Celebrate EACH and every success - no matter how small

 

Did you read the title this morning? Sometimes, I struggle to find a catchy title related to the content in the post, and other days, I have several. As I was thinking about what to write this morning, I thought that we DO NOT celebrate our successes enough. Oh sure - we celebrate some stuff, but not the small things. And trust me, when you're decluttering, even throwing ONE piece of paper away or filing it is a HUGE success. Really?? You bet  - it means that you are trying, however, small the effort. And guess what, the next day, you might deal with two papers and so on. Who knows - it might be an entire day spent decluttering. But until we start, it's hard to wrap our mind around the process. 

It's hard - it's very hard, and I struggle some days. I want the process done, but it has to be on my terms. Believe it or not, but some years ago, I had a professional organizer come in, and we went through the entire office, and it was clean. BUT - it wasn't for me. I didn't learn how to deal with the stuff, the filing system wasn't right, and I don't think I was totally prepared to deal with it.

So guess what happened? Yep - it went right back to what it was. It's like going on a diet. If you don't learn how to eat and exercise properly, you'll go back to your old ways and all of a sudden, you've gained 10 pounds. Or your health hasn't improved. This decluttering is NOT easy, and you can't be persuaded to do it properly until your brain says it's OK. 

Today, I'm going to show you the office in its entirety and show you how far I've come. Oh yes -- one day before the end of this year, you are all going to be so jealous because I'll have finished round one of decluttering our house. It's only taken me 7 years!!! (I must go back into the blog to verify that number) Round two will take a lot less time.  

So this is one of five chairs in this space. It does have stuff on it, BUT the success is that this probably needs one hour, and it's going to be clear. Yes - I was tidying yesterday after I finished writing. I think the more time I spend here, the more I want it to be clear. And there's that printer that's going to the electronic waste. I need to dig out a box from the garage to send my Cherrywood Challenge, and I need one more box for electronic waste. 

But this pile is orderly - more orderly than any pile has been in this space. SUCCESS!!!!!!

A chair piled with stuff to clean 

Here's the table. OK - so it looks in a bit of disarray. I did pull some software packages from the buffet, and I've got some great tips on what to do with software, but not today. The success in this photo? There was actually room on the table for me to pull stuff out of the buffet to put on, and now I can deal with it. 

The table piled with old software

This corner is now clear. I know I showed you a picture before when it was clear, but then more junk got moved in the space. Now it's clear except for an empty plastic container, which I'm not sure I need. Actually, NO - I do not need that cabinet. So if anyone wants it - it's yours. It has four drawers on rolling wheels and fits perfectly under my big sewing cabinet. I emptied it, and well  - I want to get rid of it. And the success here? I'm letting go of an empty cabinet. 

An almost empty corner

OK - I get it that I'm moving things around, but that's OK. If I can make things look a little bit emptier, then I'm for that. It makes me feel better. I dug out some tubs to empty the big blue tub into. So that will get moved out of there. And then that big blue tub will be up for grabs. Any takers????  The success here is that there used to be TWO rows of boxes. Now there is only one. And huge progress has been made in cleaning up this stuff. 

One row of boxes left to deal with

This is what needs to leave the house. I've got an errand to do today and one next week, so this will be the "car" errand in two weeks. I hope to have even more stuff to let go of. Success? I've let this much go, and it just needs to be boxed properly. 

Stuff to be donated

Here's another corner that I haven't touched in a long time. I'm happy to report that the box on top is for metal scrap for the recycling center. The rest is paperwork that will be dealt with later. No success in this corner. But that's OK. I don't need success everywhere. 

Two boxes of paperwork

The top of the buffet is neat and orderly, so for the moment, it stays as is. But one day, my radar will get to it. Although I've been through them once, there are drawers of stuff, but still more stuff that needs to go. I emptied one shelf at the bottom of the buffet, and then I filled it up with more stuff. I'm OK with that. If I can make the space look neat, then it'll be a simple matter of opening a drawer or a cupboard and dealing with it. The key right now is to get everything to look neat and tidy. 

The top of the buffet

Here are two chairs with stuff piled on them. The success here? They were piled even higher! And most of the stuff is in pretty boxes, but that green tub? It's mostly filled with junk or odds and ends that need to be dealt with. Yikes - no junk drawer, but lots of junk!!!

Two chairs piled with stuff

Here's my desk. I want to say that this is a success. It looked way worse. I have a pending folder, and most of the junk is gone. I do have a couple of piles of "active" work, which I wish I could get rid of by processing it. I will - but at least, it's in pretty good shape. What I really need is a different setup. I do not have any space on my right-hand side to write if I need. It drives me crazy, and I'm trying to think of a different setup that would work better. FIRST - let's get the office tidied up, and then I may reward myself with something. As you can see, there's ZERO room for a second monitor, which I would love. 

My desk

And here's the other desktop that is piled with junk. You wouldn't think there's a success here, but there is. First off, there's NOTHING on the chair at that desk. That's HUGE. Secondly, the paper stuff is all in one place, and I poke through these bins from time to time and pull stuff out and deal with it. So there's lots of room for more successes. But this is a success!!!! 

The messy desktop

I also have the bookcase to deal with. At the moment, the stuff is sitting on a shelf. It's not on the floor, and I'm OK with that. It's time will come. 

The bookcase

Oh boy --- I found money yesterday. You can tell by looking at it that it's been sitting around for a while. It's our OLD $5 bill. There were eleven of them. That was a HUGE success. 

Money!

I did have one fail. I found a cheque dated April 2012. Ooops - I don't think the bank will cash that! So I ripped it up and thanked my stars that it was only $10. I've found other uncashed cheques in this mess; thankfully, none of them were big amounts. Lesson learned, when I get a cheque now, it goes in my errand bag so I can take it to the bank. YES - I know I can do it electronically, but I need excuses to go for a walk in the afternoon, and going to the bank to deposit cheques works for me. They have a name for these kinds of cheques, but the name escapes me. 

An outdated cheque

So here's the BIG success in the office. This is the view from the door. Can you believe how much open space there is on the floor?? It looks positively empty! OK - so I'm kidding myself, but this is HUGE. And once those boxes are dropped off at the recycling place (they are just to the right), this is going to be an amazing space. It's been YEARS since I could actually walk completely around that table. Oh yes -- YEARS. So you can see why I'm jumping up and down. And of the five chairs in here, two of them are completely free of stuff. The rest will be at some point. It's coming!! I've only got so much time to devote, but I'm devoted. You bet!!!!

Look at all that floor space

Here's a success in the kitchen. I know -you think that this is a tea towel, and yes, it is. But it's a tea towel with bicycles on it. I used to buy these and store them in the cupboard because they were too pretty to use. Well, why did I do that? The new ruler at our house: NOTHING is too pretty or precious to save for a special occasion. When I walked into the kitchen this morning, I saw the tea towel, which made me smile. Never mind that it's a Christmas bicycle-themed tea towel. Who cares??

The bicycle-themed tea towel

So - you need to remember this crucial thing. EACH and every SMALL step is a success. Depending on where you're coming from, each of those tiny steps could be HUGE. I'm following a lady in the US - she is in her late 80's and was given mere days to survive. I don't remember what her story was. Now she's signed up for the Mount Fuji virtual challenge, which is about 36 miles. She has been going up and down the stairs in her house to get her miles. And the other day, she was outside with her walker doing her 1.5 miles for the day. Success? You bet - this is huge, and it brings tears to my eyes to repeat her story. That's determination and dedication. The feedback she got was huge, and we're all cheering for her to get to the top!!!!  (sorry - I need to reboot my computer, so I can't check the details on that story). 

I have to say that I made HUGE leaps and bounds yesterday in the writing department. My current URGENT writing is done for the week. I have ONE more homework assignment to send out today. Then I have a bunch of things on my task list to take care of. And some final checking of my assignment lists, homework, etc. But I feel pretty good about things, except for one small detail. 

In the back of my mind, I knew I had an appointment booked, but it was NOT written in my calendar (I'm not sure how that happened), and I got confirmation of it yesterday. The bottom line is that I'm double booked on one night, so I have to work that minor detail out today. I know what has to be done, and it'll be fine. But that's why it's so important to take the time to write things down.

Having a freelancer's calendar can be a nightmare, and having double-booked myself only once is not bad. But managing that calendar is a big job. But things are under control now. And I can stop that niggling in the back of my mind! 

If I asked you what kind of products you would find on Etsy, what would be your response? Well, check out this article to see if you guessed right. Franky, I'm shocked and appalled, but not surprised. I think what has happened has totally devalued the value of craft and artisans. It's sad to the industry. 

And don't forget that there is QUILTsocial blog post to read today. I'm so excited by the Husqvarna Viking Designer Sapphire 85 sewing and embroidery machine. So many cool things, and I love that you can do anything with this amazing machine!!! Check it out. 

What is your decluttering assignment today? You're going to find two areas in your house that are SUCCESSES. Again, you've seen my successes, and some of them aren't pretty, but they are a success. Send me a photo - I want to cheer your success, as do the others who read the blog. If you have a before and after, great, but if not - that's OK. Tell me what you did - even if it was to bring out that special tea towel like I did. 

On that note, I'm out of here. Loads to do today, and I'm excited to get started. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!