Clutter, emotions, and folding our socks - Kondo thread 6. All welcome!

[SteptoeAndDaughter]

The Book: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo, Cathy Hirano

Summary of the process link from mipmop

Article of top tips by Marie Kondo

Thread 5
Thread 4
Thread 3
Thread 2
Thread 1

And BeCool's copy of Coughles list of ORDER from Thread 2 for everyone:

"ORDER TO DECLUTTER/LOCATE THE JOY*

Clothes folding by rummy
Books
Papers
CDs
DVDs
Skincare products
Make-up
Accessories
Valuables (passports, credit cards, etc.)
Electrical equipment and appliances (digital cameras, electric cords, anything that seems vaguely ‘electric’)
Household equipment (stationery and writing materials, sewing kits, etc.)
Household supplies (expendables like medicine, detergents, tissues, etc.)
Kitchen goods/ food supplies
Other (If you have many items related to a particular interest or hobby, such as ski equipment, then treat these as a single subcategory.)

KonMari stresses that sentimental items should be left till the end. So for example, when you are doing papers, don't include photos of your children, love letters, old school reports etc, leave anything with a sentimental connection for later."

*As discussed in previous threads, your order for decluttering and finding the joy/spark/recognizing may be different to recommendations.

[ItIsntJustAPhase]

I also recommend keeping your Harry Potters. Some books are special and that is good.

I too am developing a pile of komono created by other kondoing (such a nice way of saying crap). I am going to stick it all in a box and deal with it later.

[Everstrong]

Thanks for the shiny new thread Steptoe

Misscph1973 can you tell me how to wipe a PC?! I have an old one (bought my laptop 2 years ago) and I want to freecycle it but have no idea how to wipe the memory.

No Kondoing here today- toddler throwing up since 9pm last night so I am tired and grumpy. Have done a brilliant job at decluttering some biscuits though!

[mupperoon]

My brother bought me The Book for Xmas. I had to start on my sock drawer because I literally couldn't open it. It was a revelation. I have rediscovered some lovely socks and thrown more than half of the tangled mess away. I now have a single layer of folded socks nestling against each other, perfectly visible and selectable. Looking forward to getting really stuck in on my office!

[clearsommespace]

Hello
I've been on the minimalist journey threads but everyone seems to have migrated here. Anyway, I've read the MK book so now I can join in.
Had a good clearing out session this morning waiting in for a tradesman who didn't turn up. I can't do any more clothes, I actually need more tops but can't find anything I like enough. So I went through my books last year but on this second run there were several there that aren't joy bringers.

[Kelly1814]

Shamelessly joining, my favourite thread ever!

[standingonlego]

Thread 6 already

[homeaway]

Does anybody know how to wipe a phone memory? I have five old phones that I want to recycle but they are stuck in the basket as I don't know how to clear the memory.

[inadaydream]

I said I was struggling to keep up! I go away for a few hours and ta da! A shiney new thread!!

How fab though

[ItIsntJustAPhase]

I kondo'd the bath toys earlier and the suggested the children play with their bath toys.

My (hoarder) dd (8)immediately said, 'But we used to have loads, where have they gone?'

I innocently replied, 'Which ones are you thinking of?'

She named two, and I pointed to one sitting on the side. She forgot about the other.

I am learning how to evade the questions gracefully.

[HiccupHaddockHorrendous]

Yay...new thread!!

I'm not really following the correct order either. I think because I have so many people coming into my home on a daily basis, there are certain areas that I want to look better, sooner (sitting room, kitchen and bathroom).

Re Harry Potter books. I think I must be the only person to have very happily got rid of the HP books. Ds and I read the first one and it left me with zero interest in reading the others. Ds has since watched all the movies and does enjoy them but the books were not for me.

I took a huge bag to the charity shop today which has freed up a small bit of space upstairs...I just can't imagine where everything fitted in. I've got rid of so much stuff over the last two weeks and it looks so much more chaotic upstairs than it ever did. I know it gets worse before it gets better but I really hope things start to improve soon.

Tonight, I am carrying on with paperwork. I really need to get my tax return submitted so I'll be kondoing more paperwork whilst looking for my log in details

[GrouchyKiwi]

DD1 helpfully Kondoed a glass photo frame and bowl this afternoon. Who knew toddlers could be so useful.

[HermioneGrangerHair]

Just wow... I thought it had gone a bit quiet on the old thread, but here you all are

Iknowim - we started talking about "what's next?" before... More time for sewing is near the top of my list.

Steptoe - if the magnets really bring you joy, make something of them and enjoy them all the time. Doesn't have to be on the fridge if that feels untidy. You could get a small magnetic blackboard or something, and hang it on the wall somewhere as a kind of interactive picture.

[Violettatrump]

My kids have also asked after kondoed toys they have never played with. I mostly say we had to give it to the charity shop to make space for Santa's gifts. They don't seem to mind thankfully

Looking round the charity shop today I swear half of it came from me!

[didireallysaythat]

The boxes (except one) have left the house at last and I'm itching to find more things to pass on. I find myself looking at cardboard boxes and thinking 'think of all the stuff I could get rid of in that'.

It's not just me is it ?

[ItIsntJustAPhase]

Hair stuff I have kept a load of products that don't bring me joy. Why? I only need a couple. I will ditch.

[misscph1973]

Everstrong, wiping a pc depends on the operating system and how "deep" you want it to be wiped. Hard drives never get completely wiped (it's like a tape where you tape over, you will always find something under the last layer), in principle some hacker could find anything that was ever on it even if you deleted it. Having said that, I think the chances of something nasty happening are fairly slim. If you are paranoid, take the hard drive out and smash it with a hammer. A new hard drive is not expensive. But if you want to do a simple wipe, just reinstall the operating system. Here is how to do it in Windows XP: lifehacker.com/157578/geek-to-live--how-to-format-your-hard-drive-and-install-windows-xp-from-scratch

[SteptoeAndDaughter]

re: ditching the Harry Potters, I don't know if it makes a difference that I didn't have them as a child or anything (am way too old for that!) I was well into my twenties before they came out. I could be wrong but I honestly don't think my children will be that impressed by the actual books that I read at a random point in my adult life IYSWIM?

Also, and maybe I'm getting too deep here, I don't want to keep things simply based on ideas of what I think other people - and let me be frank, one of them is still a toddler! - may end up liking at some point in the future. The books take up a fair amount of room and we had them buried in our storage space before I pulled them out. My kids might prefer e-readers, or they might prefer to read in their dominant language (which isn't English, sadly for me!), or they might just prefer to play sport. Highly unlikely given their parents, but you never know!

What do you think?

I agree that some books are special, and I have some of my childhood books in our storage too which are really special to me. But HP isn't, particularly!

homeaway what type(s) of phones are they?

Everstrong, Boot & Nuke (you can Google it) used to be the gold standard for wiping hard drives securely, although I might be hopelessly out of date.

[SteptoeAndDaughter]

Also, now I am wibbling over whether to get rid of the HPs or not. You are all evil! You're meant to be supporting me in getting rid, not convincing me to keep stuff I don't even want!

[kohl]

steptoe re: HP, just ditch 'em! You'll be giving joy to the person who finds them in the charity shop, and right now, it doesn't sound like they are bringing you any joy at all.

[lockie1983]

Harry Potters were easily ditched for me. My boys are 10 and 18 months. Ten year old likes HP films but has no interest in reading them - he prefers Roald Dahl and Diary of a Whimpy Kid.

By the time the baby is big enough books will be given through an IV.

[Wink]

step you know the answer ...

[SteptoeAndDaughter]

OK then. HPs are packed in a box and in the charity shop pile. I looked through them carefully and, well, no joy there!

Magnets back in the cupboard until I get to the last stage of tidying. No rush. I can easily carry them to the chazza if and when needed.

One huge box and 8 blue Ikea bags ready for pickup tomorrow! Am excited to get this mountain of stuff out of the house and get on with Kondoing my clothes.

[Violettatrump]

Going to attempt rolling clothes and making drawer dividers this weekend.