Is clutter adding to the 'junk in your trunk?'

When I was a kid there was a lot of chaos in my home. Toys were everywhere. Furniture needed dusting. Clothes were piled up in the hamper, The kitchen counter was filled with clutter. Papers and books were everywhere. All things that are the enemy of neatness were all too familiar to me.

Sadly my mom, for whatever reason didn't carry the neatness gene and it didn't get passed on to me. Our house was often pretty disorganized. As I got older and spent more time with my Nana and step mother, I realized the value of a clean house. I also noticed that my tendency toward messiness really fed by desire to feed. Years later, as an act of self preservation and self respect, I now place a higher value on being neat and getting organized. For some people what they call 'ordered confusion' works for them, but when it inhibits you from feeling good about yourself and your space, that's when you're not showing yourself enough love.

Many of my clients have told me that in addition to struggling with excess weight, they also have years of clutter to sift through which makes them depressed. They start and job and before they know it, they're feeling frustrated, wanting to raid the fridge to 'take the edge off.' Getting overwhelmed is a big reason why we eat when we're not hungry.

I'd like to share an excerpt from my upcoming book, "Lovin' the Skin You're In: The Juicy Woman's Guide to Making Peace with Food and Friends with Your Body," which demonstrates a useful way that I've learned to deal with the sometimes daunting task of cleaning/decluttering your home.

Cleaning out a closet can be a big job, but it doesn't have to be. You can chunk it down into bite sized bits. As much as I hate cleaning, I love a clean house. A Juicy Woman tip that I've learned from my Nana is to do little bits of cleaning or decluttering when you can. Even if you have help, kids or a house keeper, nobody can put the special touches on your home like you can.

I despise vacuuming, and yet I have a cat who sheds and an allergy condition. Although Owie's not allowed on the furniture other than his ottoman, I know for a fact that he's jumped on the furniture when nobody is around. To keep the dander under control, I just vacuum more often. Although tapping helps to repress my allergies, it doesn't substitute the benefit of taking action, getting out the vac and sucking up the cat hair.

When I was a child, there used to be a game on TV called, "Beat the Clock." In the game, people would run around the do specific tasks before a buzzer went off. They had to beat the clock. I used to love it and I've used it as the inspiration to do many things in my life. Oftentimes when we don't like to do tasks, we drag them out and it seems like they'll never get done. My suggestion is set a timer and decide how long you want to do something and do it. You'd be surprised how much can get done in 5 minutes, heck, even in one minute.

As a variation to Beat the Clock, I like to relax and watch TV and during the commercials do something that needs to get done; vacuuming, reading, writing a report, prepping a meal, cleaning, the possibilities are endless. Be creative.

Comments

[Kay]

You are so right! Cleaning fast and keeping it fun helps keep the house tidy. Check out www.flylady.net for more. FlyLady has so much to give to people who are overwhelmed by the clutter in their homes! FLY stands for Finally Loving Yourself.