Survey #258—Full Response from Johanna
| Pronouns | She/her |
|---|---|
| What useful decluttering or organizing strategies or methods did you take away from the book? | I can only keep as much stuff as there is space. My place and every room and every closet or drawer is a finite container. I keep my favourites and my least favourites need to go if they don't fit. I also apply the Konmari 90% full rule, so I don't stuff everything in but leave space to manoeuvre. |
| What parts or aspects of the book did you find difficult to grasp or challenging to apply to your home or situation? | That everything is progress. I'm a perfectionist. It's only progress when everything is done. Which is never... |
| Please share your favorite quotations or key ideas and concepts from this book. | That I can break everything down in the smallest tasks possible and I don't have to do it all in one go like I always used to. I applied this concept over the last week to my bedroom/craft room. Today I will finish by dusting the top of my armoire, the final task on a really long list. My room is now decluttered, organised and dust free. I have an overview of all the craft and sewing/knitting projects I want to do with the materials I already have, so no more decision paralysis. Many unfinished or not in this lifetime projects were let go. And I can breathe and don't trip over craft stuff in the dark because everything has a home now. |
| 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 have always used this method because otherwise I forget my decision or where I put the item or that it exists at all and have to handle it again and again. I have found too many boxes of stuff that was supposed to be donated or recycled months or years later. Many materials like fabric and plastic disintegrate and little visitors make their home in the boxes. |
| 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? | Like I wrote before, as a Konmariist I already used a similar approach. A definite pro is that I love love love clear plastic bins to only keep my favourite items because I need to see everything. This way every item has a home, so tidying is a breeze because I know where to put it (and yes, sometimes I even put it there right away!) A con is that I am a master at playing Tetris until everything somehow fits, so I still keep too much. |
| 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? | I prefer decluttering and organising from the inside out. Yes, I do pick the low hanging fruit, eg stuff on the floor, first. But if my closets and drawers are a mess, there is nowhere to put the things. I keep my kitchen and bathroom as organised and tidy as possible for functional and hygienic reasons. My living room on the other hand is a battle field, I haven't been able to sit on my sofa in months. It's visible, but not a priority. |
| Here’s your chance to ask Gayle and Ed any question you’re curious about. It need not be related to this survey’s topic(s). If we think that your question—and our answer—might be useful or instructive to The Clutter Fairy Weekly audience, we’ll share them in an upcoming episode. | Just a thank you for everything you do! |
| Future topics | Maybe with summer approaching the topic of "outside clutter" could be useful? A garden is an almost infinite place for plants, pots, tools, lawn chairs, kids toys... It's hard to find a balance between having a space for relaxing and entertaining and keeping all the necessary stuff like lawnmower. There's a lot of potential for aspirational clutter as well, eg "I'll grow my own vegetables from now on", "I'll have barbecue parties every week"... |
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