Anyone else have Throw-Crap-Out-and-Organize Fever?

[Arugula Latte]

I swear, I don't want to do anything but sort through stuff, clean stuff up, throw stuff out, and re-organize the surviving stuff ... It's so frickin' GREAT to get rid of stuff that's just taking up space. Must be almost Springtime ...

[SeattleGirl]

1. I'm starting to get the fever

For me it'll mostly be in the storage area of the basement, as I did some throwing away and organizing of the main floor a couple of months ago.

[Arugula Latte]

6. Yep -- basements are easy to let get slightly out of hand.

Out of sight, out of mind ...

[spindrifter]

2. Sorry, this makes me cringe.

I hate throwing stuff out. And I am almost beyond organizing. Someone in the family bought a book on OCD and left it in a spot where I couldn't help but see it.

[Arugula Latte]

5. Well, that's an incredibly common condition you're in.

Millions of Americans have stacks and stacks of stuff they can't seem to throw out. Several of them are in my extended family ... :D

[brook]

3. I'm trying...

by slowly packing up about 400 books. I want to be rid of so much 'ownership' and responsibility. I haven't the wherewithall to take care of 'my stuff' anymore. And I'm tired of thinking I have to keep Great grandma's table or grandpa's barometer, or whatever for my kids or grandkids. Then I inevitably find myself conflicted...then depressed. I sometimes think I'd like to go away for a week and find it all gone when I returned.

I noticed my daughter eyeballing a basket of magazines last week & told her to throw away any 20. It made her day - and I really didn't mind. Yesterday, I only managed to toss about 7. :(

[Arugula Latte]

4. I know what you mean about thinking about keeping this or that ...

It's the decision making that's exhausting. But, I try to tell myself that the item itself won't know that I abandoned it, and the person who gave it to you most likely won't know or won't care ... Still, it's hard. For example, I don't know whether to hang onto my kids' books that they "outgrow" and stash them in the attic for 20 to 30 years until I can pass them on to their kids, or if I should just give them to friends with younger kids, or to our school's book sale, or a little of each, which brings that decision-making process back into play ... :crazy:

[Oeditpus Rex]

7. Not yet

Gimme a couple months. Then get outa the way.

[Arugula Latte]

8. Yep -- It can't be forced.

You must surrender to your throw-crap-out instincts, Grasshopper ...

[In_The_Wind]

9. I've had that fever for a while.

I'm actually making progress!

[Redstone]

10. Happens to me in January every year.

Redstone

[Telly Savalas]

11. Majority of crap in garage+single digit fahrenheit temp=no

[huskerlaw]

12. Indeed...started in on it last weekend

and it felt GREAT!

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

13. Yeah, I've been doing it since the weekend

I moved out of my apartment and back home. It's hard to turn four rooms worth of stuff into one room.

[Richard Steele]

14. Throw stuff out? What's that like?

Sorry, I don't carry the "throw stuff out" gene.

Things do not "just take up space" in my worldview,
they merely posses unrealized potential.