What a Job

[cmzaha]

For 2 days I have been cleaning out and organizing all by bottles, jars, molds etc into labeled buckets that were stored in my under house storage rooms. Wow, what a job. Already filled up the recycle bucket with stuff I do not want.

Until now I would just take out the box and put it into the storage rooms, well that does nothing but take up extra space. Yeah, after 8 yrs I might be organized!! Will definitely make the hubby happy

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Very good! I am terrible disorganised with my stuff. When we move I'll be sure to change that.

Maybe.

 

[Susie]

Wow, that is a massive job!

Craig-If you really intend to get organised and stay that way, you have to start with a plan, and be ruthless following it. One moment of, "I'll do it later..." and it is all over with. I fight this battle daily, sometimes I do better than others. I will, periodically, allow myself one room of disorganization/staging for major things. That's it, one room. I can more easily face one room to clean up than half a house.

 

[navigator9]

I read some of Marie Kondo's book, "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up", because I'm a saver, not as bad as a hoarder, but still fearful of throwing things away that might be useful later. Problem is, you end up not being able to find those useful things, and it gets very frustrating. The older I get, the better I feel about letting things go. It feels like a weight being lifted off my shoulders. Marie says that if it doesn't spark joy, out it goes, and I'm really trying to adhere to that rule as I pile things up for an upcoming yard sale. OK, it's pretty, but does it bring me joy? No? OK, it goes on the pile. The less stuff I have, and the more organized I become, the more relaxed I feel. Visual clutter makes me feel agitated. So I'm looking forward to feeling more relaxed, and not getting frustrated when I can't find something I know I have, because it's lost in a sea of "stuff." Carolyn, imagine how good it will feel when you're looking for a specific FO or mica, and all you have to do is reach out your hand and voila, there it is! I know I've wasted a lot of time on more than one occasion looking high and low for a mold I knew I had, but just couldn't find. Grrrrrr!

 

[lenarenee]

For 2 days I have been cleaning out and organizing all by bottles, jars, molds etc into labeled buckets that were stored in my under house storage rooms. Wow, what a job. Already filled up the recycle bucket with stuff I do not want.

Until now I would just take out the box and put it into the storage rooms, well that does nothing but take up extra space. Yeah, after 8 yrs I might be organized!! Will definitely make the hubby happy

Well now that you've gotten all that experience......my address is 555 TooMuchSoapyStuff Lane, Almost San Diego, CA ;-)

It's not my fault WSP had a sale. Then BB had a sale. Then they sent me 20% off coupon with free shipping. Then Mad Oils had a sale...

Seriously, congratulations on all that work Carolyn. I can't do details so I can't take a mess then organize it - I have to start with organization. And unless you come to my house......(that address again is....555TooMuchSoapyStuff Lane !)

 

[cmzaha]

Well now that you've gotten all that experience......my address is 555 TooMuchSoapyStuff Lane, Almost San Diego, CA ;-)

It's not my fault WSP had a sale. Then BB had a sale. Then they sent me 20% off coupon with free shipping. Then Mad Oils had a sale...

Seriously, congratulations on all that work Carolyn. I can't do details so I can't take a mess then organize it - I have to start with organization. And unless you come to my house......(that address again is....555TooMuchSoapyStuff Lane !)

LOL, you are on your own!! I recently put more racks on my service porch and organized it. My kids old room holds a big storage cabinet and a couple of large racks, Which I somewhat organized recently. Now I am working on my 2 rooms downstairs to get everything tidier, since I finally finished up in the under house storage rooms. Houses on stilts have great areas for storage!! We won't even talk about what is in the room which has served as a sewing room, then a computer room, now a soap supply storage room. I have to much STUFF

 

[DeeAnna]

I cycle between being slightly sloppy to borderline Obsessively Organized. I don't think I'm tolerant enough of disorganization and clutter to ever be a hoarder.

When I get badly into my OO mode, I'm like a gerbil racing around in an exercise cage fruitlessly going nowhere. Over the years I've learned to read the signs and take steps to lighten up before I get too crazy feeling. But I can't be too sloppy either -- like Navigator, I need a reasonable amount of organization to feel calm so I can focus. Finding that happy medium can be tough! In my day job as a leather worker, I have to clean up my work bench and put tools away after finishing one job before starting another. When starting the new job, I might pull out the exact tool I just put away, but it's the process of cleaning my work space that lets me clear and focus my mind.

My husband, on the other hand, is a pile maker and can tolerate quite a bit of clutter around him. Woe be it to any person who tidies his piles -- he knows (or thinks he knows) where everything is in those piles as long as they're left exactly the way he made them. I've learned over the years to be utterly blind to the mess on his desk -- something I've had to do out of sheer self preservation. Problem is when he asks me for help with a problem with his computer (I'm the IT person in the household.) It drives me crazy to sit at his desk surrounded by what I perceive to be utter chaos. I HAVE to tidy enough of the work area right around my body so I can relax enough to fix his problem. I kind of laugh about it while I do it ... but I still have to tidy.

 

[Cylistarr]

I was given some very useful advice once and it really spoke to me. For people (such as myself) who find themselves feeling overwhelmed with the idea of taking on what looks like a big job organizing, or even keeping something organized once it's the way you like it.; simply make one change. Do one thing, make one change and stick to it. Choose one thing that you can see yourself doing habitually and then stick with it, absolutely.

Once you've made that one thing into a part of your life, other things will just naturally come along, other changes will creep in and eventually you'll master the issue that seemed so huge before.

It's easy to think "well changing just one thing isn't going to make much difference", but in the long run, it really does.

Ok, that's all I have..haha *goes back into hiding*

 

[cmzaha]

I read some of Marie Kondo's book, "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up", because I'm a saver, not as bad as a hoarder, but still fearful of throwing things away that might be useful later. Problem is, you end up not being able to find those useful things, and it gets very frustrating. The older I get, the better I feel about letting things go. It feels like a weight being lifted off my shoulders. Marie says that if it doesn't spark joy, out it goes, and I'm really trying to adhere to that rule as I pile things up for an upcoming yard sale. OK, it's pretty, but does it bring me joy? No? OK, it goes on the pile. The less stuff I have, and the more organized I become, the more relaxed I feel. Visual clutter makes me feel agitated. So I'm looking forward to feeling more relaxed, and not getting frustrated when I can't find something I know I have, because it's lost in a sea of "stuff." Carolyn, imagine how good it will feel when you're looking for a specific FO or mica, and all you have to do is reach out your hand and voila, there it is! I know I've wasted a lot of time on more than one occasion looking high and low for a mold I knew I had, but just couldn't find. Grrrrrr!

My stuff was not extremely disorganized and I know where everything is. It is just that I have a tremendous amount of stock and was short on racks. It was always easier to put the big box of bottles under the house in the storage room rather than marking and putting in crates so I could see what I have. Still have a box of 700 sample bottles to deal with. When I reorganize as I did the last to days, that is when I will spend time looking for items. A saver of stuff I am not but I do not readily throw away supplies. I would have more racks in my room but I need to have a bed for the granddaughters.

DeeAnna I am one that cleans and washes all soaping equipment before starting the next batch. Some things I am a bit obsessive about. I also cannot begin cooking with dirty dishes around and wash dishes as I am cooking. Been known to pickup a dish or cup, wash it to find out they were not done eating or drinking from the cup or glass, it would drive my hubby and kids nuts.

 

[DeeAnna]

Oh, I've done that too, Carolyn -- washed a coffee mug or put it in the dishwasher and then find DH looking rather annoyed because he can't find his cup.

 

[Steve85569]

My method can easily be described as "organized mayhem".
Been that way for a long time. I know where things are even if DW Jan does not.

 

[Stacy]

In my house we learned to always keep a hand on our cup if Mom was doing the dishes ;-)

 

[lenarenee]

How long ago was the thread about decluttering? Should be start another for Fall?

 

[Susie]

It was in May. I don't know if I have enough clutter to do another major purge. What I need to do is finish painting a room my DH started I have no idea how many years ago, then get him to furnish and organize his man cave. After that, I need a kitchen and bath remodel.

 

[shunt2011]

I am currently a massive unorganized mess. It's making me crazy. I've been so busy making my products and doing shows that's it's become total mayhem. I so need to get into my soapy room (my spare bedroom & husbands closet & dresser). I have shelving all around the room and nothing is organized. I have a two day show this weekend and then the following weekend is reorganize and clean the house up. I have supplies everywhere right now (living, dining, kitchen & utlity room).

I'm usually pretty well organized but my full-time job has been crazy which has carried into my fun stuff. Also planning on getting everything I don't need/use together and organized and then try to sell it during our neighborhood sale in September sometime. Figure I'll post it on facebook and craigslist and hopefully a soaper or somone interested in starting will appear.

 

[navigator9]

My disorganization is a factor of how small my house is, and how much stuff I've got. I like my small house, so some of the stuff has to go. No matter how organized I try to be, if there's not room, it just looks cluttered. What doesn't sell in the yard sale will go to Goodwill and Salvation Army. I can't wait.....wheeeeeeeeeee!