Decluttering - sometimes feels like 1 step forward 5 steps back

[Sugarcoma]

It's just constant - especially now we have a baby and MIL is going OTT with gifts (which we are grateful for but we sometimes get two of the same item from her in the same size for him because she's forgotten she's ordered it once already!)

Tbf it's not just baby stuff though. DH and I both have hoarding tendencies and before baby was born we had a good clearout (although still have tons of stuff we could get rid of) but it's the fact that every time we have a clear out it feels like we just end up overloaded with crap again.

Am currently sorting out baby's room to make it habitable (formerly our joint office - baby currently in our room) and I'm so ashamed of how bad it got. For most of the time we've lived here you couldn't even walk in. I'd attempted to tackle it a few times before I got pregnant just so I could work In there but I'd never have time to finish and then within a few months it would go back to being a hoarder's paradise.

We just constantly seem to accumulate crap. Whenever I think about it I have Mad Eye Moody's phrase in my head: constant vigilance!!

Long one I know but just needed to vent a bit and any tips welcome (and yes, I know I need to read Kondo!)

Ah well. I was going to mention Kondo but I can see you already have.

Read it right now!

The thing about Kondo though is logistically I don't see how anyone has the time to do categories e.g. Every biro or every item of clothing in one go but if I don't tackle it in one go it'll just end up in a pile on the floor for a week before I give up and chuck it back in a drawer

I sympathise. Come and join us on the Flylady thread!

There are various lists floating round the internet of the Kondo categories broken down into mini sub categories, which is helpful. But I could if needed lay my hand on every biro in this house, in less than 5 minutes - BECAUSE I've done the Marie Kondo method. I'd break into the smallest subcategories that work for you, and work through them, as a long-term fix. For quick wins, can you get two boxes (To Go, To Stay Somewhere Else) and a binbag and just spend 15 minutes at a time doing areas?

I always thought the gap in Kondo was that there are no kids in her life. I think in 15 years she'll have all the answers but until then we'll have to muddle it ourselves!

I was listening to podcasts from A Slob Comes Clean as I did bits. It seems to help me.

I use a flat surface to sort items into trays/bowls for different categories.

When I started Kondo, I bought folding crates from Argos (on the basis that they are easy to store and always useful for something). In front of each one was an A4 piece of card and they were labelled with
KEEP
BIN
SHRED
RECYCLE
CHARITY SHOP
I lined the charity shop one with a folded down (clear) bin bag, and the bin one with a folded down (regular) bin bag) and just went for it. I decided I couldn't Kondo until I had done an initial clear out, so that is what I did. I started with a bookcase, then did a cupboard etc etc. As the bin bag/charity bag became full I knotted the top and then created piles for them. Keep going that way, and once you feel pretty pleased with the progress you have made, stop. Wait a week and you will start to feel irritated by it again. That, in my experience, is when you Kondo.

By the time I had Kondo-ed the living room and our clothes I had filled 15 charity shop bags and 10 bin bags.

I also read (possibly on here) that you need to get the bags to the tip/charity shop/wherever ASAP - otherwise you just keep the crap in bags and never move on from there.

I try to keep the outflow unblocked as it were! Under my hall table!e is the charity shop bag.

I am not doing a proper job of Kondoing now, but just doing a small bag for each time I am going past the charity shop. It's a sort of holding pattern!

Op can you identify where a lot of this clutter is coming from. Can anything be cancelled or put online?

My tiny example is that I have decided to chuck out my credit card statements after one month. This is radical for me as I still have some stored from about 2001! There was a reason back then I'm sure..I also have a subscription to cancel right now.

I feel your pain! Haven't read Kondo but think I must. What really spurred me on was when we were having the house valued, although I didn't get rid of as much as I could have done & there is a lot shoved into wardrobes. Then I was spurred on again by house viewings. Normally I'm a hoarder & of course we have DD8 to leave a trail! I tend to tackle one room at a time. Once spent 4 hours on the lounge. Very satisfying

Please look at Clutterbug on YouTube- amazing!

blameit, thank you! I just had a look at Clutterbug and it looks brilliant. I will watch some videos and hope for inspiration .

I loved the kondo idea but as fast as I put things in one place, my family scatter them far and wide. Take nail clippers and nail varnish for example. I have a large toiletry bag in the cupboard under the sink. I put all nail stuff in there including cotton wool and nv remover.
DD took out several nvs and put them in her room. DH moved nail clippers to every room in the house. 🙄. They seem to breed!
I just need to get on and do it all over again really!