Avoid these common mistakes

Many people don’t realize that a cluttered home or office reduces our ability to get things done by making it difficult to find things… serving as a source of distraction… and making us feel that we don’t have control over our lives.

Most cluttered people want to live uncluttered lives, but their best efforts to declutter often fail because of five common mistakes…

Mistake 1. Setting the bar much too high for getting rid of things. “I might need it someday” is not a valid reason to keep something. We might eventually need almost anything — but if we kept everything, we would be buried in clutter. An item is worth keeping only if you can think of a specific and likely set of circumstances that would make it necessary.

If you find it fairly difficult to get rid of things, ask yourself, “What is the worst possible thing that could happen if I didn’t have this?” If you can live with the answer, toss, recycle or shred it. In two decades of helping clients declutter using this method, I’ve never had a single client come back to me and say that something irreplaceable had been discarded.

Example: Four out of every five pieces of paper saved in the typical file cabinet will never be needed again.

Mistake 2. Failing to consider how easily a document or possession could be replaced or how soon it will be out-of-date. People tend to hold on to anything that seems important — but importance should not be the only consideration. Obsolescence matters, too. If something not currently needed will soon be out-of-date, get rid of it.

Example: Get rid of old electronic devices as soon as you stop using them — newer, better products will be available if you need something of this sort in the future.

Also, throw away any printed information that is available online. If you need this information later, it will be easier to find it online than it will be to track down your printed copy, assuming that you have an Internet connection. Online information tends to be more up-to-date, too.

Example: I used to keep files full of articles about restaurants worth visiting for each state in the country. I stopped when I realized that the restaurant information can be retrieved very easily on the Internet. Now when I spot an article about a restaurant that I might want to try, I don’t save the article. I just save the name of the restaurant in a computer file as a reminder to look it up online when I next visit that area.

Mistake 3. Not asking for help from family members or coworkers. If you attempt to declutter without first enlisting the support of those who share your home or office, you likely will have to do all the work yourself and you increase the odds of arguments about what you can discard. To win over family and coworkers to the decluttering cause, convince them that this chore will benefit them in a way that matters to them. If these people do not value cleanliness and organization, consider what they do value…

If a person is pursuing a financial goal, explain that the items you clear out can be sold at a garage sale or on eBay — or donated to charity for a tax deduction — with the profits allocated to that goal.

If a person cares deeply about a particular project or hobby, explain how the area cleared out can be devoted to this endeavor.

If a person is busy, explain how decluttering makes finding things faster.

Mistake 4. Postponing placement decisions on new possessions and paperwork. When we carry things into our homes or offices, we should immediately decide where they go, not set them down on a table for later consideration. Once we’ve set things down “temporarily,” they often stay there, becoming clutter.

Select or create places specifically for categories of items that enter your home frequently, such as the mail.

Example: Unwanted mail might go directly into a recycling bin… bills might go into a basket designated for this purpose… and periodicals might be placed in a different basket to hold them until you can read them.

Mistake 5. Blaming family members or officemates for their excessive clutter rather than seeking to understand what’s behind it. It can be very frustrating to live or work with an extreme pack rat — someone who cannot seem to get rid of anything. If you suggest decluttering to these people, they typically make excuses and refuse.

Pack rats’ inability to get rid of things often stems from traumatic losses they suffered long ago. Perhaps their family endured a major financial setback or their parents died when they were young. You’ll get further with such people if you offer understanding, not ultimatums.

You can tell this person that you understand how important it is to him/her to hold on to these things. Explain that your goal isn’t to dispose of these possessions, but to help the pack rat preserve and enjoy the ones that matter most. Ask this person to explain the meaning of the possessions one by one. Then you can propose solutions that honor this meaning while getting some of the mess out the door.

Example: A pack rat’s collection of vintage kitchen utensils has grown so large that the kitchen is filled with them, making it impossible to enjoy the collection. You can suggest taking digital photos of the utensils and then uploading the photos to a photo site that allows the pack rat to make a scrapbook of his collection.

The pack rat then can sell off all but the most treasured examples. Point out that the scrapbook will be easier to view than the utensils themselves and that clearing out will make it easier to appreciate the utensils that remain. Flickr and Picasa allow you to create digital albums. There also are many sites that allow you to upload photos and have them printed in a book, such as Shutterfly, Mpix, Kodak Gallery and Photoworks.

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