What’s Really in There?

Too often when I am working with clients, they have no idea what’s hiding under their bed, in their closet, in the filing cabinet or their garages. Pulling things out and seeing what’s hiding is the first step to breaking free from the bonds of clutter and confusion.

Clutter doesn’t have to be a way of life. It’s really a habit–one that someone learned and never changed. It means that we haven’t made ongoing decisions about the things we own, we haven’t determined what to do with pieces of paper and mail, what to do with clothing, shoes, bags, broken items and rather than face it, we stick it somewhere. That somewhere is often in a place we can hide it so we don’t have to be reminded that it still needs our attention and requires some action with it. It gets dusty and soon enough has a bevvy of friends that consume our precious space.

I have a current client who has neatly filled closets with matching hangers and places for all her many shoes and bags, the problem is there is WAY TOO much of everything. And there is  a continual flow of more coming in and barely a trickle going out. As a result, there are now piles of new things that have no home in which to reside. Our job is to start making some decisions about the existing stuff and to start purging what must go. She has verifiable justifications for every bag and piece of clothing that is worthy and yet she can barely put her hand between two dresses because they are so tightly packed together. Her closets are no longer manageable and aren’t functional in the way they could be. Remember: a space doesn’t have to be messy looking to be disorganized or clean looking to be organized.

The solution is to go into the trenches and pull it all out. Bring it out into the light of day and look at it. Get it out of boxes and bags and see what’s there. If you haven’t touched it or worn it in 1 year, then pass it on. Oh, I know what people will say, “oh, I might need it, wear it, use it SOMEDAY.” Well, someday is an illusion, it’s imaginary. It will never come. You don’t need it if you haven’t missed it, used it or it hasn’t negatively impacted your life since it’s been in hiding, buried beneath other things.

Once things are exposed and revealed, we can make decisions to pass them along, keep them, sell them or recycle them. What’s kept is contained if need be and placed into specific zones so you know where they are and can access them and return them when done. Items are not hidden or thrown back into hiding. Everything has its home and a place it belongs and you can maintain the system that is created because you know where it all lives.

There is no need to live in mystery of what you own and where it is. Once you remove the veil, you will have a clear sense of what’s really in these various places and you have the freedom to access them and no longer avoid them. And that feels great. Call today for help with your hiding places at 510.501.1213.