Have you been staring at that stack of magazines for so long you have begun to believe they are now a piece of modern art that enhances your living room? Are you fairly certain that you once owned a coffee table but you can’t remember where you placed it? You could be suffering from clutter blindness. Don’t laugh. It’s a very real and quite disturbing phenomenon described by reputable medical journals as “continual clutter exposure causing the viewer to lose all ability to perceive the source of, or solution to, said clutter.” Eventually, your clutter just becomes, well, normal. Take a step back and look at your home from an outsider’s viewpoint. Spring cleaning time is just around the corner and it’s time to throw open the windows and clear out that clutter along with all of the germs that have been accumulating throughout the winter. ACHOO!
Organizing our living spaces can be a pivotal but often daunting change. Many of us don’t understand the importance of and need for organization. We know that it makes us feel better but why should anyone else care if our homes are a mess? It’s my house, right? According to professional organizer, Wendy Gilbert, being organized gives you easier access to items that are most frequently used, it substantially reduces your level of stress bringing you greater peace (we could all use some of that!) and it increases your productivity. All of those have a ripple effect on the people around you - your family, friends and co-workers. Remember, when momma isn’t happy, no one’s happy! Just imagine how much more we could get done if we didn’t spend 20 minutes looking for car keys or our kids’ shoes every morning.
The big question is – where do we begin? It can be overwhelming and we might be tempted to grab a dozen garbage bags or run to Target for a plethora of plastic totes. Wendy says, HOLD UP! Organizing is not about throwing things out. It is about identifying what is important to you and giving you access to it. The first thing we need to do is to remove the clutter blinders and evaluate our home with a fresh eye. Here are a few tips that Wendy suggests to help you get on the road to organizational Nirvana.
1. Begin by mapping out your organizational project and analyzing the clutter prior to purchasing any totes or other organizing supplies. Many of us made New Year’s resolutions to get organized and Target is all too happy to oblige by putting zillions of plastic totes on sale in January for all of that Christmas clutter. Totes and file boxes won’t do you any good if you don’t have a plan for what to do with them.
2. Start with one room at a time. Deciding to organize your whole house at once is a sure road to becoming organizationally overwhelmed. If you start to despair from the sheer volume of clutter in your home, use an old-school tip from fly lady
3. Sorting though all the clutter is the hardest part. Get help from a friend, family member or professional organizer if you can’t do it alone. Sometimes all you need is an objective opinion to help you determine practical reality from emotional attachment.
4. If you have run out of space for items in your home DO NOT rent a storage unit. It is wasted money. Start by cleaning out the garage, basement and/or attic and find space inside your home for the items. If you can’t find room in your home for the items, ask yourself why you are storing the stuff in the first place. If you don’t use it often enough to necessitate keeping it in your home, why are you paying to store it? If it is important to you, it would be in your home.
5. If you’re having trouble deciding what to do with all of that stuff, try the technique from TLC’s Clean Sweep. Make one pile each for items to KEEP, TOSS or SELL. Sometimes just knowing that items will have a purpose can make it easier to let go of them.
a. Consignment is a great place to sell children’s items (clothes, books and toys). Check local listings or ask other moms in your areas for the scoop on the best consignment sales and shops in your area.
b. Plan a Swap Party for you and your friends. Invite other moms, offer some tasty food and tell them to bring a few items that they no longer use. The moms can take turns swapping items that they need.
c. Take old vases, baskets or pretty containers to local flower shops to be recycled into cheerful arrangements.
d. Sell collectibles on eBay.
e. If your electronics are not too old, take them to a pawn shop. Older electronics can often be recycled, as well. Check your local listings for a recycling yard. This is a much safer and “greener” option than tossing them into a landfill where harmful chemicals from motors and electrical components can leach into the environment.
f. Trade in gold or silver jewelry for cash (14-carat or more will be the most profitable).
g. Donate furniture to a charity or list it on Craig’s List.
h. Books, CDs and DVDs can be donated to a library.
i. And that infamous stack of magazines? Tear out important articles, crafts or recipes and place them in a binder. Recycle the rest in a paper recycling dumpster.
6. If you like to shop then you need to adopt Wendy’s mantra - if you buy something new, something old must go. This works with toys, as well. It is a good idea to clean out toys around birthdays and holidays or anytime new toys are expected to make their appearance (i.e., a visit from grandma).
7. Wendy received this excellent tip from a client evaluation. Reduce the amount of heirlooms that you are keeping in your home. There are some items that have sentimental value that you will want to save. However, having a home full of “old stuff” does not effectively reflect your personality or your tastes. You want your home to be a reflection of you, not of other people’s old stuff.
8. Once you are organized and determine that everything has a place, keep it there. Take 10 to 15 minutes at the end of every day to clean up and put things in their proper place. Sort through the mail, replace kitchen items to their appropriate spot, straighten up your desk, and get your children in the habit of putting their toys away before bedtime
Peter Walsh, Professional Organizer and author of How to Organize (Just About) Everything: More Than 500 Step-by-Step Instructions for Everything from Organizing Your Closets to Planning a Wedding to Creating a Flawless Filing System
· Have I used this in the past two years?
· Is it a duplicate? Can I replace it easily if it’s not?
· Does it need to be repaired and is it worth the cost of repairing?
· Will I use it in the next year?
· Am I only keeping it for sentimental reasons?
· Does it belong elsewhere or to someone else?
· Do I love it?
In a world that seems to prioritize “keeping up with the Joneses” it’s important to take a step back to determine what we really need in our lives and how our mindless consumption and accumulation is affecting our homes, our lives, our relationships and, ultimately, the world around us. Unfortunately, we live in a society that defines us by how much we have or what brand we are displaying. By clearing out the clutter, we can clear our minds and begin to teach ourselves and our children how to reset our priorities from taking care of a bunch of “stuff” to caring for those we love.
