The Grand Cleanout - July 2014

I am making slow project on my goal

To be ‘move ready’ by June 2015

since my post in June. The pile of clothes to donate and electronics to recycle has grown. The grand cleanout will be finished for 2 rooms with another couple of hours of effort. It is hard to let go of items I’ve had for a very long time but know that I will never use again. Here are some examples of what I mean:

Travel books. I have quite a collection that I’ve kept because I reasoned that I would reference them as I planned trips. But I’ve noticed recently that I am more likely to do research on the web than in the books. The web is more likely to be up-to-date. So not I am getting rid of the books unless they have really good pictures!

Thread. Years ago I did a lot of sewing and I bought thread when it was on sale. The spools are at least 25 years old at this point (so may be deteriorating a bit) and I can’t imagine that I will ever need that much thread for the few sewing project I might undertake.

Office supplies. There is a closet full that have accumulated over the years. I used to take notes into blank books --- but now the notes are electronic. I send emails rather than writing snail mail letters so the box of envelopes and specialty papers are orphaned. Even a ream of plain paper and laser printer cartridges are lasting for a very long time at the rate I use the printer now! It’s hard to give up the security that all those supplies near at hand has provided but at least half of it needs to go.

There is a lot to do before the August post.

The Grand Cleanout - June 2014

I have not made a lot of progress in my goal:

To be ‘move ready’ by June 2015

since my post at the end of May. We donated 6 boxes of books and tapes - which cleared out a corner of the dining room where they had accumulated. There are a couple of bags of clothes for the donation box and some old electronic equipment to take to Best Buy for recycling.

I’ve been thinking about how to proceed and mark my progress.

• Picking one room each month and focusing on cleaning it out completely of unneeded ‘stuff’ is one perspective.
• It is also clear that we have a huge number of ‘keep sake’ boxes; it was easier to just put anything we gleaned from outings or my daughter’s school years into a box until it was full…and then start anther box. The plan for these is to clear off the ping pong table and start sorting by year….and recycling papers that we really don’t need to keep.  I’ll plow through 2-4 boxes every month.
• There are a few milestone events to keep in mind. The neighborhood has a yard sale in September so that is the time to get rid of any furniture we no longer need. And donating any Christmas ‘stuff’ in October would be just in time for use in the 2014 holiday.

So - now I have a plan…..and am getting to work!

The Grand Cleanout - May

It is hard to get motivated to reduce the ‘stuff’ in the house without some forcing function. Moving - downsizing into a house that fits the change in our needs (down to two people) - would be the ultimate forcing function but we are not quite to that point. It’s clear that it would take a lot of work because we have been expanding to the available space in this house for almost 20 years. So - I am going to create my own forcing function my starting a monthly ‘grand cleanout’ post. This is a strategy that worked very well in my work life: establish a goal, create a plan to accomplish it, and then monitor progress.

The goal in this case is:

To be ‘move ready’ by June 2015 (i.e. a year from now).

By the time the grand cleanout post for June comes, I’ll:

• Develop some month by month objectives
• Donate the ‘stuff’ I’ve already got piled in the unused dining room (what a mess!) - clearing the area so that I can stage new items that will exit the house in similar fashion. 

And now I've created my own 'forcing function' for the Grand Cleanout!