Big Move 2021: Clearing the Clutter, Part I

This past weekend, I tackled the mess in the basement. It's something that I've been dreading for a long time but I couldn't really put it off any longer. Each day I had a simple goal: Saturday's was to clear off the folding table, and Sunday's was to clear up the floor in the center of the room. Baby steps. 

One of my hobby friends came over once and said, "I love it! I wish my space could look like this!"

I've always been a messy person (as if it wasn't obvious). I can wax poetic about how having a messy desk can mean I'm "creative and full of new ideas," or how a "disordered or chaotic workspace may be enhancing [my] creativity." And then there's that famous Albert Einstein quote that I'm personally very fond of...

Regardless, I think I might be a little too creative? 😬 

I've been coming to the realization that I need to do a better job of keeping things organized...and I'll do a better job of that in the new space. But for now, it's time to clean up and go through what I have now.

And yes, as several people have pointed out, my wife is an absolute saint. 

Saturday dawned, and I admittedly wasn't thrilled one bit at the prospect of starting to clean out the basement. But my goal was simple: clean off the folding table. 

But this was the result after about 3.5 hours. I used the 20/10 method on this, which is to say 20 minutes of cleaning followed by a 10 minute break. I was amazed at how quickly things went! Rachel Hoffman promotes the 20/10 method in her awesome (and irreverent) book, Unf*ck Your Habitat. I created a playlist (called "Get Crap Done!") and went to work. 

Most things were sorted and put into bins, while others were simply thrown away. I'll never know why I decided to keep so many shipping boxes or opened blister packs, but that's another matter entirely.

Sunday's goal was to clean up the remaining clutter in the center of the room. This one took a bit longer to do, as I got distracted with ideas for the new space (you can see my Pinterest board here if you're so inclined). But it was worth it once I finished for the day!

There's still a long way to go, but I'd say it's a pretty good start. I think the key will be to keep chipping away at it until the movers come. My big goal is to sort everything out by type (sprues, bits, bases, etc.) and put them in a respective bin for later organization once we get to New Mexico. I've got a few ideas in mind for what I want to do.

Until then, the cleaning continues!

Image courtesy of Hyperbole and a Half.