I lived in a stressful mess!

The title says it all. I was an anxious, unorganized, and a typical young person with poor executive functioning skills. Why couldn't I get it together like my friends? Nothing fit where it probably belonged and I could never find anything when I needed it. As my mom said, "It looks like a tornado ripped through your room!". Unfortunately she was not exaggerating.

Decades later, I now organize professionally, actually making use of my Fashion Merchandising degree. Now imagine that I am at your house to help you. The hour has come to get serious and take charge of your abode and its precarious contents. A necessary and the first step to getting organized is decluttering or editing your belongings. However, these are your items, so only you can make these tough, and as I said, paramount decisions to let go. Often times, we couldn't make a decision by ourselves or even bare to think of departing with any of our collections. I use the term collections not to refer to your coin collection that you have been adding to your whole life, but all the other random daily objects that have piled up in your home making it crowded and even sometimes making your home dysfunctional, and even unlivable.

So, you say you "need" scissors, fair enough. However, do you need 12 pairs, even 6 pairs, what about 3? You may want to consider uses and convenient homes for them. For example, I have decided to keep one pair for the kitchen, another pair in my desk, and two different types for sewing. I have ample room in each of these locations where the item will be put to use. Makes sense, right? So, let go of the duplicates. Someone at a resale store, a ministry, or a non profit will happily redistribute them. Plus, for my own beliefs I feel I have been given much and I must share with those in need.

Another obstacle for my clients has been that they invested money into an item. This I hear often as I observe the items that they invested in sitting on the floor, getting broken, dusty, or shoved into the closet, and just plain not used. So how is that getting your money out of it? I am sorry to say, but the money is gone. You do have an opportunity to learn from this, like I had to do. Now when you go shopping, you aren't buying because you like and can use it. We could shop everyday and find useful things to squeeze into our storage containers. What if you shopped only because you needed it? Not because you have become reliant on shopping as entertainment. You don't want to undo all the decluttering that you accomplished. Do you? If you don't change your acquiring habits the cycle of dysfunction will keep repeating itself. Then you come to conclusions like, I can't get organized. Or I'm just messy and can't be fixed. No, you can! If, and only if you let go. I know this isn't easy, but realize you will get your home in order if you do and this makes for a peaceful home, rather then stressful.

Here is another comment I hear, which can be far more difficult to navigate. The item was a gift or an inheritance from a loved one. How many items do you need to keep to honor and remember your special someone? If you keep a few, they will be far more special displayed up on the mantel, then in countless boxes taking up room in the garage. You may have more items than your home will now allow you to manage comfortably. Whether it is lack of space or an exorbitant amount of work it will take to manage so many items. Anything in our homes must be cleaned, moved to clean around, fixed, parts replaced, and of course a home which is both ample and logical. Do you want to operate your home as if you are a store manager having to keep track of so many items as well as keep them clean? I am trying to help you have an easy place to maintain and even if it gets a little hairy at times, you can put it all back together in less than 15 minutes. Really.

If I can help in coaching, decluttering, organizing, and cleaning please contact me at 717-752-7504.