Clean a couple of the things?

[owlectomy]

Dear internets, I have a confession!

I moved in May. Here we are halfway through January and I still have boxes I haven't finished unpacking. Mostly because when stuff is in boxes, I don't have to figure out where to put it.

I have been doing bitesizedcleaning for a week now.

Hyperbole and a Half was kind of a revelation for me in that I realized I'm not a unique failure as a human being for my inability to clean all the things. It's a cycle that happens to kind of a lot of people. However, my best intentions to spend fifteen minutes a day cleaning up tended to be undercut by the amorphousness of "cleaning" and also "day." (Yes, really: I had a tendency to shunt it off until evening, when at best I am tired and hungry and at worst WHY DO I HAVE TO GO UP ALL THE STAIRS? STIEG LARSSON HAD TO GO UP ALL THE STAIRS AND HE DIED! It's true, look it up.)

Anyway, I'm doing okay now but I know better than to get over-confident after just a week. I need to cull my books again; I need to unpack my boxes just to get stuff out of them; I need to make a scale diagram of my room and figure out if there's some more efficient way to arrange my furniture once the boxes are out of the way. And I need to return my unused bridesmaid shoes to Zappos, AAAGH.

The unfortunate consequence of culling my books and very carefully choosing what I'm going to buy is that there's not much left to cull, but there are still a lot of books. I believe that I don't own nearly enough books and it's just that my apartment is too small, but I don't know how to fix that short of moving to the midwest.

It's a problem that a huge portion of my closet space is being monopolized by flattened boxes, but I don't really want to get rid of them either, considering that I would like to move as soon as I can afford to, and may have to move before then.

Comments

[littlebutfierce]

Re: the boxes -- do you have a liquor store near you? Sure to have lots of sturdy, bug-free boxes to give away in a hurry when you need to move...

[owlectomy]

I've tried asking liquor stores for boxes and actually not had much luck. I would try again, except that I'm so bad at asking people for things!

Fortunately, my sister is moving from Queens to Brooklyn (closer to me, yay!) and I was able to give all my boxes to her for now!

[k_a_webb]

I believe that I don't own nearly enough books and it's just that my apartment is too small

I agree with this. :)

[daedala]

Thank you for the linked to bitesizedcleaning. I'm in. :)

I followed the trail to the unclutter community, which you may find helpful, too. It looks neat -- it's just that my current MO involves lots of selling, and making money at it would change the community.

[owlectomy]

I've been keeping an eye on the unclutter comm, though I'm not sure it would be useful for me as I still have some anxiety issues over pressure to get rid of stuff (because of LOTS of moving as a child...)

Thanks, though!

[daedala]

I can sympathize about the pressure to get rid of stuff. I had some pretty bad moves, too, and ended up collecting Stuff as a defense. Some people have security blankies, I have a security library.... But I don't really need it any more. And really, I'm not going to read most of it; much of what I might actually read is available in the library; and the proliferation of penny books on Amazon and my current financial situation means I can buy anything I want again when I want it, instead of holding it against that day.

The point of selling, for me, isn't so much the making money (though that doesn't hurt) -- it's confirming for myself that things have value, and getting them to someone who wants them. I sell things first; if they're not worth enough to sell, I donate (and keep kind of crazy records for the IRS, pictures and inventories and receipts); then I may toss. Donations go first to Books for Africa, then the library, then Goodwill-equivalent.

Um, I'm not saying you ought to do this! I'm trying to sympathize and explain how I am dealing with that anxiety, in case it helps.

[brigid]

Yeeeeeeaaaaaaaah we have stuff in boxes from moves that happened years ago. One of our goals this year is to unpack every single box and throw out half of the stuff (at least) that's still packed. I mean, if we haven't used it in five years, do we need it?

Another goal is to make a hot meal every single day (I'm talking, make a meal plan, grocery list, go shopping, make a full main course and veggie sides, sit down as a family and eat) and wash all the dishes and clean out the sink/wipe off the stove top. This is a basic thing, right? Most people do this without thinking about it right? UGH OH GOD SO HARD. (of course, my husband works late evenings/ealry nights so our main meal is like, at noon.)

I've found that literally setting a timer for 5 or 10 minutes and doing a quick pick up, then taking a break for something fun, then timing the work, etc leads to manageable tidiness once a basic level of clean is achieved. It can even help lead to that basic level of clean... it helps me in the eternal quest to corral baby toys from the living room.

[owlectomy]

I don't think most people make a full main course and veggie sides every day without thinking about it! Even when I was growing up with a stay-at-home mom, that would definitely not happen every day. Me, I can just manage cooking a couple times a week, and that's stir-fries or one-pot-stews where I don't have to worry about multiple courses.

Timers are fantastic, yeah. It's a lot easier when you know you only have to do a few minutes and then the bell rings and you're off the hook.