How to ensure effective de-cluttering
Dear Sir, Having read through your articles, I believe that one should allow clutter to become his or her lifestyle. I became a victim of clutter and my experience made me think of clutter as something that is out of my control, in fact something that oppressed me.
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This probably made it difficult for me to really challenge myself to clean up. One can become so used to such a situation that one does not realize that one is seriously living in a mess. Unfortunately, clutter can have a devastating effect on one's self-image and self-esteem.
Thankfully, I now know per your articles that I am responsible for both the creating and the controlling of clutter. I now have an entirely new perspective on the issue of clutter.
Can you share with me some kind of tit-bits to use as a guide to myself and the other home users?
Thank you.
Smart Quaye, Accra.
Dear Quaye, Clutter can be overwhelming and depressing. After we have recognized the cause of our discomfort as a case of clutter, we must take immediate steps to avert the problem before it gets out of hand.
The main obstacle to de-cluttering is getting started. The few steps below can be of help to anyone who desires to de-clutter.
• Don’t procrastinate - stop dragging your feet. Don’t forget that you can identify a problem but solving the problem requires that first step.
It requires action. A vision without action remains a dream.
• Start immediately; put your hand to work; get the job done. The bible says in Luke 9:62 “And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
And so say I unto you, my readers “the business of de-cluttering is not fit for people without initiative and tenacity.”
• Decide appropriately and firmly make your mind. Making the right decisions about what to keep and what to discard can be as difficult as starting or taking the initiative.
People usually start having problems at this stage and once decisions are not firm, the whole process is challenged.
• Be pragmatic and rational. We need be very realistic about the tasks we have at hand. By this we have to consider carefully what you intend to do and allocate just what is needed for one job at a time.
For example, if you intend to read some books, take the books that you will read for the moment and leave the rest where they belong. You can always go back for them.
Leaving things unattended to become the beginning of clutter.
• Discard things that don’t fit any longer. We need to rid our wardrobes of clothes that do not go around our heads and waists.
Sometimes, we must begin to accept that the possibility of slimming down to wear those things cannot be achieved in the immediate future.
It is not about clothing alone, but other things that are out of place in the entire setting. Toys that will not be used anymore should be discarded.
• Deal with wrong habits. Do away with the habit of pushing and stuffing things in closets and cupboards with the label “to be dealt with later.”
• Fill your heart with excitement. What excitement? One may ask, the excitement that you don’t have to run around like a mad cow chasing and pushing away clutter because your friends are visiting.
Be excited that your friends can now come in unannounced and you will still be comfortable.
• Finally enjoy your home to the fullest. You don’t have to walk sideways or jump over boxes or trip over unidentified “flooring” objects (UFO).
Well, in addition to the above thus says your decorator – “Go and clutter no more.”