The boxes of new toys vying for space. The mail piled up by the door. And the holiday decorations that have cross-pollinated with your belongings. It’s no wonder decluttering is now a top New Year’s resolution, right up there with dieting and exercising.
“People are looking around and seeing that their whole house needs a diet,” says Jacki Brown, the president of the Professional Organizers in Canada.
While most of us won’t cross over into dangerous hoarder territory, hoarding expert Randy Frost says even for well-functioning people, a jam-packed basement and attic could be a harbinger of things to come. “As people get older, these problems tend to get worse.”
And the foibles that led people to accumulate clutter in the first place can trip them up when they try to tackle the mess.
“When people begin to attack the pile, they pick up something, they get so into that thing that they forget what they’re doing,” says Prof. Frost, who teaches psychology at Smith College in Northampton, Mass., and co-wrote Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things. “It’s a bit of an attention-deficit problem.”
Prof. Frost, who conducts group decluttering sessions for serious hoarders, says there are a number of good tips out there that can work, “if people actually do them.”
HOLIDAY MOP UP
Resist the urge to chuck all those holiday decorations, menorahs, Christmas lights back into boxes. “If you have decorations you didn’t put out this year, ask yourself why,” says Ms. Brown. “If something’s broken, don’t just put it away thinking you'll fix it next year.” And if your labelled holiday bins are now the best-organized items in your basement, give them pride of place, says Ms. Brown. “Push everything over and start your tidy, organized corner. That will be your inspiration.”
WHILE YOU’RE IN THE BASEMENT, KEEP GOING
Items gathering dust in your basement or attic are often things that are easiest to part with – and can free up space for storing stuff you’re about to liberate from other rooms. Susan Borax of Vancouver’s Good Riddance says the major culprits she and her business partner, Heather Knittel, encounter include mindlessly acquired collections of cookie tins, for instance, and boxes of miscellaneous “shrapnel.” “We separate the crud, the completely ridiculous, useless debris, from things that are still useful and loved,” she says.
START SMALL
Experts say another way to get moving is to pick one drawer, one closet or the catch-all room. “Just start,” says Ms. Brown, who runs an organizing business in Trenton, Ont. With each item, ask yourself: “Do you love it? Do you use it? Is this the best place for it?” If the whole place is a mess, some pros suggest cleaning out your bedroom to create a sanctuary that energizes you. “But we ask clients to finish and not zigzag from room to room,” says Ms. Borax. “The decluttering process is very disruptive. Minimize the chaos.”
START AT RANDOM
Other professional organizers know that you’re a little distracted, otherwise you wouldn’t be in this mess. So they propose a commando approach to get moving – or to supplement your other efforts. Oprah-endorsed organizing expert Peter Walsh suggests trying something called the “Trash Bag Tango”: For 10 minutes a day, everyone in the family grabs two bags – one for trash and one for donations – and fills them.
OR, START WITH SYSTEMS
