Are you a hoarder? Do you keep pieces of paper in your house you have not seen in years? If you have ANY object you do not see within the span of a year, chances are you have a bit of the “hoarder” gene (if there is such a thing). I think there is a little bit of it in all of us, just some people are worse off than others.
Keeping SOME things as mementoes is not a bad thing, but if you kept the first Mentos your child ever threw into a bottle of Diet Coke, you might be a hoarder.
If you yourself are a hoarder (no matter how severe), try this to prevent your living space from getting any worse:
1) DO NOT PRINT OFF THIS BLOG POST!!! It will indubitably remain in your living quarters until the day you die and your family has to get a bulldozer to empty the place, or there is some other catastrophic event.
2) Limit the amount of useless “garbage” you bring into your space. If you are somewhere where they are handing out free samples or goodies, do not take them JUST BECAUSE they are free. If you NEED them and were thinking of buying them anyway, knock yourself out (that actually is another way to prevent excess items from entering your house; if you are unconscious more often, less stuff will make its way home with you). Otherwise, DO NOT take them! Why would you need a package of diapers if you are a woman in your 90s with no children or grandchildren? That ship has sailed my friend! Let it go!
3) This is probably the most difficult one of them all: start getting rid of what you already own. I know, if you are a true hoarder, it is as if I just asked you to jump off of a bridge, and for some that might be easier, but you need to do this. If you live with anyone else, your way of life is, or soon could be affecting anyone else who is close to you. If your living quarters are uninhabitable, think about if you have children or parents who cannot use the space you share to their liking. If you are alone, how the heck are you ever going to keep anyone you bring home to that? Only a limited number of “let’s go to your place tonight” will fly.
Here is what your do:
Start with baby steps. Make a goal that each day you are going to get rid of a net total of x number of items (ten is a good number to start with). That means if you bring 3 home, you have to get rid of at least 13 to make up for it. As you start to clean more and more and get more comfortable with the idea, you can change your goal as you see fit.
Having something to stick to is a good place to start. If you say “I want this clean by December,” then January comes with no change, you give up. If you have a flexible goal, you are more likely to stick to it.
Here are some hints while cleaning:
1) Look into recycling in your area (I am sure you have not used this much if you are saving every glass bottle that ever walked through your door). Usually your local area will except paper, glass, tin, plastic, and corrugated cardboard. Almost nothing gets thrown out, and that makes it easy to get rid of many things cluttering your house (especially if it is old school work, newspapers, or magazines).
2) Go through your clothes, and whatever does not fit, donate or find a consignment shop that will take them. If you have not worn them in over a year, chances are you will not miss them. Find someone who needs them.
3) Those random other items can either be sold on the internet if they are of value, tag saled, or donated to an organization that excepts those types of things. Stuffed animals in good condition are always in need, as well as other toys and furniture.
4) Books can be sold online, to some book stores, or donated to places such as libraries.
If you yourself are not the hoarder but live with one, may the force be with you.
Confronting the person about their problem is not always the best way to go about it. They like the way they are, and do not want to clean (or they would never have allowed their house to get to this point). You can try making cleaning into a game if they are young. Instead of threatening them, just say “I want to redesign this area of the house; can you help me?” Or say for x number of minutes, we are going to organize. And help them. Time goes faster and they are more willing to do it if someone is helping them, (but if that does not work, you can leave them alone and check in on them). Or try “you can keep as many toys as you donate” (if they are really resistant, you may have to bribe them with a NEW toy, which is counterproductive, but effective if they have wanted a certain toy for awhile. In that case, get more than 50% donation out of them). Put two boxes out, and they have to fill the donation one first before getting a second “keep” box.
If none of this works, you can be sneaky, and take the toys you child no longer plays with. To be safe, you might want to hold on to them for awhile, just to make sure you do not donate an irreplaceable playmate. Depending on your house, if you keep them for a year and the child has not asked about them, donate them.
If you are working on the other side of the spectrum, you can try the steps above, but chances are they like their “nests,” and do not want to get rid of ANYTHING. I say recycle/donate at will. If there are areas of the house that person does not see, start there. “Organize,” by eliminating the excess excess. Attics, garages, and basements are great places to start. Then when you clean another room of the house, you can say that you moved the items up/out/down there. Just make sure they can never go and check, and that they do not see you moving or cleaning. As long as they do not watch you, you can get rid of the items, while telling them if they ask about something later, that you moved it. When you start with a cluttered, unvisited room, chances are that that person does not remember exactly what is in it. Keeping the important stuff and eliminating the excess will reduce your stress (especially if you are not a hoarder). If you do not refresh their memory by SHOWING them what was in the room, chances are that they will not miss it.
WARNING: If you are not smart about this, you are bound to throw out/donate something of value, either to the person or of monetary value. Make sure you know the person you are “organizing” for well.
You have to look around, but very few items (unless ruined), are trash-worthy. If you cannot use it, chances are that someone else can.
Now get off of the internet and START CLEANING!!!
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