Where Things Stand at the Halfway Point for Week 26 (Decluttering and Simplifying 2010)

As I begin the second half of my yearlong quest to declutter my home and my life, I think a good overall update is a nice idea. On Monday, I’ll tell you what lessons I’ve learned so far that might benefit you.

My life is still cluttered with lots of useless emotions and unproductive time-wasters, but I’m getting better everyday. There’s so much more to life than I’m seeing now, and I’m looking forward to seeing more of it everyday.

My online bookselling business isn’t doing as well as it should, and that has caused a financial hit in recent months. I’m taking control again, though. As I started to re-launch my professional writing career, I started to lose interest in the book business. I still depend on the income it provides, however, and I still enjoy the work when things are going well. This week, I’ve been shrinking the business to fit into its new place in my life. That means eliminating crates that are now unnecessary because my inventory is smaller than before and reorganizing my home to visually de-emphasize the book business. Put in its proper place, the book business can be a nice income stream for years to come. All I have to do is put in a limited amount of work each week.

I’ve made real, serious progress on decluttering my home. Here’s a room-by-room rundown of where things stand and what must be done in the next six months or so.

• Bedroom. It’s the closest to decluttered of any room, so I’m calling it complete.
• Bathroom. The drawers are cleaned out, but the countertop is still a mess. That’s easy to fix.
• Living room. Crates related to my book business still clutter it, but I’m working on that now. A small desk and a long table are still cluttered and need to be cleared.
• Kitchen. The countertops are completely cleared, and the amount of kitchenware is dramatically reduced. Since the kitchen table is the staging area for things on their way to Goodwill, it still looks cluttered there. There’s too much clutter in the cabinets, but for the purposes of this project, I’m satisfied.
• Utility room. Although I’ve thrown away many things from this room, it’s still cluttered with empty containers, bits of one thing and dabs of another. There’s plenty of room for improvement here.
• My office. I’m finally closing in on the finish line in here. I need to remove a table and an old sofa that currently holds a pile of old computer pieces. Once those things are gone, the book crates that clutter the living room can come into my office where they belong.
• David’s office. I rarely go in there, and I’m leaving it to David. He has thrown away a few things and sent some books to a used bookstore, but it’s now the biggest mess in the house (thanks to the improvements in other rooms). It’s outside the scope of my project, so I’m not worrying about it.
• Second bathroom. Other than a little clutter under the sink, there’s nothing in there, and nothing to worry about.

So that’s where things stand. I’m pleased with how things are going, but I’m not happy with where I am at the moment. There’s room for improvement in every area of my life. And I plan to get busy making those improvements right now.

Gip Plaster

Gip Plaster is a web content writer. Previously a journalist, online bookseller and even a corporate advertising guy, Gip now specialize in writing high-quality content for websites — his and other people’s. Learn more here.