Stop Buying Too Much Stuff

So maybe you understand a little more about why you have so much clutter, but what can you do to deal with it?

Here are some possible solutions to buying too much stuff, one of the problems I mentioned in Pens, Morven, Really?

eBay and Overstock.com

Stop it right now. Block those web sites if you have to — There are extensions for your browser and I'm sure there are apps for your phone. As I said when talking about the Mall later in this post, it doesn't mean you can't do it forever, it's just that you can't do it now.

The Home Shopping Network
Is that still even on? Whenever the cable company updates the line-up, the first thing Dear Hubby does is to "hide" the channels we don't want. The Home Shopping Network and its kin are among the first to go. This makes it quicker to find what we want when browsing through the channels. There's a side benefit in that it prevents you from accidentally landing on that channel and getting interested in what's on sale. Find out how to hide channels on your cable setup. If you can't figure it out by "walking" through the menus, do an internet search. You're not the only person who's wanted to do this.

Offers in e-newsletters
Create a special folder for all incoming salesy newsletters. If your email program or app allows you to make rules, you can set it up so your newsletters go there automatically. If not, anytime one arrives, just move it to the new folder without reading it. Yup. Until you get things under control, don't look at it at all! Remember, it's not forever; it's just until you get things under control, which is an excellent incentive for being serious about decluttering. Why didn't I tell you to delete it? If  you're like me, you think, "Oh, but there might be something in there I really need!" You're more likely to put it in another folder where you can get it if you need it than you are to delete it.

The Mall
Okay, the Mall is a great place to do your daily fitness walk during inclement weather, but walk right past those stores! While you're in your decluttering phase, you've got to do that! It's like avoiding carbohydrates completely during the Induction phase of the Atkins diet. Complete abstinence is temporary. It doesn't mean you can never go into those stores again, just don't do it until you get a good idea of what you have and where you can fit it.

Buying Too Many Gifts
Are you one of those people who buy birthday, anniversary, Valentine's Day, Christmas, Hannukah, and Easter gifts for everyone you know? That means you have gifts, wrapping, and cards stashed away, doesn't it? And you can't always find them (or remember you bought them), so you buy more.  And your friends and family reciprocate gifts, buying you things you might not have room for, right? At some point you need to review — with your family/friends — who you'll exchange gifts with and what kinds of gifts they'll be. More on that later. You can start by saying, "Please no gifts. I'm trying to declutter." Or ask for non-physical gifts: Vouchers for movie coupons, gift certificates for a restaurant, a donation to your favorite charity.

Coming Back with More
If you or a family member have the problem of going to the local Swap Shop and coming back with as many items as you dropped off, try this technique. For every one thing you get from anywhere — shops, online, giveaways, gifts — you have to get rid of two. Or three.

No, it won't make a major impact in your pile of stuff, but it can help you stop accumulating more while you get a handle on what you have.

Think of it every time you buy or grab a freebie. Free promotional bags at the Farmer's Market? Fine, but think of the ones you already have and which ones you're going to give away. Get in the habit of doing this with little, inconsequential things so that you naturally think of what you already have and what you'll do with it any time you're about to acquire another item.

Buying Things You Don't Need
This takes some self-control, but, at least for your major decluttering time period, stop buying things you don't need.

Example: You see the greatest-ever tee shirt. You already have enough tee shirts to clothe a third-world country. Do you absolutely need another tee shirt now?

Another example: The latest Apple watch is out. You have a watch (maybe even a smart watch). You have a cell phone. There are inexpensive watches available for under $30. Do you absolutely need the latest smart watch now?

Defer your purchase until after the decluttering phase. Get your stuff under control before you make any other non-critical purchases. Get comfortable with the difference between need and want.

Pens and Other Multiplying Entities: Part 2, Dispersal

In my last post (Pens and Other Multiplying Entities: Part 1, Capture), I described how to capture pens, pencils, and markers. Now I give some hints on what to do with them.

Rehabbing Your Captures

Before you determine which ones you can keep, try this trick.

1. Add about 1/4 inch of rubbing alcohol to the bottom of one of those glass jars you used to trap the pens. 
2. Put the pens point down in the alcohol for about an hour. Then take them out and wipe the tip with a rag (if you have a rag bag...) or paper towel. 
3. On a scrap piece of paper -- can't find one? We'll solve that problem later -- scribble with the pen. If it won't write, throw it out!
   
   "That's obvious," you say. Oh, yeah? How many times have you found a pen that wouldn't write on the first try and set it aside to fix it later? (You didn't? You must have a mild case of Packrititis.) Going through this step, giving the pen that one last chance, helps you to throw it away without guilt, and without delay.
   
4. Repeat with the rest of them.

For pencils, mechanical or wooden, it's just as easy. Round them up. If they're wooden, sharpen them. If they're mechanical, find the leads that go with them. Can't find the sharpener or pencil leads? Disorganization can lead to clutter, and not just because things are lying in a jumble, but because the next time you're out shopping, you'll say, "Oh, that's right. I couldn't find the pencil leads. I'll buy more."

And maybe you can't remember if they're .07 or .05, so you buy both, thinking you'll return the ones that don't fit. And maybe you misplace the returns. Or the receipt. Or you just never get around to returning them. Get it? You need to organize. At the end of this post, I'll add some links to articles on organizing your desk.

Dispersing Your Extra Writing Implements

Determine which ones you'll keep. Put them in a separate pile. What do you do with the extras?

• Take some back to work (that's probably where they hitched a ride home with you to begin with). 
• Leave them somewhere. One person who had promotional pens made for a local business used to "accidentally" leave them at the post office and ATMs, hoping that people would pick them up.
• Pass them on. Do you belong to any organizations that could use them? Some people are squeamish about handling others' belongings, but as long as you didn't chew the ends, a quick swipe with a cleaning cloth should do it.
• Donate them. If they're in good condition, find out if there are any local organizations that could use them. Every non-profit needs office supplies. Maybe, like you, they've been plagued with rogue pens who hide on them, but they don't have the time to set traps and capture.
• Some organizers suggest leaving some in your car. I don't. Cars get too hot (and cold) where I live, so they don't always work when I need them. They also can end up on the floor where you step on them, and they can leak into upholstery. Pencils? They work under almost any condition. I leave a couple in my car at all times, in case the point breaks on one.  

Rehoming the Keepers

You've discovered that the preferred habitat of the pen and pencil is not necessarily the starkness of the writing desk, homework table, or even kitchen. Some of them like to move around. That means that you need a permanent pen hostel for every room where your traps yielded significant captures.

Instead of buying holders, why not recycle something you already own? As I said, coffee cups make great holders. If you're crafty (or have kids who are), make some. Google craft project pen holder for ideas.

Guys, there's no reason you can't do this, too. Think the designs on that link are too feminine? Take an empty can (preferably one that was opened with one of those can openers that leave no sharp edges) and cover it with a printout of your favorite book cover, hobby, sports team. All you need is a printer and glue.

Resources

Here's an idea: If you can't find a place in your area for your overwhelming collection of extra pens, send them here OR take them to another area yourself.

Right to Write

Darn. I just found out that one of my favorite fables might be a myth:

Fact or Fiction?: NASA Spent Millions to Develop a Pen that Would Write in Space, whereas the Soviet Cosmonauts Used a Pencil.)

Pens and Other Multiplying Entities: Part 1, Capture

I always have a pen and a scrap of paper with me in case the Muse hits. Correction: Usually. I don't have them with me in the shower, or if I walk out to the mailbox, but 99% of the time, you'll find I have a pen. People who know me know that. ("Ask Morven. She usually has a pen.")

The problem is that pens don't stay with me. They move. The two pens and a pencil that I keep in my handbag can dwindle down to one or multiply to ten. Some of them end up in my work bag. Or on my work desk. Or vice versa: Sometimes when I'm gathering my stuff together for work the following day, I'll realize that I have brought all my work pens home.

At home, pens that were perfectly happy sitting behind the keyboard or in that cute little pen groove on my monitor stand suddenly disappear. I grab one out of one of my pen holders -- what, you have only ONE? Confess, you have more, don't you? -- and, when I straighten my desk the next time, I find twenty. I think they deliberately go off somewhere where they can have some privacy and, um, get to know each other. By the time I find them, they've multiplied.

This can drive you crazy, distracting you from your writing, besides creating a clutter problem. Even worse, while some of them are hiding, they dry up!

So here's what I suggest. This is going to be one of those bite-sized decluttering tips that will help you get in control and ease the pain of decluttering, whether it be the pain of taking the time to do it or the pain of letting things go.

Trapping the Pens

I'm not going to tell you to go buy desk organizers because the last thing you need right now is more Stuff. Instead, find some things around the house that you can use to hold pens just while you get them under control. This might be a good time to go through your coffee cups. Any that you don't absolutely love or that are chipped or otherwise aren't making the grade are good candidates.

Don't have any extra cups? Okay, just while you're getting your writing implements in line, consider using glass jars or even empty produce containers (you lay the pens on their side). (Tip: Remove the produce first.) You need one for each room. Yup, one for every room, including the bathroom, garage, and basement, if any.

You don't need to bait the pen trap, though seeding the trap with a pen or pencil will help other residents of the household remember that those are pen traps, not things that need to go in the recycling bin. If it helps, label the trap. This is a good use for scrap paper. Can't find any? Ah. I see another blog post in the future.

For a week (or month, if you're really serious), every time you find a pen, pencil, or marker, put it in the nearest trap. Make it a game. While you're waiting for the coffee to brew, look around the kitchen and see if you can find any. Pens are wily creatures; they can be hiding in the junk drawer, the medicine cabinet, or, if you have a cat, under the refrigerator or sofa.

In my next blog, I'll tell you what to do when you've captured them.

Resources 

I disagree with her suggestion to leave a bunch of pens in the car, but otherwise the suggestions in the link below are similar to mine.

Pens & Pencil Clean Out

If you don't want to craft your own pen cups, here are some interesting ideas.

Organizing the Pens and Pencils: Pencil Cups and More