I wish to preface this article to say that Martha Stewart I am not. In fact I am a clutter bug. Martha would most likely be horrified at all my well intentioned piles of projects, papers, and books. I am also a hoarder. I hate to throw things away. Multiply these messy instincts by the number of other members of my family who are of the same temperament and well...it usually takes me and my family mere minutes to create a big 'ol mess. The thing about clutter is that it is all in the eye of the beholder. I read about a study where people were shown photos of other people's work spaces. The most cluttered work spaces made most onlookers feel stress. But when the same people viewed photos of their own very disarray the stress was considerably lower. We do tend to feel more comfortable in our own mess.
But there does reach a point when even our own clutter can make some of us feel stressed, depressed, and even physically sick. I am not a neat freak by any stretch of the imagination and I would never judge anyone's level of organization. Instead, what I want to talk about is when the clutter makes you personally feel a sense of distress and anxiety. In that case it just might be time to take some action. Clutter can be defined as anything which we don't need which takes up our time and energy and threatens to destroy our peace of mind. Clutter can make you late for work when you can't find simple things like your keys. It can make us feel discouraged to see heaps of half finished projects lying around to remind us of all that we have not accomplished. Clutter can even be dangerous as when we trip over things just trying to get out the door. It can feel emotionally draining when our home seems out of control and unmanageable.
Think of decluttering as a preemptive strike against stress. What you are ultimately trying to accomplish is to make life easier for those times when you have little emotional and physical energy to spare. It can be psychologically liberating to get rid of or recycle things we really don't need. If it seems overwhelming, start with one corner of a room and work your way outward. You don't need to do it all in one day.
In order to begin, the experts say to have four boxes on hand: One for things to keep, one for things to recycle or give away, another box for things to put into storage, and garbage bags for things you want to throw away. Think about what things most clutter up your home. For me the answer is easy: Papers, books, and toys. My rule is when things don't fit into the spaces designed to hold these items, then it is time to get rid of something. For a hoarder like me this is awfully hard to do. But I have found that once I do get rid of something I seldom miss it.
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