The Hoarders Anonymous Thread #7. Keep On Keeping On!

[Solo]

We are a mixed group of likeminded householders that are leading somewhat challenging lives; be that living with too much 'stuff' that we find difficult to deal with, houses that are falling apart (mine included), health issues within the family unit, wider family, or ourselves (myself included) that means sorting out our households is challenging, to say the least. So...

You are all welcome to join us for support, adding your own ideas to help others out, storage ideas, and even tips on actually getting those items out of the house which sounds so simple when you say it, but this part can be so very difficult; we are often attached emotionally to our 'things', afraid of letting things go just in case we need them.
Encouragement and support abound here, and we do not criticise. EVER! We even try not to criticise ourselves as it's not helpful to anyone, but this can be very difficult not to do.

If you are feeling overwhelmed by clutter, mess, disorganisation and generally don't know where to start. If you can't be bothered, but really do want to be bothered. If you think you are a bit lazy, or if you just need to see your highs and lows and everything in between on the screen here, join us, and we will help you. We'll virtually high-five your achievements - small or large, and virtually hug you when the need arises, and if you want a hug, just ask because we are here for you, here for one another because we get it. The art of washing up is sometimes our great achievement of the day, but it's still an achievement.

Welcome to thread #7 of Hoarders Anonymous - Keep On Keeping On!

Thread #6 HERE

Blackheartsgirl can you announce everyone out of this room (whichever one you're in) for half hour while you clean it? That's what I'd do. I'm sure there's plenty other rooms in the house they could all go into for half hour. I wouldn't tidy, I'd throw everything off the floor onto the sofas, hoover the floor, wipe down surfaces and clean the worst bits of the windows if they're sticky or else tidy up a bit if they're not. That's doable in half hour for one room

JFDIYOLO I don't know how you bear 3 unusable rooms especially if the clutter isn't yours ☹️. Unusable rooms is one of my lines in the sand. You're doing well to keep up with the rest of it though

Miaowse I'm decluttering one book at a time too although I haven't done much reading this week. I'm only keeping the ones that grip me and giving myself permission to get rid of any mediocre ones or as you say annoying ones

TalkToTheHand I like the idea of project areas

Elleherd sorry you've been flooded out again what a nightmare. Glad you managed some decluttering in the midst of dealing with it all though

My hallway cupboards and main bedroom are my worst areas now. The living room is at least tidy if a bit crowded. The bathroom gets tidier week by week as I gradually use things up

Hello everyone I've not been on here for a while. I often think of everyone, even if I don't make it into mumsnet.

I've filled up 9 plastic bags with things I'm happy to get rid of.

I felt blocked today and didn't know where to start in terms of tidying or cleaning. I forced myself to sweep the floor in one area. I bought a new dust pan and brush so that was good. I mopped that area. Then I rearranged some toy boxes. I dusted them all off.

I swept another larger area of the house, I picked up lots of detritus. I mopped that area as well.

I filled up a plastic bag of old clothes that have been grown out of.

I put two bedsheets into wash.

Lots of areas of the house had been neglected for a while but any little tiny tiny bit of progress is great for me.

Welcome back DownUdderer! 9 bags is excellent. It’s hard to keep going but any progress is good and you have lots of progress there.

Not that much here, bit of batch cooking, bit of gardening and I’m keeping up with the dishwasher etc, but no solid discarding/re-homing progress to share.

I've read back through this whole thread to catch up.

It really helps me.

Today whilst reading this thread I have gone and scrubbed our front windows on the outside. They really needed doing and I had been procrastinating about even starting. They didn't take long to clean. I also cleaned another window inside. I'm glad I just did them without planning and procrastinating.

I've got three bags of clothes to donate. And I'm going to drop them off tomorrow. I've set an alarm on my phone to remind me to take them with us tomorrow because we'll be going near a donation bin.

I've done a load of washing and put away some dry clothes as well.

I've literally just mid way through typing got up and bagged up a bag of used and ripped wrapping paper from this morning. It's dd's birthday and while I was thinking of my accomplishments today I thought of a job that needed doing but was easy and would take literally one minute.

A few weeks ago we booked an aircon service. We live in Australia. Anyway I literally had to sort out our backyard that had waist high weeds and leaves everywhere. The aircon unit is out there. That was good in a way because I had a deadline and that really focused my brain. Then I had to clean up certain areas inside and again it felt good to be forced to do it. I often just have brain block on where to even start. I'm better when there's a deadline or if I literally don't plan on cleaning or tidying but instead just do it without thinking, it's like I have to trick my brain.

Anything small or big is good, all progress is progress, even just not letting things get worse feels like progress!

Down Udderer Lovely to see you! Yes, lots of people from this thread I think about quite often and hope are doing ok, whether they or I are here or not.

9 bags is great progress, along with the yard, window cleaning and general not procrastinating!

Miaowse maintaining consistently is half the battle and well worth sharing.

Only the most basic maintenance and washing is on the cards here. Those critical deadlines that I mentioned previously as catching up with me, are here.

So unlikely to be much progress from me, as what feels like an impossible deadline for the start of the week and another for the end, and so much on top of them that has to be fitted into the middle, so anything that could possibly wait will have to.
I’m just running desperately behind with everything, trying to catch falling plates as I go. (and yes that is why I logged onto MN for a break and got sucked into a thread instead of using every minute of every hour left, to try and succeed! [eyeroll] )

Last year I lost all my mojo and got very little done. So I'm celebrating anything big or small I'm managing to do at the moment.

Today I dropped off the bags of clothes to the clothing bin. Hooray. Such a relief to get stuff out the door! Some clothes had been pilled up on a clothes horse for almost a year. I just turned a blind eye to it all. Of course it took about five minutes to clear the clothes away, put some away, get rid of things that were outgrown and then fold up the damn clothes horse!

I had to buy a new dust pan and brush because I couldn't find my other ones!!

Where we live we can get curbside pick up of household waste. You could get rid of mattresses or a fridge for example or you can put out a pile of bags or boxes and the bin men come and take it. It's such a big win when we get ourselves organized to book it and get stuff put out. Last year my husband did three during the year and because I was too stressed to think straight he just did stuff from the garage and I didn't even look at what went outside. I knew that I'd start feeling in two minds about what I could let go of. I was glad he did it and at the time I was completely relieved. I didn't look at the pile. I didn't trust myself not to take things back into the garage! I was really grateful though. It was an opportunity for me not to have to overthink it all.

So we've booked our curbside cleanup this week. I've put down a big pile of grocery bags filled with junk and rubbish and I'm so glad for it to be going away. It's a weight lifting from my shoulders.

I've tripped over, walked over, stepped over and climbed over some of these items for a few years. Sometimes it just feels like the right moment to get rid of things. For me, it's great to start small but if I can manage it, keep up the momentum and get rid of as much as possible whilst the feeling feels right. Easy wins are still wins. And they feel good.

DownUdderer I can hear the relief in your posts. I'm also doing small wins and reminding myself of progress.

I think about decluttering every day even if I don't manage to get rid of anything. Even getting rid of the odd thing here and there is gradually having an impact on my surroundings.

I'm getting better at letting things go. Part of this has been embracing the reason why I brought something into the home in the first place. This may sound strange but sometimes the reason was not "to own this item". Sometimes I bought something to cheer me up or to serve a practical purpose, once the job has been done ie I'm happier or the practical purpose for the items no longer exists, I feel less need to hold onto the items any more. I don't think of it as wasted money any more because spending it achieved what I wanted to achieve at the time.

I'm reorganising a lot too. Grouping similar items together. It's made me aware that I have eg one entire drawer full of slippers. Instead of thinking I have "a few" and it's helping me to avoid buying multiples and duplicates of any one type of item. I can see that I already have enough. I started doing this because I was purchasing things I already had but had forgotten about.

Please can I join? I have adhd, I struggle with executive function.
I impulse buy….. mainly clothes, bags, stationery.
I am extremely lazy and cross with myself and therefore nothing gets done.

I live with DH who is extremely tidy and organised- it’s hard work

Welcome to the thread, PeonyRose80! I think a lot of us here are either ND, or are parents to ND children.

Somewhat jealous you have a tidy DH, though I can see the potential for friction!

Thank you @Miaowse

Fortunate, stuff is contained in living areas, albeit too much. For marital harmony mainly 🫢but my office/kids rooms/basically anywhere I have my stuff is bad. Waaaaaaay too much stuff.

Welcome Peony 🙂 .

I don't know if any of you are into YouTube but I've been watching Hoarder's 💓 Heart decluttering and although I'm not a proper hoarder I do have some of the thought processes of it, it's interesting seeing her progress and hearing her chat about it. She's got ADHD too and was a stage 4 hoarder

I'm still feeling frustrated about not having hardly any clear areas (only the stairs) but because I'm at the "use it up" stage of decluttering there's not much I can do to change that, unless I start boxing things up and storing them elsewhere eg a garage and I don't really want to do that. I suppose I could go full on minimalist, sell everything, have no ornaments etc, but I like all my stuff so I don't want to do that either. It would be different if I'd changed as a person and no longer liked it, I could get rid then. Think I need to make peace with the situation

I hope everyone is doing ok

I have lost this message twice already so hopefully third time lucky…

I watch a hoarders heart sometimes - I watched one of her big clothing declutter videos not too long ago and bizarrely it must be one of the only categories of stuff where I’m more minimal mom than hoarders heart!!

I’ve been tracking what I wore over the last month and was very surprised - the totals were:

3 dresses
2 skirts
3 jumpers
2 cardigans
11 tops
2 vests
4 pairs of jeans
2 pairs of trousers
1 pair of leggings

A weirdly round 30 figure. And when I add in the 3 pairs of shoes/boots I wore it’s 33 - the magical project 333 number by pure coincidence. I’m interested to see if next month will be similar.

On the decluttering side of things I have put another 3 books in the charity shop box.

Went through a folder of old credit card statements and took out nearly half to shred.

I also started a new time will tell box and have added some children’s books to see if my child misses them.

Today I removed three empty bottles from the shower and put them in a bag to be recycled. I also put soil back into a pot plant that got knocked over about four weeks ago. I swept up the soil and had it, but have procrastinated.

I did some laundry too.

I feel awful for not decluttering lately but did get 10 books I don’t read out of main bookcase bagged up for charity, a few unused hair/skincare bottles from bathroom and dressing table and old tangled jewellery and ditched those.

Just the most basic maintenance going on here, as the focus is on, de cluttering the overdue work projects.
Delivered the second of the last two deadlines yesterday, but came uncomfortably close to failing, and how close has attracted a lot of negative comment. It’s my own fault, but it’s currently unrelenting. The next one is Monday, and another mid-week. It’s all work I’ve already been paid for, but pushed delivery of as far along as I could, hoping to catch a break that never came. I’m exhausted and of course everything else that needs attention is now piling up and draining finances. But the only thing I can currently do is focus on making the deadlines happen to stop the overall situation getting worse and the subsequent domino effects.

DownUdderer I also have a bad habit of buying replacement items because I can’t find something. Just not letting it get worse is progress and especially when it’s all there is time or energy for is important to recognize. Easy wins are every bit as good as harder ones, it’s all stuff gone, well done!

BlueSummerBaby I’ve also found thinking about de cluttering what and how, regardless of if I'm in a position to do it right now, really helpful towards changing mindset. The it served a purpose at a time attitude sounds good.
Putting like with like is such a good way of figuring out what we’ve got and what we might be able to let go of as we come to terms with what lifestyle and how many lifetimes we’ll actually need to use those 9 Christmas tree stands, soap holders, etc.

Hi PeonyRose80 “Waaaaaaay too much stuff.” Yep, that’s at the bottom of it for most of us. We’re all working on it, varying from efficiently to haphazardly and everything in between. No point beating yourself up. As you’ve already found, it doesn’t change things. Focusing on what you are doing and getting done, even if it’s only small, is actually helpful but we often feel we can’t because we feel it’s ‘not enough’ and focus on all we haven’t done. If that’s you, then try recognizing the wins, no matter what they are. It all helps towards change and getting on top of issues.

Miaowse So annoying to lose messages but am amused by your recurring three’s. I like the idea of the ‘time will tell’ box.

GonnaGetGoingReturns Don’t feel awful, every day is a new day. It’s a good restart, well done.

Thanks @Elleherd
I literally feel at the moment that stuff is my reason for not doing anything. I am constantly thinking of sorting it, selling it, where the items of stuff are I need and therefore do nothing.

Good to see you Elleherd, good luck with the other work deadlines and well done for getting the previous two delivered.

Haven't had much free time last few days so not much tidying done although did a couple of wash loads.

I'm trying to get in the habit of constantly tidying as I go, even if it's the smallest of things to do.

Small bedroom, garden and loft are horrific so hoping to get the most used rooms to a decent standard so I can even contemplate. Or should I chip away at little bits? I don't know whether to focus on one room and make it super tidy or do bits in a few rooms!

One thing I do know is if I'm not getting much sleep, I'll not get much done!

Today I've hung up laundry, and put on another load.

I've swept the kitchen floor and mopped it.

I did the grocery shop and put it away.

A stack of books growing in my work locker - when I have a bagful that will go to charity shop. I slip single books into work bag so not too heavy for the commute.

Quite a lot of washing, it's EVERYWHERE... But I did find three jumpers I'd thought I'd lost, so 🤗

Just taken 2 black bags to charity and 2 carrier bags of actual rubbish have left my house! chuffed

I did a load of laundry yesterday.

One bin bag general rubbish, one bag paper recyc, one load laundry and we're taking 2 bags glass recyc with us going out for coffee. A good morning so far 🤗

I also do Mrs Hinch Declutter Jar - yesterday pulled out a 1 and thought it will need to be one big thing to make a difference.

Then remembered that for some reason when I bought my gorgeous purple Flash mop, instead of discarding the disgusting manky battered old mop … I had carefully stashed it back in the cupboard … Why?? Why do that?? So that's going. Thank you Mrs Hinch.