Why Do You Accumulate Clutter

Jan 5, 2017
2 min read

Thank you for visiting my blog today.

Have you ever asked yourself, 'How did all of this stuff get here'? It's amazing how quickly our clutter, piles of papers and "honey-do" lists accumulate. You most likely fall under one of these three categories or all of them!

Too Busy - Too Much Stuff- Are you too busy to take good inventory of what you already own? Is it easier/faster to just buy what you are in need of instead of looking deep into the pile of clutter to see if you already have it?

Afraid to Let Go So I Keep Everything- Perhaps there has only been a handful of times that you went looking for that particular item and it wasn't there. So, that sticks in your mind and becomes a core belief and a feeling that you don't want that to happen again. Most of us can let that feeling of disappointment dissipate, but there are some of us that just can't let go of that feeling of 'if only I would've...'.

So Much Stuff, Where in the World Do I Begin?- The feeling of being overwhelmed with clutter can be paralyzing and depressing. 'Where do I start? I will never get through this'. These thoughts can really affect our self-esteem.

Make mini goals and you will find your confidence rise. I call this 'positive pressure'. You will wake up with a positive attitude that will put positive pressure on your psyche which will give you that boost of inspiration to get started ridding your space of clutter.

Start with a crazy burst of "how much stuff can I put away in 15 minutes"? Start with something small. For right now clean out a single drawer, commit to throw away 25 pieces of paper in your junk pile, or as you put on your make up throw away out dated items as you sift through all of your make up looking for that tiny stick of eyeliner. Make it a game. If you want to tackle your kids bedrooms include them in this game. Start with a 5 minute burst of crazy cleaning. I would say to my kids, "pretend the ground is on fire and if you stand in one place too long your feet will burn" to get them to do it as fast as they could.

Don't buy any organizational items until you have cleared the majority of your clutter. Some times we fall in the trap of good intentions. We want to organize our clutter before we discard anything. Which can lead you to an organization item that doesn't fit your needs. Also, don't fall into the trap of an organized hoarder. Things might look neat in that cute basket, but guess what? There is still clutter and unnecessary items hiding from sight, you can't fool yourself that it is gone just because it looks tidy in a cute basket.