My sock drawer

In a previous post, I mentioned that I was listening to podcasts, specifically meal planning podcasts to try and find ideas that would work for me.  And sure enough, I found something that has been working rather well for the past couple months.  You can read that post here.

Do I always make what's on the meal plan? No, but I've been sticking with the plan 3-4 meals a week and that's a big win in my book.

As I was searching for a meal planning podcasts, I stumbled upon a podcast titled Meal Plans & Freezer Cooking.  It wasn't what I was looking for, but the podcast was interesting, and the host, Noni/Dana, was engaging and she briefly talked about what her podcasts are usually about - not meal planning but about keeping a clean home for people it doesn't come naturally to.  It certainly peaked my interest since I'm a terrible housekeeper.

Once I found what I needed from meal planning podcasts, I went back to Dana's website and started listening to her podcasts.  I started with number 1 and am currently still listening to them on my commute to and from work.  I relate to a lot of the things she talks about.  I don't think that my house has been as messy as she says hers has been.  I also don't consider myself a slob (her blog/podcast is titled "A Slob Comes Clean").  However, I do have messy tendencies and certain areas of my house have been terribly, terribly messy (hello master bedroom closet!).

I really liked that she said she runs her dishwasher every night, and hey! I do dishes and run my dishwasher just about every night.  Sweet, I'm on the right track and I didn't even know it!

She has some really interesting concepts.  I'm not following her daily and weekly tasks but I like her ideas on de-cluttering and "the container concept".  I linked that podcast in the event you are interested. The concept is basically that containers aren't just Tupperware.. a drawer is a container, and if you can't close it, you have too much in there.... and that doesn't mean you need to find another container to fit what's overflowing out of the first container.  It means you need to get rid of what doesn't fit.

Easy concept and I probably knew this because hey it's pretty logical, but I think until she spelled it out for me, I didn't quite grasp it as evidenced by my sock drawer...

Oh my sock drawer... all my drawers.  They are overfilled and half of what's in them, I never wear.  Does that just happen to me?

To get back to my sock drawer, it's probably the worse of all because I can't even close it.  You can see for yourself with my picture above.

I was hoping to get this post out late last week and see if anyone else wanted to join me in de-cluttering their sock drawer this weekend.  Obviously I didn't since today is Monday and I'm just now posting it.

I stuck to my plan of de-cluttering it, and I tossed probably 20 socks that didn't have a match, another couple pairs that had holes, and I put aside 7-8 pairs to donate because I've never worn them...

I'm happy to report that I can now close my sock drawer, for the first time in who knows how long.  And, getting it cleaned up, took no more than 10 minutes, probably closer to 5 minutes.

My plan - do one drawer every weekend, and then start tackling the closet - little by little.  It goes hand in hand with what Dana talks about.  Thinking about cleaning up all my drawers, or my whole closet is overwhelming.  It feels like it will take hours and I don't have hours.  By doing a little bit every weekend, it's not as overwhelming, and I make progress every week.  The more I do, the closer I get to the goal of all my drawers being de-cluttered, and all my closet being what it should be instead of a dumping ground.

Anyone want to join me and clear a drawer next weekend?  We can keep each other accountable.  :)