📚 Why am I prone to Clutter?

Sentimentalists love to be of service to the ones around them, no matter their relation. You have a big heart and are likely to be found lending a helping hand to those most in need.

Since you value the ones you love so much, of course you’d want to display your kids’ artwork, family vacation photos, souvenirs, and memorabilia. Who wouldn’t be proud of all these special memories! And us houseguests love getting to see more about you and your lifestyle.

There’s nothing wrong with having a little extra love to give!

One thing I know from my experience as a professional organizer, is that you might try holding on to too many things at once. And I know how much you love all your things, but all of these “what if” or “deal with it later” items are blocking you from serving at your fullest potential.

You need to be extra careful about forming emotional attachments to sentimental clutter.

🥊 Confronting the Clutter

“Pick 3 of the best, get rid of the rest.”

– Sherry Borsheim, Founder of Simply Productive

By holding on to so many sentimental items and Eventually-These-Will-Be-Useful things, you are getting in your own way of cherishing the new. When we hold onto too many things, we aren’t leaving room – both physical and emotional – for new experiences.

If every space in your home for displaying photos is full of frames already, where will you put up your next set of family photos?  

You must question yourself about why you’ve been hanging onto broken items that need repair when you don’t seem to be able to “get around” to doing anything with it. Also question yourself about furniture, clothes, and household items that you’re sentimentally attached to that you’ve paid to have stored for many years.

How much money has this cost you? How much time do you spend thinking about doing something but never take action? What is your sentimental clutter costing you in time, money, and emotional well-being?

All of this emotional and mental clutter takes a toll and weighs on you immensely.

Imagine now when you walk through your home. Do you feel a sense of breezy calm? Or is the vibe more stagnant, dusty, and anxious?

Cluttering up your home and office wall-to-wall with stuff takes a lot of time, effort, and money to maintain, dust, and clean on a regular basis. And constantly making room for new things in a cluttered space requires a lot of extra energy to move things around a room

Photos & Styling @TraceyAyton
Organizer Simply Productive

We spend a lot of time at home… so much so that our home environment has a huge affect on our physical and mental wellbeing! Have you been feeling off, anxious, or depressed for seemingly no reason? If so, you might want to take a look around your spaces!

Can you recall the feeling of staying at a nice hotel? The duvet is white and fluffy, the tables are cleared aside from a recent magazine and alarm clock, the closets have ample room for your belongings, the kitchenette has just enough kitchen utensils for your number of guests… no more, no less…

But as a sentimentalist, I know you like to surround yourself with things that make you happy and bring you joy! I also know that living life as a minimalist is likely not something you want to do.

So I’d like to challenge you in finding a happy medium between displaying less, and filling every available shelf, wall, and floor space. Find three images online of a space that inspires you and let that be your goal for decluttering and organizing your space.

Even if you pack some items temporarily away in boxes, in just a couple weeks you’ll see how easy it becomes to clean and dust the space!

And use this motto to create the space of your dreams!

Does this space give you serenity, calm, and peace?

Don’t worry my friend, by no means am I suggesting to rid of all of your memorable and useful pieces. But instead, I am suggesting you spend some time focusing on organizing them in an efficient manner. This way you will gain much more mental and emotional freedom. And never again feel that heavy weight of clutter on your shoulders!

✨ Living clutter-free: Is it for me?

This is 100% possible for you – and before you start to think I’m drifting off into fairytale land, check out these Sentimentalist transformations for yourself:

And coming soon… you!

You may feel overwhelmed initially, but I promise once you get a little momentum going, a drawer cleared out here, a shelf decluttered there… that the motivation will just keep rolling.

So stick with me to create better emotional habits around your sentimental things!

🪄 How to start Clearing the Clutter

“If you can’t tidy a whole house, tidy a corner. If you can’t tidy a corner, put away 3 things. It’s not possible to do all things every single day – it is possible to take just one step today.”

– Sherry Borsheim, Founder of Simply Productive

I’d like to pass on a few tips for you, Sentimentalists!

I want you to be able to live a beautiful life free of clutter and emotional baggage, and to choose joy in the process of decluttering and organizing.

It does not to be a dreadful, boring task!

There is an easier way out of this painful cycle, and I am here to remind you: YOU DESERVE TO BE HAPPY.

Here are a few ways you can start today:

• Create a vision (draw it if you need to!) for what you want your space to look and feel like (this helps you determine how much stuff you’ll have in each room; leave some empty space reserved for the future)
• Set aside 30 minutes each week to work on reorganizing one area
• Review your stashes and junk drawers to gain clarity on why you are keeping certain things
• Have a realistic plan for what to do with too many sentimental items (keep them in labeled storage containers, take a photo to keep the memory and donate/discard the actual thing, use organizational products to categorize and put things away from view, etc.)
• Use computerized planning and scheduling tools (to hold you accountable to these changes)

And while you’re sorting, try to maintain as much focus and self-discipline as you can. It can be very mentally draining to part with things that you feel emotional attachment to. Just know this will only benefit you in the long run.

Let’s begin by rating your level of commitment to getting your spaces organized:

• On a scale of 1 to 10, how committed are you to edit, declutter, and organize the space? (level 1 is not committed at all, and level 10 is 100%, fully committed)

Download these free organizing assessments to track your progress in all areas!