Unfuck Your Habitat

scoldylox Asks:

What do you think about financial documents? How long should you keep them? I've got stacks of stuff ranging back to almost a decade ago, so I should probably just toss (shred) those, right?

unfuckyourhabitat Said:

Get out the shredder! The NY Times had a good piece on how long to keep stuff.

Also, if you have a lot of stuff to shred and no shredder (or a wimpy one), places like Office Max offer shredding by the pound, and banks and other organizations often have free community shred events, where you can bring your stuff. Just Google “community document shred [your area]” and it’ll tell you if anything’s coming up.

scoldylox Asks:

Quite often, the biggest roadblock for me when I need to do major unfucking is my perfectionism. I feel like I can't start a project if I'm not going to finish it, and finish it *perfectly.* So when I find myself procrastinating because I can't do something perfectly, I just repeat to myself that it doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to be done. Do you have any other tips for overcoming perfectionism-related procrastination?

unfuckyourhabitat Said:

Prehyped wrote a great post about perfectionism this week. I have a thing about it, too.

We’re apparently a bunch of perfectionists around here.

scoldylox

scoldylox Asks:

Before I leave for a fun vactiony birthday weekend, I have grand plans to unfuck my bedroom--lo, it is thoroughly fucked at the present time. I'll be doing it tonight and tomorrow night after work, and I wanted the Internet to know about it so I'll feel responsible for actually doing it. I won't return to my room until after my birthday, so what better birthday present to me than a spotless room, right?

unfuckyourhabitat Said:

scoldylox

scoldylox Asks:

O Great Motivator, do you have any gameplan suggestions for tomorrow's Outer Plains Unfuck? I've got a kitchen and a living room to clean.

unfuckyourhabitat Said:

Oh, aren’t I glad you asked!

Once again, start with your flat surfaces: tables, countertops, etc. Clear all the shit off, and deal with it instead of just shifting it elsewhere. Give your fridge and pantry a thorough unfucking. Dust all electronics and bookshelves and such. Wipe down the fronts of your cabinets and the outside of your fridge, oven, and microwave. Clean the insides of your oven and microwave if you’re feeling ambitious. Wipe down all handles, faucets, knobs, and clean all the glass. Finish with sweeping/vacuuming/mopping.

I’m so proud that you got the Inner Sanctum done today!

scoldylox