editor, as well as running a business with DP. It's why our paperwork and books are already very organised and probably won't change much through Kondoing.

appleblossom you might find space to wander round a gallery even before finishing Kondoing. I know I've definitely found more time to read, and paint my nails since I started this. And tonight I'm going to watch some trashy tv whilst finally facing the Komono corner of doom in the living room. I've realised a lot of it is electrical and DVDs, so I'm going to file the latter in a folder whilst I watch tv.

Goodnight everyone and thanks for all the different and interesting perspectives on what has brought us here and where we'll be at the end of this process

Art gallery visits sound great! We will
all have more time post kondoing! What do you all plan to do?

I'm hoping that having an easy to clean and tidy house will help me spend more quality time with my little ones.

And I'm also hoping to do more in my kitchen. It's hopelessly inefficient at the moment (and might only be fixable by moving to a bigger one) so I'd love to sort it to my satisfaction.

I've been lurking and quietly Kondo-ing for a while, started paperwork tonight and found an £80 cheque I had forgotten about-that never happens! Just need to kondo it at the bank tomorrow now!