Clutter Chaos

When it comes to clearing and controlling clutter you tend to do it on a needs must basis. If someone’s coming round or someone else in the home moans enough about it, you’ll have a go at clearing it. There’s a very definite threshold that you have to reach to notice it and it’s usually a threshold related to the clutter getting in the way of what you’re doing.

In fact, clutter is never an issue unless it accumulates to such a scale that you feel you need to spend any time clearing it., and when you reach that point you have no idea where to start, how to do it or can muster up enough energy to actually get o with it.

You don’t clear and sort – you throw away or hide. Some might say you never throw away. When you’re clearing your clutter there are only two options – keep it or throw it away. You don’t need more than those, - why complicate things and make an unwelcome task last longer? Most things you need as part of your ‘nesting’.

Your home has a clearly defined junk room - some might say your whole home is a junk room. You get a clear out either in the spring or when needs must. If asked what was in your attic, garage or hall cupboard you wouldn’t be able to name any items, but you know that it’s all important stuff that needs to stay there until the next major clear out threshold is reached.

If you were asked where certain things belonged in your home you’d have a rough idea. You night need a bit of time to think about it.

Newspapers and magazines tend to hang around until they reach the threshold of frustration and then you let them go - reluctantly.

You think anyone who has regular clearouts, let alone pay for a cleaner. If you had a cleaner you’d have to have a tidy up every week to enable them to find the carpet and surfaces, and that’s really unnecessary in your opinion. To you the solution is simple – a good clear out and tidy up every few months.

The things you struggle with most include:

Accepting that you can't keep it all

Accepting that your home simply isn't big enough to house all your belongings

Having a clear-out - you want to keep everything

Accepting that it's all down to you to make the difference

Asking for help

Things you are likely to have experienced include:

Using someone else as a reason to keep things and justifying it by saying 'they want to keep it' or 'they wouldn't like it' or 'they've passed away but I couldn't get rid of it'

Blaming someone else for the clutter

Loosing things within a matter of minutes of bringing them into your home

Having to cancel credit cards / debit cards because you can't find them

Paying penalities because bills aren't paid on time

Being a victim of Identity Theft

Not sleeping as well as you used to

Feeling tired and drained a lot of the time

Impaired social life as you don't feel you can invite people round

Unable to think about anything else other than the state of your home

Unable to think of a time when you didn't have at least one problem/crisis in your life happening at any one time

Feelings of panic at the thought of having to go through every single item

Constant 'what if' thoughts going through your mind

Feeling alone and not knowing where to turn

Concern at what animals and creatures may be in your clutter after all this time e.g. mice, moths, spiders

Celebrities who are Clutter Chaos

Characters in TV series Men Behaving Badly
Dingles from Emmerdale
Jack Bauer (from 24)
Homer Simpson
Fred Dibnah

Ideal jobs for the Clutter Chaos

Steeplejack
Stuntman
Chimney Sweep
Rag and bone man
scrap yard owner/worker
reclamation yard owner/worker
Antiques dealer