“I Might Need It One Day” …and other common excuses for clutter
Bottom Line/Personal interviewed Peter Walsh, an organizational consultant based in Los Angeles and featured on the TLC program Clean Sweep. He is author of It’s All Too Much: An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life with Less Stuff (Free Press). www.peterwalshdesign.com
Most people want to eliminate clutter, but many never quite manage to get the job done. They know that throwing away the stuff they no longer use would make it easier to find the things they do need…that decluttered lives are more focused and less anxiety-ridden…and that less clutter means lower levels of dust and allergens in the home. They simply cannot convince themselves to take action.
The most common excuses for not getting rid of clutter and how to move beyond them…
“I might need it one day”
Some people are unable to throw anything away out of fear that they might need it later. In truth, the vast majority of items saved because “I might need it one day” are never needed. They just pile up and get in our way. Example: Your sister gave you a new electric coffeepot as a present. You hold on to your old one “just in case.”
This might-need-it mentality sometimes stems from a subconscious fear about the future. Those who were raised in poverty or who lived through the Great Depression are particularly prone to such thinking.
What to do: Establish a “one-in, one-out” routine. When a new magazine arrives in your home, throw away an old issue. When you purchase a new piece of clothing, select an old piece of clothing to discard.
“It’s too important to let go”
Our possessions can become intertwined with our memories. We assign sentimental value to items linked to events of our past, then find it psychologically difficult to discard them.
Some of these objects are related to our family’s history, creating a sense that we have been “entrusted” with them and are obliged to keep them. Others, such as sports trophies and term papers, are related to accomplishments that required considerable effort on our part or that of our children.
What to do: Consider where objects with “sentimental value” have been stored. If these things have spent years untouched in boxes in the attic or gathering dust in the back of a closet, they must not be as important as we think. Truly important possessions are kept in more prominent locations. If you are not willing to put an item on display somewhere in your home, throw it away. (If this object is a piece of family history, first ask other family members if they wish to take it off your hands.)
Your memories and sense of accomplishment will not be diminished by the loss of a physical item related to the event—nor is it an insult to your dear, departed grandma to get rid of the porcelain figurines that she once loved, but you do not.
“It’s worth a lot of money”
Do not confuse the amount that something costs with what it is worth to you. The fact that you paid $3,000 for a massage chair or a pool table is irrelevant if this item is never used. In fact, an unused item has negative value to you—not only do you derive no enjoyment from it, but it takes up valuable space in your home.
What to do: Try to sell unused “valuables” on an on-line auction site, such as eBay, or through consignment stores. Recovering a portion of your costs will mitigate the psychological pain of getting rid of something expensive.
“my house is too small”
Some people claim that they don’t have too much stuff—they simply have insufficient space. In reality, the size of your home is the least flexible factor in the clutter equation. If your small home is bursting at the seams, it is much easier to get rid of some things than it is to move into a larger space. Until you de-clutter, your possessions will just make your small home feel smaller.
What to do: Understand that the size of your home provides a limit to what you can acquire. Don’t rent a storage locker or waste living space on unnecessary things.
“I don’t have time to get organized”
Organizing can be a major chore, taking several days or longer.
What to do: Think of getting organized as a way to save time. In the long run, organization makes it easier to find things and eliminates “panic cleaning” before guests visit.
Also, divide big jobs into more manageable tasks. Example: Each day, take 10 minutes to walk around your home filling one trash bag with trash and another with items to give to charity. Do this for one week, and you’ll see what a big impact this has on clutter.
“It’s not the problem my spouse thinks it is”
Perhaps clutter and disorganization do not bother you—but wouldn’t doing away with it be easier than arguing with your spouse about it? Clutter causes considerable tension in relationships.
What to do: Ask your spouse for his/her vision for a room, then share your own vision. Perhaps you see your living room as a comfortably cluttered space where you watch a ballgame, but your spouse sees it as a place to entertain guests. One solution could be to move the TV to another room and keep the living room neat for guests.
“It’s not my stuff”
Do friends and family members treat your home like a storage facility? Do your grown children still keep childhood possessions in their old rooms?
What to do: Decide if it is okay that your home is used by others for storage. If it is, you must learn to live with the clutter. If not, politely ask these other people to come and claim their things by a certain date.
(Article originally published September 1, 2007)
Reprinted with the permission of:
Boardroom Inc. and Bottom Line Publications, Inc.
281 Tresser Blvd., Stamford, CT 06901
> Sign up for Bottom Line's complimentary e-newsletter
