4 days of decluttering

I have been participating in the Clutter-Free Classroom Project.
Ok, so I have been working on this post all week.
On my first day to declutter, I have opted to take on my desk drawers first.  I started last week with this drawer.

Tuesday morning, I jumped right in.  I started with my marker basket.  If they didn't work, I pitched them.
Then I made this discovery.  Look at all this masking tape.

 Well I vowed to keep no more than 2.  So I slid them all on my arm, and walked them down to the community supply closet.  As I walked in the office, the school secretary asked what had happened to me.  You see from a distance, all this tape on my arm looked like a cast!
Here is al the stuff I happily purged on day 1:

Look decluttering can make you rich. $1!!!

Wednesday, I tackled another drawer and I did not take pics of it.  (I was a little too ashamed of it.)
My neighbor teacher said it best, when my grade level met and saw the mess, she said, "I always love seeing your desk.  It makes me feel better knowing I am not alone."
Look what I found:



I should have moisturized hands!

 

I have been looking for these batteries since BEFORE winter break!

Here is the wonderful after:

Thursday, I insisted upon making progress with the top of my desk.  I have again carved out about 2 square feet. 



This may not look great to some of you, but it has come leaps and bounds!

It's much prettier from the students point of view!

Friday, I excitedly tackled a couple of shelves in my tall closet.  They were picture perfect.

Look, room for my new Vera Bradley purse! 
Believe me this was packed before.

Can you see the empty part of the shelf?!

I also pawned a stack of copied material off on my neighbor teacher, because she plans to actually use it.  Yeah!  Look at how much space that opened up:

Reflecting on Week 1 of the Declutter stage, I found it helpful to take on non-paper related drawers.  Those will be for the weeks to come.  Also, I don't miss any of the "stuff" I got rid of! 
If you are someone who is in the declutter stage, Good Luck!  It's ok to let stuff go.
If you are not trying to declutter, maybe you should think about at least cleaning that one drawer. (You know which one!)

One final thought, I promise we will be posting next week about some new stuff.  Not just clutter.  Though it has been a great (albeit) time consuming challenge.

EmilyK