It has been some time since I blogged about decluttering. You may remember that a few months ago I was on a mission to clean the house. I accomplished quite a bit but did eventually lose the motivation as other things took over my free time, particularly all the work we did getting ready for our daughter's Bat Mitzvah in September.
I decided even before that day that once that was past us and the synagogue retreat my wife and I run each year was over (it was last weekend), I was putting my wife and daughter on notice that it was time for ALL of us to seriously work on cleaning the house. I told them that I wanted ALL of us to start doing what I had been doing over the summer.
Every single day, each of us is to clean at least one thing. That might mean doing as little as throwing away an unneeded receipt sitting on your dresser or getting that pair of shoes that you wore last week out of the family room and back into your closet.
Of course, the hope is that most days each of us will do more than one thing. It has been a week so far and everyone is cooperating. My daughter gets annoyed when I ask if she has cleaned something each day, but she is doing it. My wife has been doing really well. I think knowing that all of us are working on it has helped motivate her.
I've certainly been doing my share. Friday I attacked a pile of stuff in the basement that has been there for ever and ever. My reason for going there was to gain access to the exam/manipulation table that was blocked by the stuff (I'm an osteopathic physician and wanted to be able to use the table to work on DW and DD's necks and backs). I threw out some stuff and put some stuff away in the storage closets and, for the first time in a few years, was actually able to use the table. In fact, it was the first time my daughter was ever on that table.
Today, I spent some time in the garage and cleared out a bunch of trash and packed the recycling bin full of boxes and papers.
I've also done a variety of things inside the house, on my desk, in the kitchen, etc.
I'm sure that if all of us keep at it, pretty soon this place will start looking a lot better.
Decluttering Update
November 4th, 2008 at 02:29 am
November 4th, 2008 at 03:10 am 1225768210
November 4th, 2008 at 03:53 am 1225770824
November 4th, 2008 at 04:00 am 1225771208
November 4th, 2008 at 02:08 pm 1225807693
November 4th, 2008 at 07:41 pm 1225827670
As for the exam table, what is really strange is that it wasn't originally mine. The people from whom we bought the house left it behind. Neither of them was a physician so I have no idea why they had it. It was just a coincidence that I actually was someone who had a use for it (other than folding laundry).