Clutter Personalities

According to Geralin Thomas, a clutter expert who appeared on the Nate Berkus Show there are 5 Clutter Personalities. These are people that are;

1. easily distracted - starts on one pile, then goes onto the next without fully resolving anything
2. procrastinators - would rather do other things than sort and organise their space
3. bargain shoppers - can't pass up a bargain, even if they don't need the item
4. sentimental - feels guilty letting anything go
5. perfectionists - hesitant to do anything unless it's done absolutely perfectly. They tend to paralyse themselves.

As an organiser, I think it's important that people recognise which type of clutter personality they may be, as this will give valuable insight as to why they have clutter. Once you realise why you have it, you can focus on solutions to get on top of it and also stop bringing the clutter into your space in the future.

Regardless of the personality type, the best way to get started even if you only have a day is to go for 'good enough'. Realise that you probably didn't get into this situation overnight and it's not going to be undone in a few hours. Pick one area, maybe its collecting all paperwork from around your home or office and put it in one place to sort through. Then continue on with this, e.g. all clothing, toys, recycling etc. Put it in the appropriate room, then sort from there.

Getting organised is usually a marathon, not a sprint!

Enemies of an Organised Space

The more I'm invited into people's spaces to resolve their clutter issues, the more patterns I see. There seem to be 3 main enemies to getting organised;

1) Flat surfaces - Cupboards, shelves, sideboards, dining tables etc. When people use an item or come home with something new, it's too easy to get into the habit of putting it on the nearest flat surface and dealing with it 'later'. Before you bring home new items, you need to think about where it's going to go. If it doesn't have a home, maybe it shouldn't come into the house?

2) Too much storage - This probably sounds odd, but ultimately the more storage you have, the more you'll accumulate. Instead of buying more storage containers, pair down what you currently own to make space.

3) And now that I've said 'too much storage' the other issue is 'not enough storage'. I'm shocked at how many homes don't have linen closets. This usually results in people stashing linen in completely obscure rooms. I would suggest either purchasing a nice chest of drawers for a hall area or somewhere central and storing all the linen there. Otherwise, you can utilise high shelves in the wardrobe of each room and store the linen for that room in that room.

Unfinished Projects

I recently had a discussion with colleagues about different types of 'clutter'. One main form of clutter was identified as 'anything unfinished'.

Unfinished projects can be anything from half-done craft projects, items bought for DIY projects around the house, that lamp you're getting fixed, clothing that no longer fits but is kept because of the excercise program you're going to do to lose the weight... Any of these sounds familiar?

I have one request as an organiser - STOP beating yourself up. People really hold onto this stuff because they feel like a failure if they let it go, that they didn't get around to finishing that project or reaching that goal.

Life is too short. Set realistic goals for you in your current situation. Don't worry about the person you were years ago with many more free hours, or the person you want to be that is the yummy mummy of the century. Live your best life today and free yourself from that constant to-do list.

Let go of the projects and just enjoy your time!