Our Cluttered Lives

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Photo: ronstik - Getty Images

Guy sitting in cluttered room

We Americans love our stuff, but it doesn’t love us back. Instead, much of it morphs into clutter that, according to research, has become a widespread psychological irritant in the average household. This riot of unnecessary belongings and documents littering most homes has spawned an entire self-help industry. There are books, TV programs, podcasts and even personal coaches to help us de-mess our material lives, promising greater peace of mind in the process. Predictably, chapters of “Clutterers Anonymous” (really rolls off the tongue, eh?) have sprung up throughout America, each hawking a 12-step path to redemption through “less is more.”

Sometimes, excessive clutter is symptomatic of deeper ills. At times, people who feel like a mess mentally display their inner disarray through outer anarchy. Some hardcore clutterers suffer from depression, mania, obsessive-compulsive disorder or ADHD, and a few become outright hoarders who find it unthinkable to throw away anything, ever. We’ve seen where this can lead, and it ain’t pretty.

I suspect a few of you may be wondering, “Aren’t there people who are just slobs?” Sure, but many of us become clutterers simply because we feel overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of stuff dumped into our lives. Granted, it is up to individuals to manage their material affairs. However, today, doing so is far more complicated and time-consuming than it was just a few decades past. For example, the main culprit in most cluttering is paper, which Americans use at well above the global average. The computer age promised less print material, but the opposite has ensued, so most of us now find ourselves awash in junk mail, catalogs, user manuals, printed articles and emails, magazines and the rest.

Clutter Catastrophe

Just sorting, filing and recycling this avalanche of paper overwhelms most of us, but studies show those who leave it in disarray spend the equivalent of several days a year searching for lost documents. Dump this on top of folks who are poor organizers, procrastinators or buried under a crushing to-do list, and the clutter catastrophe emerges.

Beyond paper, many of us slowly aggregate mounds of stuff we tell ourselves that, maybe someday, we just might need. Granted, items with sentimental value are one thing, but decades old unfinished craft projects, clothes that don’t fit (but maybe someday?), stacks of unread books, idle exercise equipment and shelves full of useless knickknacks are another altogether.

Becoming largely clutter free has distinct payoffs, both practical and psychological. It reduces cleaning time in the average home by almost 40%, saves countless hours looking for misplaced items, reinforces one’s sense of being squared away, both logistically and mentally, and amplifies a sense of personal control. Unless you’re a bonafide hoarder, less stuff and better organization provide a sense of greater well-being. How to do it? The proven steps toward liberation involve:

1. Recognizing that clutter is anything you possess that does not support or enhance your life on a regular basis.
2. Attacking the mess in increments, such as a few minutes each day to sort, donate, recycle and organize, often by tackling one drawer, box or closet at a time. Decluttering is most effective when it becomes a daily or weekly habit.
3. Keeping pace with incoming junk-to-be by acting on, filing or recycling mail and other receivables as they arrive.
4. Unsubscribing from promotional emails, news feeds and other online junk that makes one’s inbox resemble a closet crammed with useless crap.
5. Stemming the incoming flow of material goods by distinguishing “need” from “want,” resulting in fewer unnecessary or frivolous purchases.

When present in excess, we don’t own our stuff. It owns us and weighs us down. But thankfully, clutter is one kind of weight we can lose without a diet. And if we do, we’ll feel much lighter all the way around.

For more, visit philipchard.com.