professional organizer

📑 Why am I prone to Clutter?

Stackers can be found living in clean and somewhat-organized homes. We say “somewhat” because no matter how many organized piles you have… a pile’s still a pile!

The Stacker mentality falls somewhere between procrastination and hyper-organization.

And because of this, simply putting things away as you go through your day is not always the easiest task.

When everything is put away in non-transparent boxes and bins, you may feel like you’re actually packing things away. Storing them! Rendering them no longer easily-accessible.

But this is really not the case, and you must glue that fact into your brain in order to start improving your stress!

Just because something is no longer in your direct line of sight doesn’t mean it’s gone or never to be found again. When you want to pick up where you left off on something, it should all be stored neatly in a container, so you can just pick it out of the closet and get right back into it!

Definitely nothing to be anxious or stressed about here.

Do you notice that when you pick up a hobby, you never forget to grab all of the reading materials, cooking utensils, art supplies, workout equipment, thingys, and doo-dads that you could possibly need?

So the key to improving your stress with this organizing style is to adopt a “good enough” mindset when setting up systems.

You don’t need to micro-manage every tiny aspect of everything you try out. Just try it out, and optimize as you go! You will never really know if something works for you unless you actually try it anyways.

See, the biggest contributor to your piles are projects, so try to limit yourself to just three ongoing projects at a time.

If you’ve had an on-the-go project out for a while, it may be time to put it away. You can always come back to it later when inspiration strikes, but for now, it is only taking up valuable space in your physical world (and in your mind!).

It can’t feel good to walk around your home and see piles and stacks of stuff everywhere.

So if you haven’t used your exercise equipment in a while, consider donating or selling it to someone who would appreciate it every day. This also opens up space for something you’re more currently passionate about like creating a reading room or scrapbooking space.

😍 Living clutter-free: Is it for me?

“Clutter is nothing more than postponed decisions.”

– Barbara Hemphill

Your aspirations always come from a good place, Stacker.

You feel like you can get so many things done in a day because you can preserve your energy throughout the day by delegating tasks for “later.”

Just be careful that later doesn’t turn into never!

At some point, we all have to accept defeat and admit we can’t do all the things every day. That’s totally normal and there is no reason to beat yourself up about it! You’ve done the best anyone could expect of you.

I know your weakness is not holding onto useless clutter, but you do sure love to keep useful clutter around!

However, there comes a time when we must assess if the usefulness of an item outweighs the space it takes up.

Sure, your treadmill or bread maker might be useful… but if you’re only using them once or twice a year, that’s valuable space being taken up by something that someone else may love and use every day!

When playing keep or toss, think about the peace of mind an item costs you, too. This will make the biggest impact on improving your stress.

And if you can store it conveniently – great! Look out for clear bins and project totes, this way you can still view what’s inside.

To organize further, write an inventory list for each of your project boxes and keep those somewhere close by for reference. If you’re storing these boxes on a tall, open bookshelf just tuck them beside one of the totes.

😌 How to start Clearing the Clutter

The best way to get started with organizing any space is to set a timer and get to work!

Before you dive right into your piles though, set some goals beforehand and prioritize the most important things you’d like to accomplish in this session.

This way, you can keep yourself on track and if you don’t get to everything on your list, at least you’ll have finished the most pressing tasks!

Setting limits on yourself helps to keep distractions at bay so you can focus on the real tasks at hand. 

When it comes to the organizing process, it’s important for a Stacker to improve their stress levels by learning to let go. Instead of keeping things because they are simply in good condition and not broken, ask yourself “Is this useful to ME? Is it useful NOW?”

Filling our homes with good quality, useful things does seem not so bad! But stuffing our homes with piles of these things (however good quality or important it may feel), is never going to feel good.

Labeling each project box as you go will help you to remember where items belong when you do your daily/weekly resets.

Plus, the rest of your household can easier maintain your systems when they understand how they work and where things should go!

Keeping everything in its place will help your space look neater for longer. Using these methods, you should be able to create a quick, visible result.

Though at times it may feel frustrating and long to finish a task… remember to choose joy in the process of decluttering and organizing!

Let’s begin with 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!

Ask yourself these questions when deciding what you will keep, donate, or no longer need:

• Do I honestly love it?
• Do I use it weekly, monthly, or yearly?
• When was the last time I thought about this item or used it?
• Do I realistically need this item in my life going forward?
• Did I even remember I owned this?
• How many duplicates of the same item do I have?
• What would be the worst possible scenario if I donated or passed it on?
• In what situation would I realistically need or want this?
• What would I like to have more space for?
• Have my job or hobbies changed and it’s time to let some things go?
• What keeps me awake at night or gives me stress and anxiety?
• Am I committed to scheduling time, effort, and/or money to fix or repair this item?

💘 Invest time into YOU

Stacker, I know it’s not easy to balance putting current projects away while making everything exactly how you’d like it to look.

But I believe in you!

I know you can do this. It’s not easy to start, but once you clear off one shelf or one drawer, you gain momentum.

Keep a post-it note nearby if you must, but focusing on only keeping the necessities will take you to completion faster.

So let me know, does this feel attainable for you?

You will feel so much better after clearing just a couple piles and improving your stress levels! Remember to start with the high priority piles or the ones that bother you the most in order to create a dramatic, visible result right off the bat.

Comment below and tell me about your next organizing goal as a commitment to yourself!

Set a reminder in your phone to follow up in a week and let me know which strategies worked for you! Or maybe you’ll have a new tip for me?

Excitedly waiting to hear all about your progress!

Need more help with decluttering?

I created the How to Organize Your Household Papers course to help walk you through the decluttering process. It includes sections on foundational organizing skills, setting up filing systems, creating household systems, and more bonus videos to make sure you’ve reached your goals.

For further details on the course and to purchase, go here:

https://sherry.mykajabi.com/store/PSNymLQL