Independent Living - First Steps in stopping your house eating your energy - Choosing

Ok so. You have your list. Of one room, several rooms or all rooms. That's up to you.  It's probably rather large. Fearsomely large.  I look at mine and my heart sinks. I start wanting to give up right now because of the sheer volume of energy doing that list will need.

Fear not! This is a snail like process. Chopped up into little bits of manageable energy use.

The first step was THINKING which was the last blog post HERE.

Next, we CHOOSE. We choose 3 to 5 items per room from the entire list (one room, several or all rooms), and concentrate on those.


How to choose?

• Look at the list.
• Think about how the room looks NOW.
• Pick out 3 to 5 items from the list that will make the biggest, most immediate impact.
• Highlight them or write them on a different piece of paper.
• Don't worry that they are too small or too big. 
• Don't get discouraged that there are too many - you are only picking 3 to 5 items per room. The rest of the items, you keep on the list but ignore for now.

Anything else?

Yes. Look at the 3 to 5 items you have picked. Do you need to do anything before those are started?

For example, if DIY needs to be done, do you have the tools/ fixings already? do you know where they are? will someone provide them?  Think about whether things or people need to be acquired so that when you choose to tackle an item, everything you need is available. So that you don't end up with it half done.

AGAIN REMEMBER RIGHT NOW YOU ARE JUST THINKING AND CHOOSING. YOU AREN'T ACTUALLY DOING ANYTHING. You are just getting used to the idea of what there is that might be done and choosing what will be done. And having a think about how long it will take and what will be displaced temporarily whilst these items are being dealt with.

One set of curtains are up!

So, onto my personal progress.

Remember, I'm ahead of my blogging in that I'm doing things before I blog about them. Partly to see if it works and also because I have to have a rest before I blog about it. For example I did my thinking and choosing last week.  So the pictures of actual activity and blogging actually happened a day or so ago. Not the same day as the blog.

I'm easily discouraged and confused, so I'm sticking to the Living Room. It's where I spend most of my time when I'm awake. I do have a list for the rest of the house, some of which involves getting the developer back to fix stuff. But it's the wrong sort of weather right now, so that's parked. And I can move around the rest of the house reasonably well, so I'm ignoring the other rooms.

Christmas tree is off the desk and desk is dusted...

Yesterday (last blog post) this was the list I ended up with - 11 items. But actually overnight and this morning with fresh eyes I realised there were MORE issues. So I've added them, and now have 16 items.

And today I've Underlined and put in Bold the 3 to 5 items I've chosen to tackle first. I've chosen 4 items only.

1. Get curtain rails and curtains put up - by someone - work out who!
2. Get decorations taken down - need help from mum, and think about where they will live til next christmas
3. Think about a home for the coats, instruction booklets etc. cos I know they need to be kept - think about it.
4. Sort out papers into stuff to be (a) binned, recycled or shredded, (b) put in a pile for filing and (c) put in a pile to be dealt with - can do myself.
5. Do christmas cards and send them out, send out stuff promised to people but not yet sent - can do myself and family can take to post office.
6. Tidy up the drawer unit, top and drawers - carer needs to help to hand me drawers.
7. Sort out bowls of stuff - to sell, bin, recycle or keep and find a home - carer needs to hand to me.
8. Sort out top of table and decide what else will live on it as well as the lamp - carer needs to hand to me.
9. Surfaces need dusting - carer will do if I get the extra call time
10. Ceiling needs sweeping - carer will do if I get the extra call time
11. Windows need cleaning - ask dad.
    
    PLUS newly realised with fresh eyes
12. Sort and declutter DVDs
13. Sort and declutter Books
14. Tidy up noticeboard and find it a permanent home
15. Sort and declutter china cupboard
16. Sort and declutter the chair in the corner that has stuff on.

Oh! Stuff from the desk is on the chair and the steps now have no home. Arghhh!

So this gives me 4 items that will make a BIG and IMMEDIATE impact.

• Get curtain rails and curtains up.
• Get decorations taken down (and stored).
• Sort out papers for dealing/ filing/ binning/ recycling/ shredding
• Sort out the top of the table. 

Part of the reason I chose these 4 items is because they are linked.  And a friend is available to put up the curtain rails.  Also, most of the stuff that needs decluttering already has a home. Maybe not the right home, but it means they can stay there until I decide it's time to tackle them which means they are not top priority.

The curtains are living inside an oak chest. Mum made them for me to the right size before I moved in a year and a half ago (oops!). I brought the rails with me. I did a Screwfix order last week for the fixings needed. Once the curtains are up, the chest will be empty and can (temporarily) hold the christmas decorations.  Once the christmas decorations are down and stored, a box on the table can be moved onto the desk where it belongs and then TA DA! the lamp that's stopping me using my food trolley can go onto the table. Win win!!!

Sigh! The table leaf is now up and covered in boxes of taken down but not put away decorations and the floor is covered with stuff from the patio doors area. All homeless!

So the pictures for today are the first day of getting those 4 items moving. This has cleared some areas but created a horrible mess elsewhere. But that's fine, because the 4 items are linked, once they're all done, three largeish areas in the living room will be hugely improved. I reckon it will take me a week. Healthy people could do it in a morning....

BUT when the choice is for a 'big and immediate impact' remember that if you are having to pace yourself, the temporary immediate impact may be more chaos! Might be a good idea to think about how long it will take to do each item and how you will cope whilst it's being done!

Area near patio doors now done, but lots of displaced items elsewhere!

Today's efforts are splendid, however, they added another item to the list - no 17. find a permanent home for my clock! The only one downstairs, which I always knew would be displaced by the curtains but forgot to consider it first....

I had a look see what's in the bowl. Nope! That's for another day!