Category: Declutter

This is the next posting in our continuing Declutter Series.  It’s another quick easy one! 

If you have additional ideas, feel free to contribute! I’d love to hear from you.  🙂

 

So I’m out and about.  I go to a restaurant.  I pass by a sandwich place, a new bagel deli, or perhaps I see a food establishment that catches my interest.

Yep.  I admit it — I LOVE food places…

So of course I bring home a Takeout or Take Home Menu.

After all, everything I need is on that menu, right? – Available items, prices, phone number, address… and “you never know” when I might need it!

I dutifully add this new menu to my “collection”.

I have them in drawers, pinned to the refrigerator, on my desk, under the blotter, etc.  (You know… all the typical hidey-holes for this kind of stuff.  🙂

So I gathered them all up and guess what???  Some of the menus in my “collection” are YEARS old and some of these places don’t even EXIST anymore!

Also, almost all this information is readily available on the internet, in a web site, or in some readily available smart app.

And their information is the most updated info!  Unlike most of MINE… 🙂

The solution?

In the garbage!

Done!

Another pile of useless “stuff” gone…

 

Regards!

Mari at Next Wave

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This is the next posting in our continuing Declutter Series.  Another super easy one! 

If you have additional ideas, feel free to contribute! I’d love to hear from you. 🙂

 

Ok, I admit it — I seem to inherit pens… all shapes, all sizes, all colors!

How they manage to show up in my house? — I just don’t know!  But show up they do!  It’s a mystery, for sure.  🙂

So I collected all these pens — and guess what?  More than half of them were dried up and useless.

OUT!

My new streamlined collection is now strategically placed in cups on my desks, by phones, or anywhere else I tend to “take a note”.

The rest of the “good ones”?

I put them in a baggie and placed the baggie with my good office supplies.

Done!

 

Regards!

Mari at Next Wave

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This is the next posting in our continuing Declutter Series.  Another easy one! 

If you have additional ideas, feel free to contribute! I’d love to hear from you. 🙂

 

Some of us have hidden (or not-so-hidden) piles of old magazines…

Mine are in a magazine basket next to the couch and the overflow (yes of course!) is in a 4-tiered shelf AND a box under a desk.

I have all good intentions to read them.  (Really!)  But I just run of time and they continue to come.  And they continue to stack up.  Do they clone???

I have to look in the mirror and admit — if they’re a year old, what are the chances I will really get to them?  Honestly!

So here’s the easy fix:  If they’re a year or more old, they go.

Many places would love to inherit old magazines:  Pre-schools, Schools, Libraries, Care Facilities, Friends, etc.  Ask around.  You’ll be surprised.

Remember to remove your name and address.

If you choose to throw them out, remember to put them in the recycle bin.

Done!

Now doesn’t that feel good?

 

Regards!

Mari at Next Wave

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This is the next posting in our continuing Declutter Series.  And it’s another easy one.

We take this opportunity to open our medicine cabinet and get rid of old prescriptions and over-the-counter pills/capsules/ointments/creams/etc that are expired, or that haven’t been used in months. (years???)

Many of these items are unsafe when past their expiration date.

Be sure to dispose of this stuff properly.  Some drug stores and/or municipalities have safe drop-off places.  Flushing them down the toilet is not a safe option.

Look how much space is in there now that this stuff is gone!

Maybe run a wet sponge over the shelves and remove all that dust and gunky build-up.

Wow it looks nice now!

Done!

Regards!

Mari at Next Wave

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This is the first in our continuing Declutter Series.  And it’s an easy one.

I was actually amazed to find a few bottles of old nail polish that were so clumped or dried up!  They were in a drawer.  We all have one of those drawers…

So don’t worry about anything else in that drawer — just say goodbye to that gross useless old nail polish!

In the garbage!

Done!

 

Regards!

Mari at Next Wave

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Stressed because of clutter?  (Or perhaps we have clutter because we’re stressed?!!)

Either way, most of us would agree that if we could just de-clutter our space, and maybe free up a bit more space, we’d feel a lot better.

An article in the Orange County Register (7JAN17) cited a UCLA study which actually found that decluttering isn’t only an aesthetic task, but has proven health benefits.  They found that women who live in a cluttered environment are more likely to experience a surge in cortisol, a stress hormone!

So there’s the connection – our clutter may be contributing to our stress!

That said, it’s a good idea to periodically take an honest look at all the “stuff” we tend to accumulate with an eye toward “toss”, “recycle”, or “donate”.

Whichever “pile” you choose, don’t just move it from its original “hidey hole” to a “never-to-go-out” pile.  Get it out of there as soon as possible!

So together, let’s take some of the stress out of our world ONE TINY STEP AT A TIME.

After all, we don’t want to stress out over creating yet ANOTHER project to procrastinate over!  (I know for me, the mere idea of tackling such a daunting project can be stressful!)

Ok so let’s take this one teensy step at a time… of course, we’ve all heard the adage: How do you eat an elephant?  (One bite at a time!)

Yeah… easy for THEM to say… the elephant isn’t in THEIR space!

So here goes — For each posting, I’ll identify just one “bite” — one teensy little bite — and we won’t even THINK about that whole elephant. I promise to identify something that will only take a few minutes… and we’ll do it together.

If you have any additional ideas, feel free to contribute!

I’m feeling hungry for a bite of elephant… how about you?

 

Regards!

Mari at Next Wave

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