How To Tell You Are Hoarding Clutter
Sometimes it isn’t easy to know or see if you are hoarding clutter! It has a way of hiding in plain sight and you can walk past it each day and not notice it is there.
However, there are ways that you can check your home to find this clutter and to remove it from your home. How you dispose of it is personal, you might want to donate some items to charity, or sell things to make some money.
Alternatively, some things will end up in the bin and that is OK don’t feel guilty about this!
Helping A Hoarder Get Organized
It is amazing how easy it is for clutter to enter our homes and we are unaware of its presence. Are you hoarding clutter in your home?
There are things you can do to help you tackle this clutter, which can sneak into our homes, live under our noses and yet unable to see how it infects our homes.
There isn’t proof that it is bad for our health to have too much stuff, however, we do live in a society where the idea of buying more and spending more money, often on credit, is an acceptable norm.
The idea for getting rid of the clutter is to help you get organized, you can’t organize clutter, it gets in the way!
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How To Tell If You Are Hoarding Clutter
Some simple questions you can ask yourself if you are wondering about clutter! It is difficult to work out for many people what causes hoarding, for some people, it is their up bringing, others it’s related to the loss of a loved one! But for many people there just isn’t a reason it is just something that happens!
- Do you have space? This is a great question to ask yourself if you have limited space in your home, is every corner full with things, items that you just have but maybe haven’t looked at in years?
- Do you need more storage? This is a question that if you need to answer in the affirmative, the chances are very high that you have clutter you could remove from your home!
- It will come in useful! These few words are the biggest sign that this item is going to end up as clutter in your home.
- Do you have more than one? If you have duplicate items, the chances of using more than one item at a time are very slim. If you have multiple items of the same thing, look at getting rid of the multiples unless you use them all regularly.
- Do you de-clutter regularly? If you don’t look at what is in your home and empty some of the clutter, the chances are high that you already have clutter hiding in your home.
- Do you buy lots of things? If you like to make your home look and feel nice, there is nothing wrong with this, it is when you buy more than you need.
- Do you love everything you own? This might seem like an odd question, but if you don’t even like the items in your home why are they still there? It is your home and the things that you surround yourself with, your possessions, you must love them!
- Do you own a lot? There are times that we own a lot of items, but more than we need. I am not suggesting you need to become a minimalist, but thinking about what you own is important.
What To Do If You Discover You Are Hoarding Clutter
I have never thought of myself as a hoarder, yet recently I found a few magazines dated 2003 and my children, just looked at me and said, ‘it is because you are a hoarder, mum!’
I was in total shock, what had happened? The simple truth was I hadn’t decluttered in a while. The solution when you realise that you have to much stuff is simple, start the decluttering process!
How To Start The Decluttering Process
The process is simple, you need to look at what is in your home and what you need and remove the items that you don’t need.
It sounds simple but it’s a very time-consuming task and one that isn’t going to happen overnight, you have to plan your sessions and keep them short.
When I was decluttering I found items that were kept, just in case; I knew these needed to go! I have managed to get rid of a few items and I know there are more to go, it is about spending time in this activity regularly!
However, it is also about fitting in another item on the to-do list, finding the time to declutter! I don’t have a lot of time to spare, so I plan to do 5 or 10 minutes a couple of times a week!
If you are looking for more information on this topic, this book, The Life-Changing Magic Of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo, is an excellent choice!
Professional Help For Hoarders
While there is nothing wrong with having lots of items, there does come a point when you have too much stuff and you just can’t go on.
I know that a lot of the problems associated with hoarding are mental and sometimes people do need to get help. It isn’t easy but in the end, it is worth it!
Therefore, if you are wondering if you have too much stuff, or if you have clutter in your home, there are questions you can ask yourself that will help you decide.
However, you have to make those choices, things that you want and the things that you don’t. It is easy to put off making these choices, but in the long-run, they will make your life easier! Hoarding solutions aren’t easy, it’s about finding the right solution for you, it might take a while, but once you’ve found something that works you have to stick with it!
