Update 31 Day Organizational Challenge: Failure!

Well, perhaps "Failure" is too strong a word. But, basically, I did not come close to meeting the goal of getting the spare room emptied out and reorganized.  

The excuses are many:

• My son was not around enough
• My husband was home for two weeks
• My arthritis was paining me bad
• We got a new bird that needed attention

But, the truth is, I just did not go in that room and do more work on my own.

Spare Room Before

Spare Room After

However, I did:

• Work on the pantry (Kitchen)
• Clear everything from behind and under the computer desk (living room)
• Cleared the bottom shelf for the computer desk (living room)
• Organized pill cupboard (Kitchen)
• Cleared boxes so that the bird cage could be moved (Living/Dining Room)

Bird Cage Area Before

Bird Cage Area After

There is so much to still be done and I hope you will remain with me on my journey. I am not giving up on the spare room, nor any other room in this apartment. I will continue, even if the official challenge is over.

Thank you for joining me on this journey.

Questions Laura (OrgJunkie.com) asked us to answer:

1. What space did you decide to organize and why?

I decided to clear out and organize our "Spare Room" because it has been used as a storage space and junk room for too long. I want to eventually turn it into a spare/guest bedroom that our son can use when he is here and to finally have overnight guests when he is not.  Also, we have a storage locker we are paying for and I want to empty it and bring the rest of the stuff here to be sorted, put away, given away, thrown away. This would be a perfect staging area to do that (before it becomes the guest bedroom). We have a lot of stuff that needs to be culled, currently in the room, and in the storage locker (as well as the rest of the apartment, but none is as horrific as this room).

2. What steps did you take to ensure you completed the space within the 31 day timeline?

I had planned on 15 to 30 minutes per day. However, this did not happen.

3. What was the hardest part of the challenge for you and how did you overcome it?

The hardest part of this challenge was having to wait on our son in order to get this room cleared. He insisted on being part of the process as much of the "junk" is his and he wanted to be the one to decide what is thrown out, given away, or put away.  He is not physically here most of the time so we were not able to get into the room as often as I had hoped. I did not overcome it. 

4. What did you do with the “stuff” you were able to purge out of your newly organized space?

Much of what we did remove was thrown out, down the garbage chute of our building. Some was put in a "give away" bag to be taken to a local charity. The "to keep" items were put in a "to keep" box that will then be put away when we have more room cleared out.

5. Tell me one of your proudest moments during this challenge?

One of my proudest moments was when our son went and did work in the room without being asked or prodded by me. Also, when we saw the floor.

6. Explain any organizing “tools” you used to help you create additional space and to establish some limits and boundaries?

We really did not get that far with this challenge. Basically: - we used a timer to keep us focused  - had a throw away, give away, and put away box/bag for things as we went through them - we immediately discarded the trash bags as they filled to keep us from going through them again - we put the give away bags by the front door as they filled and took them out to the vehicle when we next went out, and dropped them off with the charity as we were doing our errands (so they would be gone).

7. What is ONE piece of organizing advice you've learned on this journey that you could encourage someone else with?

Do things that you do not have to count on someone else to accomplish. This way you get more  done, and start seeing results sooner. Once you have done that, then, if you need to work with someone, you will feel better about the whole venture. Set a timer to keep focused. Don't kick yourself if you did not accomplish everything at once. Do a little at a time. It will get done. 

DO NOT GIVE UP! 

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