Is clutter the bane of your existence?

I am one of those people who can’t seem to live a clutter free life. In my house there are little boxes loaded with papers, instructions, etc., which I keep checking to organize and throw away the contents once and for all. The problem is that the boxes never seem to empty. There always seems to be a piece of paper, a clipped coupon, a piece of paper with a phone number or two on it that never makes it out of this box. Why? Do we ask?

Because we want to keep it but we don’t know what to do with it, so it’s still CLUTTER. I admit it, I’m a clutterholic.

I panic and still cringe when my doorbell rings and someone wants to come in. I look over and see that with the piles of papers on the coffee table and the kitchen table, my home doesn’t look as spotless as anything in House Beautiful. And you know that we Clutterholics are being judged by the chronically neat and organized.

You could almost hear the clicking in their heads, what a mess, how could they live like this? These people are lucky. They don’t have that clutter gene. Too bad they haven’t invented a pill that retrains our brains not to go haywire, but they haven’t.

Instead, those with the organizational gene have created businesses to help us Clutterholics kick the habit. There are businesses that sell organization solutions for your closets, where to hang your pants, dresses and suits, where to put your shoes and purses, where to store your jewelry or even your underwear. Big box stores sell shelving to customize your closet and even design a system for you. But even if you bought all these items, how long will it take before you install it? And now the closet organizers become clutter. Some of us are absolutely helpless.

There are also so many books to buy that tell us what to do so that the reorganization doesn’t become too overwhelming. I’ll admit, one tip I haven’t followed is to use a timer, setting it for 15 or 20 minutes to clear an area of ​​things to throw away or give away. When the timer goes off, it stops working. The advice is that if you do this exercise regularly, the Clutter area will eventually empty out and you won’t feel as overwhelmed. It is good advice and one day I may follow it. Another book suggests tackling the kitchen sink first. Well, that’s probably the only place in the house that doesn’t stay cluttered. I wash and put away the dishes and pots the same day. Easy peasy. But there is always someone with a different method or advice and I will continually seek them out in the hope that my tidy books don’t become cluttered.