What’s Your Clutter Type?

Clutter happens and often times it’s a result of being too tired or too busy to take care of the overflowing pile of unopened mail or the closet that is more of a haphazard storage area. It’s important to ask, however, what type of clutter is accumulating as a way to understand and alter habits. Here are some examples:

Aspirational Clutter

The clutter that accumulates because of the person you wish you were. As an example, you’ve decided on a new hobby, let’s say knitting, and the first thing you do is run off to the craft store and pick of several skeins of yarn, a variety of needles, pattern books, the works. You watch videos, you try your hand at this new pursuit and maybe for a little bit you’re sticking with it. Eventually, work gets busy, other obligations come up, you quietly lose interest in knitting or you even find that you don’t actually like knitting. Whatever the reason, you now have all these remaining supplies you just leave tucked in the back of the closet. You hang onto it because you feel bad about having spent the money on this endeavor or you think you might, one day, pick it back up again. What you have now, is just clutter.

Try this instead: I’m all in favor of trying new things but you don’t have to go out an buy everything associated with it just to get started. There are cheap or sometimes free ways to try something out before you commit your space (and your dollars). Check with your local library, often times they have workshops for little or no cost and they provide everything you need. Check with others who currently partake in that hobby and see if you might be able to borrow supplies. If you do purchase things, take a beat and manage your own expectations. Think about how much time you have to commit to this and what might be the most reasonable way to fit this into your life. Going back to the knitting example, that means perhaps one set of needles and one skein of yarn and not the most expensive of either.

Scarcity Clutter

You may have heard of the scarcity mindset and this directly relates. This type of clutter is rooted in the fear of not having enough, whether this is a result of a direct experience at some point in one’s life, it stipulates that one needs to always be prepared. A garage bursting at the seams with cleaning supplies or bulk groceries is an example of this . However, these “just in case” items only really serve to take up space, both physically and mentally and often make it harder to find what you need.

Try this instead: Overcoming a scarcity mindset takes work and sometimes that involves working with a therapist or life coach. Other times it’s helpful to set up a monthly decluttering schedule where you set a goal of getting rid of one or two items. The following month, you can think back to the items you decided to let go of and see how little their absence has effected your life.

Sentimental Clutter

This type of clutter is often the trickiest. We have a tendency to assign a lot of value to objects that once belonged to loved ones or souvenirs from memorable trips or events. The reality is that it is the active memory of the person or event that matters. If the object associated is suddenly gone, it does not erase the memory in your brain. If you have several of your grandmother’s quilts and one happens to get ruined, does that diminish the memory of your grandmother? Hardly. Other times sentimental clutter is guilt clutter, or items that were received that one feels bad about getting rid of.

Try this instead: Take a photo of bigger, bulkier items or children’s artwork to preserve them instead of having those items take up space. Make a memory box to ensure that there’s a cap to how much memory paraphernalia can be included. Digitize memories by scanning photos and documents and storing them in organized folders.

Materialistic Clutter

This clutter is a result of excessive “retail therapy”. I get it, that feeling of a new purchase and the dopamine hit that comes with it but it’s important to remember that that feeling is fleeting and then we are left with something that perhaps we ultimately no longer want but feel bad about getting rid of because money was spent on it. However, continuing to hold onto a thing is isn’t going to bring your money back.

Try this instead: Implement a “one in, one out” rule. For every item you purchase, you get rid of one item you already have. This way, it prevents over accumulation.

Is there a particular type of clutter that you’re struggling with? Orderly Arrangements can help. Let’s talk.