Survey #309 results
| Name (click to view full survey response and comments) | Describe an organizing project or task that you left incomplete because it wasn’t going the way you envisioned. | How do your initial expectations regarding the time, energy, and emotional effort needed for decluttering compare to the reality of the actual process? | 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? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maureen | My basement organizing. Daughter offered to help me one day, but her version of organizing was to throw everything out while I looked at each item thinking maybe I could give it to a niece or nephew if my kids didn't want. I had to have an unexpected surgery, and six months later items are still on the basement stairs to in the hopes family might like. | Sooo much more time required! I took off the week between Christmas and New Year thinking that would be perfect time to go through everything in our basement. Looking at each individual picture my kids did in third grade, my grandmother's silver service, and everything on my gift table to name a few and then make sure I wasn't tossing or donating something special took hours -- and still not close to done. Ultimately I was just moving things around into neater stacks and not getting rid of much. | I had the time -- taking off a week from work, but when accomplishing anything substantial wasn't happening after hours of being in the basement, it was kind of a give-up situation. |
| Anonymous user | I have pretty baskets full of “useful” items that are starting to get too full. Idk what to do with stuff. And a filing cabinet full of “useful” papers that I just want to have permanent/ time relevant papers easily found. Each time I go into it it’s overwhelming | I have many current things to do and the past clutter isn’t pressing - though it would be helpful to process it and get it out of the way | |
| Summer | I picked up a basic crocheting kit (with directions). I am NOT a crafty person and was challenged with the amount of time and focus I needed for the project. I want to continue but feel it is never the "right time". | While decluttering, I get caught up sometimes emotionally and lose my steam to complete the task. Oh yes, I have "time dysmorphia", and often under/over estimate how long a project will take. | I get lazy and think it will take too much time instead of doing it for small clips at a time. |
| Carla | I want to go through all the books and make good decisions I won't regret. I cannot afford to buy new books, so I am more careful. But I am in my mid 70s and there is no way I have time to read all of what I have, or want to keep. | I spend a lot of time on rehab exercises and also caring for my husband who is not well. House chores take so long. I also want to spend time with my friends. I am so tired at the end of every day, no energy to sort or even rad books. | My goal always gets pushed aside. Too many chores and other activities take so long, I have no time or energy left for my project. |
| C | For the past 5 years I wanted (still do actually) get all my documents and other papers sorted so that they would all be easy to find, replace, update etc. I managed a part , but it is incomplete and rather chaotic. Expectations: just do it. Reality: self sabotage by doing other things, equally important, but not what I started out to do to finally complete the mission. | Energy can be fickle, but also pain enters into equation. Emotional effort when confronting items of the past. Things I should have done, letters I should have written, things I should have sent on or shared. Time is ever so ethereal. You think you need a few hours and suddenly it has been 4 and wtf happened? | ADHD distractability, impulsiveness to do other things, but also husband, friends or DD who calls out to me to do other things ( more fun things) Volunteering with associated paper work leaves me exhausted some days. No interest to take on my own paper work. |
| Julie | My Grandparents 19 photo albums and slides from their world travels in the 1970s. Yearbooks back to 1929. This is not a typo. 1929. I was overwhelmed and frustrated with the sheer volume of stuff. I was surprised at how angry I feel at my mother for keeping this mountain of memorabilia when she moved 23 years ago when my dad died at age 70. She is alive and well, moved to a senior community five years ago, walking out of her time capsule, where I now live surrounded by the detritus of my 27 year marriage and all of her stuff. All that said, I unearthed a gem A black and white photo of my grandmother looking out a train window in Moscow Russia, 1975. It would have been a shame to miss that one. Honestly I could frame that one and be done. Note my own family photos are in bins. Another project. I just want to get a dumpster. | I had no idea how resentful I would feel. I’m trying to be active in my newly retired years, not sitting around sorting photos and sneezing from the musty yearbooks. | I thought I would enjoy it more. It takes time away from my writing. I don’t know what my ultimate goal is. |
| Kathy | My sewing/craft room decluttering project has been going on for years in fits and starts. I think I expected it would be easier than it is to pare down fabric stash and supplies (aspirational clutter) to a manageable size. I envision a creative space that is pleasing to walk into, where I can enjoy both the process and finished results but haven't been able to make that happen yet. | I find it very easy to declutter a junk drawer, have gotten to the point where it's easier to declutter sentimental items, but I find it very hard to deal with aspirational clutter. Within the past year, on Redeeming Productivity podcast, I heard the podcaster explain why decision making is so hard this way. He said the Latin root in decide, -cide, means to kill. When we decide something, we are "killing all other options" for that item or that use of our time, etc. To declutter aspirational items means I have to essentially kill the option of making the pattern or using the fabric that at some point I had liked enough to buy and bring home. That has helped me understand why I have having a hard time with it. Craft supplies are like candy to a creative mind. | Real-world factor is my day job. 🙂 I'm hopeful that when I retire I'll have time, energy, and willpower to declutter more. One thing that discouraged me was after making pretty good progress in the common areas of the house, when my mother-in-law declined and needed to go into assisted living/memory care, all of her stuff came to my house. (Thankfully, she had been great at decluttering and downsizing, so it was a tiny apartment.) I ended up with stacks of boxes all around the edges of my dining room and all through the basement. It was like that for about 6 months before we felt we could donate all the stuff. I also had to store 2 recliners for one of her relatives, and they are still here, shoved at one end of my living room as they would get musty in the basement. So, the real-world factor is, for the sake of relationships, I can't always say no, especially to in-law relatives. |
| Anonymous user | My backup closet in spare bedroom. Wanted to fit more in there — small file cabinet, luggage, out-of-season clothes, miscellaneous items than can reasonably fit in a small closet. | Now that I’ve done a deep first pass, I always think it will be easier/faster to go deeper on the next pass and because the decisions are harder and often more emotional, it takes longer to make small progress. That frustrates me because I know I need less to be successful in keep with things like cleaning. | Although my new year resolution was to commit to three 15-min. decluttering sessions each week and to schedule them on my calendar, I’ve only done that three times. 😡 I can’t make myself commit to much of anything since retiring. At this rate, I’ll never finish and that frustrates me. |
| Rosalyn | I have been going through a storage cabinet that contains boxes of papers/ pictures/ items from my years of teaching and other community projects over 45 years (probably about 50 boxes). It is psychologically taxing and takes much longer than I expected. I'd like to complete this so I can concentrate on moving forward. | It is taking a long time and is more emotional than expected. These boxes were mostly filled at the end of each semester (I taught at several colleges) but also include any clutter from that time (Iust went thru a box from 1990) Can I still use coupons that say "no expiration date"? Most boxes contain one or two "GEMS"" so I can't just dump them without going thru the items. | The goal feels far away and am inpatient to start on projects I would like to start. |
| Lori | I moved to a smaller house last year and used one bedroom as a "temporary" storage unit. Every room has too much stuff, too much furniture and we still need to paint. We wanted to live in the house for awhile through the seasons before choosing paint colors... I also relocated my 89 yr old Mom from another state now to independent living and have her storage unit of stuff we moved from Ohio to North Carolina. I work full time and really thought I could pump myself up and get the house organized and put all this stuff away that has filled up the bedroom. I pulled too much stuff out and filled up areas only to pile more stuff back in the room because I can't stand it. I am overwhelmed. | It is either hit or miss. If I have a clear vision of what I want my outcome to be then it becomes much easier. If not, I just waste a lot of time spinning my wheels. | I get side tracked easily and end up leaving the house and running around with my husband only to come home to the mess. |
| Nancy | Decluttering the basement. We've been working on it for years. We make progress but get overwhelmed and focus on something else just to get away from it. Plus, when I get a portion of it the way I want it, we get a leak in the basement, and my clean area gets moved around to clean the bad part. Then I think why bother??!! | My expectations used to be spot on with reality. But as I aged, my body just didn't have the stamina to complete tasks in one go. I turned 80 in May, and it has been a drastic change in energy, stamina, and back pain. | Family interference due to holiday events, birthday parties, socializing, etc. Also, my mood affects what I accomplish. Some days I have normal emotions and other days I'm inundated with anxiety and stress. That makes it hard to function. And, I suffer from insomnia which makes me tired the next day. |
| Katharine | Not enough items were leaving the room & it felt like nothing was accomplished. Mind wasn’t able to make decisions clearly & energy wasn’t there to make any real progress. | I think I’m going to remove a bunch of stuff and instead I couldn’t get it together to remove hardly anything. I’ve got the oomph to start, yet crash quicker than expected. So it’s frustrating to have to walk away. | I get sidetracked often that it’s difficult to make a dent in a particular area. I know it all adds up, but if I don’t have a distinct change it becomes aggravating. |
| Cee | Kitchen organizing, everyone has designated space to keep their stuff. Unable to keep my island clear and ready for use because it disrespectfully keeps getting used as a drop zone. Embarrassing when needing to entertain. Think I'm going to get a box to drop all extra stuff in and let them be unconvienced looking for something they chose not to put away . | It usually takes about 3times more time than available. | Never enough time, by the time I get to it I'm pretty near exalted. Always hard to find where I left off due because of so many things to start and complete |
| Jeanne | My organization changes as my needs change, . I do want to finish my wattle fence for iris and herb patch. | I have adjusted time spent to my physical ability. I have learn to take consistent small bites | I have Lerner to budget time with strength needed. I now pay someone to supplement what I cannot accomplish. |
| Linds | I’ve been trying to work on emptying a house of which four generations of us have lived here going back to 1902. I am the last of the family who wants to live hereand I’m 72 years old. Over the years I’ve gotten rid of dumpster loads of things from the attic work done some of the basement floor. Three of the five rooms are actually inhabited and only two look like normal basements. As much as I’ve gotten rid of things there’s still too much furniture here the wall of my bedroom has my mother‘s bedroom set with the dresser up here with a mirror a bookcase and a cedar closet and oh yes, the bed. I’ve always liked the bedroom set, which is why when she passed away I kept it back in the 40s. They made wonderful deep drawers in this house only has one remaining closet. There’s also the bedroom set my sister and I shared his children here. It also has a dresser a bureau with a mirror and a matching desk which I actually use for my computer. It’s in a teeny teeny room. I often feel as though the walls close in on me I can sometimes get drawers Decluttered for this project of getting my house ready for me to not pass on to the next generation at some point, My Daughter has her own house in a different city and she may be leaving the country in a year to work on her PhD and isn’t sure what she’s gonna be doing with her existing home, let alone mine. I’m a widow and trying to deal with all of this myself. My mobility is not what it used to be. I broke a leg in April 2025 and had a hip replacement in March 2026 and I have two surgeons who are dying to do a knee replacement and a shoulder replacement as soon as I decide the pain is too bad. This project of mine just isn’t going as quickly as I wished there’s been a sidetrack of taking five rooms of furniture and shoving it into four because we have we are in the process as of yesterday are removing all the carpeting because I have a cat who’s decided not to use a litter box or putting down vinyl tiles as that’s within my price range and I hired someone to do that. When you have to move the furniture around to get to the floors, you really realize how much there is I have trouble getting rid of the furniture. I like the set we had as children. It’s a lovely light colored oak, but the drawers are knackered two of them. I can’t really use because the runners aren’t working properly and my desk drawers starting to come apart. I feel a responsibility to the house and it’s preventing me from moving forward. I have a brother who lives in a nearby town and he’s somewhat of a pack. Rat doesn’t let go of anything. It’s a matter of fact his Paul Bunyan bed is up in my attic because even though it was broken, do you know what I paid for that he said and he put it in there shortly after my mother died I couldn’t stop him. I’m the youngest of three and he’s the eldest and he yells louder than I do so it’s up in my attic when I emptied everything out. I left it up there if he passes away before me then I’ll get rid of it. I die before him. Oh well. Why are we so attached to the furniture? Yeah the bedroom set as my mother’s. I actually would love to get rid of the entire bedroom set and by myself, a twin bed with a wide iron frame, light and lovely looking and maybe get just a small dresser and downsize my clothing as well. I haven’t gotten rid of my husband‘s desk he’s been dead for six years. It has a glass top. I have a cat that loves to lay on that glass table because it’s nice and cool and there’s no air-conditioning down here. I can’t get rid of the table cause it’s being used by the cat. I can’t get rid of my bedroom set because of My Brother finds out he’ll hit the roof. I just don’t know what to do. | I thought I would make logical choices. I’m not using this so it can go. I don’t like this so that can go. This is still good. I’ll get it down to Goodwill. I don’t drive but I have friends who go there frequently and they come by and take my things away. I seem to be better at getting rid of my things and my late husbands things. But I was raised in this house. I look at something and that belongs to dad or this belong to mom or that was Nonnie‘s. I feel such a responsibility and I know that you say that your grandmother is not a teacup but today I just spent an hour rearranging everything that was in that China hutch on one of the rooms that was being worked on because in order to move the hutch we had to take everything out and put in on the dining room table. I’ve just put away 15 tea cups. I have all the time in the world to do things cause I’m retired. I don’t have as much energy as I used to, but even that’s not a big deal if I do a little bit each day it can be done. I mentioned I’m a widow so I live alone and I don’t really have enough emotional bandwidth at the moment. It’s just so darn difficult. I didn’t choose to be the last one this house. I was gone for 40 years but came back when mom and dad needed me with my husband all the way from Scotland. So I’m the last one standing who’s living here my sister moved away to North Carolina. My Brother is about a 20 minute car ride from here. He doesn’t know I cleaned out the attic five nearly 5 years ago and just put a dumpster outside and threw things out the window cause I only had two weeks of vacation in which to get it emptied to put a new gas furnace up in the attic to service the top floor of my rental unit. My house has four floors the basement and the first floor I live on my tenant is on the second floor and then there’s an attic half of which is the there for the use of the tenant and half is mine. The house is so damn big. There’s so much in it still and I’ve been working on it for the last 25 years on and off.since I came back from Scotland. | I have plenty of time but mobility issues, and I have such difficulty getting rid of all of these things that have such an emotional pull. And I feel all alone doing this. I can’t afford to hire anyone and there’s parts of my home that are just embarrassing because of just the furniture clutter. Things don’t look bad but there’s too much furniture. This house was built in 1897. The rooms are tiny. There were only two closets in the entire portion of the house that belonged to my family and after we three kids grew up and moved away. My father took one of the closets, removed the rod and put shelves as it became my mother‘s craft room. I know I could take the shelves out and put another fraud, but I actually need the storage room as well for various and century things I feel stuck. I want to get rid of nearly everything. I laughed because my daughter’s mother-in-law referred to me as a minimalist, and I laughed and laughed. I would love to be a minimalist. I would love to have spacious rooms with very little in them. I guess she thought that because my dining room and my living room have very little in them, but the bedroom and the office are full of furniture that cover all of the walls. She saw the dining room and she saw the living room dining room had a cat tree in one corner an antique couch and antique table that was it. The living room had an antique rocker a Lyft recliner chair and an antique bookcase. Somehow I was able to get those rooms down to just a few things, but I have difficulty in my bedroom and in my office. |
| Mel | Farage | A lot more work. | My time and energy run out before the job is complete. |
| Millie | This is an ongoing project of curating my family photo collection. I planned to remove all the photos from albums that were big and took up too much space to store and put them into acid-free boxes. It was easy to get rid of duplicate pictures, blurred or darkened ones, and landscapes that I could easily find online, but honestly there are TOO many photos of my children when they were young and going through them brings up good AND bad memories. I try to limit myself to 10-15 minutes a day. My husband wants to toss out more than I do. I expected this project to be simple. It isn't. | Some albums are easily gone through because we took so many landscape/tourist type photos. It's the "cute" kid stuff that is hard to let go of. (Also one of our children is a drug addict so it is painful to think about how his life has turned out.) | This project seems overwhelming since I'm doing it in bite-size chunks. I just want it done NOW because it's taking up floor space in our office. |
| JM | 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. 😢 | Life is always sunnier and time is endless in my imagination of the future. | 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. |
| Kim | Boxing up framed hockey photos of my son to put in my storage locker. We are estranged and it is too emotionally painful for me to box them up. | I underestimate the emotional effort | My husband and 4 cats and I live in a small condo (794 sq ft). It is nearly impossible to stay decluttered in such a small space. |
| Jane | The garage is an ongoing challenge to my great expectations. I've come to the conclusion that something is better than nothing, when it comes to decluttering it. | I tend to be too optimistic about how much can be done during one session. That said, whatever gets done is progress. | The garage is such a large space that it's hard to see the progress and this can deflate my motivation. I do divide it into sections, so some progress can be seen. |
| Anja | I'm not sure but maybe it's paper organizing. I do stuff but never really finish which could also be due to the fact that it's a maintenance task. | I can achieve a lot but never really finish decluttering. So I guess the expectation to finish any decluttering fully is just misleading in general. | Please see previous answers. |
| Linda | Moving in to a new smaller place with far too much stuff. Now Im overwhelmed and can't seem to start. I had hopes in my head of how we would organize our new place. Hasn't happened | Totally out of touch with reality..lol.. | My husbands health issues take a lot of my time and energy. As his caregiver, I get tired, look around my house and feel overwhelmed and discouraged |
| Anonymous user | It’s always much longer, more complicated, and physically and emotionally demanding and exhausting than I anticipated. | The emotional attachments to items are almost always the reason I give up. | |
| Brenda | The task left incomplete right now is getting the stuff I'm not using boxed up and ready to donate next weekend. The expectation was that since I have not used these items it should be easy to part with them. I feel like a deer in headlights looking at these boxes. So the only thing that comes to mind is : one item at a time. | The initial expectation sounds easy enough but the reality of actually doing seems harder. I do however find that before and after photos are very motivating for me. | Summer has hit 3 digits here and the A/C is DEAD. |
| Name (click to view full survey response and comments) | Describe an organizing project or task that you left incomplete because it wasn’t going the way you envisioned. | How do your initial expectations regarding the time, energy, and emotional effort needed for decluttering compare to the reality of the actual process? | 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? |
