11 Signs Your Clutter has Taken Over Your Life

“So, I might be a little disorganized. There are worse things.” (Like what?)

“This weekend, I’m going to straighten this place up!” (And then you find something a lot more fun to do.)

“I’m saving this bag of clothes for my cousin Sara . . .the next time I see her.” (You haven’t seen Sara in five years.)

“Those boxes that have been in my trunk for months are on their way to Goodwill!” (They’re just taking the scenic route. The one that takes six weeks.)

You have all the reasons for the piles of unorganized clutter on your dining table. And stacked in the guest room. And forgotten about in the garage.

But when is all this stuff really a problem? When is it clear that it’s not just a minor inconvenience or a personality quirk, but that it’s hampering your life, as well as your sanity?

Here are 11 signs that your belongings are now officially clutter and that an intervention is required.

1. You can’t close drawers. Whether it’s a bathroom drawer or one in the kitchen, if you have to push things down or rearrange items inside just to get it to close, it’s time to purge that drawer! Messy drawers in themselves are a minor annoyance, but when added to the other frustrations in your home, they pile on the chaos.

2. You buy things you know you already own, but can’t find them when you need them. If this is a repeated pattern in your home, you’re not only wasting money, you’re also adding to the clutter by buying duplicates. The simplest way to stop this from occurring is to have one dedicated space for everything so you ALWAYS know where to find something.

3. Your wardrobe expands to additional bedroom closets. Whether your closet is enormous or tiny, I promise you, you have far more clothes than you wear, need or even like!

4. You can’t answer with 100% certainty where the following items are in your home OR they have more than one likely location:

-  Batteries

-  A flashlight

-  Your kid’s bathing suit

-  Ponytail bands

Some items just tend to wander the house. If something lives in multiple locations, you probably end up rebuying things you already have. If something doesn’t have a clearly defined home or numerous homes within your house, you won’t know where to find them, you’ll spend more time and energy than is necessary looking for them, causing you to buy them again. You’re wasting money and time, and you’re adding to the clutter.

5. You’re paying for storage. Whether it’s renting an outside storage unit or paying to air-condition rooms in your home that are filled with junk, you are paying dearly for not being able to cut back to determine what you truly need and want.

6. You’re embarrassed to have people over to your house. If the main floor of your home cannot be straightened up enough to have guests over within an hour or two, you have a clutter problem that may require an intervention.

7. You have lots of items you should have returned but haven’t. Clothing with tags still on, Amazon purchases still in boxes, things sitting in bags next to the door -- This is all wasted money AND now additional clutter.

8. You keep things with good intentions, but fail to follow through. That treadmill that became a not-clean-not-dirty clothes hanger, those diet shakes that taste terrible but were supposed to help you lose 20 pounds, that book on knitting – You had the best of intentions for each of those purchases, but the reality is that it didn’t work out longer term. That’s OK; it happens to us all! But hanging onto something you aren’t using isn’t serving you either. In fact, it is probably adding guilt and feelings of failure to your life, and NOBODY needs that!

9. You can’t use spaces in your home for their designated purpose. Can’t park your car in your garage? Or host a holiday dinner because of the books piled on your dining table? Or have guests stay overnight due to a mountain of clothes on the bed? You have a clutter problem.

10. You don’t know where to start when attempting to tackle the task of decluttering. You immediately feel defeated because you don’t know where to start. The more clutter you have, the more impossible the task will feel.

11. And finally, the mess is making you feel bad about yourself. You feel frustrated before you even leave the house in the morning. Drawers that don’t close, seeing piles and boxes daily for months, not being able to find things you need -- These all add stress to your life.

Dealing with these things daily wears on your patience, self-esteem and mental fortitude. Some of these may seem like no big deal, but all of these minor frustrations add up over the course of the day.

Each time you notice one of these problems, an emotion arises tied to a negative thought about yourself that really takes a toll on your psyche. And when people feel bad about themselves, they often make bad decisions in an attempt to alleviate the discomfort, like eating a cupcake in the breakroom or having wine instead of water with dinner. The negativity can really steamroll your attitude about yourself, which then can have real world consequences on how you handle the day ahead.

If you are ready to rid your life of clutter once and for all, let me help you tackle your home organization problems – big and small – and get you on a path to a clear, uncluttered home and life. Shoot us a message HERE!