Survey #258—Full Response from Ginger
| What useful decluttering or organizing strategies or methods did you take away from the book? | ▪️I enjoyed rereading the book. I read it years ago. I’m not sure if I learned about the “container concept” from her, someone else or from my own “aha” moment. It’s one way I’ve been able to keep craft supplies under control. The other way is to have periodic creative blitz to “use it up”. |
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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? | ▪️None. All will work. |
| Please share your favorite quotations or key ideas and concepts from this book. | ▪️“When I declutter, I feel happy as things LEAVE MY HOME. The literal weight of that stuff is gone and I’m thrilled to have open space.” Emphasis mine. ▪️Sometime over the past few years - it became difficult for me to get stuff GONE. It began piling up in a spare room of the garage, This line in her book reminds me to COMPLETE THE CYCLE. Epiphany! ▪️I’m a HUGE believer in completing the cycle. Wash, dry, fold, put away. Get it out, get what you need, put it back. Put it on, wear it, take it off and put it where it goes. Buy it, bring it home, de-package it, recycle the packaging and prep the thing for use and use it! So I don’t know why or when I began allowing incomplete decluttering cycles. ▪️I think it has to do with being older, torn meniscus, inflammation, and having to carry things downstairs to the garage under our crazy stilt house. I’ve lost 75 lbs. the meniscus was repaired, with my diet - the inflammation is seriously down. It’s time to return to completing this decluttering cycle. |
| 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’m perfectly okay with creating a “relocate” pile and actually putting away the things at the end of a decluttering session. I’ll complete THAT cycle. ▪️UNLESS… I’m trying to get my steps for the day! But, then - I would still create the pile and put away 1 item at a time. ▪️Going off to put something away - is tricky for me. Some days I’m so easily distracted - I may not get back to the task. |
| 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? | ▪️LOVE IT! If it doesn’t fit… of it you must be rid. 😂 |
| 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 don’t like visual clutter. I like things put away in their homes. So, Im totally on board with this concept to the point it doesn’t give me the same feeling. ▪️However, I do enjoy revisiting my decluttered and organized cabinets, drawers and closets. I will open them to admire them. Tweak a few things. I get a little dopamine hit from it. Ahhh! |
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