Clutter: Your Stress Cause Or Solution

There’s a cycle that exists around clutter throughout American homes. The pace of the American lifestyle continues to take on a life of its own and so does the clutter. Some people get stressed because of their clutter and some people clutter because of their stress. nClutter can be the cause of your stress: n• The pace of life seems to leave little time to clear the clutter and get organized. The truth is you can’t afford NOT to be organized when you are busy. n• The garage is full so you park outside, you move stuff around and step over it.n• You deny it’s a problem which compounds stress and delays the solution.n• You do the last minute cram when entertaining which creates stress up front and after the celebration since now you have to find everything you crammed.n• You refrain from social activities at home due to clutter. This is isolating and stressful.n nClutter can be the (perceived) solution to your stress: This adds more clutter!n• You shop for yourself to feel better when stressed out or depressed.n• You shop for your kids to make up for the time you lose with them.n• You buy for convenience, which adds up in dollars and clutter.no Happy Meals and “free” toysno Buy new rather than repair then keep the new and broken oneno Spend money on stuff you have that you cannot find in the clutter, now you have more.nnAn organized life and home doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time to establish efficient systems and to really create the new habit. It can be done. Here are a few tips to getting started. nn1. Give yourself 5 minutes each evening to pick up/put away – set a timer if you need to.n2. Give yourself 5 minutes each morning to pick up/put away. na. A lot can get done in 5 minutesn3. Little by little, one at a time, put systems in place to give things a home and practice getting things into their homes in your 5 minutes pick up. You can do it!nnnn