I have found that people with clutter tend to have bad habits around the house. This doesn't mean they're lazy; it just means that their clutter got in the way of them trying to do things.
I've watched those 'Hoarder' shows and noticed that the people on them fall into a few categories. They'll have something really awful happen in their lives and they mentally just stop, while their lives continue on. This means that their house also stops. It stops being pretty. It stops being something of pride. It stops being a lovely place to come home to. They stop bringing friends home. They stop cleaning anything. They stop doing anything around the place because they forget how to in the end. And this is where they're friends or family (or both) end up getting involved; because their lifestyle is starting to kill them.
Then, you have the hoarder who has lived with another hoarder and doesn't know any different. They don't know how to develop good habits because they've lived in an environment where they haven't been able to develop them (there's a video on Facebook about a woman who's at the extreme end of this, all because her mother hoarded the worse possible thing... I won't go into detail here. It was gross). People like this, are almost beyond help because they have to be taught how to clean, taught how to put things away, taught how to throw things they don't need out. It's starting with a clean slate pretty much.
But then you have people who have inherited their family's things. They don't know what to do with them; and feel guilty as hell if they let them go or sell them. They feel the need to hang onto old things from their Mother and Father's place just in case they're worth something - and don't get me wrong, some things are worthwhile. But some of the things aren't. The best thing to do is to get things valued, then go from there.
I fall into the last category and the first one. I've had a rotten relationship where I was beaten up and it made me stop mentally. I started hoarding and I almost turned into one of those poor souls on 'Hoarders'... and just watching that show for one season made me realise I needed to get off my butt and do something about my junk (yep, see, I have junk too! I have stuff too, but we'll cover that on another post).
The one thing I had to do was make myself start on developing good habits. This meant putting out the rubbish every night, washing up every night before I went to bed, cleaning up the living room before I went upstairs, putting the remote controls for the tv and stereo system where I could find them every time, doing my laundry on a weekly basis and putting it away every time.
I've gotten into doing my laundry, putting out the rubbish, washing up, putting the remotes where I can find them and ... well, I've started developing other new habits I'm hoping will stick. Just last night, I spent 45 minutes cleaning up the living room and washing up before I turned off the lights downstairs and going upstairs. And this morning, when I went down to have breakfast, I didn't feel as though I was going to be ashamed of my house today... I felt as though I could breath for the first time in a long time.
This is what forming good habits can do for you by decluttering and cleaning up. I know it sounds simple, but for some of us, it's an ongoing battle. It is for me - and it may be for you. So, how is your battle with the clutter and cleaning going?
I've watched those 'Hoarder' shows and noticed that the people on them fall into a few categories. They'll have something really awful happen in their lives and they mentally just stop, while their lives continue on. This means that their house also stops. It stops being pretty. It stops being something of pride. It stops being a lovely place to come home to. They stop bringing friends home. They stop cleaning anything. They stop doing anything around the place because they forget how to in the end. And this is where they're friends or family (or both) end up getting involved; because their lifestyle is starting to kill them.
Then, you have the hoarder who has lived with another hoarder and doesn't know any different. They don't know how to develop good habits because they've lived in an environment where they haven't been able to develop them (there's a video on Facebook about a woman who's at the extreme end of this, all because her mother hoarded the worse possible thing... I won't go into detail here. It was gross). People like this, are almost beyond help because they have to be taught how to clean, taught how to put things away, taught how to throw things they don't need out. It's starting with a clean slate pretty much.
But then you have people who have inherited their family's things. They don't know what to do with them; and feel guilty as hell if they let them go or sell them. They feel the need to hang onto old things from their Mother and Father's place just in case they're worth something - and don't get me wrong, some things are worthwhile. But some of the things aren't. The best thing to do is to get things valued, then go from there.
I fall into the last category and the first one. I've had a rotten relationship where I was beaten up and it made me stop mentally. I started hoarding and I almost turned into one of those poor souls on 'Hoarders'... and just watching that show for one season made me realise I needed to get off my butt and do something about my junk (yep, see, I have junk too! I have stuff too, but we'll cover that on another post).
The one thing I had to do was make myself start on developing good habits. This meant putting out the rubbish every night, washing up every night before I went to bed, cleaning up the living room before I went upstairs, putting the remote controls for the tv and stereo system where I could find them every time, doing my laundry on a weekly basis and putting it away every time.
I've gotten into doing my laundry, putting out the rubbish, washing up, putting the remotes where I can find them and ... well, I've started developing other new habits I'm hoping will stick. Just last night, I spent 45 minutes cleaning up the living room and washing up before I turned off the lights downstairs and going upstairs. And this morning, when I went down to have breakfast, I didn't feel as though I was going to be ashamed of my house today... I felt as though I could breath for the first time in a long time.
This is what forming good habits can do for you by decluttering and cleaning up. I know it sounds simple, but for some of us, it's an ongoing battle. It is for me - and it may be for you. So, how is your battle with the clutter and cleaning going?
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