Overcoming Clutter Blindness

We are in love with our ‘stuff’. One day we wake up surrounded by all our ‘stuff’ and wonder where did it all come from? Or worse, we develop clutter blindness and don’t realize we have too much ‘stuff’ until we fall over it. Here are some tips that will help you overcome your own clutter blindness and get your home under control.

1. Take it out – put it back.  Often clutter is not a result of having too much stuff, rather, it is the result of having too much stuff out of place. Items left on the counter, on the sofa, or even in your bed have just lost their way and need to go home. Don’t delay, do it now and don’t allow yourself to ‘do it later’. 
   
   
2. A place for everything, and everything in its place. If you don’t have a place to put it, don’t buy it. If you buy it and don’t have a place to put it you will have to donate, give away or somehow dispose of something else in your home to make room for the new item.  Not sure where to make a home for something? Think where the first place is you would look for this new item if you needed it. That is the perfect place to put it
   
   
3. Keep like items together. I know it’s tempting to have books, tools, over the counter medicines and stationery in several rooms but, honestly, it’s somewhat wasteful. If you gathered all like items in one place you will be amazed at the redundancy. It will also help you to avoid buying duplicates of things.  
   
   
4. Don’t keep duplicates. How many staplers do you honestly need? What about those gardening shears (especially since you gave up gardening in 2006)? Even if it is a perfectly good item, get rid of it and let someone enjoy it who really needs it through donation or sale.
   
   
5. Don’t save stuff for friends and family for extended periods of time. It’s simple, just ask them if they want it – make a phone call or take a picture with your smartphone and text or email them to ask if it is something they even want. If they do, be sure to plan for them to pick it up or for it to be sent within a reasonable time period. And remember this hard truth, what may be valuable to you may not hold the same value for your children or friends. 
   
   
6. Finally, make an appointment with yourself every week to organize or inventory one room (or drawer if a whole room is an overwhelming thought). If you are consistently aware of what you own, you are less likely to accumulate too much ‘stuff’. 

Diane Korotkin is a Senior Move Manager with NextStep Transitions.  NextStep Transitions is a Downsizing and Transition Management Company in Seattle where we help people with downsizing, getting their homes ready for the market and transitioning them into new spaces. For more information call 206-276-7271 or visit www.nextsteptransitions.com