Recently I had the opportunity to visit with a prospective client at her home. She is a wonderful caring nurse with a clutter problem. Although her home is neat, she must have 50 piles of neatly stacked books, magazines, receipts, volunteer organization papers and children's school papers. All of these piles bother her and drain her of her energy. And that is why she called me.

There is only one way to help out in instances like this. And that is to begin. Because this problem has been going on for seven years or maybe more, it is also important to address the reason why it happened in the first place. Here are a few of the behaviours that led her to where she was at now. All of us recognize and practice at least one of them.

1. Browsing through bookstores and purchasing interesting books that you want to read, even though you have several at home you have not read yet.
2. Grabbing a magazine in the hopes of reading it while on a rushed grocery shopping trip. You do this when you feel tired and want to experience a few moments of relaxation when you get home. You think that you will do just that, however when you get home, the magazine gets put in the pile for later as you unload groceries.
3. Collecting gifts for Christmas, anniversaries, birthdays, and then taking them home and 'hiding them'.
4. Stopping to look through the 'sale rack' even though we do not really need anything. This is dangerous, because sometimes the price is too good to be true - and we take it home even though we do not need it.
5. Setting 'stuff' in a pile, just for a minute while you try to figure out where to put it.

These are only a few of the behaviours that start the clutter that drains us of energy. Eventually the piles become so numerous, we have no idea where to begin. And so we dodge in between piles, put more stuff on top of them and shuffle them from the kitchen table to the dining room table to the coffee table......you get the point.So how do we deal with this?

* Begin by understanding why you are collecting things. Are you trying to fill a need or loneliness?
* Stop buying 'stuff'. If you are buying something, decide where it goes before you even get to the check-out. If you don't know where you a going to put it - leave it at the store- it fits there just fine!
* Get help organizing, and start with one room. Do not try to tackle it all at once.
* Start a mail station
* Get a filing cabinet to file papers that you must keep. If a paper is older than one month, it is likely outdated.
* Don't become a pile-it! If you are adding one more thing to a pile, stop and think if there is a home for it. Does it belong somewhere?
* Find a place for everything. If there is not a place for it, decide where you are most likely to use it and find storage for it near that point.

If you need more help feel free to contact me. I can put you in contact with several other Professional Organizers along with myself who can help you with your clutter.

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If you would like to receive one on one time analysis and coaching or need help get organized from the inside out please contact mccrawford7@cogeco.ca

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