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Clutter is different for everyone but most people have some clutter in their lives. There are many reason why it can be hard to let go of things. Let’s look at 4 scenarios.
Scenario 1: Fear
Perhaps it is fear that causes you to hold onto things
- What if I need it someday – fear of scarcity
- I’ll keep it just in case – fear of uncertainly and doubt
- I can’t give that away it was a gift – fear of rejection
- I can’t decide so I’ll keep it and what if it is worth something someday – fear of making mistakes
In an article by Hellen Bittigieg, she talks about: Steps to eliminate your fears and conquer the clutter
- As you sort through your items notice the thoughts that come up and begin to acknowledge them, say okay now you’ve got my attention.
- Notice where you feel the fear in your body, stomach, chest head ache?
- Analyze the fear and try to understand where it’s coming from then thank it and move on
- Replace fear with trust
- What if I need it someday replace it with all my needs are abundantly supplied
- I’ll keep it just in case – replace it with what are the odds I’ll ever need to replace it?
- I can’t give that away it was a gift – replace it with my real friends always love and support me
- I can’t decide so i’ll just keep it – replace it with I’ll make a decision and trust that everything will be okay
- What if it’s worth something someday – replace it with it will never be more valuable than joy, health, friendships etc
Scenario 2: Sentimentality
I have clients who if they touch an object they will automatically keep it, so I hold up the object and don’t let them touch it when they are deciding to keep it or give it away. Other clients need to touch an item before they can donate it, it is like saying good by to it.
The sentimentality we feel towards an object can be associated with:
- Someone you loved gave it to you or
- Someone you once loved used or
- The object is associate with a time when you were happy. ( memorabilia)
Being able to separate the object from a person or event can be difficult . Learning that you can still have the memory and the corresponding feeling without having the object will help you to be able to let go of items.
Scenario 3: Control / Personality
Clients will hire me and want me to do their plan. As I work with them and make a few suggestions about alternative ways to organize things generally they say no and then at our next appointment they usually say I thought about your idea, let’s try it.
Control
- People want to have control over their decisions and environment. Avoiding power struggles over decisions about what stays and what goes and make decluttering easier.
Scenario 4: The cost of getting rid of stuff
I have clients who want to make lots of money selling their stuff. Sometimes it is possible and sometimes it isn’t. They will hold onto stuff for garage sales, to put on Kijiji or EBay. Sometimes they hold onto it for so long that it has lost its value. They think,”I paid good money for it.”
PSSST: The money is already spent…..
Just because it was costly to purchase does not mean that it’s valuable today! Items change in value. What’s important is whether you are using what you have now or, if what you have is distracting you from the lifestyle you want. If you are not loving, using and enjoying your things, reconsider their ‘value’.
The important thing is to discover what reasons make it hard for you to let go of things and change those mindsets.
There are 3 things that are true
- We all have too much stuff
- It is hard to let go of our own stuff
- One day we will part with our stuff.
Join my Facebook Group Organizing Mind and Space
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, in person and virtually. She enjoys working with her clients to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situation. She reduces clutter, streamlines processes and manages time to help her clients be more effective in reaching their goals. Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Make your home perfect for you.
This 6 minute video is a great look at our society and our relationship with “stuff”. It is easy to collect “stuff” but it is hard to know how to get rid of things.
http://www.uctv.tv/shows/Stuff-A-Cluttered-Life-Middle-Class-Abundance-Ep-1-24699
Need help simplifying your life and home contact Mind over Clutter to work with you virtually to help you meet your goals.
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situation. She uses her love of teaching to reduce clutter, in your home, office, mind and time. She guides and supports you to be accountable for your time, to complete projects and to reach your goals. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Click here to learn more about her online course Create an Organized Home.
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
I asked my colleagues from the Professional Organizers in Canada Cyber Chapter to send me their favourite organizing tips. This is what they said.
Patti Schneider from Time to Organize Coach™ in Huntsville, Ontario tells us :
- Don’t organize anything without tossing, recycling and donating first!
April Miller owner of April Miller Professional Organizing in St John`s Newfoundland shared:
- To ensure better maintenance: Organize according to what works for you, not according to someone else’s system.
Elana Kleinman owner of EK Organizing in Toronto, Ontario
- For maintenance, do a 5-10 minute scan of your home before bed and return everything to its assigned home. This prevents end-of-week (month?) organizing marathons:)
Ruth Beattie-Ostrom of HOME, Hard Organizing Made Easy from Parry Sound, Ontario shared:
- A fun tip to involve children to help maintain the house: set the timer for 15 min and everyone (including mom) puts items back in their place.
Kym McFadden owns Space-Ese-Solutions Inc in Burlington, Ontario.
- If you don’t use it, lose it. Recycle, donate or toss it in the garbage. I generally tell clients for clothing wear it within 6 months and all other items use it within 6-12 months or out it goes. Then go have fun! If it is close to bedtime read books together.
Nathalie Bureau owner of Nathalie Bureau L’Art de l’Organisation/Organized Living from Saint Boniface, Quebec tells us:
- Using the space vertically is one of my best tips
- Sort food packages in a drawer using hand made separators or dividers.
Adele Lapointe of Chaos to Clarity from Burlington, Ontario simply said:
- Like with like
Karen McIntosh Murdock, Your Organized Friend in Edmonton, Alberta
- If grieving clients are having trouble releasing sentimental belongings I recommend that we take photos of the items, write down the stories surrounding the item and make them into a photobook.
Bev Chandler owner of C & C Organizing from Regina, Saskatchewan shared:
- Keep the things you use the most, close at hand.
Adriana Romkes from Dundas, Ontario tell us:
- Less is more
My tip, Julie Stobbe owner of Mind over Clutter in Beamsville, Ontario
- If you are having trouble letting go of things figure out if it is because you are clinging to the past or fear the future. Once you solve that mystery it will be easier to part with unused items.
Share your favourite organizing tip with me in the comment box.
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, in person and virtually. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situation. She uses her love of physical activity to reduce clutter, in your home and office. She guides and supports you to manage your time. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Click here to learn more about her online course Create an Organized Home.
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
Author Sandra Felton
Sandra Felton, the organizer lady, is the author of this very practical book to help people bring order to their life. The book helps people to “reach their organizational goals in the simplest way possible. This is why I recommend the book. The book is full of people’s stories, quizzes, tips and practical solutions to suit a variety of personalities.
She focuses on planning. I recently twitted “hope is not a plan”. She outlines how to develop a plan that is right for the person, how to work with the plan getting each space in the house organized and how to live with the plan and maintain the new organized life.
Here are some of the tips that appear in her book.
Bathroom
If a bathroom is shared by several children and is cluttered with their things, get them their own coloured basket for toiletries. Each child can take it back and forth to the bedroom leaving the bathroom clear.
Garage
Use the walls to hang up smaller items you need more often. Put up a peg board in the garage and use S- hooks to hang up gardening equipment, tools and sports equipment.
Laundry Routine
If you do laundry for a number of people, refuse to wash unpaired socks. Insist that everyone pins each pair of socks together with a sturdy safety pin or those little plastic circles into which some sock pairs will slip. If they aren’t paired you won’t wash them. Now no more pairing socks. Another good idea is to colour code socks. Buy a different colour band or sock for each individual and let him or her match their socks.
Sandra Felton encourages,” spending less time and energy on the mechanics of living and giving more time for more significant pursuits.” Her books help people to be successful at this.
If you need help getting organized book a complimentary 30 minute chat with me on Zoom.
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, in person and virtually. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situation. She uses her love of physical activity to reduce clutter, in your home and office. She guides and supports you to manage your time. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Click here to learn more about her online course Create an Organized Home.
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
Reading time – 3 minutes
This is the name of a book that can help people with ADD to get organized. It can also help other people to understand how they can assist someone with ADD to get organized. The person without ADD acts as a coach.
ADD Friendly ways to Organize your Life
The book mentions:
- Stop coaches – help to determine when the task is finished
- Decision Coaches – someone who can help to clarify thoughts and feelings by asking questions
- Priority coaches – talk things over to help make things clearer
There are chapters on:
- different approaches to organizing,
- thing organizing,
- time organizing and
- paper organizing.
Each chapter suggests strategies and processes for a person with ADD to try. Then the chapter continues and explains how a coach, friend or family member can assist. The last part of the chapter explains how a Professional Organizer would work with the client.
Easy to Use
The book is written and formatted so it is easy for a person with ADD to use. The sections are short. There are circles and boxes, headings and bullet points and a review section at the end of each chapter. Judith Kolberg, a Professional Organizer and Kathleen Nadeau, a Psychologist have collaborated to create a book full of strategies that work.
Share with us
What has been a helpful resource for learning about organizing skills?
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, in person and virtually. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situation. She uses her love of physical activity to reduce clutter, in your home and office. She guides and supports you to manage your time. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Click here to learn more about her online course Create an Organized Home.
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
MIND OVER CLUTTER is offering a free 30-minute Virtual Organizing Session.
Here’s how it works:
1. We book a virtual appointment with a video chat over Zoom or send me photos or a video and chat on the telephone
2. You show me your home office or another part of your home.
3. I recommend solutions for your organizing dilemmas.
Contact me to take advantage of this free introductory offer or book a time online.
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situation. She uses her love of teaching to reduce clutter, in your home, office, mind and time. She guides and supports you to be accountable for your time, to complete projects and reach your goals. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Click here to learn more about her online course Create an Organized Home.
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
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