Clearing Clutter by Understanding the Clutter Life Cycle

Clearing clutter is much easier when you can identify where and what your clutter is. Often what you love can be mixed in with what you use, what needs to be put in the gargabe and what needs to be given away. Often a small decluttering job turns into a big room clearout as you tune in to letting go of the  redundant and useless things you never knew you had. Getting on top of the possessions in your home starts by understanding the clutter life cycle and how easily the possessions in your home spiral out of control. Here are few clutter facts to consider.

Clutter Clearing Areas

Clutter expeditiously expands and grows: This simply means that once a possession becomes clutter it seems to divide and expand at faster and faster rates making  any  control increasingly difficult. People really don’t know how their garages, basements, attics, spare bedrooms became so full of things but it does happen over time, one item at a time. This way of accumalating things can make clutter clearing a lot more difficult.

 Clutter comes when you buy items with more bits and pieces than you expected. This often means you have no where to put them. Think of your computer with the keyboard, extra mouse, manuals, printer, and software. Think of your food processor with all the attachments or sports equipment that have multiple pieces, and all the toys that are sold in separate sets, sizes and amounts. Did you plan shelving or storage when you bought it? Probably not. Beware the one box items that usually have multiple items to store.

Piles, piles and piles: When I was living in my clutter filled home I used to say I was a pile person. I now see piles as a warning sign that I am delaying decisions and really hate seeing them anywhere. It is an amazing phenomenon that once you drop an item on a chair or on the floor within a short time something else will join it. If your goal is clearing clutter in your home take any pile as a sign that decisions are being delayed, items are not being put back where they belong and the pile is in danger of growing bigger.

Too many things makes the very good things you love disappear: The more clutter you have the harder it is to find the things you love to look at and use. Once you have too many things the items you really treasure get lost in the crowd and it is easy to forget what your preferences are and loose sight of what you value. This can negatively impact the quality of your life and decrease the time you have for the good things in life.

Dust, Mould and Dirt loves your stuff: Storing things for long periods of time makes them susceptible to mould, dust, moths and all sorts of bugs and creatures. If you love this item so much why are you storing it? The more stuff you own the more you have to declutter, organize and clean so take a look at what you are storing and see if you really need it, if you don’t get rid of it.

Stuff sits where it lands: Things that are dropped on the floor, flung on a chair, piled on a table tend to stay there for long periods of time. This means you cannot use the table to eat on, the floor to walk on, the chair to sit on. It makes living in your home uncomfortable and difficult. Take time to clear out clutter and live in a home that is comfortable and functional.

Stuff expands to fill the space: Bigger house more stuff. More shelves more stuff. Extra storage can be a trap until you clearly set limits on how much you own and realistically look at the size of the space and the size of your things and let go of what you don’t need.

Over time things become invisible: Too many things and you become blind. It becomes very difficult to find anything much less clear your clutter. Have you had the experience of too many jars in your pantry so you can’t find what you are looking for. You go to the store for the one item, spend money come home and find you already have it. This happens with leftovers in the fridge, clothing in your closet, toys that have not been put away and even garden equipment. When what you own becomes invisible it gets very expensive.

Clutter costs you money: Buying multiples, buying what you don’t need or use, paying for storage, paying to move it, paying to upkeep it, paying to upgrade it and the time you spend buying and throwing out. One bag of groceries dumped in the bin a week can cost you over four thousand dollars a year!  A little decluttering and organizing can save you a lot of money.

Your possessions affect how you feel and think: The more things you own the more you pick up, put away, clean, store, fix. Clutter has a negative energy that can be oppressive and confusing. It can paralyze you. You spend time thinking about it, worrying about it

Your things are of value only when they add value to your life. Possessions that you love, use and uplift add value. Possessions that add to the beauty, comfort or function of your home add value. Items that take away your time, cost you money, make you feel negative do not add value to your life. Start to use your clutter free eyes and keep the possessions that give you value and let go of the rest. Understanding the clutter life cycle will help you with your clearing clutter projects in your home.

Copyright ©2010 Jane Alais