6 Simple Recovery Steps for Serial Clutter Convicts
Hello, I’m Deborah and I’m a serial clutter-er. I know. I know. It’s not really a word but in my world it is. I don’t have mountains of newspapers, I don’t lurk in alleys looking to bring home more “stuff” and I can open and close my doors and drawers without stuff falling on me. However I do have too many shoes that I don’t wear and paper/mail accumulates on my kitchen counter and my office has those piles that have been there and been there, etc. I clean it and organize it and somehow it just keeps coming back.
I have purchased and almost read a couple of books on the problem and one of my favorites is Let Go of Clutter by Harriet Schechter. (Part of me wishes she would come to my house and part of me hyperventilates at the thought of it) What I liked about this book is that she discusses the different reasons why some of us have a difficult time with clutter. Then she clarifies the confusion around different activities one does to get rid of the clutter which is very enlightening. They are:
1. Cleaning: she defines this as the vacuum, mop, dust sort of thing we all do. I’m not spectacular at this but definitely OK here.
2. Neatening: She says this is what we do when someone is coming over. I’m really good at this.
3. Organizing: I don’t know what happened here, my Mom is organized, my daughter is organized, I….am not. I am better than I used to be but honestly I am not what most people would call organized.(I just heard my daughter guffawing as I wrote that and she isn’t even here) She says this is when you spend enormous amounts of time trying to find something you put away when you were neatening. This is so true.
4. Decluttering: She says, and I quote, “Discarding, removing, or markedly reducing any accumulation of material objects.” Yup, this is definitely my problem.
At least I am comforted by the fact that the reason I am bad at organizing and de-cluttering, in part, is because I am so good at cleaning and neatening. Why should we care?
When your environment is cluttered, you mind is cluttered.
As my daughter says, “the less clutter you have in your home, the clearer you are when you walk out the door.” I can attest to the fact that walking into a cluttered home makes me feel tired, uninspired and slightly inadequate. Your home should be your sanctuary regardless of how grand or humble it is. For me, it is the realization that although I was aware of my problem, I used to be a card carrying workaholic so I really wasn’t home very much. Now I work from home. Quite simply, I do remember that feeling of walking into a clean orderly house after a long stressful day. The difference is night and day.
Order
With that said I am committing to finding a way to become de-cluttered which will consequently make me happier, clearer and even better at cleaning and neatening because there won’t be so much to do. Now since I have had these two books for years and have not finished my favorite nor even started the other, I have decided to start with my review of the book, advice from my daughter and the knowledge that I need to keep this mentally and physically as simple as possible. So here’s my plan:
1. I plan to set myself up for success with SMALL achievable tasks. I will do one small project at a time and keep it as simple as possible so I don’t get overwhelmed, which will build my confidence. This will also make for less choices and decisions in a given day and increase the likelihood of my repeating the process tomorrow. Today I started with the shoes exploding out of my closet. I have two closets so I started with only one of them. I was shocked at how many shoes that I found I had not worn, will not wear and really didn’t even know were in my closet.
2. For each of my de-cluttering tasks I will use a cardboard box instead of a trash bag. A good suggestion from my daughter as it is tidier, stackable and it seems to help inspire a “de-clutter-er euphoria “at the site of actual space on the floor without the contradictory site of an overflowing garbage bag.
3. If the job is bigger than I thought I will stop immediately when I begin to feel anxious or overwhelmed.
4. When I am finished I will immediately put the box out of site. I put my box in the garage in a spot I have designated for donation pickup. This prevents the urge to pilfer items back out of the box or second guess any of my decisions. As luck would have it, a donation truck is scheduled to come next week!
5. Knowing that the clothes part of the closet would require more soul searching decisions, I placed a hamper in the new found floor space of my closet. My plan is to put clothes I do not want any longer in it as I discover them while dressing.
6. Lastly, the book recommends that I don’t beat myself up for past failures. So today I am focusing on patting myself on the back for what I did “right” today and resisting the urge to suddenly notice all the other areas I need to attack.
Isn’t it interesting how #6 is also excellent advice for beating procrastination, creating positive self talk, raising our self esteem and achieving any goal we have set for ourselves?
It’s only been one day but I must say I feel pretty good about it and the prospect of conquering the returning clutter. This concept of keeping the steps simple and the job small makes me more hopeful than past attempts when I contemplated the entire house! Perhaps this will work for you.
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Deborah Hayes, CTA Life Coach
Empowering women to live a life of consequence, a life without regrets that is your own unique version of the life you love. About Deborah
deborah@womenintransitiononline.com
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