Clearing your Clutter Part 2 Guest post by Barbara Tako

Here is part 2 continuing from yesterday's clutter clearing series. This is a guest post by Barbara Tako. Here are two excerpt chapters from the Spring Section of "Clutter Clearing Choices: Clear Clutter, Organize Your Home, & Reclaim Your Life" by Barbara Tako

CHAPTER 10
CLUTTER AGAIN--PEELING BACK THE LAYERS

Clutter. Clutter. Clutter. Clutter seems to be the home issue that people who attend my seminars struggle with the most. I struggle with it to, to the point where wrestling the clutter demon and helping others wrestle with it too has become my passion.

Maybe clutter is simply a natural part of the human condition? I hope not! The pervasive feelings about clutter seem to be angst and guilt. We struggle with our clutter and we feel bad about our struggle. What is the answer?

Maybe we could just give up some of the angst. Recognize that clutter sometimes must come off in layers. It would be nice if it could all come off in a weekend in one giant purge, but because of human nature and real life, it just doesn't work that way.

My college textbooks and paperwork are a perfect example of why clutter sometimes has to come off in layers. Since I had invested a lot of time and energy in studying, I initially felt the books and notes somehow represented who I was. I couldn't purge this clutter at all years ago. It would have felt like throwing away my education! After a few years, however, I was able to toss the notes and textbooks for subjects that weren't critical to my majors. Later, I recognized that I wouldn’t really go back to all the notes I'd taken, even in my professional field, so I recycled that box of paper too.

More recently, I realized the textbooks had become dated and it was time to let go of them too. All that remains are a few papers I wrote that I keep because I get a kick out of them, and I hang onto the illusion that my kids might get a kick out of them some day--as though they're going to have time to read mom's old papers (yeah, right).

I could beat myself up over the fact it took me years to get rid of my college clutter, or I can accept it and get on with it. I learned that I simply needed to make it a habit to regularly address clutter, just like teeth brushing or laundry. I decided to drop the angst and guilt over the fact that I often can’t toss my clutter all at once. You can too.

Here are clutter fighting techniques:

· Make it a habit to regularly "sweep" through a room, or even just a drawer, to cull out items that haven't been used in a reasonable period of time. Keep in mind that our sense of time has a way of getting distorted. If I think I haven't used that salad mold for a year or so, but that I might still use it again "someday," chances are that I really haven't used it in over two years and I won't use it in the future either.

· Pretend to move across the country. As I look at each item in a room, I ask myself if I would be willing to pack it up and move it across the country (this is my fantasy move to the location of my dreams). If I would not take it there, why would I let this item hang around here in my present day home?

· Ask yourself what your grown children will do with an item you are reluctant to toss when they find it in the bottom of closet some day. Will they know what it is? Will they know the family history behind this treasure? Will they recognize its value*? If they will see no value in it, why hang onto it? *If it has value, make sure your kids know the value (sentimental or financial) now.
· Recognize evolution. Styles, colors, and technology constantly change for almost everything. Think about stereo equipment, records, video cassettes, vacuum cleaners, microwavable dishes, and baby clothes. Ask yourself if the item you are clinging to will stand the test of time. If not, send it on its way now.

It is okay for clutter to come off in layers, especially if I am willing to make it a habit to address my clutter regularly. People constantly change. Our definition of clutter today isn't the same as how we will define it tomorrow. Maybe clutter is kind of like an onion. We get to peel it off in layers!

CHAPTER 11
COMMON SENSE CLUTTER CONTROL

There are too many places in my house (and basement, and car, and garage…) to store too much stuff. I have this nagging feeling that if I could get rid of half of my stuff, or more, my life would be simpler.

I even suspect I wouldn’t miss anything. I dare to think I’d have more time and energy if I didn’t spend so much time cleaning, tidying, sorting, and weeding out household stuff.
The problem is that when I look at the stuff I have tucked away, it all seems like “good stuff.” Much of it is useful and in good condition. So what’s the issue? Sheer quantity!

Why can’t I get rid of it? I have a poor memory. Yes, poor memory creates clutter. When I’m weeding out the basement closet, I forget what I have in the hallway and bedroom closets. It doesn’t all fit in my head at once. This makes for incomplete clutter control. There is a simple solution—a common sense clutter control rule to help:

Group like things together. It sounds like a science experiment, but it is actually an organizing rule that helps get rid of household clutter and keeps it from coming back. Although I had read it before in clutter control and organizing books, I couldn’t see why it mattered or how it applied to me. Finally, one day, I got it.

I was looking for a picture frame. I had a cute kid photo I wanted to display. I checked the kitchen drawer and looked at the frames there. Next, I went to my bedroom and pulled out other photo frames tucked away in a dresser. After that, I went downstairs and looked through the desk, and finally, I dug through some frames I had tucked away in the laundry room. Are you fed up yet? I was.

I was running around my house like a hamster in a cage checking out various food stashes. Oh… “Group like things together.” I finally got it. I gathered all my picture frames together. I tossed the broken ones. I donated the ones that I didn’t like or were funny sizes or that didn’t match my decorating ideas. At last, I was left with a small stack of frames that I put in a box on a shelf in the laundry room.

The trick is to apply this rule to all clutter categories of life. I can’t weed out clothing until I’m caught up with the laundry and have all the clothing together. I can’t effectively weed out shoes until I’m looking at every pair I own. That means I have to grab the pairs in the bedroom, the ones in the entry closet, and the ones downstairs and put them all together.

What about my husband’s sports jackets and baseball caps? We have to grab the ones in the bedroom closet, the ones in the spare closet, the ones on his workbench, and the ones out in his truck to get an accurate count of what he really has.

What about my children’s books, games, or toys? If some of their stuff is in their bedrooms and some of it is tucked in the toy room, family room, basement, or garage, then they will have the same problem with weeding out.

At our house, we gather together things like videos, CD’s, stuffed animals, and mittens. Group like things together in each clutter category to make lasting decisions about what to donate, what to save, and what storage containers will keep us better organized.

Store like items together. This is an important corollary to the first rule. Once you have gathered up like items, try to designate one place to store them together. No one really wants to spend time hunting all around the house looking in several places for one kind of thing.

When someone looks for something at your house, do you ever find yourself telling them, “Well, check here, or, if it’s not here, try over there, or maybe it will be in such and such a spot, and have you looked in the (fill in the blank) yet?” When possible, any single category of stuff would be easier to find and manage if it has only one storage spot in the home.

I don’t want to purchase extra stuff just because I can’t find the one I already own. Most importantly, I don’t want to waste time weeding out clutter over and over again because I can only make partial decisions. I can’t keep a complete inventory in my head as I move from closet to closet and room to room.

Finally, think like a PRO. That is, to Pile like items together, Reduce the quantity, and then Organize the remainder. Try the simple rules and acronym to weed out household clutter once—and for all.

Author biography:

Barbara Tako has been a motivational clutter clearing and home organizing speaker and author since 1998. She provides clutter clearing and home organizing tips to women's groups, church groups, and businesses including corporate giants like 3M, Target, Medtronic, and Securian. Her book Clutter Clearing Choices: Clear Clutter, Organize Your Home, & Reclaim Your Life (O Books, Jan., 2010) is available wherever books are sold. Sign up for her FREE monthly clutter clearing tips e-mail newsletter at http://www.clutterclearingchoices.com/