Survey #258—Full Response from Jane
| What useful decluttering or organizing strategies or methods did you take away from the book? | I start decluttering with trash, easy stuff, and duh donations. Even if I don't get any further, things are better (especially if I use the practice of "taking it there now"). Better is always my goal. As a recovering perfectionist, accepting better has been a big win! |
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| What parts or aspects of the book did you find difficult to grasp or challenging to apply to your home or situation? | I struggle with getting beyond the duh donations. Progress is being made though on using the question "Where would I look for this first?" It was enlightening to hear there's not necessarily a "right" place to store something (stemming back to my perfectionist tendencies). 🙂 |
| Please share your favorite quotations or key ideas and concepts from this book. | The container concept has been a huge win. Once a container for a category or items is full, it's time to consider what in the container should go. |
| White suggests a decluttering process that requires making a final decision about each item (keep, trash, or donate) and placing the item in its appropriate home right away rather than into a “keep pile” or “keep box” for later organizing. If you’ve used her method, how has the “take it there right now” approach worked for you? What are the pros and cons of her suggested strategy? | I use a modified version of "take it there now." Things that need to go elsewhere are categorized and I leave time at the end of each session to move things to their appropriate home. Due to mobility issues, this works best for me. |
| A big part of White’s decluttering philosophy is the “container concept”—the idea of setting firm limits on the containers you use to hold your stuff, where “containers” are understood to mean the boxes, bins, racks, baskets, drawers, cabinets, shelves, etc., that you use to hold stuff, as well as the rooms that must contain the containers—and then decluttering to fit those limits. If you’ve used her method, how has the “container concept” helped or hindered your decluttering? What are the pros and cons of her methodology? Are there areas or categories of stuff for which it works better than others? | The container concept is much like the one in one out rule. I use both rules. Deciding on a container, gives everything a place to live and keeps overflow at bay. |
| White suggests following the “visibility rule”: Start every session of decluttering in the most visible places in your home. If you’ve used her method, how has the “visibility rule” helped or hindered your decluttering? What are the pros and cons of her suggested approach? | Historically, I've liked to declutter a specific space during a decluttering session (closet, drawer, pantry, etc.). Recently though, I stood at my front door and looked in to see what folks see from there. This was hugely helpful in reducing my fears of opening the front door. The space seen is relatively small and also pretty easy to keep tidy. Knowing that gave me more motivation to keep that area clear of clutter. |
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