Survey #309—Full Response from JM
| Pronouns | She/her |
|---|---|
| Describe an organizing project or task that you left incomplete because it wasn’t going the way you envisioned. What expectations had you set that you weren’t able to satisfy? | I dug everything out of two of my large "packrat closets" when the opportunity for a paint crew to keep going presented itself as we were trying to complete a remodel begun right before Covid (and delayed until recently). I thought this would be a great opportunity to force myself to go through the layers of carefully tetris'ed accumulation and I set a goal of getting rid of at least 50%, putting nothing back that hadn't been thoroughly "vetted" for keep-worthiness. While it kind-of worked in the beginning, the stuff cluttered up two entire rooms which I had worked hard to declutter previously, and only got worse by the day as unforeseen events created the need to get under piles for some critical thing or other and decision-making and finding homes for what we didn't want became painstakingly slow. Then my husband had (is still in) a health crisis and all priorities changed, leaving me with a horrible mess in rooms I was previously so proud of and no bandwidth for even finishing the remaining final tasks of the remodel. I feel like I set myself back 6 years. 😢 |
| How do your initial expectations regarding the time, energy, and emotional effort needed for a decluttering project usually compare to the reality of the actual process? | Life is always sunnier and time is endless in my imagination of the future. |
| What “real-world” factors tend to interfere with your decluttering and organizing tasks or projects and keep you from meeting the expectations you’ve set? | The everyday tasks of real-life, plus caregiving and lower energy levels from lack of sleep slow my progress. I have learned great strategies, though, so I'm no longer paralyzed by it all. It just still feels like too much and I'm concerned it's robbing me of precious opportunities to enjoy other life pursuits. |
| 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. | Can't wait for the next book club selection. Where are we going next? |
| Future topics | How to set smaller goals for bigger accomplishments. How to get the decluttered piles out of the house and into the downstream before I forget what I decided and end up sorting through it all over again (and again and again)! |
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