Kondoing away the chaos: Kondo thread 7 for yet more life-changing magic

[LinzerTorte]

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 6
Thread 5
Thread 4
Thread 3
Thread 2
Thread 1

Tips and links thread

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.

Ha, well, ironically - given that I'm the only British member of this household who's actually lived in the UK - I'm the only one not eating any of the boxes and boxes of British cereal (I make my own muesli). But I'm just thinking of all the space we could save if I could even just get everyone to stick to one box each. DS has porridge most days but I'm not sure exactly which of the boxes DH and the girls are eating as they've left the house by the time I'm properly up and ready to face the morning; I really need to go through the cupboard with them.

Mango - how are you doing?

Def - that german word betriesblind (sp?) really does sum up where I've been for years. More stuff coming in and not even noticing what's already here.

Weevils probably in the cereal. Used to get them in Africa even in supposedly airtight containers.

Been shopping for dd mostly. But also returned a couple of things bag I probably wouldn't have before I'd just have kept them in case.

Have started another cardboard box for toys/charity. Have to be sneaky while dd is at home though.
She's fine but spots multiplying at a great rate.

It's a great word, Betriebsblind. Do you speak German? I am detecting a few Germanic vibes on this thread....Same problem when you forget to swap round your ornaments/pics on the wall...

I have just shredded a year's worth of receipts and amazon delivery notes. Well, nearly. Shredder has overheated now ;-)

My German is pretty fluent but I'd never heard of betriebsblind before. Are you a German speaker, defk0ndo? I think there are a few of us in Germany/German-speaking countries on this thread and also quite a few translators for some reason.

JKS Ah yes, they could well have been weevils. We've had them in flour before but these seemed bigger and blacker - maybe because there were so many more of them!

Going good, thank you JKS. Got all my non-kondo jobs done, and making progress with the bits I wanted to kondo. Surprised myself with how many bottles we have in the drinks cupboard, including stuff I didn't even know we had. I've ditched some, poured all the open Jack Daniels bottles into one (why oh why did we have 3 open?!?) and the rest is all neat and ordered, grouped into things we'll use, and bottles of wine I can re-gift!

Also found the old set of plates and bowls we were keeping, just in case. Into the "for charity" box. I've already filled another box, despite taking a boot load yesterday. I think we'll need to take these to a different shop, or they might start locking the door when we pull up.

I also re-did paperwork. I didn't get rid of too much more, but I've changed the system, simplified it. I still don't want to bung it all into one envelope, I don't think that will work for us. But I've got it down to 8, far more generic categories. I ditched the big lever arch file and the "to file" tray, put each group into a plastic wallet, and put them all into a magazine file that I covered with pretty sticky-backed plastic. So tidy and pretty, and I can lay my hands on anything I need in seconds. Definitely joyful.

JKS, I hope your DD gets well soon.

Despite saying I wouldn't be doing much the next week or so, I couldn't bear to see the bin go out this morning without rustling up a few more things to go in it. Even then, there was dfinitely space for another carrier bag or two... Drat! The thing is, though, there's so much less stuff, I think I might be past the stage of filling the wheelie bin to groaning every fortnight. Yes, there's more crap to sort, but its here-and-there, not everywhere! The other difference is that each bag of stuff that goes, now, makes a discernible difference to the state of the house. At the beginning it felt like a drop in the ocean, and now it's more of a drop in the cup.

Hermione - I am definitely at the drop in the ocean stage still.

Mango - sounds good. & thanks she's fine just very spotty.

I've got no German but I love how the language seems to come up with these fantastic words that just totally grasp a concept.
Schadenfreude is another one I like :)

Bag of bits to a friend tonight (jewellery and fancy dress bits) and she kindly dropped off a bag of shawls to another friend who lives near her.

I lived there for a few years and worked a lot with Germans as an expat. Brilliant words. Do we linguists collect stuff??? Or is about hanging on to things as an ersatz for a home when on the move..musings...!

I've slowed down a lot this week. I'm exhausted from work and childcare as DH has been away. I had visions of what I could achieve without him under my feet but it hasn't really come to fruition. Ah well. Our "dumping ground" is much more organised.

I need to remember it's a marathon rather than a sprint. Ice been sending all the info to my DM as well as she is a hoarder. I know she's got to want to sort it herself but she won't know about this Magic unless I tell her!

I'm off to Denmark for Easter to visit my family, and I am thinking a lot about my mum, as she is a hoarder. She has become better, she no longer has the last 10 years of her newspaper subscription stacked under her dining rooom chairs (!), but there is still a long way to go and she is 75 (although very youthful and in excellent health). DH says leave it alone, she's old, but I really think she would have so much more peace in her mind (she's kind of neurotic) if she did a full kondo - but it is an absolutely massive task. Hopefully I can influence her (well, gently force her into letting me bin half her flat!) with my own progress.

I am getting so much done at the moment, loads of things I have procrastinated about for years/months are now happening and takes no time after all! I think it helps that I have started exercising again, I feel very energetic. I have weights in my garage, and it usually works fine for me, as I don't have to travel to the gym. But it's been hard to get started again after Christmas (wow, almost 3 months with harldy any exercise!). I usually do my sets when I cook dinner, running back and forth between the kitchen and the garage, but it's just not been happening. So I decided to do my sets before lunch (I work from home), and it works great, those 30 min before lunch I rarely get much work done anyway ;) That's another thing, I am getting better a finding little tweaks that make all the difference.

So, I didn't get much done today. Horrible headache so spent the entire day sleeping it off. I have kondoed DD's underwear drawer though. She has the tall Ikea Malm one and has her undies in the small top one. I keep sorting hers out and putting vertically and then she just bungs it everywhere. This time, I brought the drawer downstairs and filled it with boxes I brought home from work and it looks good!
I meant to say, I too have kondoed my job. Funnily enough, due to mess. Our manager was confirmed in her job a year ago and it dawned on me in January that she was never going to support the staff members who are trying to keep the place clean and tidy. So I found a new job! Scary as I've been in my current place for 11 years.

Mango, I hadn't even thought of the drinks cabinet! It doesn't get so much action since I had the children! Surely I could store something else in there...
I have a child-free and dh-free day on Saturday. Could I get all the toys kondoed in a day? Haven't thrown much out in the last 7 years and have a toddler I keep "keeping" things for...
Really hoping a day is enough!

Gibble I hope you head behaves better today, that's not nice at all

I get headaches too, funnily enough... Shame.

Gibble - great news on the new job, v courageous, well done.

I'm progressing slowly, on komono now but getting increasingly distracted by the garden. I did do the kitchen drawer of doom and under sink cupboard, which has made me very happy! Need to put away the stuff that needs re homing though, it's floating on surfaces... I know I know, the answer is a komono box. I'll get one now. This thread is my superego.

Ha. Just checked the date on a 3 pack of chewing gum from the drawer. Out of date 3 years ago!

I just kondoed my fruit bowl... Banana cake is in the oven

Banana cake Mmm

The box in the hall is slowly (& secretly!) filling with kids stuff.
Quite a few books and random bits and pieces.
Have gone through ds1's box of tat treasure and binned loads of broken magazine toys. Mostly weapons. Lovely.

Also tidying the toy shelves and heaps and buckets as I go. A friend popped round though so came to a halt.

Realised dd still has 3 ride on toys in the house even after I got rid of 2. Just shows I had no idea how much of anything we had.

Not much done today as darn dog stole a block of butter yesterday evening. She then threw it up at 1am so I have spent hours and hours trying to get rancid butter vomit out of the carpet with the vax. DD is off to HMS Raleigh this afternoon for a drill comp. bloody dog has just stolen the beans for tea from the side and now DD is calling down that the cat has thrown up on the bed!

Oh Gibble! Sounds like cat and dog are in it together!

Sweet Jesus! It appears to be twiddle and it's gone right the way through the duvet and soaked the mattress. Lovely DS said one of us can sleep in his bed.

I have stopped grouping things together and that's why I've pretty much ground to a halt. The next day I have the house to myself, every single piece of paper is going to be collected together!

Oh, Gibble, what a nightmare! If the smell lingers on the carpet, sprinkle bicarb on it and then spray with vinegar (any). The day after you hoover it up. Re bed - get the duvet to the launderette for a serviced wash and dry, and do bicarb and soda on mattress as well.

Gatorade, I agree, you need to group things together. Cardinal rule. Results are surprising, sometimes, seeing how many different but v similar things/systems one has.

Thanks, defkondo and Gatorade, for re-tracking me!

I am still up to my eyes in clothes and bedding (with a bag of bedding awaiting collection). And (oops!) I cleared a kitchen work surface yesterday, which has been glaring at me each time I go in there. So now, both my bedrooms are a tip, and so is the ceramic hob!

I have been tackling odd boxes and bags of general komono, as it catches my eye, which has worked very well. The kitchen surface was a step too far at the moment, I think. So, that will be my priority today! I must get my head properly back to where it should be.

To crown it all, I have spent the last 2 evenings, trying to 'fix' my Interenet access, which has been playing up. I just phoned my provider and heard the message that 'some of our customers have just lost their connection'! So, I've spent hours trying to fix the 'unfixable!

At least, I know that I can fix the kitchen. Onwards and upwards!