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

Stayathomegardener
all the barns and storage space are just next door it's way too easy to throw stuff in there and not have to deal with anything.
This is very true, and is the same when the storage isn’t local.
However it being next door also means you also don’t have far to go to sort it out, when it comes to tackling it.

TalkToTheHand123 I think focusing on making it tidier rather than how bad it is, is a good idea. I’ve found getting rid of the negativity always helps me move forward a lot, but also that I seem to do better letting things go when I have a tidy ordered situation, even if it’s too much stuff in the space.
With others I’ve done stuff with, it’s helped, but could be many reasons why.

It’s ok to be slow, and practice should speed you up, but 4 bin bags and a load of stuff out you’re not going to drink is good progress. Glad you can see the difference.

Blackheartsgirl Well done. Emotionally challenging but at least done on your terms without the potential of fines etc
And well done getting started on the laundry. I reckon lots of folk have post Xmas laundry build up, certainly launderette hasn’t happened here yet and will be huge when it does.

Miaowse Your dishwasher routine is doing well.
Aunt’s repairs are slow but fingers crossed, seem to be coming together. Yes, the fire was a horrid but lucky wake up about electrical safety. I’d always assumed a fuse board would automatically trip if water hit circuits. Turned out it was very out of date and not fit for service. Landlords downplayed everything and had to be pushed to replace it even after that. Electrician helped, but even then we got something that’s a technical fail, but in the realms of something that doesn’t have a required guard on it, rather than unfit for its purpose.

BlackeyedSusan Hope them going back to school gives you a bit of routine and space to get things closer to how you want. Your posts always remind me how just how much time so many individual actions actually eat up out of each day. Well done on keeping on keeping on!

Nanalisa60 Sounds like you’re really on top of a lot of things there. Interesting how different people find different things work for them.

Very mixed bag here. Cleared the worst of vehicle that has to be scrapped, but too much pain and swelling to finish or take after-market parts of, so crossed fingers. Managed to get rid of some of (no longer with us) dog’s stuff, and there’s half a sack of rubbish in storage unit, ready to go, but issues with potential water leak there. But body has failed again and I’m paying.

Contractors are now officially awol and not answering phone. Complaints put in for what it’s worth.

Back working and study next week and there’s so much that I haven’t done towards it that I now have to catch up on fast, as original plan that had contractors working and out before the end of this week has collapsed, taking other plans that worked round them, with it.
Plus there’s a lot of unpleasant stuff headed my way that’s been draining enthusiasm for even thinking about it. Have to just grit teeth and get on with it.

Sounds really tough.

I am about to cook a compensatory breakfast as football training has been cancelled. Which means I get to stay home in the warm and dry.

I went up to mum's yesterday to start sorting out the garden. Can't sort out the plumbing until probate has been sorted. (Not me doing it, thank God)

I have got to find my ability to get contractors in again.

Hi all. Feeling quite a bit less stressed with house now less of a hoarders paradise and more of a quite messy place.

Hopefully I won't relax too much as I'm wanting it much more tidy. There are a few big bags of clutter around the kitchen table and the benches need cleared. Bedrooms need a few hours to sort.

Not much free time over the next few days so may have to just wait.

Well done everyone, whatever you are doing, every action you take makes a difference. I just cleared 4 more boxes form the kitchen and I am now letting go of things I still like but I just am not using them so I feel that is a shift in my mindset because I just want mainly items I am using regularly.
I just watche dthis and found it helpful.

Bloody hell. Bloody knackered. Sent lots of stuff out of the flat with ex. Some to be stored in the garage, some to be sent to charity, some recycling and some rubbish. At least 3 bin bags full are going going.

I've not got a lot done since Sunday. I only had one hour sleep Sunday night, only 4 the night after and only 5 last night but I did have a good long nap yesterday.

I'm exhausted already. Five lots of shopping carried up two flights of stairs in the back pack. Will have thighs like tree trunks.

The rest of the he day will be playing fridge Tetris.

Sounds like a good workout @BlackeyedSusan !

I managed to do a bit in the living room as it seemed to be getting worse 🤔

I'm just making mental notes of little areas I possibly have the energy to do as I never seem to have time spare for a good few hours tidyup.

Everything is chaotic here. Roll on bin day so I can get rid of the latest excess of cardboard.

I have done a very small amount of clearing my desk and half filled a bin-bag with rubbish and 3/4 filled a smaller bag with recycling. There’s ludicrous amounts of laundry building up but it’s so damp I’m struggling to get wet loads dried. Nothing substantial decluttered.

I hope everyone else is faring better.

Years ago I bought 6 collectibles from different brands with the aim of keeping the two I liked best. You guessed it, I've still got them all! Today I decided to let one of them go. I've taken the pics and put out the ads, just got to hope it sells now.

@BlueSummerBaby I’ve been there. And that reminds me I must try on the clothes order that arrived a week ago and make sure I send anything I don’t like back!

Lovely to see some new people joining us, welcome! I read everything and appreciate you sharing your stories and all progress is progress, even if it’s just doing the dishes @Miaowse which is a cornerstone for me too.

Recent successes have included getting a doorstep collection of books - 3 boxes of mainly books for the children my children used to be. Plus a few clothing items.

I also managed to fill my refuse and recycling and got rid of some medical waste for hoarding parent. Very frustrated that hoarding parent isn’t thinking the same way about Swedish Death Cleaning and continues to accumulate stuff like medical waste in boxes to deal with later. This is especially agonising because dealing with hoarding grandparent’s house was a cause of great angst 20 odd years ago.

Hi all. Bedroom seems to be getting worse somehow. Keep having to climb over bags. Hopefully get on it over the next few days.

Is it only me that can't get Literaturemakeslifebetters video to play? (it may well be)

Insufficient hours in the day to do more than attempt (badly) to maintain at the moment. More and more external things are being piled on top of what's already too much tbh.
Christmas is still going here as we have different dates covering all family backgrounds, but our 12th night is the 18th right in the middle of when I have even more on, so little chance of organized clear up there!
But, laundry build up has all been heaved down the launderette and back again. This weeks has to be fitted in tomorrow, but I have work all weekend.

Contractors have apparently turned up three times while I was out expecting I'd still be sitting there just waiting for them, in case they came after the job they abandoned was supposed to be finiished! CF's! Now expecting me to organise to accommodate when they might have time to turn up, but no guarantees, depends on other jobs!

Aunts wall that was going so well in building it back up, has developed a bubbling plaster splot, looks like water's still getting in somewhere. [sigh] The rest of it seems to be drying and is staying up at least.

Horribly behind with work and study,, so all in all a bit swamped and just treading water, but well done to all who are getting somewhere! Keep on, keeping on!

I let two silk skirts and a pair of leather brogues go yesterday. Because the skirts were horribly ripped and the front of the shoes worn through. I'm getting better at letting go of things I really liked and were once lovely ... But have loooooong since passed their time.

@Literaturemakeslifebetter ‘s video didn’t load for me either. I thought it might be a temporary problem/just me but it’s the same today. Do you want to share again/give the name?

I have been reading one of Dana K White’s books. The decluttering one. And the point about prioritising clearing the most visible areas was explained really well. I am only about a quarter of the way through so hopefully there will be a few more gems in the rest of the book.

So frustrating about the plasterwork @Elleherd - would it be worth flagging to the LL at this point when it is sort of a new issue? Or will that just open up a whole new can of worms? It’s so hard to know what to do. Good luck with everything and especially keeping your blood pressure down when dealing with contractors!!

@FiniteSagacity you have reminded me that I have a bunch of old medicines to return to a pharmacy. Well done with the books, that’s a good chunk of space to clear. That final step of actually getting the boxes/bags out of the house (or boot) is where I regularly fall down. Also I think I may have been caught out on clothing returns as M&S only give 14days for sale returns and I think I’ve gone over that.

Good luck with selling the collectibles @BlueSummerBaby

Have you managed to get any sleep @BlackeyedSusan

@TalkToTheHand123 I empathise, stuff all over the place here too. Very demoralising when hard won progress slips back. The visibility rule from A Slob Comes Clean was quite helpful, I’ll see if I can find a blog summary.

www.aslobcomesclean.com/2011/11/how-to-prioritize-decluttering-projects/

www.aslobcomesclean.com/2018/01/visibility-rule-important-decluttering/

in the book she goes into more detail about how it leads to a bit of a virtuous cycle & gets easier over time. Very convincing on paper…

On paper ...but I have picked up the recycling I left at the top of the stairs and put it in the bag. So the top landing is still decluttered.

Poor ds has the contents of a floor to ceiling cupboard in his room. Lots of things that were stuffed in there out of the way have now reappeared due to plumbing issues. Some got chucked out/ charity shopped in the process so that's good.

I poked about in the other bathroom cupboard now I have cleared access and have got rid of half a small carrier bag of stuff from it. Looking in there there are things I am going to take back to my mum's house to use there.

Ok sorry the video did not load let me try again-

Or search up

Radical Mindset Shifts to Declutter your Whole House this Year!

by

The Minimal Mom

weirdly the video link still isn’t loading but I’m pretty sure I watched (some of) that video already so maybe it’s to do with that. Is it the recent one that was really long? I love the minimal mom!

Thanks @Miaowse , it's pretty much what I do. I imaging being a visitor and try prioritise the main mess. But I like to start with areas I feel I can tackle the easiest also.

I've never tidying at night time for years but have done a few mins clearing out a couple of drawers, which isn't very noticeable, but I feel better with as it should help if I get into a bit of a routine, even if it's just little bits to start with.

Miaowse yes it is that one, not sure why it did not load, I added it in the link bit. Yes I really find her helpful and practical and she sort of takes the shame out of it having all this stuff!

Hi all. I did a little tidying in the living room and kitchen today. One big black bag in living room just waiting for Friday when household bin is emptied and one under the kitchen table! The bags around the kitchen table is the worst area but I managed to sort little bits and make them fit under the kitchen table for now!

I'd love to clear some of the clutter on the kitchen benches! I'm having to use the top of a chest freezer for chopping veg and stuff 😯🤭

Haven't done much recently but trying to get more sleep as being tired seems to stop me doing any tidying. Bin day tomorrow so can get rid of a couple of big bin bags once emptied 😊

I'm twiddling my thumbs in hospital again, but hopefully not for long.