Welcome to the Challenge Robin.  So happy you're joining us again this year and wishing you the best of luck.  This seems to be a running theme this year.  I'll be back again tomorrow to check in on your posts.  Dont' forget to post an update for yourself to gain a point each day.  

OK, here we go.  My list is being formulated, I will have that complete tomorrow. Then I will start to prep the areas that need to be overhauled.  I know for sure that the paper issue is on the top of the list.  We have too many spots in this house that have things "stashed" .  I need to pick one center of command spot where all the papers will be sorted, "taken care of right away", destroyed, or filed.  I will no longer search in the mud room for somethings, the basement for others, kitchen drawers, cupboards, and closets will no longer be the home of ANY papers in this house.   

Sounds like you've got a well-laid out plan of attack.  Lookin forward to your updates.  Be sure to invite your friends not on the site already to support your efforts.

The list is complete.....and now I know why I keep avoiding this.  It is called the sequence factor.  Once you try to tackle one area, it bleeds into so many other things that need to get pulled apart to finish the first step.  To tackle the paper problem, I am setting up the "office" in my bedroom.  That is where I end up doing all my computer work late at night anyway.  So now I need to get all the right storage material in there (a place for everything) and to do that, I need to rob them from other places in the house.  This is going to require moving furniture in the basement, family room and my bedroom........after all I don't want this to just be functional, but to look good as well :-)

I will have to wait for some help with this part, so in the mean time I will tackle the paper purging part.  Time to get ruthless!

I totally need to work on getting organized.  I'll follow your progress too when I can.  Thanks for the inspiration.

 How was your progress today Robin?  Are you enjoying your weekend?  Have you been ruthless?

I know what you mean about the chaos feeling overwhelming. I find the task of organizing my home and purging things very overwhelming if I think about how much needs to be done or how long the road is. Have you thought about using tiny attacks in addition to those big 3-hour attacks? Sometimes 5 or 10 minutes can be enough to say "I will square away two pieces of old mail" or "I will put away/get rid of one item" and can be done while the coffee is on or something. That way you know you did something that day, and you slowly chip away at things without getting too stressed, since you know you're only doing a small thing. Just food for thought, so take it or leave it depending on whether it works for you. ^_^ Good luck with all your efforts! It's great that you're tackling this.

I did get "ruthless" today, but ironically, just as foleyartist1 suggested.  I did it in small chunks.  You are right.....the three hour time block is going to be great for the final push. but those small steps are going to chip away at the mountain very effectively.  I spent 20 min purging my oldest daughters room today.  It wasn't on the top of my list of things to do. but while I was in there getting laundry, I decided to just pull all her "stashing spots" apart and get rid of the junk.  One trash bag later I felt great.  It doesn't solve MY paper problem, but it did make me feel less cluttered. and that was good for the mind, soul and motivation for the next day....the next pile....the next room. 

robin...I am doing a similar challenge, and wish you all the best on your successes. Trust me, it is the baby steps that will help us to acheive this goal....as one person mentioned on my goal, you didnt create the mess in a day, so it will take a bit of time. I have been doing the timer thing...so I decide on a small task that I want to accomplish (a pile of papers, or sorting through my closet) and set my oven timer for a small amount of time - 15 min or 20 min...and then tackle the task. its kind of fun to race against the clock...but also give me the chance to decide how my progress is going, and whether I want to continue on, or continue in another day (usually I will continue on until it is complete).

As I mentioned to someone else...I recommend getting your kids involved...maybe tackling the front closet, or the toy pile...splitting stuff into piles...keep, garbage, donate to charity. By getting them involved, they will also start to appreciate that there are things that they no longer need.

Good luck with everything!

Nothing accomplished today, as it was a busy day with a house full.  Three of my children had friends over for sleepovers, and we just enjoyed shoveling off the backyard rink and spending some time skating, watching movies and eating popcorn. 

My eye wandered around the mudroom a few times during the busy dressing and undressing stage of the skating, and scoped out areas to purge and improve organization.  That room is #2 on my list.  I am looking forward to that one, since it is critically important in our daily functioning.  The more organized and less cluttered I can make it, the less chaotic I think I will feel every morning as I get my kids out the door for school.

Good luck on that mud room! I think it'll also make you feel better coming into the house, because the first thing you see won't be chaos.

 Sounds like you're making progress Robin.  I totally need to do this with the kids toy room.  All you ladies working on these decluttering goals are rubbing off on me.  I've done my own closet so far and the living room.  Dining room, laundry room and each of the kids rooms are on the list too.  Thanks for the inspriation.

Baby step day.  One box of "junk" was purged out of the mudroom closet.  I found an important money transfer document in that box.  Reason #1 for doing this.....if that had been put away, right away in the right place, I could have found it when I was looking for it the first time, instead of calling the bank and getting a duplicate sent.  That wasted way more time than it would have taken me to put it in it's home (If I had of had one designated home for all our paper work).

Only took 20 minutes to purge the box, but now I need to get working on the "building the home" for all these things that I am sorting through.  That will have to wait until Wednesday, since tomorrow is full of appointments for the kids and some me time in the morning. 

Just as expected, I got nothing accomplished today.  Meetings tomorrow morning, an interview tomorrow night, and kids activities after school.  I am going to set aside one hour tomorrow afternoon, before the kids get home from school, to takle another box in the mudroom closet.

I have a goal to pick up some inexpensive magazine holders, and a pretty file box from office max after my meeting this morning.  I think this vertical, visible holder will work well on my book shelf for the papers that I need to work with immediately.  Then when I am done with them, they will either get filed or shredded.  I will move the shredder up to my bedroom today too. Everything will be in one spot then.

 Robin, your day sounds just as crazy as mine.  Were you able to get through another box from the mudroom?  Wishing you the best as you continue to get all those papers in order.  Feeling freer and less constricted yet?

No not freer yet,  actually a little more chaotic really.  I have always done a great job of making things look neat on the surface, it was only once you opened a closet, drawer or behind a tactfully placed decorative screen, that you would see the "collections" .  NOw that I am tackelling it, I am pulling everything out to go through it, and making my surroundings very cluttered looking......it is getting to me.  I know it is a necessary evil, part of the process to the end result I want, but it is causing a paniced feeling.  I feel the urge to scoop it all up, throw it back into a bin and close the closet door.    I am fighting the urge! 

 It is the same in my house too.  The clutter is hidden behind the closet and storage room doors and in all the drawers.  It looks like you are making progress though.  

Fight fight fight! I tend to have a little depressive fit at just about this stage in the decluttering process too. "All I want is for it to be better, and now that I'm working on it it's WORSE!" I'll be thinking of you through the panic stage. Don't forget that even if it doesn't look like it now, the reward at the end is going to be so good.

Baby step this morning.  I purged the message board, while having my coffee.  We have 5 kids, all in activities, LOTS of different activities, so I have a magnetic message board in my mud room that holds all the papers that are important.  Activity calendars, permission slips, school updates, doctor appointments, care plans, homework assignments etc. 

I pulled it all off this morning....threw out the ones that were expired, and organized them into subject type and child.  Big smile on my face :-)

 I can only imagine what that magnetic board must look like.  At least it's all in one place.  That's not bad at all and you got it all organized too.  What's next?  Saw this one and thought of you:

“Out of clutter, find Simplicity. From discord, find Harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies Opportunity.”

-Albert Einstein

Sounds like you've simplified the clutter and found some harmony.  Hope your little one is feeling better and that you enjoyed your hockey.  

Loved reading about that big smile :) Congratulations! I have a magazine file that I keep misc. stuff like in, and it always ends up having info for things that happened 3 years ago, expired Bed Bath & Beyond coupons, menus for restaurants that no longer exist, etc. I can imagine how good it must feel to look at that board and see only the stuff that's actually relevant.

robin...keep it up...you are going to make it through, and will be surprised when the little things add up. I seem to accomplish a lot when i am on the phone...I should probably be paying more attention to the conversation...but it is easy to talk and go through the bathroom cabinet or the pile of magazines. you can do it!

 W.O.W.    Just LOOK at that magnetic board.  Fantastic.  Absolutely something to be proud of.  

One bin of winter coats/pants from the mudroom closet got tackled today.  With so many kids, hand-me-downs are the way of life, and so I have bins stocked with just that.  I went through and took out all the too small for anyone, and not going to really use because it is on it's last leg stuff.  The too small is going to be donated, the others are on their way to their final resting place.   I started with two bins, and now am down to one. 

Lots of people, is going to inevitably result in lots of stuff, but I am going to keep ontop of the task of not letting it get out of control. I will remove the things I don't need right away, instead of storing them and having to get rid of them at a later date.

looks like you are progressing Robin...woohoo! congrats on the mud closet...and give yourself credit...you do have a full household, so there will always be lots of stuff., but if you work together with the family, they will learn these habits, so that things do not get out of control. Good luck!

Whoa, is that a pic of your new organized board?! I look at that and I think, "Look at that super-busy woman who is so organized! How come my home doesn't look all professional like that?!" Awesome job.

Way to go on conquering that bin, too. Seasonal clothes can be tricky to purge since one doesn't look at them as often.

I feel so good about todays progress.  This was the day that I took all the paper out of their hiding places and began the road to taming it.  I had to unload the shredder twice, took two cans out to the recycling bin, and still have my kitchen counter in a state of clutter, but it is huge progress.  I refused to pile it all back into its bins, I will deal with limited counter space tomorrow morning while getting the kids out the door, and then hit the stacks right away.  I know I can get it all taken care of by noon.  I am feeling so energized by the idea of completing this huge hurdle, and I can see the finish line with this one right around the corner.

Congrats on the huge progress.  Good plan - refusing to pile it all back into the bins.  Even your writing seems energized.  Best of luck!

congrats on the paper! it really does feel good to hear that machine go, doesnt it! My sister is a big fan of burning the paper, but it is always a challenge to find a fireplace or open pit to have the fire (living in downtown Toronto just does not cut it!) I hope that you are feeling the great success in your organizing!

Done!!!  It took longer than I thought, because when I was ready to put things away, I decided that my office should really be in the mudroom.  That meant that I had to clean out some cabinets to "file" the paper work, and reorganize because of that.   But I'm D-O-N-E with the paperwork. 

Next I am going to tackle the kids craft stuff and artwork.  I made an appointment today to get the leather sofa repaired ...... a nice hole in the cushion....thank you dog, and tomorrow I am going to take the screen off the patio door and get it rescreened.....thank you dog. 

That is so awesome Robin, congratulations!!! I can tell you feel great about it and that makes me smile too. Way to work hard. Also we had a motto at my college: "Done is Good!" :D

 LOVE your slideshow Robin.  It's all so nice and organized.  Fantastic job.  I need to get to the kids arts and craft stuff too.  At least you're thanking the dog patiently and not kicking him out into a doghouse in the back, lol.  Seriously though, your pictures speak volumes - you have been busy and it all looks wonderful.  I can't wait to see more.  Maybe some before and after shots of that kids' craft area?

robin...sounds like your progressing well! Good luck with the kids craft area! If you are trying to figure out what to do with all of their finished products, let me share an idea that a friend of mine has done.  She has her kids choose their top 3 to 5 pieces for the month. They get placed into a display case for a month. At the end of the month, they then choose one to keep, and the rest are photographed and documented into a digital slide show that she has playing on one of the living room tables. She then takes all of the photos from their years' work, and makes a digital scrapbook out of them.  It is great, because it gets the kids involved, and also allows for you to dispose of all of those "amazing" pieces of art that are taking up room.

Good luck with everything!

What is it they say about best laid plans?  LOL needless to say, things didn't go as I had planned they would, but life is good. 

My sick daughter has asthma, and the "bug" that we have been passing around found it's way into her lungs.  So off to the Dr. again today (did I mention this is the fourth trip for our family in 2 weeks?).  Got her all squared away and realized I had missed a scheduled delivery at my house, so I had to track down the delivery guy to get the documents.  Ok, that done, went home to tuck in the little one and I try to take the screen off the patio door...... I broke the door......maybe it can be fixed, maybe not.  I didn't get the crafts tackled, nor the basement, nor get to play hockey.   I did get to lay down with my daughter and we had a nice nap.  Life is good.

Naptime sounds good to me. I hope your daughter is feeling better soon.

And I broke a sliding screen door in my aunt's condo once as a teenager when I didn't see that it was closed and tried to walk right through it! And I was outside on the balcony at the time... so I was trapped... My aunt called a family friend who's also a handyman, and he was able to come beat the door into submission so that I could reenter the apartment. And it opened and closed OK after that too. So I'll cross my fingers for your door. ^_^

Thanks for the optimism foley, I need that :-)  just as much as I needed a recharge me nap. 

Baby step day.   I spent some time putting away artwork, but then got distracted into cleaning up the closet where I store the artwork bins.  Closet is clean now...check

I LOVE the tip about the artwork Heather,  I can go back and do that once I get everything put away.  Right now I do have a bin for each child, that I put their "masterpieces" into, and every so often I go through it and selectively remove the ones that don't "grab" me anymore.  I also try to take the pieces that are seasonal and display them during that time.  I love that I can put the heart with a handprint that Andrew made when he was 5 right beside the lace heart that Amanda made when she was 5, etc etc.  The kids get a big kick out of seeing their siblings artwork that they did at the same age.  The digital display would be so much easier though.

Look at those pictures, and how organized your getting.  So great!! 

And, yay!  Clean closet =)

Hey, the great thing about that distraction is that you got distracted from one part of your goal by doing a different part instead of, say, watching TV or reading Twitter. Call it a win!

 just here to give you a big wahoo! :)

Dragging today, since I have picked up this cold that is being passed around.  Spent most of my day doing regular house cleaning, but was mindful of putting things away where they belonged instead of a convenient stashing spot.  I am off to pack for the weekend for everyone, since two of our kids have hockey tournaments, and another has a Robotics build challenge.  Cloning would be so convenient lol  I won't be back until Sunday.....I'm heading to non wifi parts of Wisconsin, so good luck to all of you in your last weekend of the Challenge!

Dragging today, since I have picked up this cold that is being passed around.  Spent most of my day doing regular house cleaning, but was mindful of putting things away where they belonged instead of a convenient stashing spot.  I am off to pack for the weekend for everyone, since two of our kids have hockey tournaments, and another has a Robotics build challenge.  Cloning would be so convenient lol  I won't be back until Sunday.....I'm heading to non wifi parts of Wisconsin, so good luck to all of you in your last weekend of the Challenge!

 Hey Robin, I love Heather's tip off on the artwork.  I wish I could implement that.  We struggle with that here too, but once we got past grade one or so, the artwork changed into projects and papers and speeches and of course, they want to keep all of those because of the effort they put into them.  I have a box in the storage room for each child and inside each box is a huge folder made with a bristol board folded in half with the year labeled on it.  One box has lasted through pre-school to grade 5 but I think that'll be the limit for Nina's and she'll need box number two for this school year unless I can go through and purge.  Hey... there's an idea.  Hope your daughter is feeling better and so sorry to read that the bug has made it's way to you too.  Let me know if you can figure out the cloning thing.  I can't imagine packing all of us up for a weekend away on top of everything else right now.    

Ugh, I hope you feel better soon Robin. :( It feels like we're even transmitting the cold to each other through the internet sometimes, so many of us are sick. Here's to a speedy recovery. And it's easy forget to take care of yourself with all your kids having events, but don't fall into that trap! Grab all the rest and fluids you can.

I gotta say, your children sound completely awesome, by the way. Robotics challenge?!

Oh, almost forgot to comment on your goal--actually today might be your greatest victory. From personal experience and from all I've ever read on decluttering, always mindfully putting things away where they belong is THE number-one thing that makes success last instead of being temporary. So if you can develop the habit of doing that, you're going to win this war. Your house doesn't stand a chance. ^_~

Robin...you are a superstar! The balancing that you are doing to get everything together for your family, along with the organizing of your house is simply phenomenal. I hope that your weekend is a success...with tournaments galore!

 Yes, I have to agree with Foley and Heather... you are a superstar.  It's a mantra around here too... "it's easier to keep things clean than to make them clean"....  So this is me telling the kids with the evil eye:  put it back where it belongs if you must put it down someplace.  A huge victory!

 Late on the comments, but good for you. It's really tough to get a house in order, especially when so many people keep insisting on living in it. I've found that your method of putting things back in their proper home is the easiest way of keeping things normal and clean. 

Robin, you totally inspired me this morning! I was about to be lazy and set an empty bottle back on the table instead of immediately walking across the kitchen and putting it in the recycle bin, and I thought, "No! Remember Robin! Put it away!" and I recycled it right then and there. :D

<p>Awww....thank you so much for all the kind words, compliments and encouragement.&nbsp; I am&nbsp;so inspired&nbsp;that some of the things we are doing in our challenges are being absorbed by each other.&nbsp; Even though &quot;your&quot; goal might&nbsp; not be to get organized, you pick up tips here, and even though &quot;my&quot; goal is not to reduce plastic, I am becoming more mindful of my consumption.&nbsp; It is a phenomenal experience.</p> <p>So here we go in our last few days of the challenge, and I am so thrilled with all I have accomplished and very excited to see if I can complete my list by Wednesday.&nbsp; Even if I do not, I am soooo much further ahead than I was 18 days ago.&nbsp; WAHOO!!!!!</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>

Wow, I don't know what happened up there, but here is the easy way to read it LOL

Awww....thank you so much for all the kind words, compliments and encouragement. I am so inspired that some of the things we are doing in our challenges are being absorbed by each other.  Even though "your" goal might not be to get organized, you pick up tips here, and even though "my" goal is not to reduce plastic, I am becoming more mindful of my consumption.  It is a phenomenal experience.

So here we go in our last few days of the challenge, and I am so thrilled with all I have accomplished and very excited to see if I can complete my list by Wednesday.  Even if I do not, I am soooo much further ahead than I was 18 days ago. WAHOO!!!!!

Oh and foley, a Robotics challenge is an engineering club, where high school students are given a challenge to build a robot that can do a particular list of "functions" ( this year it has to shoot a basketball into a net)  They have two months to complete the robot, and work in different teams, my son is a programer.  It is a fantastic opportunity, and will serve them so well in their accademic and work lives.  It is put on by a organization called First Robotics. 

 Best of luck to you as you close out this contest.  Your goal has inspired me too.  It's great to read of your progress over these last weeks.

i totally agree with you Robin...I have read so many amazing and wonderful ideas and suggestions on MLL...and i ahve to agree...though I can not implement all of them, I have gotten some great ideas, some encouraging words, and look forward to what is posted, not only on my goals, but on others as well! Congrats on getting through your list...feels good to cross things off that list!

I am putting in 2 hrs of artwork cleanup.  I will post pictures once completed, but this is going to get done today!!  Cheers :-)

 Excited to see your pictures Robin.

 I'm looking forward to your pictures too.  That sounds like a big project - two hours of art cleanup.  

Pictures!!!! You're so right, too. I'm definitely not doing all the goals at the same time and I can't, but on just about everybody's goal I see one thing that sticks in my mind, be it putting things away or sneaking in more water or what have you--I'm even pondering whether to rearrange the layout of my living room now! And I wasn't thinking about that before this month. So yeah, it's a cool thing.

hope that the artwork sorting went well! looking forward to the pics!

 Pictures please... can't wait to see more.  It's been so fun following your progress on this goal Robin.  I hope you'll continue posting.

 So I just realized you are a Mom of FIVE! This makes this challenge far more amazing than before! :) Congrats on all of your hard work! Good luck in the coming months!!!

Robin...last day...how did you do?!? congrats on all of your acheivements throughout the 21 days...you have been a great inspiration in giving me the push with my de-junking goal. thank you!

It has been a busy few days.  I sat down in front of that mess of a craft cabinet, and pulled it all out.  Threw out old dried paint, kits that were already finished, glue that was dried up, and an assortment of "treasures".  Then I put it all back in, with more thought about how it would be used and by whom.  The big kid stuff went higher and so did the really messy stuff.  Then I tackled the artwork to be put away.  As you can see, once I ran out of space to shove it in the cabinet, I started piling it on top of the refrigerator.  I went through it all. put the year on each piece, and then placed it in each childs bin in the closet.  Feeling very successful and only having used up an hour, I moved to another cabinet that holds cookbooks, coaching manuals (hubby's)  and our liquor cabinet.  I found a whole new box of old paper work that needed to be gone through, sorted, filed or shredded.  I also found a stash of manuals for stuff around the house, and put those in some decorative cardboard boxes that I had picked up when I organized the "office space" in the mudroom.  I put all the manuals in boxes on top of the cabinet according to where they were for (garage, kitchen, outside, toys).  Everything in it's place, and a place for everything :-)  

I am so going to keep getting my house in order, and this 21 days has just started the momentum.  I got the majority of my list completed, veered off occasionally and hit a spot that was not on my list, and had some ah-ha moments along the way........as well as finding a few lost treasures.  

Thank you all for helping to keep me accountable during this journey, it has helped pave the road to a hightened sense of control in my life. 

What a great closing off entry and your pictures too Robin.  Thanks so much for sharing your progress with us and it looks and sounds like all your efforts have paid off in more ways than one.  It's been a pleasure.

Robin, great job and so happy that YOU'RE so happy with your success! ^_^

One girls room painted today.  Picked a nice soothing green.  Emptied her wardrobe out completely, and tomorrow I am going throught the bags of clothes to do some purging.  Next will be her closet.  Goal is to have it all done by Wedneday, so I can move onto the shared girls room.  Purple?....I think so.

 Wow Robin, ou'vebeen busy.  Best of luck to get it done by Wednesday.  Green and ???, purple and ??? - can't wait for the before and after shots with those too.