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jannequin
Hi Rosiesmum, and hello everyone else who’s managing to get some of the stuff out there! I’m working today but looking forward to maybe three hours at the coalface when I get home this evening. I’m doing this for six weeks because what’s six weeks out of anyone’s life? It’s worth a try. Today is Day 2.
Rosiesmum, I laughed a bit when I heard of your friend being recommended to bin 6 pieces of paper and 6 things a day. I hope he got on OK with that. A counsellor said to me, ‘just fill two bin bags every day.’ I don’t think she had any conception of what was involved in the process, or of how even the simplest tasks, the things ‘normal’ people don’t even have to think about, are oddly magnified by this condition until they become overwhelming. At that point, about 18 months ago, I failed miserably.
I’ve been watching the Channel 4 programme with the therapist Stelios, and it was from that I picked up on the six-week thing. :idea: Just six weeks to show him, or anyone, or mostly perhaps OURSELVES, that we can make changes. Doesn’t seem too much to ask! Here’s to the turnaround!
A_Hoarder
I’m feeling pleased with myself so far today – I have tidied the kitchen – we can see the surfaces again and the sink is empty. I have also had a talk with Hubby and we have agreed that clear surfaces in the kitchen are not an excuse to use them as a dumping ground for anything and everything. To be honest, the kitchne was pretty clean, but just stuff had begun to get piled up in there. Hopefully, the whole kitchen will be ‘normal’ by the end of the day. Then that will supply the needed motivation for tackling somewhere else – probably the spare bedroom, as daughter will be coming home for the weekend at the end of the month and so far there is nowhere for her to sleep.
rosiesmum
Jannequinn, wow 3 hours after a day at work. Well done you.
My friend actually ditches more than the amount that’s been suggested to him & he’s not a hoarder but I think could be if he were single. He can cope with doing the small amount & doesn’t feel that he’s failed, as long as he clears that amount each day.
I find that I can’t clear just the side, bit by bit, I’ll empty the whole cupboard or drawers onto something else & never get anywhere. So stick it all into a box or bag sling that somewhere & so it goes on.
A-hoarder well done, you sound as though you’ve had a good day.Cheers, Rosiesmum, in fact it turned into only one hour after work, but better than nothing, and I filled another 2.5 large black bin bags. I also found 2 bags of tangerines which had fused to the floor, probably dating from Christmas 2010. Interesting that what I’m finding are a) countless carrier bags, bags for life, rolls of bin bags b) endless cleaning items like Cif spray bottles and packs of dusters and c) attempts at healthy eating initiatives which have failed. Anybody else have these obsessions?
I’m trying not to ‘churn,’ but it’s difficult because there’s a lot of china and kitchen stuff which has come from my mum’s house. Still, I’m two days into my six week project so it’s very early days. And tonight I managed to get a Lloyd Loom chair into the kitchen and sat there for the first time in a long time. Had a glass of wine (THINK I have finally managed to sell mum’s house) and the cat is confused. But onward and upward!
Hidethehoard
Hello fellow hoarders,
WOW alot of you have been busy Well done!I had a really bad day yesterday so didn’t tackle anything apart from the usual chores of washing clothes and vacuuming the bits of carpet that are clear. If I didn’t they’d be more dog hair on the carpet than on the dog. I did laugh at the bag of oranges comment as I often find similar things rolls of bin bags cleaning stuff and bags of mould dust which I assume was once bread destined for the birds.
Today I have a more positive head on especially after reading how busy you have all been! I suppose I can’t decide what to tackle first as I tend to hoard everything then when I decide that something is bin bound I bin it. But then the fear of what if I threw out something by accident kicks in and I have to re-check the bin. Does anyone else have these issues?
I shall set myself a goal of an hour today and see how productive I am wish me luck!Well done on being able to sit in your kitchen. I too often buy fruit & then end up ditching it, ages afterwards. At the moment I have a sack of onions, picked up several weeks ago to make chutney. If I can clear the kitchen before they’ve sprouted I shall make some.
Also bin bags, loads of rolls of them, because they hide whenever I need one, so buy more. They’re generally under the piles of stuff on my kitchen table or work top.
We all know that life would be so much easier if we put them away, why can’t we do that?
I guess, the put things away not down, is what we need to remember.
I would love to get to the point where everything had a home & I knew where that home was.
Got rid of my lounge suite a couple of days ago, new one coming today. So I need to clear & clean the lounge for that. I’m going to throw the old cushions away as they won’t go with the new suite, I’ve bagged them a couple of times so far & retrieved them again. I DO NOT NEED THEM. To make them useable I need to wash them, why add to the washing pile. I will throw them away. I keep buying new pillows as I can’t find ones that I really like but hang on to the old ones, I may get rid of them too as they take up a lot of space, on the floor.
I shall also check if it’s recycling today, so that I can get rid of the 6 black bags of washed milk & spread & egg cartons that I’ve been saving for something. Oh & toilet roll inners. What’s that all about? I know I save them for the garden, but I need to concentrate indoors first.
Have a good day everyone.There has been a nasty smell and I thought it was the kitchen bin but it was emptied yesterday and put out for collection but the smell remained. Flies had started buzzing about too but I couldn’t figure out what was smelling. Well my washing basket is full so a heap next to the washer has appeared so I thought I’ll get some washing on. As I was loading the clothes allot of flies seemed to like the pile of clothes on the floor and I found out why. Three very large cauliflowers that someone had given me off their allotment had been buried under the clothes! I really did have plans for those cauli’s a huge plan of home-made soup was almost on the cards last week then they’d been taken out the fridge to go to the hens to eat but obviously didn’t make it. Happy to say though that horrid smell is now in my dustbin outside!!
Rotting caulis have a horrid smell don’t they.
I know it would give us something else to do & worry-think about but a quick tally up of perfectly good things that have been ditched due to us not being able to see what we’ve got would be scary. I don’t know if it would help or hinder.
I once defrosted my full freezer by ramming more stuff on the top of it & stuff slid down the back & knocked the switch off. It was next to the washing machine so I thought that was where the water was coming from. It must have been around £200 of food wasted & all sorts of things that was lying in the stagnant water that had to be thrown.I’ve just sat down after another hour in the kitchen tonight and was really depressed but do you know, your posts have CHEERED ME UP!!! I suppose that’s exactly what can be so good about this forum and this thread. To think that I am one of a small but happy band of people who misplace fruit and veg with horrendous consequences! And I am not the only bin bag obsessive. And I am not alone in my collection of loo roll innards!
That’s five big black bags ready for the dump on Thursday, and a bag of mum’s good china put away. But I have to admit to meeting a lot of creepy-crawlies tonight, mostly ex- but some scuttling away from me. Made me feel sick. But this is only Day 3. Have to keep going through the pain barrier. I keep thinking that it will be so much better after my target time of six weeks. But this is hard, unpleasant work. No wonder we shy away from it. The world should be full of kittens in baskets and puppies on blankets!
Jannequin, Day 3 of 42
jannequin wrote:
> I’ve just sat down after another hour in the kitchen tonight and was really
> depressed but do you know, your posts have CHEERED ME UP!!! I suppose
> that’s exactly what can be so good about this forum and this thread. To
> think that I am one of a small but happy band of people who misplace fruit
> and veg with horrendous consequences! And I am not the only bin bag
> obsessive. And I am not alone in my collection of loo roll innards!> Jannequin, Day 3 of 42
I was thinking the same thing myself and I’m afraid i had to laugh when I read the bit about the collection of loo roll innards – I have such a collection too :lol:
I must say I’m impressed with your 6 week challenge! I only have three weeks then I’m off to a wedding then on holiday. We will be back and forth all summer, so there are not 6 weeks all in one spot, otherwise I would be tempted to copy you. However, I think I might well commit to decluttering an hour a day and keeping on working at it till it’s done.
I thought this site was particvularly slow, but when people do post, it is like a breath of fresh air. We arent afraid to mention that our homes are a mess, or that we find something dark, smelly and slimy at the bottom of the fridge or on the utility room floor. That might not mean much to ‘normal’ people, but to me it means a lot that I dont have to hide behind my muck and pretend it isnt there. Goodness, I could even invite you to my home! :o Up till now, I have not been able to have anyone visit because I am so ashamed of the mess, but you have given me courage and inspiration – I WILL conquer the clutter!
Cleared half the bed in daughter’s room; will do the other half tomorrow, then I’m away for the weekend to visit my brother; back on Wednesday, unless I get the chance to pop in here while away. Threw out some stuff, put away other stuff and have a pile of magazines to give away. I’ll drop them off at the Drs next time I’m going past.
Dont know why it was so hard to get started; I kept finding other things to do instead of tackling it, but got there eventually. Even when I did start, I could only manage ten minutes at a time. But I did three or four lots of ten minutes, so that added up to a fair bit of time. The plan currently is to do half an hour a day in that room, then do something I enjoy more, like gardening or reading and also to keep on top of the regular housework. So four lots of ten minutes makes 40 minutes so I’m ahead of myself already :mrgreen:
A_hoarder, you’re doing really well. I think that I would be unstoppable, if I could only get started.
Getting started before you go away may really spur you on, when you come home & see a lot of clear space.maria
Well done with all the time you are putting into it… i have to say(A_Hoarder), your post yesterday made me feel motivated and inspired and so pleased for u… so, today, i went to my mums and she had already done really well, her kitchen is still quite full but everything is pretty much clean… even the cooker!! so today we continued in the kitchen, i did about 2 sinks full of washing dishes, put all 6 of the colanders away and found homes for some of the other stuff, completely cleared and cleaned one of the work surfaces and washed and hung to dry about 40 teatowels… when i was leaving my mum said she had some things she had sorted to go, so i took 2 big boxes and one small away with me for the charity shop!! yay! i’m feeling good that things r still moving in the right direction
Thank you, both. I will try to upload some photos – it’s a long way from done, but I feel more positive about at least having somewhere for my daughter to sleep at the end of the month!
Yes, well done, Maria and mum, I must say it’s really helping to feel that as I’m moving forward with my situation, others are doing the same. It is hard, hard work, and respect to you all.
I am just back from the dump (5 huge smelly bags gone) and have come back with Danish pastries – the last ones I bought, I found on the hall floor about four weeks later and they didn’t look so good then, let me tell you.
So I’m going to have a nice cup of tea and a well-earned rest…till tomorrow…Jannequin, Day 5 of 42
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