2024 will be my year to Get The House in Order

[BloodyAdultDC]

I'm sick of living like this. Too much stuff. Untidy kids, messy cat. Lazy and CBA when I finish work. I need a virtual support crew to give me the kick/support to get off my arse and Get Shit Done.

I've tried Kondo but get overwhelmed too easily. I don't have any sort of routine for anything. Even grocery shopping. I have diy jobs to do but don't have the time. I've stopped seeing the mess.

I like lists. I need a simple tick-list app that covers everything including clearing out the car, shed, keeping on top of the garden in summer and boxes of stuff from my mum's in the loft.

I could use a personal assistant just to come up with a master plan, and to whip me into shape.

Anyone want to join me? Or any tips for such an elusive app?

I swear by Dana K White. I know you’re getting a lot of methods thrown at you, and I’m not trying to overwhelm you with choices. But I didn’t get on with flylady or TOMM, even though they’re both objectively brilliant and I didn’t understand why until I found Dana. So it’s just something to keep in mind if you fall off the wagon.

She has books, blog, podcasts, you tube and Instagram so if you get on better with a particular platform try her there. If you try the podcast start at the beginning because it makes better sense.

I went from having two unusable rooms and an attic that was in danger of collapse (well according to dh) and a permanently messy house to being able to be guest ready in ten minutes (and inviting people in on the spot anyway) and I still don’t enjoy cleaning or organising.

I looked up Dana K White but it seems like waffle with no plan. There is probably a plan in the waffle but I can't seem to find it!

I need to use 2024 to make routines as well. I posted on the other thread but
I guess most people are busy with Christmas. I'd really like to have a visible change before New Year. I'm in a tiny flat and would like for it to be as clutter free as possible but I'm struggling to find motivation to put stuff away. As soon as I tidy, I make a mess and it seems so endless.

@EmmaEmerald she is definitely a waffler. But the first two books set out the methods clearly. manage your home and
decluttering

But she’s definitely not for everyone. It makes all the difference of you can find a system that clicks for you.

Dana K White is great for decluttering and learning how to handle stuff.

TOMM and Flylady are routines for cleaning/ light tidying that are better for maintaining. I'm rusty on Fly Lady as it's been a while since I've looked up the details so I can't remember if she handles decluttering as a first phase. TOMM does have a bootcamp as a starting point if necessary, but doesn't necessarily go into much detail about how to let go of stuff, and how to tidy.

TOMM does have decluttering sessions on the TOM Rocks guided cleans, and I tend to use Dana's method within that structured time to process what to keep, where to store and how to dispose effectively.

The mindset of making things better in managable units of time rather than huge and often unattainable objectives like "clean the kitchen" has made major progress in my home. If I walk away after 30 minutes, it is now 30 minutes better, not a (recurrent) failure. I don't get angry or burn out like I used to. I will never be naturally tidy and organised, but it's feeling considerably more managable and salvagable than it did in my first 40 years since a childhood where tidying = shunting stuff from one spot to a less offensive spot like under the bed or shove in a cupboard. I hadn't learned to really sort stuff or letting go until in my 30s. (Being raised by a hoarder triggered by a 1940s/50s childhood of rationing did not help)

<waves helplessly around>

I'm ok for clutter, we moved quite recently and I ruthlessly decluttered as I packed up my old house. However, I have some cupboards that aren't working for me and need sorting out now we've settled in. More reorganising than decluttering.

I'm restarting Flylady on New Year's Day, having got out of the habit since I started planning to move. I do it my own way but I find the regular daily and weekly tasks helpful and the focus on zones, although zones are a weekend job for me.

I've bought a habit tracker notebook so I can monitor my progress until it becomes established.

It's taken me a best part of a year to declutter . I watched a program on Netflix can't remember the name of it I as cancelled Netflix .
It was really good though and helped a lot.
I make 3 piles sell, donate and talk to the tip. The house is a mess for a bit during this process . My other tip is to tackle one area at a time eg my mug cupboard , my baking supplies etc

Just to
Add I've done loads this year but still a work in progress . My ds (6) had a huge toy clear out as he wanted to get a ps5 I said if he paid half so would I for his Xmas . So he sold the toys he doesn't play with and made £250! I've been in the position this year as an agency nurse with sadly very little work that I've had time, which I don't normally have . I start a permanent job next week, I very much need to keep
On top this year

Well I think I've just had an epiphany!
Thank you!

I'm going to follow TOMM again, I really like the guided cleans, they seem to keep me on track
And she has a 5 day messy house bootcamp starting on 1st Jan, so that should set me up nicely!

Thanks, I had a look round and her key points are the same as everyone's really.

I think my main task now is to decide where stuff goes and stick to that for six months. Also to base it on what I actually do rather than what I'd like to do in an ideal situation.

Yes I need this.
Live in small 2 bed house and far too much stuff.. I work full time plus 2 evenings in a second job so on the other evenings frankly shattered.
I am lazy at the weekends and could definitely do more.
Currently sleeping on sofa as cat brought a mouse into my bedroom and there is so much stuff in there I just can't find it and I can't bear to sleep in there. So first job tomorrow is bedroom and no excuses. Even one hour would make a difference.

For me the stuff is the problem and the effort to get rid of the stuff. We have a skip bag ordered and I’m just going to dump all the toys/stuff that has been waiting for me to give away/sell. I just don’t have the time or the spoons to do it so we will dump it and be more conscious of what we buy going forward.

Kondo is a faff. Honestly fuck all that folding. I do a lazy version where I roll clothes like T-shirts. But really it doesn't matter- the most important thing is simply owing fewer things.

You really do have to get brutal with decluttering. Google the container concept. Minimalism came easy to me until I had a child, specifically now that we're in the toddler stage. The container concept creates boundaries around all the stuff so that it never gets out of control.

I follow Orjenise on Instagram. She does a declutter challenge in January; a 60 second video with the day’s task, it takes 5 minutes (but if I’m not working I’ll give it more time). Aim is to throw out 100 things in January, last year I did about 700.

Fly lady helped me but I fell
off the bandwagon. The emails around the zones helped me focus. I still clear out my car on a Friday. I like how she writes. She isn’t judgemental and says just jump in where you are so that it doesn’t feel over whelming. And she’s gentle.

I aspire to kondo bit is beyond me.

i like clutterbug as a bit of motivation did eg organising paperwork and organisation that works.

I need this, my house is always a tip. Waste so much time just trying to find things grrrr

Thanks for this. I have followed and will aim for a few hundred things out in Jan. Anyone else?

A Bowl Full of Lemons does a 14(?) week decluttering challenge tackling one section/room per week and posting progress on their Facebook page. I have to admit that I’ve never managed to stick it out all the way but it is inspiring to see other people’s before and after pictures particularly the less instagrammy ones

I'm going to do this - have started - three perfume samples to use up (will take three days) and a pretty much empty bottle of hair conditioner which I hated but randomly kept going to be rinsed out and the bottle recycled 🙂

I'm pretty minimal already, but I want to simplify even more this year, so I think having a plan of areas/things to declutter will help me get rid of even more. Looking forward to it 😁

I am aiming for 251 items which will mean a total of 2000 by the end of the year or should I do 275 to make 2024 in 2024? As have already done a couple of rounds I can't do hundreds. there are two big sections to tackle printed photographs ( will also be doing a digital declutter and printing of the best 30-50 from each year. )
will be doing a second pass over my books and being serious about whether will read again or use them.
Kitchen, laundry and bathroom stuff are pretty much under control. Clothes are OK just a few decent items which am determined to fit into by end of year.
The attic is mostly DH's stuff and his late mother's which still needs going through.

How are those that are doing #orjenise getting on? I'm pretty decluttered anyway, no real backlog, so I've been heartened to find 26 items to declutter since it started. I've not done today's as I'm in the office.

I cleaned the cupboard out in the living room yesterday. It's tiny and awkward shaped as it runs under the stairs. 5 bin bags to the tip and 2 to charity . Still got years worth of Mail to sort out that's in a book but binned loads of duplicate photos and unused cables etc

My house is too messy for the #orjenise method :-(

I've downloaded flylady and am at about 50% of the daily tasks (which is a huge thing for me, I'm even taking my meds on time for once!).

Today is - tree down, put away, boxes/suitcases back in the loft. I'm going to put all the rest of the crap that's somehow found it's way to the lounge up in my bedroom and attack it a bit at a time. Tip trip this afternoon too. (Accountability much?!)

What’s orjenise? Can I see it on you tube?

Hi everyone! Hopefully I’ll be making a start soon. We’ve been away over new year so the last few days have been spent unpacking, washing, taking the decorations down etc.

Most of the time I feel really overwhelmed and just don’t know where to start. It’s mainly the kids’ stuff (8, 7 and 5) which gets to me. They don’t have that much compared to a lot of their friends, but it’s all mixed together so really time
consuming to sort. I think I just need to accept that nothing will
change overnight, but that if I’m consistent with doing 15 minutes a day it should improve over the course of a year.

Yesterday I gathered up a bag of plastic tat - broken toys etc. I made the mistake of just putting it in the basement rather than taking it to the recycling point but I guess it’s a start!