greenliving
Clutter-Taming Tips Save Time, Money and Sanity
by April Thompson
Labels abound: pack rat, clutter bug and hoarder. Just the thought of confessing that our clutter needs conquering can inspire shame, anxiety and dread. It helps to remember that it’s human to accumulate, divine to purge.
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have to consider the life energy you spend maintaining all those things. The trade-off is often huge,” says home or- ganizing expert Barbara Tako, of Min- neapolis, Minnesota, author of Clutter Clearing Choices. Seventy percent of Americans feel buried under their clutter and can’t decide what to give up, according to an online poll by award-winning organizer Julie Morgenstern, of New York City. She has found that while the clutter may be physical, the process of shed- ding it is 80 percent mental. “Declut- tering is identifying what is obsolete in your life and releasing it to make room to move forward,” advises the author of Shed your Stuff, Change your Life. “Ask yourself, what am I clearing space for—more family time, a social
W 38 Collier/Lee Counties
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e’re hardwired to be hunt- ers and gatherers and feather our nests, but you
life or inner peace?” That higher goal is a touchstone for what to keep and what to pitch. Following are common clutter-based
roadblocks and tips from professional organizers on how to get around them.
I’m so overwhelmed I don’t know where to start. Tako en- courages clients to start with the visible clutter, such as junk accumulated in an entryway, and take 10 to 15 minutes to tackle the area. “People are always sur- prised by how much they can accom- plish in a short time,” she comments. Morgenstern recommends mak-
ing a checklist, starting with the areas with the most obsolete stuff and the least sentimental attachments. “The first one is the hardest, but you’ll probably find a lot of opened space if you can get through a few areas; then there is a cascading effect as you move forward.”
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