3 Tips to Staying Motivated While Downsizing or Decluttering

        
Today we took the first load of possessions belonging to our recent high school graduate over to her new place. We measured her room, planned where furniture would go, and unpacked what we brought. We'll continue to make trips each day until she is moved in. Now for today's topic:

In speaking with a client today, we discussed motivation. My suggestions: 

- Start in an area in which you want to work. Go with your urges! If you have the urge to declutter your pantry, go with that - motivation is a key to your success.

- Start where you can make quick progress: a drawer, a closet, a shelf. Your progress will motivate you to tackle another spot.

- Save paper, photos and such for last. This is the slowest, most tedious aspect of decluttering. If you start with paper, you'll easily become bogged down. If possible, do spurts of paper decluttering while watching a movie, on the phone, or riding in the car on a trip. 


More on motivation:

Clutter Statistics - Motivation for Spring Cleaning

Five Ways to Prevent Procrastination from Zapping Your Energy and Productivity

Organizing Drawers

Local Recycling of Plastic Garden Containers

           
Today is my husband's and my 36th anniversary! It's hard to believe it! We are celebrating by taking an island-hopping cruise on Lake Erie. Now, on to our post for today ... what to do with those plastic garden containers without putting them in the landfill:

On June 18th from 9:00 – 4:00 Graf Growers Garden Center will be hosting their first Recycle Day where they will be collecting empty plastic garden containers. All sizes and shapes of flower pots, flats, packs, tags, and nursery pots will be accepted. Participants need to knock any clumps of dirt out of them before bringing them on that day. Graf’s is located at 1015 White Pond Drive, just off Interstate 77. 

Staff members and volunteers will help to unload vehicles and sort the plastics. Graf Growers Garden Center is offering this program as a service to the greater Akron community as part of their commitment to the environment. Plastics accepted will be recycled by a local company and used to manufacture plastic household items.

Refreshments will be served and Free Reusable Shopping Bags will be given to participants. (while supplies last).   

More on recycling:

A Refresher on Recycling Plastics

Recycling Compact Fluorescent Lamps (Lightbulbs)

Recycling VHS Tapes

 

Garage Sale Tips to Get Rid of that Clutter

      

Spring not only brings spring cleaning and decluttering, but garage sales! If you're thinking about having a garage sale, organize it in such a way that you'll make the most from it! The following post is a result of combining a couple of posts I've done in the past on garage sales.

According to a recent Ebay, Inc. survey, the average household has $3000 worth of clutter! Now that the weather is turning nice, you may want to cash in on that clutter with a garage sale or selling on Ebay.

From personal experience, unless you have some furniture or large items, it may not be worth your time to have a garage sale. Take a tax deduction instead, and donate it to your local charity.

If you are up for a garage sale, though, start collecting clutter! Put an ad in the paper, listing any special items that may draw buyers. Make sure to register your garage sale if your local officials require it. Your local newspaper ad section usually has the info you need to do so if it is required.

Put signs on busy intersections near your house. You can find garage sale signs with stands at your local Home Depot. Just fill in the pertinent details, using big fat letters. Make sure to take them down afterward.

If you have large items or lots of stuff, arrange with a local charity to stop by the afternoon of your sale to take your unsold items off your hands.

The best thing you can do to ensure good profits at a garage sale is make sure all the items are clean, clean, clean.

Make it easy for your potential buyers to see your stuff - if they can see it as they are driving by, they are more likely to stop. Use card tables and other raised surfaces for display rather than placing things on the ground. Put tablecloths on tables, even if they're just plastic ones.

Hang clothing, don't pile it on tables or leave it in boxes. Try to organize by type (boys, girls, men, women) and even further by size. Arrange items attractively to entice buyers. My mom even puts jewelry on the hanger with an outfit she's sell, with shoes below.  

For pricing, it all depends on quality. If it's nearly new, mark it slightly above half of retail. If it's slightly used or worn, then just below half of retail and so on. 

If items are new, leave the price tags on so people can see what a bargain they're getting. If you can find pictures of items in Sunday newspaper ads, attach those, too.You can use Salvation Army or Goodwill prices as a guideline. Theirs are pretty close to garage sale prices.

Group like-priced items together. Have a $1 table, a $3 table, etc. This eliminates having to put stickers/prices on each item. Make a list for yourself of items on each table. Sadly, people will switch stickers or lie about the price. This will give you a reference point should this happen or should things get placed back on the wrong table.

Display jewelry on plastic mesh canvas you get at the craft store. It's easily seen and less likely to be stolen. For pierced earrings, attach the backs through the holes in the mesh. Use twist ties to attach bracelets or necklaces.

Have your garage sale items organized so all you have to do is set it up in the morning. Be prepared for diehard garage salers to arrive early. Be prepared to haggle. And make sure you have plenty of change and plastic bags.

After your sale, make a list of all the items that didn't sell and immediately load it into your car and take it to a charity if you didn't arrange for it to be picked up. Don't let it go back into your house!

More on garage sales:

A Giveaway Party - A Garage Sale Alternative

Getting Exposure for Your Garage Sale

Declutter Any Room in 3 Weeks

The Psychology Behind Hoarding

        

I came across this article by Jessica Ryen Doyle which appeared on FoxNews.com. It's a bit long, but very enlightening. Unfortunately, the show mentioned in the article aired last Sunday.

"If a stranger would have entered Laura Glasgow’s house last year, they would have been shocked beyond belief.

Some may pass her home off as simply "messy" or "disorganized," but the truth is, Glasgow, 34, of Wilson, N.C., has an anxiety disorder known as hoarding – an excessive collection of items and the inability to get rid of them.

Glasgow, who once had floor-to-ceiling boxes in her house, hoarded everything — clothes, toys for her children, crafts and furniture. In a small house — made even smaller by Glasgow's "collection," — something had to give. Glasgow had so much stuff, the family of five had trouble maneuvering through the clutter.

Slideshow: Inside the House of Hoarders

"It’s a debilitating condition where they accumulate clutter to the point of impairment," said Dr. Julie Pike, a psychologist at Anxiety Disorders Treatment Center in Durham, N.C., of hoarding. "We estimate 2 million people in the U.S. have this problem, but we can’t be exactly sure because people who hoard are very secretive about it."

Going to Extremes

The first extreme case of hoarding came to light in 1947, when police found Homer and Langley Collyer dead inside their Fifth Avenue brownstone in Harlem, N.Y. According to the New York Press, Langley Collyer had transformed their house into a fortress with packing boxes and cartons in interlocking tiers with hidden tunnels. He hoarded thousands of newspapers, books, furniture, clothes, toys – you name it. He had hoarded so much stuff; the house was starting to buckle under the weight of it all, and Langley was buried alive while trying to bring his brother food.

Glasgow’s problem is not so severe, but she knew it was getting worse, so she decided to seek help for her problem by contacting The Learning Channel (TLC). Her story will be featured Sunday on the popular television series "Hoarding: Buried Alive." The show provided her with a therapist – Pike – and an organizer, who helped Glasgow sort through her stuff and clean up her house.

For some people, the clutter becomes so bad, they cannot even leave their own home. When there isn’t any more room to hoard in the house, hoarders may spread their collection to the yard, garage and sometimes to their vehicles.

Some people don’t hoard material possessions; instead they hoard animals, which can create unsanitary living conditions. The Humane Society of the United States estimates 250,000 animals suffer from animal hoarding each year, and the Cummings School of Medicine at Tufts University has reported incidences of as many 1,000 animals living in single-family homes.

In Treatment

Glasgow got help for her problem, which Pike likens to alcoholism – it’s something that will haunt Glasgow for life. It will be up to her how she deals with it.

Glasgow admits her problem became worse after her third child was born and she suffered postpartum depression. She and her husband had moved for his job, and she felt isolated.

"I didn’t have any adult contact, there wasn’t any support system," she said. "That really made the problem explosive."

Incidentally, the Mayo Clinic’s website lists isolation as a trigger for hoarding. Other triggers and risk factors include genetics, stressful life events, age and perfectionism.

"Contrary to popular belief, hoarders are not lazy – they are extreme perfectionists," Pike said.

Glasgow said shopping provided her with a reason to leave the house. So, she convinced herself the family always needed something and pretty soon she was buying more than she could fit in the house.

When the children started making friends, they couldn’t invite them over for play dates, Glasgow explained, because the house was so cluttered, which made her feel guilty – so she bought even more toys for the kids to ease her guilt.

"I was so desperate for help," Glasgow said. "It was a horrible situation."

It’s not known why hoarders develop this kind of problem, but Pike said researchers think it has to do with both nature and nurture.

"We found an abnormality on a chromosome," Pike said. "The other piece is in the brain. The part of the brain that is involved in decision making is different in people who hoard. They do it to avoid the distress of having to make the decision of whether to let go of something."

Pike, who worked with Glasgow on the show, treated her with exposure therapy, a kind of cognitive behavioral therapy.

Exposure therapy is exactly what it sounds like – exposing the person to the thought, behavior or feeling that the person has been trying to avoid, Pike said.

"In this case, we exposed her to the distress of what her hoarding was doing to her family," Pike said. "She said, ‘I’m robbing my kids.’ And the other thing was exposing her physically to the distress of discarding her possessions. The strategy is always to try and increase distress on purpose instead of making them feel better. What happens, they learn once they stop trying to avoid that feeling, it goes away."

To learn more about Laura Glasgow and the psychology behind hoarding, watch "Hoarding: Buried Alive" at 9 p.m. Sunday on TLC."

More on hoarding

Hoarding - There Are No Easy Answers!

When Clutter is Unhealthy 

Self-Help Books for Hoarders and Their Families

 

National Clutter Awareness Week - Give it 5 or 10

It's National Clutter Awareness Week! As if we needed help being aware of our clutter!

I have been using every available minute to work on my new venture, Mom Audience. When I get busy, my office gets cluttered. I know ... I'm a professional organizer ... it shouldn't be that way. But that's how life is, isn't it?

But it only took me about 10 minutes to declutter my office this morning. Why didn't I do it sooner? It's been bothering me for several days now.

My husband and I have been doing 5 Minute Challenges to keep things under control this week. It's amazing what five minutes can do! It's hard for me to give up even five minutes, but it's worth it. Our trouble areas: the office and the laundry room/pantry/storage room.

I took about 10 minutes earlier this week to look through my closet and rearrange some things. While doing so, I got brutal - I got rid of three tops I don't wear. When I swap out my seasonal clothes, I'll try to be as brutal.

It is motivating that Amvets is coming early next month. I keep a container in which I can deposit unwanted items to donate. Then my decluttering doesn't create clutter!

The less clutter I have, the less time it takes to clean! That motivates me! I've just been in the mood lately to live leaner, get rid of the excess.

If you're motivated (or not!) and want to live leaner, take a few minutes and declutter some messy places. Get the family involved! It is mentally, emotionally, and physcially refreshing to have an uncluttered environment.

If you receive this via email and want to comment, use this link.

More blogs about decluttering:

Decluttering in 5 - 20 Decluttering Tasks You Can Do In Five Minutes or Less

Get Organized Month 2009 - Family Five Minute Challenge

Clutter in Your House or Office Means Clutter in Your Mind

Decluttering in 10 - Entry Way

Take 10 minutes and see how much you can declutter in your entry way or mud room. Get a trash bag and toss anything that is no longer useful. If others in your family have dropped their things in the entry, ask them to put them away.

Is there a place for each person's book bag, purse, briefcase, keys, coat, etc.? If not, add that to your to-do list for another day. If so, train them to put them away. Without a place for everyone's things when they come in the door, your entry can look like the aftermath of an explosion.

Do you keep your mail in the entry? Try sorting your mail near a trash can, recycling container, and a shredder. If you do this daily, your mail will not become a huge decluttering project.

Shake the rug and/or clean the floor if you have time.

What a nice welcome to your home!!