Staying at Home?

Linda

I coach women on various homemaking skills through speaking engagements and social media

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1 Response

  1. Gilbert says:

    Well, I certainly don’t need a challenge to declutter and stay organized. I am anyway and I constantly look for things to make my (and my wife’s) lives easier.

    When I do my monthly major cleaning of the house, I don’t have to concern myself with getting rid of things or organizing or anything – I do that daily….keeping things tidy.

    But, I have my projects…..some that I’ve put off for some time. For example, there was a box in our fourth bedroom that had all my papers, pamphlets, and other things from my time in Oklahoma. These are things I was saving to use to complete a book I had written when I was stationed there. I was hoping to update it on a trip back to Oklahoma in April 2020, but as you know – with this COVID-19 virus thing going on – that trip was canceled.

    Because all my volunteer efforts have been shut down, I now have my days, in their entirety, to do things. Back to that box of things from Oklahoma and then about a dozen files in the file cabinet that were related to my days in the military.

    In the last three days, I have scanned into my computer nearly 1,000 pages of things from that box and in those folders. I’m in the process of shredding most of those papers as they contained personal information from my days in the military. And yes, those scanned documents have already been backed up to several devices and to the cloud.

    I am now reorganizing that file cabinet, where one drawer was empty anyways, and putting any items I want to keep from that box and those folders. Not much, but some things need to be kept. I have organized those folders such that they are labeled by the towns, sites or organizations (like museums). I should have that project done in the next day or two. Then, I’ll tackle the nearly five years worth of magazines that I have – all related to Oklahoma. I’ll scan the pages I want to keep and then box up those magazines. The next time I’m in Oklahoma – I’ll donate them somewhere who will appreciate those magazines.

    So, my decluttering project is keeping me busy, but being that things were already organized – just not located where I wanted – this is an easy thing to do. Just time consuming.

    As for any other decluttering in the house – I go through my closet, two offices, bathroom, garage and other places in the house about once a month – generally on those clean-the-house days. I also look through the refrigerator, freezer, pantries, and cabinets for anything expired or no longer wanted. I look at those things, decide if it’s worth keeping, and if not – donate or toss it.

    My wife and I have donated at least $5,000.00 of household goods and clothes to St. Vincents in just the last 18 months or so. There is another load in the garage for the next time we can do this (although they are shutting down today until further notice).

    So, the point to my story is just this – even though I consider myself very organized and keep the house looking good (as does my wife – she gets much credit too) – there is always room for improvement.

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