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Hi, I'm Naxius and I live in a clusterfuck. I'll fancify this post later. For now, a quick Google search for "negative effects of clutter" or anything along those lines is all that's necessary to know that excessive clutter in one's living space is bad. You know, if the "ugh!" feeling in the pit of your stomach when you walk into a room filled to the brim with excessive, unorganized, and unnecessary bullshit isn't enough to make you realize it. Decluttering has been a side goal in most of my challenges ever since I joined NF in mid-2013. The common theme in all these previous decluttering attempts was failure, with a side dish of frustration. For some reason, I just couldn't make myself do things--cleaning up and throwing things away included. My mind operates in mysterious ways. Sometimes, things just "click" seemingly out of nowhere, and I become motivated to do a thing. In 2002, it was the beginning of my physical fitness journey. In 2004, it was the sudden desire to upgrade my high school marks and go to university. Now it's the overwhelming urge to declutter the entire fucking house. The main goal for my current challenge was to clean my room, a task I have been attempting to accomplish since...1995? There have been setbacks in this month's challenge so far because I live with my parents (yay, student loans!) and decluttering efforts often depend on more than one person, but my desire to slay the clutter demons has not faltered. THIS WILL BE DONE! And this will be fun. To make it even more fun, I am inviting everyone who has too much clutter in their lives to join me in the quest to get rid of things. The rules are as follows: 1. Score one point for each item you throw away, donate, set on fire, or get rid of in any way. Any potentially usable item that gets thrown out or donated counts as a point. For example, an old t-shirt that gets thrown into the trash bin counts as one point because the t-shirt could still be used as a pajama top, or to do chores around the house where one might get dirty. The shirt is not useless, but it's clutter and just taking up space at this point. Another example would be a half-empty or near-empty shampoo bottle. There is still some shampoo in it, and it could still be used, but it's not that great for your hair, or you don't like the way it smells, or you already bought a different shampoo that's better, etc. The point that the bottle has potential usefulness but is just sitting there taking up space. Tossing it into the trash will be one point. Tossing a shampoo bottle into the trash if it has no potential usefulness usually happens automatically, and therefore would not count as one point. Or at least I don't count it as one point. Some empty containers/bottles may be counted if they could potentially be used as storage containers or re-used in some way. The choice of whether or not to count it is up to you. tl;dr version: only count items that have potential usefulness. Trash that missed the bin and has been sitting there for a while doesn't count. But...it is also true that some players spawn in areas that contain more low-level bad guys. If someone starts CLUTTERBUSTER in a hoarders-level of an area and there are piles upon piles of trash all over the place, then counting pieces of trash is acceptable, where ten pieces of trash = one point, as this can help generate momentum. 2. (Coming soon) Percentage score based on how many rooms in your living space are clutter-free. 3. Multiplayer mode! Family members or roommates can join your party. Simply ask them to keep count of the things they throw away. For the purpose of score-keeping, players with multiplayer parties will have their scores in red. It's that simple. Post a reply to this thread to record your clutter kills. Keep track of your total on every post in order to avoid losing count. Before and after pictures are also encouraged, as is writing about your decluttering exploits in an epic, fantastic manner. Who can slay the most Clutter Critters?? Scores (last updated April 8)

Main goal: continue de-cluttering the house. Other goals: - Not have alcohol - Drink coffee less, drink water more - Work on cosplay (deadlines are approaching) - Go to bed at a reasonable hour. Brush teeth at 10:30 to get this started. - [locked] NF Yoga ...if the decluttering gets done. I've tried meeting these goals before, and started failing consistently at these goals within a day. What will be different this time? Who the fuck knows. Maybe motivation to establish new habits will strike from out of nowhere and I'll succeed this time. I am starting this challenge early so that if I fail at a thing a lot, I can change the challenge around before the start date. I've made a Google calendar of shit I need to do (mainly the usual tasks + cosplay + decluttering), which is also something I've tried before without any success whatsoever. The only difference this time around is that I've 1) turned off the annoying notifications that Google kept sending to my phone, and 2) am making it a point to see this calendar not as a to-do list, but as an excuse to say no to other things. I have no idea how I'm going to grade/measure any of these goals yet. I'm not even going to count water glasses, because that makes it feel too much like a chore. Now that I think of it, keeping track of things in general feels like a chore, so I'm not going to track anything. Oddly enough, this motivates me to actually do things a lot more. Physical clutter: - Clear the second crawlspace in my room (STORE NES AND SNES GAMES IN HERE AFTER, which will clear the last desk drawer) - Store the Thor and Loki and Darth Maul figures into the boxes they came in (for the time being, until shelving is figured out) - Organize class notes in the entryway (BOSS FIGHT!) - Put the following items on Kijiji (includes resizing pictures and writing item descriptions in a hilarious manner, because funny ads sell): Old BMX Old Skateboard Old mini-scooter Various pairs of shoes (plus bonus earrings!) Handbag Bows Xbox 360 - Re. Kijiji, take photos of the following items: Clothes I no longer wear Jewelry I no longer wear Mental clutter: - E-mail clinic with the pictures - E-mail clinic to ask about healing-related thing - Take care of fishing reels (sort the bag of fishing stuff while I'm at it) - Change name/contact info with coffee business (1) - Change web site name/write letter for coffee business (2) - Get salesman license for coffee business (3)

No interesting story here. Sorry! I have so many ideas of what I want to do for these challenges, and of course, I always want to continue doing what I was doing before, that my google doc that I'm using for tracking was getting a bit ridiculous. So for this first challenge of the year, I'm prioritizing, and focusing on tracking the basic habits I want to build & continue, the ones that I think will benefit by being tracked. Here's my challenge (for those interested in reading more about my thoughts on each of these points, its all written out after). 1 - Main Life Goal - End Overeating - Step 1 WIS +3 CHA +2 • slow down and enjoy my food • this is a yes or no, per day. I don’t expect to be perfect, just to think about it every time I eat something, and to improve as time goes by. 2 - stretch every day for 10 minutes DEX +2 CON +1 • this will increase flexibility and reduce stress. • this doesn’t have to be 10 minutes straight, but can be 10 minutes spread throughout the day, especially if it means getting up from my desk at work regularly • this is a yes or no for each day 3 - strength 3 times per week STR +2 CHA +1 STA +1 • this will increase strength, specifically core strength, and great cross-training for summer running 4 - De-clutter / Cleaning / Organizing WIS +1 CON +2 • I will not make more of a mess for myself - when something is in my hand, I will put it away properly the first time - this is a yes or no for each day, 50% of the points • at least once per week I will clean or declutter or reorganize one “big†area - this is weighted for 50% of the points Things I may (or may not) track, but do not get points for: running (when I'm off work and its not too slippery) cooking new meals climbing (which I haven't done in ages but really want to get back to) I also hope to participate in more mini-challenges, which I haven't done in a long time. (And now its the long wordy version for anyone who is brave enough to continue!) My main life goal is to end overeating. I really want to be one of those people who eats to live. The occasional extra helping of something you really love once a year is okay, but that's not me... not yet, anyway. Its a pretty vague goal, but I feel like there are smaller steps I can take to work towards it, toward learning when I'm full. Here are what I think steps could be: slow down, drink more water, mindful eating, pre-portioned meals... I'm also going to continue with the strength training 3 times per week. I feel like I don't necessarily need to keep this as a challenge because I did so well at it last time, BUT I question whether or not I'd keep up with the 3 times per week without having the tracking to keep me accountable. Plus, I really enjoyed it and I'm proud of how I did last time, so I feel like maybe having a "birdie" in my corner is a bonus... I'll just give it less points. lol Cleaning - its such a challenge for me, still. I do want to declutter but I feel like maybe I need to switch it up a bit this time. So I'm going to stop making more work for myself - I'm going to put things away when they're actually in my hands the first time! Especially if its in the same room - example getting changed - dirty clothes can go right in the hamper, clean clothes will be refolded or hung... immediately. I do have a good system when I'm moving things between floors, so I'll continue that - there's no point running up and down all the time as that's a bit of a waste of time (or can be) but I'm going to put things away properly the first time. I think this will be a daily yes or no - did I do it or not. I will also do at least one "big" cleaning each week. Stretching & flexibility - I'm going to try this one again. Stretching for 10 minutes per day. I will also include, this time, if I get up regularly at work and move around and stretch then, too. So it doesn't have to be 10 minutes at one time. These aren't too assassiny, but I really do feel like an assassin more than anything else, so here I am again. Happy New year to everyone, and may 2014 be the best year yet!

A year and a half ago, I lost 40 pounds, and I've managed to keep it off, even through last year, which was very stressful for me. Ideally, I would like to lose another 10 pounds, but since I am trying to get pregnant now, I don't feel that is the correct focus. Therefore, for this challenge, I want to focus on building good habits, habits that will take me through many (hopefully soon) life changes. My main focus: Eating 1) Stop over eating. (WIS +5) • A book was recommended to me and I have reserved it from the library. I should have it by the end of this first week, and I will finish reading it by the end of the challenge. I am hoping there will be suggestions from the book that I can add to my challenge, things to work on and evaluate. OR if I do not enjoy the book, I will do research and find out if there is another source I can work with. The issue is that I know I"m over eating, even when I'm doing it, and yet I do, so I feel like some external "pressure" could help. • I will also drink a minimum of 8 glasses of water per day, 12 if I'm running. This way, I know I am not eating when I am actually thirsty, not hungry. * I feel like this could be the most thing I've worked on. My secondary foci: Exercise 2) Run 10 km, 3 times. (STA +3, CHA +1) • I have run 9.7 km, my original goal was to run 10, but I feel like that is too easy. So, in the next 6 weeks, I would like to do three 10 km runs. • I would also like to run twice more per week, but shorter runs, whether its a run home from work, or Tabata training in the mornings. 3) Bring back strength training. (STR +3, CHA +1) • Strength training was a significant part of my original weight loss, and I've let it slip. I want to strength train at least twice per week. My life challenge: De-clutter 4) De-clutter (CON +2) • I have several areas to work on: bookshelves in my bedroom, the spare room / office, my closet and my wallet (I also need a new wallet). Success will be working on at least one area per week.