At the beginning of the week, I like to jot down small, medium, and large tasks (with its list of small steps) on a master "to-do" list. Then I choose the one I'm most interested in at the moment to work on. This method motivates me to start and finish a small task and at least get started on a larger project that I can tackle the next day or week. When I write down my goals/tasks I'm inclined to start and finish them, whereas thoughts alone may drift away, be forgotten, and remain unacted on.
Items on a task list may vary between individuals due to varied interests and objectives. A high-ranked task for me may not appear on another person's list; therefore, it's important that each family member prepare their own job list.
Examples of different-sized projects family members could work on to meet the goal (albeit mine/yours) of reducing the accumulation of unused items:
- Assess the number of unworn shirts or tops hanging in the closet? Start on one side of the rod and remove one top or shirt, for example, at a time that you: don't like or wear, fits incorrectly, is stained, or needs repair. Remove it and the hanger from the closet and decide which pile it goes into donate or trash. Donate gently worn items so that they will be useful to someone else rather than continue to collect dust.
- Decrease the number of coffee cups acquired on vacations or jobs (yours or someone else) that take up space in the cupboard, unused, and collect dust.
- Collect all of the empty shipping boxes you have saved after the warranty expiration from these purchased items: appliances, televisions, electronics, printers, computers, cell phones, golf clubs, and shoes, etc., stored in the attic, basement, and/or garage. If you make many moves, perhaps keeping the large television and/or computer/printer boxes makes sense; however, boxes for those items can be purchased for a nominal fee. Empty boxes take up a tremendous amount of space and may not ever be needed or used again.
- Reduce the abundance of hobby items jammed into the garage, acquired over numerous years, and abandoned as new interests emerge. Start on one side of the garage, one item at a time, and determine its usefulness. This one could be a large project and will require more words at a later
- Reduce your paper stacks. Review your papers, one paper at a time. Decide if the document requires action, filing, recycling, shredding, or the trash receptacle. Paper, if left unchecked, tends to multiple, spread out over the surface it is on and continues to grow.
- Remove items that have accumulated on surfaces in your home such as the countertop, kitchen table, desktop, furniture, floor, etc. Each family member collects their stuff in some container, such as a laundry basket or paper bag, and returns it to where it belongs and puts it away.
- Purge the "junk" drawer. Some junk drawers, small or large, are so full of stuff that they are hard to open. At least take every item out of the drawer and sort it into categories. Pitch the plastic bits that you have no idea what they belong to or what they were used for. Place divided inserts or repurpose containers that you already have in the drawer to separate the categories.
All of the tasks noted above require many decisions that could make the processing an overwhelming one. Working through it, one step, one item, one decision at a time brings you success and goal achievement through patience with yourself if you keep at it however long it takes. Once items are reduced, keeping only what we need makes it easier to get and stay organized. Rewards of fewer things: more space, more calmness, more free time, simpler life, less stress, less anxiety.
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