Clutter Control

Clutter control—you can take this term two ways: 1) I want to get clutter under control, or 2) I am being controlled by clutter. Actually, I find that both are somewhat true in my life. Most people I know have junk drawers where we hide away things we don’t want our friends and neighbors to see when they come to our houses. Unfortunately, for many people the junk drawers have expanded to junk rooms or even entire junk houses. I have a friend whose friend’s husband—unbeknownst to her—rented storage sheds all over town to house his junk. When he died unexpectedly of a heart attack, she suddenly began receiving a bunch of bills for the monthly storage fees.

As more and more of us try to live on limited budgets, great coupons and/or sales often tempt us to stockpile things. We hesitate to throw anything away—even if it doesn’t work—because it might be useful in the future. “Look how much money I’ll save by not having to buy another. Surely I’ll be able to get someone to fix it.”

Clutter control gets to be important when you can no longer find the things you saved. “I know I bought the perfect card for my husband’s birthday, but where is it now?” “I saved so much money on those Christmas cards I bought after Christmas last year, but where are they?” Clutter control gets to be vital when there’s just no more room in the house. Narrow passageways lead from room to room; you may even have to walk sideways to get through. You can’t jam anything more into the closet or the dressers; they’re already overflowing.

But don’t despair: you can tame the clutter; you can control clutter instead of it controlling you. The fastest, easiest way to complete clutter control is Declutter Fast: How to Get Your Home in Order.

Clutter Hoarding

Clutter hoarding is a growing problem these days. Many people think of hoarders as lonely stay-at-homes who probably have a screw loose. But according to the International Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Foundation, one in every twenty Americans are secret hoarders. You may never suspect that someone you know is a hoarder. I had that happen. A dear friend of mine was recently found dead under a pile of her belongings that had fallen on her. She was very popular and known for the colorful outfits she wore, including special all-green outfits for St. Patrick’s Day, all-red for Valentine’s Day, and so forth. I never suspected that the reason she no longer invited us to potlucks at her house was that the house was being buried in trash and clutter.

Clutter consists of things “stuck” in the wrong place, and as our houses fill with clutter, we get stuck. As my post “Clutter Cleaning” pointed out, the ancient Chinese philosophy of Feng Shui emphasizes the importance of chi, the term for universal energy, the energy that permeates everything around us. When the flow of chi gets bogged down by clutter and dirt, we get bogged down.

Clutter hoarding impairs mobility and interferes with such basic activities as cooking, cleaning, showering, and sleeping. The dust, dirt, and rodent droppings commonly found in extreme clutter can lead to headaches, respiratory problems, and allergies. Home maintenance often suffers, leaving individuals without heat in freezing winters and without air-conditioning in sweltering summers. Hoarders and their families, especially the elderly, are at high risk of injury in a fall or even death, literally being buried in the clutter. Family relationships can suffer as other members feel angry, trapped, and resentful about a hoarder's accumulation of clutter.

If you feel like clutter hoarding is taking control of your life—or even if you just want some hints on cleaning up the messes we all are tempted to accumulate in our homes—get a copy of Declutter Fast: How to Get Your Home in Order.

Declutter and Get Organized

I work out of an office in my home. As I’ve taken on more clients, I’ve found myself running out of space. I need to use items I bought weeks, months, or even years ago—but I can’t find where they are. I need to store new supplies, but there’s just no room. I should get rid of the piles of materials I used for clients who have now transferred their work offshore—but what if they come back to me next year or the year after? I really need to get organized—but first I need to declutter.

Where to start? It’s going to take lots of time I don’t have. After all, I have to keep working so the money continues to be available to pay the bills. It took years to get into the mess I now have; I can’t devote years to getting organized. In searching for a solution, I ran across a tremendous resource, Declutter Fast: How to Get Your Home in Order. This book is, without doubt, the fastest, easiest way to declutter and get organized.

If you face the same problems I do, get your copy now at Declutter Fast: How to Get Your Home in Order.

Clutter Cleaning

Clutter cleaning is vital to turning your home into a peaceful, energizing retreat. In ancient Chinese philosophy, chi is the term for universal energy, the energy that permeates everything around us. In order to unite ourselves with this life force, we need to create a clear path for chi to flow within our home without being bogged down by clutter and dirt. No clutter means more space, and more space allows a good flow of energy in the home.

When you look around a cluttered home, you feel drained. It isn’t just the thought of putting forth the effort to declutter. The clutter may have “trapped” the chi, causing it to stagnate. New energy cannot come into our lives until we rid ourselves of the old. If your household is plagued by stagnant energy, you won’t be able to achieve proper happiness and growth.

Clutter cleaning is necessary in every room of your home. Clutter in your bedroom may keep you from sleeping—or if you do sleep, you may not awaken as rested as you should. Clutter in the family room may keep you from enjoying family activities or may spur arguments. The arguments may be over valid differences of opinion, or they may just spring up because everyone’s on edge. Clutter in the kitchen may actually “poison” your food so you don’t enjoy what you cook. Clutter in a home office can keep you from working creatively and effectively.

Clutter can dampen your very best intentions. Don’t let it drain your energy and make you stressed, irritable, and depressed. Eliminate clutter from your home. You’ll find the fastest, easiest way to do it in Declutter Fast: How to Get Your Home in Order. You'll be surprised how much better you feel after a thorough clutter cleaning.