Stuff Shifting

I did some decluttering of my needlework book collection. I also sorted my references and got them in order by both subject and size. I found several texts that I knew had to go. Instead of re-shelving them, I did a stuff shift and created a pile of texts that I wanted to get rid of. That pile has outgrown the space I designated for books I want to get rid of and is now a problem I have to solve.

I must now actually deal with the pile of books that I have created by stuff shifting. Stuff shifting is not decluttering. It is the shuffle that makes you think you are decluttering. Unless the clutter leaves your house, you haven’t decluttered.

But what about the things that are in a box, ready to go? Nope. Shifted stuff in a box. But I put the stuff in a cupboard (or wherever) because I want to use it for such and such project. I can’t see it any more. Isn’t that decluttered? No. You have done a stuff shift. Just because you can’t see it, if you know you want to get rid of it and it is still in your possession, it is still clutter and you need to deal with it.

In short, it ain’t over until it is out of your house. Period.

Some of your decluttering time has to be spent on using the things you have saved for a project on actually completing that project. If you can’t do that, you need to acknowledge that the project is a dream, and get rid of the shifted stuff you set aside for that dream project. Either that, or pay someone to do the project for you.

I have a lot of scrapbook pages that I want to scan, so I can save the digital file and get rid of the large, bulky scrapbooks. The scrapbooks are shifted stuff. I must set aside time to scan before I can stop shifting the scrapbooks and get rid of them. Many of the pages are too large for a home scanner. I will have to pay to get them scanned. Then the scrapbooks will not be shifted, they will be gone.