Are you one who feels like you will never be able to get rid of your clutter because you can't let things go? Does everything in your house have a purpose to you? Have you stopped even thinking about it because it is too overwhelming? Do you know how much time you are losing due to your clutter? Most people don't realize how much clutter takes over their whole life. When your house is clutter filled, so is your mind. I have worked with many clients who have had these issues. I will break them up into two posts, this one is when its hard to let go of clutter.
In my opinion a great professional organizer will come in and help you make the decisions on your own. If a professional organizer comes into your home and demands you get rid of 95% of your clutter and just starts throwing things into the trash bin, you are not going to feel successful or know how to continue to do it on your own. Now, you may need to remove 95% of your belongings to clear up space, and you have feelings that are just too powerful to let you look beyond the object and look at the total picture. Emotional feelings are very powerful, and until you deal with them you will just keep adding to your clutter. A professional organizer can be very helpful to you because they are a non biased opinion on the item and can talk you through why you want to keep it. A lot of times the item is kept because a person gave it to you and you love that person and feel like they would be hurt if you let go of that item. If you are decluttering alone then you might think of that person and keep it, but if I were there I would get to the bottom of why you are so attached to something that has been shoved into a closet that honestly you didn't even know it was there. How can a special trinket, or gift be so important to you if it is hidden in a closet, or box, or still wrapped in paper and bubble wrap. I like to say "You do not give up or let go of the relationship with that person, you only let go of the item that no longer serves a purpose for you." This really helps the person to be able to part with that item.
If there are not emotional attachments to it then it might be due to how much they spent on it, or because they might need it later. When money is attached we still need to talk through it and decide what will happen if you get rid of it and then need to buy a new one for something that came up that you couldn't predict. The best way to get to this is with a "maybe" box with your donate, trash and keep boxes. It keeps the process going if you don't have to take more then 15 seconds to make a decision on keep/trash/donate/another part of the house- if in 15 seconds you can't decide, then it automatically goes into the maybe box. If you stop to really decide, you will get lost in why you have items and you will forget what you are doing and will shut down. The best time to go through your maybe box is when you have put all of your YES box items back in your space. Then you can see what the space will look like and it will help you to decide if you really want it in your house. It is also important to put a budget on your maybe box, if you can replace the item for your preset amount then you let it go. I like to say $25 or under is a great place to start, if you can replace it for under $25 then let it go, and then if the time comes that you do need to replace it you will have the $25 to be able to go and get another one. The odds of you really needing to buy another one is so small that it will only give you the freedom of clutter. Because you have already put all of your Yes items back in the space you will see how much space you have for your Maybe items and will be much more aware of how saying "No that doesn't need to stay in my space", is freeing and it won't be as daunting as when you first came across that item.
If you want to change your life and get time back to doing the things you love then look for a local professional organizer, they are all over the country. Yes, it may cost you some money up front but you will never regret it. Take the time to make sure you find a person that listens to you and you feel comfortable with. Ask questions, don't be ashamed, you are taking the steps to get help and a true organizer will just be so happy to help another person get their life back from clutter that there will be no judgment. If you have tried using a professional and it just didn't work then you need to find a person who understands there are different ways to organize and wants to help you fond your way. Prim and Proper Method's main goal is for their clients to find their style and help them to get organized based on that specific style. We always want to leave a client feeling Organized, with the confidence to keep it Maintained and then to get back to Enjoying their life.
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