BluE Scrubs

I have been feeling rather kamikaze of late. The energy is just suboptimum, just enough to get me out of bed. The living room is building clutter and I hate going into the bedroom. The small chest next to the mirror is crowded with pots of stuff, and oil and potions etc.

The doors to the wardrobe are just about closable, yet I have a great big duffy bag full of clotheswith nowhere to put. Where do they come from? I have to say being a petite size 8 since I learnt how to use Always, Kotex and Sanita (when the dough was not quite surplus) does have something to do with it.

In Japan they do what's called oosooji-meaning 'the big clean'. I wonder if this is a day off for them. Apparently this is a mass declutter party done at the end of the year to make sure companies are clutter free of unwanted documents and paperwork and reports which are no longer in used. They scrub the desk, cabinets, rearrange the shelves and throw lots and lots of things. This allegedly will improve the performance of the companies. What if some plonker made a mistake of mis-throwing some important things instead? This person would now be called oosoojied? 'Oh sorry sir, you are no longer with us because your file has been oosijooed'.Kah kahkah( laughing in japanese)
I think I could do with getting rid of some of the things I have. I say this, but only last week I bought some scented candles and a nice rose-inside-the-glass-lid wooden box which I am still finding the use for. Not to mention more and more books. You can't throw away books though. Can you? Some of the clothes I have are still tagged with price on it, not been worn for almost 2 years and some I have seen coming in an out of fashion. This I need help with. So, in desperation I bought yet another book on how to declutter. I am doing this at the moment and we'll see how it goes. This is what's been suggested:

1.When to Declutter: Decide how often you are going to declutter a zone. Do a little every day - use a timer. But be warned - this can become compulsive! Once you get started you will want to clean like a banshee! Don't burn yourself out! Only do small amount at a time. The house did not get dirty overnight and it will not get clean overnight. When you set the timer you can only do two sessions at a time. This goal may seem unattainable right now, but you can do it in little pieces. In a couple of months, the whole house will be decluttered.
2.Decluttering Equipment: You will need garbage bags, boxes, magic markers, and a dust rag. Label the boxes "Give Away", "Throw Away", and "Put Away". Line the "Throw Away" box with a plastic garbage bag.
3.Set your timer: for 1 hour (or 30, 15, or 10 minutes - it does't matter how long). Just do the job as fast as you can and do not pull out more stuff than you can put away in that length of time. This means just one drawer, one closet (or even one shelf in one closet), one magazine rack, or digging under just the furniture in the zone. Not all of them at once!
4.Start at the entrance to the room: Then, work your way around the room clockwise. Do not skip a spot. Whatever happens to be next, just do it.
5.Declutter Away! With boxes at your feet and dust rag in your waistband, start off by cleaning out and getting rid of the things that do not belong in this room. Put garbage in the "Throw Away" box, donations in the "Give Away" box, and stuff that goes somewhere else in the "Put Away" box. Don't worry that you do not have a place for everything right now. By the time you finish you will.
6.What to declutter? Things to ask yourself as you get rid of your clutter:
Do I love this item?
Have I used it in the past year?
Is it really garbage?
Do I have another one that is better?
Should I really keep two?
Does it have sentimental value that causes me to love it?
Or does it give me guilt and make me sad when I see the item? Cleanse this room of everything that does not make you SMILE.
7.Sing this song: "Please release me, let me go" as sung from the stuff's point of view. It needs to be loved by someone and if you don't love it - GET RID OF IT!
8.Get rid of the garbage! When the "Throw Away" box gets full, pull out the garbage bag, close it, and put it in the trash can, the pickup truck, or wherever you keep your garbage. Put a new garbage bag in the "Throw Away" box and keep on Flying until the timer goes off.
9.Donations: When the "Give Away" box gets full, seal it off, and put it in your car. The next time you are out, you can donate to the area thrift shop. Do not save your clutter for a yard or garage sale, you will be blessed by giving it away. The value can be deducted on your income tax. Remember you are trying to get rid of clutter - not relocate it somewhere else in your home. Now, grab another box, label it "Give Away", and get back to work.
10."Put Away" Stuff: When the "Put Away" box gets full, take the box in your arms and run around the house (good thing you have shoes on - right?) and put the items in the room where they belong. If they have a place, put them there, if not put them in the room where they logically belong. By the time you have finished you will have a place for everything and everything will be in it's place.
9.Timer Goes Off: When the timer goes off, you have to put away all the boxes, but first you have to empty them all. Go as fast as you can.

It sounds do-able, but I have tried this before and I ended up on the floor with piles and piles of things like get well cards, birthday cards, bank statements, newspaper cuttings, patients lists, tutorial notes blablablbla and ...I spent ages trying to sort them all out. I would read them all out, thought about it and couldn't make up my mind and it ended up in the pile I labelled 'MISC'-miscellinous. So I was back to square one. Effectively , the whole weekend I allocated myself was spent rearranging my clutter.

I shall not despair and I am so determined to 'conquer my clutter'. I am so motivated now, but it's 01:30 in the morning and I am stuck in ICU doing my second night on call. I bet come morning I'll bee line for the bed and I will let the clutter gather more clutter. No! No! Say it together:
"Clutter takes up space, clutter impedes movement and progress, clutter makes us postponed making decisions,clutter robs my energy, clutter robs my concentration".
I shall rise to the challenge and declutter "physically, emotionally and chronologically". I must go and find some boxes. Put away box, throw away box and...give away box*Grins*
More tips are here:

http://www.network54.com
http://healthandwellnessclub.com