You and I are probably alike in that at one time or another you’ve wondered “How am I going to organize and order my house”? Maybe you’ve watched episodes of the new TV series called “Hoarders” and realized that if you don’t change your ways, you could potentially end up ON that show years from now! Scary stuff, right?
You’ve also probably read some of the many “decluttering tips” on the internet and thought, “Hey, that particular tip might help me organize and declutter my house,” but then you just turn off your computer and come back. to buy things, save things, store things and leave things everywhere to build more and more and more.
What I’m going to do is ask you a series of questions about your clutter habits and your messy house. Answer them honestly (perhaps even ask someone you trust to ask you to verbalize your answer). It is not my intention to provoke feelings of guilt, but rather to make you feel that you can overcome this problem. Giving yourself the right mindset and attitude towards your goal of “getting my house organized and tidy” is the best advice I can give you. So, in no particular order:
- Why is your house so full of “stuff”?
- How long has your clutter been accumulating?
- Who owns most of the mess? (What is the source of all the clutter?)
- Why do you keep things you don’t like?
- Was there something that made you start hoarding things?
- What percentage of the clutter around your house is actually garbage?
- At what time would you miss having ______ (certain item). A week from now? When does the season change? Next month? Two years from now? Maybe never?
- What sentimental value do particular items have for ME? For my family?
- Would the person who gave you the particular item you don’t care even notice if it’s gone?
- What could you do with some extra money that you could get for a few items in your clutter?
- Who could benefit more than you from your unused items?
- Why do you keep things you don’t use?
- Why are you storing so much stuff for emergencies and natural disasters?
- Who would benefit besides you from decluttering and organizing your home? In what ways?
- Who could help you if you ask “please help me organize and tidy my house?”
- What would you do with extra space in your house, garage or kitchen?
- What are you teaching your children by collecting and building large amounts of random things and letting them fill your life?
- What would you miss about a messy house?
- What do you think it would be like to live in an organized and tidy house?
- What do you think you have but not sure where to find it in your messy rooms?
- Where could you find help to clear?
- When are you going to take action instead of just reading about cleaning?
- When will you be able to find time to organize and declutter your home if not in the immediate future?
- When will you not be embarrassed to invite acquaintances and neighbors to enter?
- Why haven’t you started?
- How much is organizing and tidying your house worth to you?
Some of the questions may have been easy to answer, some challenging, and others perhaps not applicable to you. The truth is, though, that we all have that little bug called “procrastination” that bites us to one degree or another. Kill that bug once and for all. Solve the questions above, prove to yourself that it’s more than okay to get rid of the “stuff” that’s cluttering up your house, and finally be able to say “I’ve organized and tidy my house”! Happy cleaning, my friend!
