Yakkstr

Clearing the Clutter and Taming the Chaos

I'm a fairly organized person because I juggle so many things--work, volunteer commitments, freelancing, family obligations and so much more. But we recently bought a new house, and I can't seem to get myself organized. I have stuff unpacked but it's in piles everywhere because we just don't have the right furniture, yet, for the house to make all our storage work. So, it's driving me a bit bonkers.

A new school year is fast approaching here, so I need to get the house, myself, the hubby and family organized for the sake of my sanity.

We are having a yard sale this weekend, which will help get rid of some of the clutter--outgrown clothes, furniture that we had in the old house but that doesn't quite work--wrong style, too large, too old for the new house, dorm fridges and decor items, etc.

I also went out and bought a new planner today--the July to June kind that works well for school years rather than calendar years. I find these just work best for me. Ironically, I have a Droid phone, so I keep it synched with my gmail calendar, so all my personal appointments are on my phone which also conveniently sends me reminders. But I find that I need something to write things down on so I can make notes for some things as well. I also bought a second large desk pad calendar to coordinate family dates/things and volunteer activity dates this way I can have the entire family's schedule in one place at a glance (again, even though it's easily accessible on my phone since the hubby and the one kiddo share their gmail/Google calendars with me).

I have great goals for this weekend. Along with stripping wallpaper in our stairwell and upper hallway, I am cleaning out my office that has too many piles of stuff on my desk. It seems that if people in the family can't figure out where something goes, it lands in my office either on the bookshelves, on the floor in a stack, or on my desk. I can't actually see the surface of my desk for the stuff on it. This ABSOLUTELY has to change and change in the next three and a half weeks, or I will go mad once the school year starts.

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d6fer said almost 2 years ago ...

I get overwhelmed when facing a large task like that as well, but you just have to pick a starting point and get to it.....otherwise, it just doesn't get done.

yakkstr said almost 2 years ago ...

welcome sarojaede, it's great to have you.

Maybe you could put all the unpacked but unorganized things into a single room so that the rest of the house feels organized? Then you only have to feel the clutter in one room.

btw, I'd love to know how the site looks on the droid. I have an iphone so I test it on that a lot. Let me know if there are any problems with it on the droid and I'll fix them. I have a mytouch in a drawer somewhere I should dig out and use for testing.

sarojaede said almost 2 years ago ...

I haven't actually looked at the site on my Droid yet, but I will be sure to do that tomorrow when I'm actually awake. :)

msstar39 said almost 2 years ago ...

Congrats on the new house saro, it does take time to get organized but it seems like you really have a plan, if only I could be that organized.

scipio said almost 2 years ago ...

Hope your chaos melts into sanity.

silverwhisper said almost 2 years ago ...

i hope your yard sale goes (went?) well!

sarojaede said almost 2 years ago ...

MsStar--Well, the house isn't that new. We've actually been in it almost a year, which is why I think the clutter and chaos is distressing me so. But, according to my parents it takes about 5 years to really get settled in a new home that you own, and by that time, you want to start remodeling or renovating, so you're never really completely settled in. HA!

Thanks, scipio, I hope it does too.

Silverwhisper, it's this coming Saturday, so I hope it goes well too.

uniquely-learning said almost 2 years ago ...

I'm not really the person to have any bright ideas about storage and organization. My secret is big storage tubs and a lot of disciplined ignoring. You'll get there. Sometimes it's just a matter of waiting until you find the right place.

silverwhisper said almost 2 years ago ...

ugh, this is what i get for commenting before fully awake. nice to make your acquaintance. :>

alyss said almost 2 years ago ...

Goodness I dread the thought of having to tackle moving house for precisely the reasons you've mentioned! There are piles of stuff aplenty here and that's without moving...

sarojaede said almost 2 years ago ...

Uniquely--I have a basement full of Rubbermaid storage bins for things like Christmas decorations and the like. But it's the other clutter. It's amazing how much paper one can generate from mail alone even when you have all your bills sent electronically.

Silver--It's nice to make yours as well. :)

Alyss--Taming the rooms inhabited by kids has become a nearly impossible task. There are Legos and the like everywhere. And my desk, it's a mountain of paper. UGH. I've thought about just pitching everything on my desk into the garbage, but as soon as I do, I will have tossed something of the utmost importance.

rollingc said almost 2 years ago ...

Moving is such a traumatic experience for me that I fully dread doing it. It's not the new place at all but the unpacking and organizing that gets to me. Rc

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