Declutter day

Hoarding of food is a common type of obsessive-compulsive behavior. As with other obsessive-compulsive disorders, food hoarding can begin as a consequence of anxiety. Quite often hoarders accumulate items because they are afraid that if they discard them, something of significance will be lost. Some hoarders feel a sense of grief when they try to give away any of their possessions. Such worries start to appear due to an overpowering feeling that the hoarder has to be ready for any circumstance and also to avoid wasting anything.

Even minor decisions, such as what to wear or what to eat, cause anxiety for a hoarder. Hoarding behavior also tends to run in the family, influencing the living conditions of other family members. Some researchers suggest that compulsive hoarding may be associated with deprivation in early life, especially when it comes to hoarding food.

There is a particular set of problems connected with the hoarding of food. Rotten food or contaminated food containers can become a health hazard that can cause illness and attract pests like flies, roaches, mice or even rats. Many hoarders do not feel that their accumulation of clutter is a problem. They think that they are being sensible by saving things that they think may become useful later. They also become oblivious to the odors of the rotten food or the harmful health risks associated with it.

While everyone is different and may hoard for different reasons, it is believed that those who hoard food do it as a result of past experiences. Sometimes, it is due to the fact that the individual was neglected when they were younger. They may have experienced having their basic needs for life sustaining food withheld or inadequately met. Food hoarders will rationalize keeping a particular food item even if it is expired. Most of the time, they are in denial about the damaging consequences of consuming expired foods.

They also have a tendency to buy large quantities of food items that are on sale and are unable to control their perpetual need to buy items. They typically think that they are conserving, but ironically compulsive food hoarders often waste more food than the ordinary individual because they often let uneaten food become rotten and expired or mixed-up in the clutter.

Maria is dedicated to helping people live a clutter free life. Discover strategies for getting organized and reducing clutter and stress in your life. To get more information on how to declutter and organize, or to sign up for our free 10-day mini course visit http://www.declutterprogram.com

Do you need to declutter and organize your life. Here are several "decluttering rules" that I try to live by.

declutter organize,declutter,organize,declutter program,declutter plan,decluttering life

Do you need to declutter and organize your life. Here are several "decluttering rules" that I try to live by. No, I don't always keep these myself, but they are goals to be attained.

Whether you want to declutter your life because you want to create a more relaxing energy to flow through your home or you just want to walk through your house without tripping, then the following rules will help.

Rule #1: When it doubt, throw it out
If you haven't used it in a year - or more - the odds are that it's just not that important in your life.

Rule #2: Store Objects In The Most Efficient Spaces
This means that you should place the objects, that you do intend to use, in the most accessible places.

Another useful tip along these lines is to store similar items together. For example, if you have several flower vases, store these together.

Rule #3: Recycle! Recycle! Recycle!
When you think recycling, though, think along creative lines. Take books to booksellers that sell used books or to libraries for their book sales. Recycle newspapers and if possible magazines.

Rule #4: Need Filing Cabinet?
Got papers? Get a filing cabinet. And the very least get a filing box or boxes.

Rule #5: Get Zen With The Space
Okay, so this rule sounds a little weird, but it's useful. Instead of constantly worrying about all the clutter you currently have, start visualizing your house as clutter free.

Rule #6: Do It Right Now!
A lot of the clutter accumulates in our homes simply because we do not want to deal with it "in the moment."

A good example, of this, is your mail. For instance, every day your postal carrier drops mail off in your mail box. What exactly do you do with that mail? If you're like most of us, you look through it, set it aside and forget all about it.

Instead of putting everything aside, you could have dealt with this in a more efficient matter. You could have taken the few moments to separate the bills and placed them on your desk in a small container, where you'll sit the next time you pay them.

Take the junk mail and begin to prioritize that. Mail that doesn't appeal to you at all throw out immediately. Flyers you may want to look at later - like for your trip to the grocery store - set in a basket to look at later (preferably one close to where you sit in the evening). In this way, their presence triggers you to at least glance through them.

Rule #7: Label Things
In fact, putting your items in bins and labeling them can help you pinpoint with amazing accuracy exactly where the item you're looking for is really hiding!

Maria is dedicated to helping people live a clutter free life. Discover strategies for getting organized and reducing clutter and stress in your life. To get more information on how to declutter and organize, or to sign up for our free 10-day mini course visit http://www.declutterprogram.com

Most people need a lot of declutter help in the basement. The basement is an area where we somehow give ourselves permission to create clutter, although we may hate clutter in every other room in our house.

If you live in an older home, you basement may not be finished. I've lived in a couple of older homes where the floors of the basement themselves were nothing but dirt - yes, dirt.

Another home actually did have a basement with a cement floor, but there was nothing "finished" about it. While I did the laundry down there, I even hesitated about storing non-perishable foods, it looked very bad and felt really damp.

Today though, if you have a basement, you've probably had at least a portion of it finished. You may even have a rec room or other livable space in your basement. So you need to treat it like any other area of your home.

Don't use it as a dumping ground for boxes of items you don't know what to do with.

Now, I totally understand that the basement can cover a lot of space. So while you stand there with trash bag in hand, eyes glazed over with fear, let's lead you in the proper direction.

Take one box at a time and break down your goals. See that corner right there? Start there. The point is to pick a corner, then work sections at a time. Do you have an abundance of boxes? Check them out as quickly as possible.

If you discover one box is entirely Christmas decorations, then using a permanent marker, mark it as such. You can always come back later to sort through that (and perhaps place it in a nice plastic storage bin). At least for now, you know what's in there.

Decluttering a large space like the basement appears overwhelming unless you break the task into smaller more manageable tasks. Today's goal may be to just discover what's lurking in each of these boxes and toss the worst of this junk. And that's great.

Just keep in mind that once this first step is completed, you'll still have several more steps to go. This is your initial clean up. When you find a box or bin with items you can tell you aren't going to want to keep, then dig into it.

However, for the time being - and to conserve your time and help you to stay on track - don't try to transform the basement all at once.

When you have one corner completed, move on - clockwise - to the next area of clutter. Do the same thing here. If it's a box with needed supplies, mark it and set it aside. If, however, it's storing that 1970s outfit that you are never going to wear again then toss it.

If you really believe that an item is salvageable, but you don't want it, consider giving it to a thrift store or church sale. Otherwise, consider this all past-prime material and toss!

If you don't own a dehumidifier and use one in the basement, or have already waterproofed your cellar, then you may be disappointed by condition of some of your "treasures." You may discover that the damp basement has claimed some of the life of certain collectible pieces.

You may even realize that some of your items are damaged beyond repair due to the damp, dank conditions of your basement. If that's the case, it's best to cut your losses and toss the items out. There's no use crying over items that are already damaged.

Have you heard the story about the divorced mom who successfully started a business, but hit a stagnant period in its growth?nce she received her divorce and had to search for a serious job to support herself and her child, she had to give up her first love: community theatre. It obviously wasn't paying the bills. But more than that she couldn't justify spending the large amount of time required away from her child or her job.

She had stashed a large box of scripts and other memorabilia from her stage days under the kitchen table, there being no other room after she downsized from a house to an apartment.

Finally, she had kicked the box one to many times and just tossed it. Out it went. One box of clutter. Not only did she realize she felt good about getting rid of the box, but she also felt an emotional release. She finally recognized that theatre was -- at least for the moment -- an activity that was in her past.

Her time, she now realized, should be spent on her business and her child. As soon as the box hit the curb, curiously, it appeared as if the floodgates opened on her business and her profits and activity soared to the next, very successful, new level of income.

This is not an unusual experience, according to Lynne Johnson, a professional organizer from Quincy, Mass. She's also president of the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization.

Why do people store $50,000 cars in their driveways - exposed to all the elements 24/7? Because their garages of filled with junk they can't bear to part with.

And while that may sound like yet another Zen riddle, it's sadly the truth for the majority of us. Okay, so maybe your car isn't worth $50,000, mine certainly isn't. But then all the accumulated junk in my garage isn't worth nearly half of what my car is. So just where is the logic?

You can see this coming, can't you? Here's another yardstick to measure the toss or not toss question by. If it's been sitting in your garage for three years without being used, please, please toss it. Donate it to charity, sell it at a yard sale or simply put it out with the garbage, depending on what "it" is and what "it's" condition is.

The goal of this exercise is to get that poor car, which has been sitting out in the cold back into its rightful home - the garage.

Need some help in deciding exactly what should be tossed? Here's a quick checklist of some of the more popular items people think they have to hang on to.

Cans Of Partially
Used Paint

We all have at least one can -- and we all know better! But for some unknown reason we keep it.

Get rid of it. Especially if it's in that custom-mixed color partially ripened melon. Where in the world are you ever going to use that color again. You painted your daughter's room that color more than 10 years ago. Even if you didn't repaint her room "Truer than True Black" during her Goth stage, you couldn't match that other color with anything even if you tried.

Sports junk that's broken. No one is going to play badminton with that broken racket. The same thing goes for that tennis racket. Just toss them. Even the thrift store can't use them.

Car Accessory Items

We're talking about touch up paint for the 1985 Pacer that you sold some 10 years ago. Do you really still need that can of paint? What about those wheel rims for the 1988 Reliant K Car (yeah, the one that looked like a box!). Why in the world would you keep that? You ended up have a junk yard tow truck come and take that thing away! Is it really a reminder of those "good old days"?