Is it time to stop the madness and clutter? If you’re like me, you just HAVE to take a few hours once or twice a year and get re-organized! I’m not sure how it all piles up and why I can’t just get rid of all the stuff, but here it is, starring me in the face! As a home decorator, I see a lot of this. In order to have a beautiful home, you have to get the clutter under control!
Before organizing, this bathroom is very cluttered....
But after organizing, it's calmer, and easier to find things!
I love Major Mom because they have great organizing tips and this article is no exception! They help us understand the pyschological obstacles to clutter and why we do it. If we know why, we may be able to ‘combat’ it. Here is the latest article from their “Nuggets of Wisdom” newsletter:
“Psychological Obstacles to Clutter “
by D’Nae Amos, Major Mom Liberator
“ There are three aspects to consider when looking for the causes of clutter: technical errors, external realities, and psychological obstacles.
Technical Errors – Simple, mechanical errors in your organizing system that can easily be fixed. It’s often helpful to get an outside person involved to search for these errors with you, as they are often overlooked.
- Items have no home
- Inconvenient storage
- More stuff than storage space
- Complex, confusing system
- Out of sight, out of mind
- Organizing is boring
External Realities – Environmental realities beyond your control that limit how organized you can be. Stop having unrealistic expectations of yourself when you discover and understand these realities.
- Unrealistic workload
- Speed of life/technology
- In transition (new baby, marriage, divorce, moving, death, business growth, etc.
- Uncooperative partners
- Limited space
Psychological Obstacles – Hidden, internal forces that make you gravitate towards disorganization, no matter how much you crave control.
- Need for abundance
- Conquistador of chaos
- Unclear goals and priorities
- Fear of success/fear of failure
- Need to retreat
- Fear of losing creativity
- Need for distraction
- Dislike of space
- Need for perfection
While the first two causes are important to address, psychological obstacles may be the most difficult to overcome and sometimes require additional assistance. “
Causes of clutter taken from article by Julie Morgenstern
Let’s get organized, then on to the home decorating! Make your house a beautiful place to live! Home Decorating, home staging and more by Debbie