Guest Post

Great Way To Off-Load Junk without Trashing The Planet

by: Janice Hill

Clearing out the clutter in your home and in your life can have a major impact on how much you enjoy the life you lead. If you and your family feel like your clutter is taking over your lives, it’s time to fight back.

Armed with a broom, a few handy-dandy trash bags, and an iron will there is nothing you can’t accomplish – at least not when it comes to the task of off-loading your junk without trashing the planet, that is.
You have to Crawl Before You Walk
Getting started is the hardest part by far. Depending on how long the problem has been building in your life, the task at hand can feel completely overwhelming. Now it’s time to take a few baby steps so that you can divide and conquer your clutter problems.
Don’t tackle the top of the mountain just yet. Instead, start at the bottom, one item at a time. Clear off enough space to create 3 piles: keep, toss, donate. There are plenty of great charities like Habitat for Humanity Stores, Goodwill, and Kars4kids that are all too happy to take your donations. Even animal shelters will be glad to receive things like old towels and blankets to line their cages.
You may need to get a few boxes to label so that you know what’s what. The things that are going to be tossed are generally in no shape to salvage at all. Recycle what can be recycled and carry the rest straight to your garbage container so that they do not find their way back into the clutter pile somehow.
Divide the room into grids and take one grid at a time, with frequent breaks in between, so that you aren’t completely overwhelmed and give up in frustration.
Take Time to Enjoy the New View
Once you finish cleaning one room – that is you have everything out that is going and everything put completely away that is staying – take a moment and enjoy the new view of your room before moving on to the next room. This little moment will help you sustain your momentum long enough to get the job done. It will also allow you a moment to appreciate the fruits of your labor.
When you do move on to the next room, remember all the things that got you through the first room. This new room represents a new beginning and a new opportunity to use what you’ve learned. Break it down into bite-sized pieces so you can enjoy small boosts throughout the cleaning process as you accomplish each and every one of your smaller goals. You’ll be surprised by how much faster the job seems to go when you do something like that.
BOTTOM LINE:
In the end, it isn’t the major changes that you’ve made to the cleanliness of your home that matters most. It’s the small changes in how you approach cleaning and getting rid of the clutter that matters. These are small steps that are sure to get you going in the right direction.

Janice Hill describes herself as a dedicated Mom who is determined to find her way without losing her hair.

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Rubbermaid Drawer Organizer Review and Giveaway *CLOSED*

Rubbermaid Drawer Organizer

Rubbermaid is hosting a Quick Organizing Adventure: the Junk Drawer. Yes!! Right up my alley!

Next step, find a drawer in my house that needs organizing. It isn’t as hard as you might imagine. Remember, there are 6 other people in this house and not any of them have the passion for organizing (and staying organized) as I do.

Enter in: The kitchen gadget Junk Drawer:  What a mess!

This in all reality only took 15 minutes to turn this messy drawer into this!  Kitchen gadgets can be a hard one because they are all sized and shaped so differently. I would like another organizer in the back to have all the “not used very often” items in. To me, this drawer never looks as organized as I would like.

Step 1 – EMPTY

Empty everything out of the drawer and clean the drawer.

Step 2 – SORT

Sort what is in the drawer. Only keep what you use. Any papers, trash, broken pieces – get rid of. Any items that don’t belong in that location (for instance you don’t want your earrings in your office drawer)

Step 3 – SET UP

Take your Rubbermaid drawer organizer and configure it how you would like it in your drawer. The interlocking pieces make it fit together nicely if you choose to use it that way. You can use them in a couple smaller drawers too, if that is what you need.  The pieces are the following sizes. There are 3 small squares 3×3 inches. One rectangle 3×9 inch and one longer rectangle 3×12 inches. Then you have your larger retangle 6×9 inches. They are all 2.2 inches in height. There are a couple of other nice features that I liked. The inside has a rubberized bottom (so things aren’t so noisy and they don’t slide around. They they also are made so that they unit themselves don’t slide around in the drawer when you open & shut. I have had some that do that, if they don’t fit all the way back…you place it in front and when you open the drawer back up it has moved way back. I like that I won’t have that problem with these.

I would say the only negative I have was that I wanted to configure it a little different but the lip was on the wrong side to do what I wanted to do. I bet if I had played with it enough (like a puzzle) I could have made it work…but the way I have it worked fine too)

Step 4 – RELOAD

Reload the drawer. Use the space towards the front for items you use most frequently. The items you don’t use as often place towards the back of the drawer. As you can see in my picture, things like meat thermometers and egg white separator are in the far back of the drawer. Those are items I do want to keep, but I only use them a few times a year, so they do not need to be up front. Now my scissors, can openers and toast tongs we use almost daily – those need to be the most accessible.

Giveaway

To Purchase Your Own: Go to Rubbermaid.com and purchase, or find at any stores that carry Rubbermaid products. You can get a coupon for $1 off if you go to SmartSource Coupon Page

To Win:

Go to Rubbermaids blog called Junk Drawer Ingenuity and tell me something else you learned about junk drawer organization.

**Be sure to come back here and leave me a comment.

Your e-mail needs to be either on your comment or easily accessible in your profile.

For Extra chances to Win:

**Each of these HAS to have a separate comment written please. (I know its a pain, but other wise you won’t have as many chances if you don’t)

You can find all the links in my right hand sidebar.

1) Subscribe to my Organize with sandy Blog with feeder or e-mail. 5 extra chances.

2) Subscribe to my New Blog Chat with Sandy 5 extra chances

3) Follow me on Twitter (@OrganizerSandy)

4) Follow me on Linked In

5) Tweet out this giveaway up to 3 times per day. Write a comment for each time you do with the link.

6) Add any of my 3 buttons (Organize with Sandy, Reviews, Chat with Sandy) to your sidebar and come back to let me know. Separate entry for each one you add.

See….lots of ways to enter to win!

This contest will run until 11:59pm est on Monday March 15th, 2010 *THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED. ANY COMMENTS THAT COME IN AFTER THE DEADLINE WILL NOT BE COUNTED*

This is open to US & Canada mailing addresses only. One person per mailing address only. Winner will be chosen by Random.org

You will have 48 hours to reply to my e-mail if you win to be eligible. If I don’t hear back then I will go to the next winner.

Disclosure policy – I did receive this drawer organizer from Rubbermaid at no cost. They did not require a review or giveaway but told us we were welcome to do one if we so desired. They also told us to please be honest about our thoughts on the product (that is easy because I always am).

Check Out my Other Giveaways Going on Now:

Twirly Hanger - Ends 3/4/10  Organize with Sandy

FUMI Pursehook – Ends 3/4/10 Chat with Sandy

Covergirl Smoky Eyes Kit – Ends 3/8/10 Chat with Sandy

Surface Abuser

Does your counter look like this?

You May be a Surface Abuser if:

1) You think if there is an empty spot on a counter in the kitchen…then you have “more room to put things”

2) You think table tops and counters look “naked” if there is nothing on them.

3) You haven’t been able to wipe down your counter for weeks because of all of the “stuff”

4) You found a dead fish from 6 months ago under some papers on the counter. You thought the other fish ate it. (true story but not this pic)

5) You don’t have to worry about dust on your living room end tables because there is no wood showing.

6) You find expired coupons sitting on counter tops.

7) You know exactly where that lid to the super glue is…and no one better move it out from under the newspaper from 6 weeks ago.

8) You may have left an egg on the counter in the kitchen….but your not sure, it blends in with all the papers so well.

9) You have to clear the papers at the table in order to have room to eat dinner at night. Then you move them back after dinner

10) Other people call you messy, but you feel proud to have been given the title “Surface Abuser” instead. Nikki from The Guilty Parent was my inspiration for #10! Although she is also very visual (which many surface abusers are…so I called her a “Visual Surface Abuser”.

If you were able to answer “yes” to 1 or more of these questions /statements…then you are probably a Surface Abuser.  There is help for you out there….stay tuned for treatment plans.

Hoarders

Hoarding….What is it all About?

Did any of you watch the new show on A&E (Mondays at 10pm est).  It is called appropriately enough…”Hoarders”.
It gives the real life picture of what a hoarding house looks like….the thought process that the hoarders go through and their reasoning in why they “need” to keep their “stuff” and how they get rid of it…or do not get rid of it.  This is real life (from what I can tell) and shows the real emotions of these people. They get very anxious when people try to throw their things away if they have not made the decision themselves.

Hoarding. This is an Emotional Problem

This is an emotional problem.  There needs to be a psych. Dr. involved and helping to treat the person for the changes to stay in effect.

The picture above is a garage.  If you will notice that the boxes almost touch the garage door hardware on the ceiling….yes that is the ceiling! This is a woman I worked with last year. She is a hoarder…and knows it. She has books on organizing and is determined to get out of the mess she is in.  She has a very limited budget ….a disabled husband, and no real help.  She wants to move into a 600 sq ft house that her son (deceased) used to live in. Her house is a 4 bedroom home with basement and garage full. It would be cool for her to be on a show like that and get the physical help she needs.

But I love hearing what these people are saying….because I feel like I have heard most of it out of the mouth of my client.  They have a reason for each thing they have and have a hard time giving it up.

Hoarding is a serious emotional issue…it is not just lazy people.  Would love for you to see the Chaotic Kitten of Dehoarding Diary.  She is a hoarder who is decluttering her house and blogging on it. She has before and after photos. Love her and so proud of her.

You also might be interested in these pasts posts of mine:

What if I’m a Hoarder? What do I do?

Hoarding

Dehoarding Diary Works it Out