I just found this site yesterday and lurked all day....so many good suggestions and ideas.

I am third generation (at least) pack-rat, clutter bug, and consider myself borderline hoarder. I've been trying very hard the past 3 years to change my behavior. I want to declutter, clean out my paperwork (finally) and get organized. I want a clean house that I'm never embarrassed to have someone just show up to.

I also have 3 wonderful kitties, two just added (by mistake) last summer. They have really changed my life in good ways and not so good....think litterboxes, ugh.

My goal today: I will scoop the litterboxes, all 3 of them, everyday. I will sweep up around them also.

I look forward to sharing with and getting advice from all of you. Have a blessed day!
Nc (aka. Nancy)

Hi Nancy. Welcome to GON! So glad you found us and decided to join us! You have come to the right place. We are all on the road to getting ourselves decluttered and organized!

I am going to give you a list of the "tricks of the trade" we use to get ourselves organized. Feel free to adapt it to your needs.

The Master List:

This is a list of ALL the projects you want to do around your house. This might be a LONG list, but don't let it overwhelm you. You don't have to tackle each and every project at once.

Start a new list for each room. Be specific.

This will also be a sort of "wish list" as well. Put your lists in a binder, or store them in the computer, for reference.

As you accomplish an item on your list, make a notation of the fact and keep the lists in the binder or computer. They will become your accomplishment lists. Anytime you feel like you haven't accomplished much, you can check your lists and realize just how much you have done!

Baby Steps/15 minutes:

You don't have to organize the entire room in one go. You can do one area of the room, you can organize one closet or one piece of furniture. You don't even have to do one bookcase or cabinet, either. You can do one shelf or one drawer. Break your bigger projects down to individual, baby steps. Instead of listing "organize dresser", you can list "declutter and tidy drawer #1, declutter and tidy drawer #2, dust the surface, polish the mirror" and check off each baby step as you accomplish it.

We also work in 15 minute sessions. Set the timer for 15 minutes and work on your project. When the timer goes off stop and REWARD yourself. Have a cup of coffee, give yourself some computer time, or do something else you enjoy. Then you can set the timer again for another 15 minutes or quit for the day. Your choice.

Declutter:

It cannot be stated often enough - one can't organize clutter. So, before you try to organize anything, try to declutter as much as you can. Get rid of the obvious trash and junk, the extraneous stuff that is taking up space. Keep only what you love, is useful, and makes you happy. If there are any items that you want to keep which needs some repairs done first, add them to your Master List and incorporate them into your daily to-do lists. If there is something you think might be useful, then, box it up or put it aside to reconsider in 6 months' or 1 years' time. If you haven't used it in 1 year, ask yourself why you are still keeping it.

ETE/PUPA:

ETE stands for Eliminate The Evidence. That just means to clean up after ourselves as we go. If you make a sandwich, for example, put away the fixings (the bread, the butter, the sandwich meats, etc.) and wipe down the counter - don't leave the evidence of your sandwich making out!

PUPA stands for Pick Up and Put Away - sometimes, certain things end up on horizontal surfaces, for various reasons - perhaps someone didn't ETE or it wasn't practical to ETE until a project was completed, etc. So, periodically, we do a PUPA to return items to their homes, especially after we complete a project or before we clean up a room.

ETE and PUPA help you keep the rest of the house under control while you focus on one project from your Master List at a time.

Do feel free to post on any of the forums and threads. Looking forward to hearing from you again.

Thank you so much! So of the things on here I'm really having to search for, but I like research so it's sorta fun. But you've really explained some of the things for me and it's beginning to look doable, LOL. Thank you again and I look forward to more progress and cleaner rooms! :-)

Hi KDCatt: I've sent a message, it's the small red outline of an envelop flashing at the top of your screen

Hello and welcome Nancy.

It will take time and alot of hard work but it is doable.
What are your goals overall?
What are your biggest problems?
What is your first project, room, area, issue to tackle?

Feel free to look around and join in!

Welcome to the forum Nancy, I too am a cat person. They do add so much joy to life! As for the litter boxes, I don't know where you keep them but when I was living in a small trailer, I used to keep the cat box in the bathtub. It was easy to clean and when we wanted to take a bath or shower we just took out the box and put it outside or on a large piece of newspaper inside if it was raining.

Are u sure you need all three catboxes? we had two cats and only used one. Of course you have to clean it out each day and sometimes twice a day but I scooped and remove wet areas and just added more litter on top. Every few days I did a complete cleaning and replacing of litter.

Good luck with your organizing, we will keep you motivated!

Thanks for the welcomes! I'm so happy to be here and getting all this wonderful information and support. Sometimes, living by myself, it's so hard to keep motivated and I'm a bit lazy anyway, LOL. And if there's anyway I can put it off til tomorrow, I'll sure find a way.

tinytina: I'm still defining my overall goal (setting my priorities) but basically I want to be able to have a drop-in guest and not fret about it. I want to be able to have a repairman come in and not feel panicked and embarrassed.

My biggest problem(s) is clutter, accumulating, getting motivated, etc. And I think my first 'project' will be PAPERS...I think I'll tackle all the papers in bags, boxes, drawers, files, etc.

Organized: Thank you and hello cat-peep! I had always been told to have one litter box per kitty and now I'm reading that for 3 cats, I should have 4! wow. My oldest (a special needs male, spayed, 6 1/2 yrs old) has taken to occasionally wetting inappropriately. It has caused me to become more diligent about keeping picked up, LOL.

I am now re-training myself to become a better cat owner. My first priority is to clean all the litter boxes and sweep around them EVERY DAY. I want to do everything I can to make my little boy's life better and for him to want to go in the box. So I have ordered a couple new boxes with him in mind and I'll deal with 4 boxes for now, but I do hope to get them, at least, back down to 3.

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I have to share this: I was on my way home last night from work and was planning to stop by and visit a friend. Well she and her daughter were out getting dinner and it was suggested they meet me at home....I was the one that suggested this! The fact that I knew the litter boxes (which are all in the main room) had been scooped and swept around in the last 24 hrs made such a difference. I felt more relaxed and guest ready! Now to the clutter!

Nancy: How wonderful that you felt comfortable enough to invite your friend over! Good for you! Hopefully, the additional litter boxes and frequent cleaning will do the trick, where your cat is concerned. If not, it might be time for a visit to the vet; sometimes, it can be a sign of an infection.

Thank you Bless. Took him to the vet last week and clean bill of health so far. The vet agreed with me that it is most likely behavioral and to add another litter box. The problem started after I got 'stuck' with two feral kittens last year...they are now a permanent part of our home and all of them get along. I just think Toulouse, my baby boy, gets 'pissy' sometimes. He's spoiled and just a bit high maintenance, LOL.

I do have a question: I'm wondering if someone could explain the Master List to me a little more in depth. I'm a little confused. Is it a cleaning list, a project list or what? And what makes it different from the Branches?

Also I'd love any suggestions about adding to my routines. I pretty much have none right now. I work 12 hour shift work, 2 days, 2 nights and "4" days off. It's very difficult to have a set daily/time routine. So any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Nancy

Nancy, the Master List is generally a list of all the projects/things you want to do, eventually, in and around your house, as time and finances and abilities permit.

In a way, it is a brain dump - we all tend to have a mental list of projects/things we want to do; once you write it all down, you don't have to carry that list in your head.

And writing it down enables us to rearrange it, prioritize it, change it, delete and add, etc.

What is important to realize is, you are the master of your master list, not the other way around!

You can incorporate items from the master list into the Room of the Month (when we choose to work on one particular room for an entire month, occasionally longer!) or the branches.

As for routines, I think we all tend to struggle with that one! At least, I know I do! There are several threads on the Organizing Your Time and Schedule forum where routines are discussed. You might like to take a look over there and see if any of the previous discussions are helpful or post on one of the threads if you wish to discuss your own routines.