Odds n ends, never "done"

seeker

Thu, Feb 22 2018, 11:59 am

So first of all, I need to brag, big time. I did a little refurnishing, which triggered a massive spring cleaning, because I had to empty out what was there before, and then the new piece made space for some things that hadn't had good homes before, one thing led to another, anyway I did a MASSIVE amount of purging and reorganizing and it's amazing. I had random junk in boxes that had never found homes at various other organizing junctures, including one from when we first moved in here, and now I'm down to ONE little basket of odds n ends.

But oh, how that one basket is driving me crazy!

And of course it's not JUST the one basket, that's just the only thing left that's seriously random. I also have a box of rectangular things like un-hung pictures, a magazine holder of papers that still need to be filed (mind you, I already filed a lot AND purged even more. But at a certain point I just had to make a new TBS pile to save time in the short run) assorted things scattered on the table (though less than before), a pile of CDs that need decisions made, and a basket of stuff that belongs to my kids that they will have to find homes for.

But I did an AMAZING job and yet the place still looks so messy because of these last few things and I'm running out of energy, motivation, and ideas of where to put things! Augh!

So I need to brag and kvetch.

Meanwhile, most other life functions were put on hold for about a week while this all happened, leaving me way behind in other matters. If I did such an amazing organization job, why do I feel just as overwhelmed and messy as ever?!

ra_mom

Thu, Feb 22 2018, 12:26 pm

Wow that sounds awesome!! I'd love to hear what you end up doing with the furniture. I'm so happy for you that you did such a big overhaul. It must feel amazing!!!
As much as I do I also am never done. I don't think any of us are because BH we are constantly living, upgrading, acquiring and things keep needing to be reevaluated.
But it sounds like you created a system you'll be able to maintain so that will make it so much easier.

seeker

Thu, Feb 22 2018, 12:49 pm

Were you on the other thread where I was agonizing over how to put in the new cabinets? Here's what happened in the week+ since then:

1. So what I ended up doing was I shoved aside all my under-the-counter-junk and put in my neighbor's discarded 2 sets of kitchen drawers. Then in order to put things back together properly, I first had to deal with the stuff that had been under the counter. Oh and I'd also had to empty the counter surface in order to put in the new things, because it had previously been hanging on the wall like a huge shelf and now it was taken down from there, cabinets shoved into place, and shelf-counter placed on top of the cabinets. There was TONS of junk ALL OVER the counter because I'd had no junk drawer and was just a mess.

2. One thing was the printer, I just put that IN one of the big, deep drawers and threaded the cord through the back of it, looks amazing, and there was room for the spare printer paper next to it.

3. Then under that I'd had way too many folders and papers that I neglected to ever deal with, so I went through them, threw away a lot, filed a bunch.

4. Then speaking of filed, I had a 2-drawer filing cabinet under the counter. I took a large file tote box (the kind that lets you hang hanging files on the rim), put that in one of the large drawers (that were made for kitchen appliances, big and strong) and transferred the files from the filing cabinet into there, doing a TON of purging and some reorganizing along the way. So that was a major organizing of all my paper stuff plus got rid of the filing cabinet.

5. There were two boxes of junior books down there, things I like but too sophisticated for my kids. I went through them, got rid of some (mostly ones that were doubles, somehow I ended up with 2 each of several Harry Potter volumes without even realizing it...), moved some to the regular bookshelf because I figured even if they're a little too old for my kids they are OK to stay on the shelf until they grow into them (e.g. Boxcar Children. Challenging but not inappropriate in any way.) I made room for these by purging some other things from the bookshelf, mostly adult books that I decided weren't worth the space anymore. So now I'm down to one of the book boxes, which is still sitting in middle of my narrow kitchen deciding what it wants to do with itself.

6. Since the counter was now clear, I put the bread machine on top of it in a corner instead of under it. I'm still not sure why I still own the thing but it looks OK over there. The counter is large.

7. I took a bunch of the stationery items that had been cluttering up the bookshelf and transferred them to one of the shallow top drawers in one of these drawer-organizer things that doesn't have enough space in any of its compartments but is still more functional than the shelf jumble. I still have some shelf jumble left to work on.

8. Then I attacked these boxes that were in various places around the house from other moves because they were suddenly staring me in the face. One contained many batteries, so I put those in a box in the back of the stationery drawer. I don't remember what else was there, some things got trashed or freecycled, like a lot of half-unused notebooks that even if they are still functional I don't need that many for just in case. Some just got consolidated, so that instead of 3 boxes I now have one.

9. There were a whole lot of CDs, which as I mentioned in yet another thread, I spent too many hours backing up and then trying to figure out what to do next. Also found that many were duplicates (backups of backups?) so I did send a bunch to the trash, and many extra cases too.

I don't even remember what everything else was; all I know is that I went through TONS AND TONS AND TONS of stuff and yet there are still things left sitting around looking ugly and I don't know what to do about them. I still have quite a bit of drawer space available but after all this spectacular organizing I'm not just going to dump a jumble of junk into my nice new drawers to rot there!

Oh, and the seasons will be changing soon, it's time to start tearing apart the kids' wardrobe to see what fits and what is needed. I'm going to burn out big time. I'm also going to regret this in a big way because I have work due soon that I didn't even start on.

seeker

Thu, Feb 22 2018, 1:00 pm

I also have to reckon with quite a large collection of magazines that I really really wanted to read but really won't have the time and attention span for. But right now I don't have the koach to purge them either. I need to get the rest of the $#@% off of my table so I can go back to enjoying having a table, and then conserve energy for the great wardrobe attack, and dare I invoke the P word yet?

And speaking of the other P word, I have about 4 days left to conjure a jaguar and lion costume in sizes 7ish and 6ish respectively. Get the cameras and the timers rolling, folks, things are about to get real and they might hit the fan. Which is collecting dust in middle of the kitchen since it was banished from under the counter embarrassed

bigsis144

Thu, Feb 22 2018, 1:46 pm

I just want to say Yasher Koach!!

ra_mom

Thu, Feb 22 2018, 3:39 pm

That sounds amazing! Especially the printer drawer and file box drawer. Enjoy all of it, it must feel awesome opening those up and being able to use them so easily that way.

enneamom

Thu, Feb 22 2018, 3:47 pm

You sound like you're ready to start a reorganization blog! LOL

seeker

Fri, Feb 23 2018, 12:55 am

Haha. I tried adding it to my list of great ideas but it got scared off by the ghosts of forgotten blogs past.

Sunny Days

Fri, Feb 23 2018, 2:23 am

Seeker. you inspired me. I need to get this place in order here. sometimes I feel like ya, put my life on hold and JUST ORGANIZE!
I actually did a little today. but then the other things get pushed to the side....

what I would love to do when I need to organize- consolidate 20 hours with no interruption and just zoom through here . I need to switch around items to different closets so I need to unpack and then repack and do what you did meanwhile, purge!

sorry for my rambling, but I appreciate you posting so I can get some ideas and inspiration!

Gut Shabbos.

p.s. hope you don't get burnout and the good feeling from seeing organized cabinets etc. will keep you back from burnout.

imasinger

Fri, Feb 23 2018, 7:13 am

Good for you!

I can totally relate, I also have been working really hard cleaning and purging. I started in the beginning of January, and have made major progress.

And am also running out of steam. I find, as I near the end, there is less available storage space, and there are more things that I (or other family members) can't decide whether to toss or not.

Going for shorter time commitments, writing things down, and automatic deadlines have been my way forward

I am cutting back the organizing time to 10 minutes a day. If I sort one folder, that's still something, and I need to start working on Pesach soon. I also bought a pretty fabric covered box for my odds and ends, so at least it looks nice on the shelf, and I can deal with the stuff in it as time goes on.

Choosing to part with a few more books gave me shelf space.

I choose one magazine, and give it a week, in the most likely location (bedside or bathroom). At the end of the week, the automatic decision is to toss it, unless I decide otherwise for just that one.

For you, maybe take some time to plan where you will hang the pictures, and write it down. I find once I write my plans, I'm more likely to carry them out.

Hatzlacha on finishing an awesome job!