How to Stop the Cycle of Clutter
You’ve done everything: you gutted your house of clutter, you’ve organized and reorganized, and you’ve collected all the books on organization and minimalism. And yet, you wake up and find that the clutter has returned. Your shelves are crowded, and your basement is a maze. You’re not even sure what happened, but all your hard work has been replaced by clutter. Getting started with decluttering is hard in itself, but even more tasking can be the process of sticking with it. Understanding what causes the return to clutter can help you spot the behaviors that hinder you and create a system that keeps you clutter free for good.
The Impulse Purchase
One of the most common behaviors that results in clutter reaccumulating is none other than the impulse purchase. Everyone’s experienced it before. You see an ad on Instagram or you’re wandering through a store, and you see something that you just need. It’ll be useful, it’ll be fun, it’ll be life changing! And it is for a few days. And then it goes in a closet or a drawer, and you forget you bought it in the first place. The impulse buy is the number one accumulator of clutter; products are designed to make you feel like you need them. Recognizing this impulse before it catches you off guard is the first step in stopping an impulse purchase in its tracks. Ask yourself, why do I want this? Do I already own something that would solve this problem? If you’re buying something simply for the joy it brings, you might take a picture of it and wait a couple days. If you’re still thinking about it, then go for it! Chances are, though, you’ve already forgotten about it. It takes time, but the more you can train yourself out of making a purchase on a whim, the easier it will be to get ahead of clutter and prevent it from accumulating in the first place.
Fear of Being Without
On the flip side of the impulse purchase is the fear of letting something go. Whether it’s an old gift, something from your childhood, or that tool you use might need, it can be hard to get rid of something. We become attached to our belongings; in some ways it feels like they define us. We worry about needing it later down the line or insulting the person who gave it to us. Learning to part with what you no longer need or even truly want is essential to prevent clutter from returning. When you find yourself trying to decide whether it’s worth keeping something, ask yourself what’s motivating you to keep it. If it isn’t useful, wanted, or used, then it’s time to say goodbye.
Organizing to Declutter
Organizing and decluttering are often used interchangeably, but they are very different skills with different outcomes. Decluttering is the process of removing unneeded items from what you own; organizing is all about managing what you keep. If your space isn’t organized, then you won’t have a good sense of what you own and what you really need. Everything needs its place, and it needs to be organized in a way that makes sense for you.
Organizing can take some time; go room by room and look for anything that’s out of place or doesn’t have a consistent home. Find where it should live and keep it there. Like things should stay together, and they should all have the same home. For example, spices shouldn’t be spread across three kitchen cabinets. Taking the time to get organized and giving yourself a layout of your space and what you own will help prevent repurchases and buying for the sake of buying. An organized space is a peaceful space, and that leads to a peaceful mind.
Gifts That Keep On Cluttering
Organizing and impulse purchases are under our control. Sometimes clutter comes from outside the house, however. Gifts, while well meaning, can sometimes contribute to the clutter in your house. Appliances, tchotchkes, hand me downs; these all can start to add up after a while, especially if it’s a gift you really don’t use. It’s okay to part with gifts or regift them to someone who could really use it. You can also ask for gifts that are more experience based instead of things based. Removing the obligation around keeping gifts (especially ones from years past) can help tackle a large clutter area and help you take control over your environment and belongings.
It can be frustrating to do the work of decluttering only to find months later that you’re back to where you started. Decluttering is as much a mental process as it is a physical process, and tackling the behaviors around clutter can set you on a path towards decluttering for good.