Survey #258—Full Response from Dawn
| Pronouns | She/her |
|---|---|
| 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've done it on a limited basis. I usually do it when I'm cleaning my office and find items to KEEP for other areas of the condo. It seems quicker to put items for other areas right away because then it's off of my mind. for paperwork, though, I find it easier to work with a stack of papers all having the same end (e.g. file) so I can make all of the folders at the same time and organize them. As for the DONATE items, it would be ridiculous to do one thing at a time. I prefer to have it be "worth my while" to have a number of things leaving our home. Last week I took a few hours and went through my entire dresser, which has clothes and jewelry. I was able to garner a large bag of items and take it to a friend who could use the items. |
| 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? | Since decluttering is such a long process in terms of reaching the goal of only needing to refresh areas, I'm at this point not saying "only this much" based on a container size. I have two closets in my office. They house scrapbook materials, fabric for gifts and making some new clothes, as well as photos (about 17 shoeboxes on a shelf), in addition to writing materials for three in-progress books. These closets are large containers and I am not at all planning to go beyond that space. Trying to get rid of some books in the living room (DH causing issues) so I can only keep the ones we're actually reading and want to keep so I can 1) donate the remainder as well as 2) have room for new selections. |
| 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 to move things so I can think. Just this morning I took some paperwork into the bedroom so I could organize it (I was looking for something specific) without feeling cramped in my office. The bed is a great organizing space for me. I play music and it goes well. |
| 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. | When I read "visibility" I thought of the scarves in the photo. My brain went somewhere else. The photo made me think of a friend of mine who has her jewelry displayed in her bedroom, like the scarves in the photo. I saw that and it drove me nuts! I don't want to see everything I own because it would be overwhelming. My jewelry is containerized in drawers of various sizes. So, the question is, do you prefer to see your stuff or have it tucked away because too much visual is emotional overwhelm? Books on bookshelves are an exception. 🙂 |
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