I’m excited to welcome Vivienne Egan to Green and Tidy. Vivienne runs BinOracle, a blog devoted to finding value in rubbish, and rubbishing mass consumption. I love Vivenne’s blog so much, I asked her to write a post for Green and Tidy about how she decides whether to take home things she finds on the street. Here’s what she has to say on the subject…
It happens all the time, doesn’t it? Well it seems to for me: you’re walking down the street and you see it sitting there. It piques your interest. You look closer. What is it? A bag of clothes. Some dusty crockery. A saucepan, a box of glass jars, a pile of CDs. A chest of drawers. A wardrobe. A bed base.
I love finding and using things from the street. I love recycling and upcycling and sharing, a love I inherited from my mother, who was always picking furniture up off the side of the road. As a teen I was vaguely embarrassed by the fact that she’d pull over while driving and make me help her load whatever item she’d spotted into the back of the car. As an adult I’ve gotten over that, and these days I have to stop myself collecting everything I see, “just in case” I need it.
I’m naturally a bit of a hoarder, so it’s a struggle to reconcile my magpie-like instincts with the fact that I only have a limited amount of space and not all that much need for many of the items I find on the road. So, to fend off my inner hoarder, I go through a mental checklist before making off with my latest treasure:
Is the timing right?
By this I mean that, quite often you’ll be heading to work, or walking home with the shopping, or on your way to an event when you come across an item. If it’s good enough to come back for, or to call someone to come with a car, that’s great. If not, you’ve saved yourself a lot of trouble.
Is it in good condition?
It’s easy to overlook defects when things are offered to you free. But if it’s not in good repair, unless you are a skilled restorer, leave it.
Do you have a use for it?
A hard one to answer honestly, if you’re a hoarder. It’s easy to persuade yourself that you “need” a seatless chair because you’re definitely going to restore it and sell it on Etsy. But the fact is – for most of us – you probably won’t, and you’ll just have a seatless chair kicking around. Be honest with yourself. Do you need it? Is it worth your time?
Do you have a space for it?
The old adage “a place for everything, and everything in its place” is a useful rule of thumb here. Think about your home, your wardrobe, your cupboards, your outdoor spaces. Will that space be enhanced by this item? Is there room for it?
If you can [honestly!] answer yes to all four of these criteria, then congratulations, you have found treasure worth taking home with you. And I have found some fabulous items – from clothing to furniture to kitchenware – that have been really handy.
But if it fails on any of those counts, keeping walking – it’s no good to you. Trust me!
Dave and his wife Sue decided to go travelling. Their children were adults with homes of their own, and they were each ready for a break from their jobs. They rented out their four-bedroom house, fully-furnished, to Jane and Simon, a young couple with a baby and a toddler, and went away, asking a friend who lived over the road to keep an informal eye on the property.
After a wonderful year of adventures and relaxation, they began preparations for coming home, including giving notice to their tenants.
They were back in the UK a week or so before their home would be free, staying with friends, when Dave got a call from their friend and neighbour…
“I think you should come and have a look at your house. I’ve got a feeling there’s something wrong”.
So they called round.
As soon as they saw the house, they knew something was up. And when they knocked on the front door and looked through the front windows, they saw they were right.
The house was empty!
Everything was gone.
I mean everything.
Their furniture…
Their crockery, cutlery, kitchen equipment, teatowels…
Their light fittings…
Their curtains…
Their CARPETS!
Everything.
They let themselves in and walked around in stunned silence. Simon and Jane had gone, taking with them everything that wasn’t nailed down – and some things that were!
The comfortable home they had been ready to move back into was nothing but a shell.
Can you imagine their shock, upset, anger? It must have been awful.
Naturally, they reported the theft but the police said that they didn’t have any records against the names their tenants had given and, as the only address they had for Simon and Jane was their own (now empty) house, it was unlikely they would find them.
But the story doesn’t end there…
A week or so later, to their amazement, they saw Jane letting herself into a house on a street just round the corner from their home! They couldn’t believe their eyes! They’d assumed the family was long gone: not even in the same area anymore, let alone living just a few streets away.
So they followed her up the path and knocked on the door.
And this is where the story gets surreal.
Jane opened the door and looked surprised to see Dave and Sue. Not horrified, just surprised. And she calmly (perhaps a better word would be resignedly) invited them in.
In a state of shock, Sue and Dave stepped over the threshold into a house entirely furnished with their stuff. Simon offered them a cup of tea and they sat on their own three piece suite, drinking tea out of their own mugs, looking at their own carpet (which, by the way, had been cut to fit a different room).
Naturally, they asked Jane and Simon why they’d done it. What did they think they were playing at by taking all this stuff that didn’t belong to them?
“We needed it”.
“But that’s not the point! It’s ours, not yours!”
“You can buy new stuff. You’ve got loads of money. You’ve got that massive house, and you can afford to leave your jobs and go travelling. We’ve got nothing. I’ve just lost my job and we had to move out of your house into this place without any furniture and we didn’t have the money to buy any”.
!
The argument wasn’t going anywhere so Sue and Dave left and phoned the police to tell them they’d found the culprits.
Simon and Jane were arrested and charged. A date was set for a court appearance. But Dave and Sue didn’t get their stuff back. Possession is nine tenths of the law and they would have to wait for the legal wheels to finish turning before that happened.
Meanwhile, Sue and Dave were living with the inconvenience of not having their stuff, the grief at losing it, and the hurt, frustration and anger of knowing that Simon and Jane were using it all just a few streets away.
What would you have done in this situation?
I’m not sure what I would have done. But I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have had the strength of character to do what Dave and Sue did.
They thought and talked about what they’d noticed when they’d met with Simon and Jane. How miserable they both looked. How worn down and desperate. How poorly dressed they and their children had been. How chilly it had been in the unheated house.
Sue and Dave called round to see Simon and Jane again and said this:
“We’ve decided to give you all this stuff. It’s yours. You can have it”.
Then they phoned the police and withdrew the charges.
The police told them they couldn’t do that but Dave and Sue explained that no crime had been committed as they’d given their stuff to Simon and Jane as a gift.
Dave told me that, as soon as he and Sue had done this, a weight was lifted off their shoulders. Instead of carrying around the burden of anger and blame towards Simon and Jane, and being encumbered by all that stuff, they went back to living with just what they needed day by day, as they had while travelling. They felt freer than they had in years.
This is a true story. I’ve changed the names but ‘Dave’ told me it himself.
What would you have done if this had happened to you? Can you imagine doing what Dave and Sue did? Can you understand why they did it? I’d love to hear your thoughts about it. Please comment below.
If you’re not yet part of the Green and Tidy community, sign up here (and get a free decluttering masterclass as a bonus).
When my brother was studying Environmental Science in the 1980s, most people hadn’t heard of the subject. So, when asked at parties what he was studying, he used to say it was a branch of geography. The result was, that instead of being asked “What’s that?!”, he got asked “What’s the capital of…?”
So he made a point of learning the capitals of all the countries of the world.
When I tell people I’ve got a Psychology degree, they say “Ooh, better watch what I say around you! Bet you’ve psychoanalysed me already. I’m mad, I am!”
When my Mum tells people she used to teach Maths, they say “Wow, you must be really clever!” (She is, of course. Hello Mum!)
Most people have never met a Decluttering Coach. So when I tell people what I do, their responses reveal a number of misconceptions.
Let me dispel them for you now…
So is your home really minimalist then?
No. My home’s tidy. But I like what I use regularly to be easily accessible on worksurfaces.
It’s about what works for you. If you like minimalist, go for it. I don’t.
You’re not coming in my house! You’d make me throw all my stuff away.
I would never tell you what you ‘should’ get rid of. I can’t know what items are important to you. Only you know that. What I can do is train and support you to work out what you truly love and need, find the most eco-friendly ways to move on what you can live without, and organise your home or office so that it supports you to live the life you want to live.
So you go into people’s homes, do you?
Well yes, I do. But I also support people remotely. As well as providing on-site decluttering and organising support, I run a ten-module programme that takes you through exercises to help you work out why you personally have clutter, helps you define your goals for when you’re clutter-free, trains you in my quick and easy decluttering process, helps you declutter challenging types of clutter (sentimental items, clothes, books, paperwork, the clutter of people you live with…), and shows you how to stop clutter creeping back.
Are you wondering if it’s possible to help someone declutter without going to their home or office? You get telephone coaching, both one-on-one during your clutter-clearing sessions, and in groups. You get video coaching, audio coaching and real-life stories to inspire you. And it works.
This week, after chipping away at it week by week, the decluttering just seems to be taking off by itself and I’m feeling genuinely motivated. (Ms B in week 7)
Since undertaking Rachel’s Green and Tidy declutter programme [Clear Your Clutter, Stay Clutter-Free and Live the Life You Want], I have been engergised about the thorough way I have approached my nearest and dearest possessions. My wonderful life’s gatherings.
How much better do I feel? I am enthused again, making schedules, doing my actions, getting fantastic & nurturing support, reducing my clutter and organising my lovely new home.
Thank you Rachel. The programme is clear, supportive and cleverly put together. I have just completed the paper clutter module and feel so much better about how to tackle incoming, ongoing piles of paperwork. (SEC)
It means I can help you wherever you are in the world. And, if you’re feeling self-conscious about even letting a Professional Organiser see your home, you don’t have to!
My friend/Mum/Dad/etc really needs you
I bet you know at least one person who struggles to manage their stuff. Even if that person’s you, I bet you know at least one other. We all do.
Up to one in 20 of the population suffers from Hoarding Disorder and, according to the National Declutter Week survey I helped run recently, four out of five people think they have too much stuff.
When someone tells me they know someone who ‘needs’ me, I ask “Are they unhappy about their home?” Often the person I’m speaking with says “No, I don’t think they’re bothered”.
In which case, I say “So long as they’re happy with it, that’s OK, isn’t it?”
I don’t ask “What do you get out of judging them?” though I do wonder!
Of course, if they say that their friend or relative is unhappy with their stuff, I ask them to pass on my details. So long as the person seeks my help themselves, I’m delighted to work with them.
Do you work with people like the ones on the telly?
Sometimes. And sometimes I work with people who’ve just got temporarily into a mess. Or they’re moving house and want to get rid of stuff before they move. Or they want to declutter their loft so they can insulate it.
We’re all somewhere on the spectrum of clutter and you don’t have to be a hoarder to benefit from the support of a Professional Organiser and Decluttering Coach.
That’d never work for me. I’m creative/artistic and I need my stuff about.
See minimalism. Look, it’s about what works for you. If it helps your creative process to have some part-finished projects in sight and the materials you might use readily to hand, set your workspace up that way. But, if you’re so overwhelmed by the clutter in your studio that you haven’t got either the mental or the physical space to create, I can help.
I’d be embarassed to let you see my home
There’s no need to be. I’m not judgemental about other people’s homes. What’s important is that your home works for you (which includes it working for the people you care about), not that it conforms to anyone else’s idea of an ideal home. I work with people at a variety of places on the spectrum of clutter so the chances are that, even if your stuff’s got severely out of control, I’ve seen it all before.
And, if you can’t bear even to let a Decluttering Coach/Professional Organiser see the state of your home, check out my distance learning programme.
What’s the capital of Djibouti?
Oh, OK, I don’t get asked this. But, in case you do…it’s Djibouti City. Now lie back on that couch and tell me about your childhood.
If you’re not yet part of the Green and Tidy community, sign up here (and get a free decluttering masterclass as a bonus).
If you’re not yet part of the Green and Tidy community, sign up here (and get a free decluttering masterclass as a bonus).
Are you old enough to remember when the Internet was new? When we were just starting to use dial-up connections?
The last place I was employed before I set up my business 15 years ago had just one computer with an internet connection. This was in an office of about 15 people. I used to sneak onto it to email a friend in Australia, hoping that no-one would look over my shoulder and see I wasn’t using it for business.
How times have changed. I can’t imagine running my business without not just a broadband connection to my office, but wi-fi through my house and a smartphone in my pocket whenever I’m away from my desk.
This was brought back to me forcefully a couple of months ago when my smartphone had to be sent in for a repair, leaving me with a basic phone lent to me by my provider. No email on the move.
I’d like to tell you that I had a blissful, chilled-out time, free from the pressure constantly to be checking-checking-checking email, Facebook Twitter…
Each time I returned to my desk after an absence of several hours though, I was reminded why I find a smartphone so essential.
Dozens of combined business and personal emails to process. Shudder. But…
…it could have been so much worse….
…if I wasn’t so meticulous about setting up my email client to minimise the amount I have to do.
Here are my tips for decluttering your inbox to save time and stress
1. Don’t just delete, unsubscribe
Faced with an inbox of hundreds of unread mails, it’s tempting to ‘Delete. Delete. Delete’ but…
…are you tackling the symptom rather than the cause?
Each time you go to delete an email without even reading it, consider…could you have prevented this email arriving in the first place?
Unsubscribe from mailing lists you’re not interested in. It takes micro-seconds and you’ll never have to deal with mails from them again.
Leave LinkedIn Groups you no longer find useful. Consider resetting your preferences for LinkedIn Groups and other online discussion groups to weekly rather than daily updates (or just check them occasionally on the website).
Turn off notifications that you don’t need to receive. I’ve turned Twitter notifications off relying instead on regularly checking Twitter itself. I find Twitter’s notifications unreliable anyway: sometimes it tells me someone’s mentioned me, sometimes it doesn’t.
The amount of time it takes to delete an unwanted, unread email is small yet the stress induced by confronting a bulging inbox is disproportionately large. So take the time to unsubscribe and you’ll save more than the time required to delete.
2. Filter
Set up mail filters to sort your emails before you even look at them.
I filter Offer messages from Freegle and Freecycle into one folder and Wanted messages into another. (And I filter Received and Taken messages from Freegle/Freecycle straight into my Trash folder).
I have sub-folders for LinkedIn messages, Google Alerts, the automatic backup of my blog that I receive once a week…
Filtering these messages into sub-folders automatically sorts them so that I can go through all messages relating to a specific thing at the same time. It doesn’t take long to scan my Freecycle messages and then delete them when they’re all in one folder. Some, such as my backup emails, I don’t even need to read (so my mail rule also marks them as read as soon as they arrive).
3. Archive
Now opinions differ about this. Some people say that, since you can easily search your inbox for any email, it’s not worth your time filing messages once you’ve dealt with them.
Personally, I find it stressful to see unread emails piling on top of read mails. And I find it quicker and easier to locate archived mails in folders than by searching.
So, whenever I check email, I file every message, leaving me with an empty inbox.
Don’t use your inbox as a ‘to do’ list. Don’t leave a read mail in your inbox to remind you to take action. Schedule the action and file the email. That way you won’t get a heart-sinking reminder that there’s something you’re procrastinating about every time you check your inbox. You won’t get overwhelmed by a sense that there’s loads you ‘should’ be doing that you’re not getting round to.
Plus you won’t ‘lose’ emails that slip off your radar as more arrive on top of them.
I’ve created a directory structure that divides personal and business mail, groups personal emails by who they’re from, and groups business mails according to the client or activity to which they relate. (Plus I’ve got a bucket folder for business emails I want to keep that don’t fit into any of my file categories).
I’ve also got a folder for mails I need to keep temporarily, such as confirmation that I’ve got a place at an event. Every now and then, I go through this folder and delete the mails that I no longer need. I don’t worry too much about it though. It doesn’t matter what old, redundant emails are in it because they’re not cluttering up my workspace, i.e. my inbox. I don’t see them most of the time and, when I do, it’s usually a recent mail I’m searching for.
4. Don’t be part of the problem
Before sending an email, consider whether it would be better to pick up the phone. It’s often quicker and easier to resolve something by phone or face-to-face than through an email exchange. Just because someone’s emailed you doesn’t mean you have to respond the same way.
Don’t use email to avoid a difficult conversation. It’ll probably make things worse anyway since email lacks the nuances of vocal communication.
One of the causes of the deluge of emails we each receive is the ease of copying in and replying to all. There’s a temptation to copy in anyone and everyone to cover your back. Chances are most of your recipients aren’t reading your mail anyway though. Consider who really needs to receive the information.
Summarise long discussions, especially if you’re copying in someone new. Instead of forwarding a message string, forcing your recipients to scroll through multiple messages to understand what’s under discussion, could you summarise the key points?
The result of being conscientious about applying these simple approaches is that I have fewer mails to process, I can easily find any mail I need to access and, most importantly, my stress levels are lower!
I invite you to apply my recommendations and post below about the results you notice.
If you’re not yet part of the Green and Tidy community, sign up here (and get a free decluttering masterclass as a bonus).
Look, it’s about what works for you. If it helps your creative process to have some part-finished projects in sight and the materials you might use readily to hand, set your workspace up that way. But, if you’re so overwhelmed by the clutter in your studio that you haven’t got either the mental or the physical space to create, I can help.