Thinking of joining the legions who promised themselves they would get more organized this year? Here is some food for thought as you embark on your journey.

1. Clutter is seriously pissing us off.

According to a recent study done by UC Berkley professors and their students, 250 megabytes of information is generated each year for every man, woman and child on earth. That’s roughly equivalent to 30 FEET of books per person. On top of that, close to 200,000 new products hit the shelves last year. This constant barrage of information and stuff leads to higher levels of cardiovascular stress, impaired judgment, and a noticeable drop in civility to others. The study was done on adults, but I’m quite certain that clutter overload has the same kind of impact on our kids. They may like making a mess, but living in one? I’m guessing not so much.

2. Clutter is robbing us of our precious time.

According to the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), the average American wastes up to one hour per day searching for missing information they know they have but just don’t know where. That translates to seven hours a week, a little over a day a month, or two weeks a year – a mind boggling statistic in a world where every second counts. Seriously, what would you do with that extra hour?

3. Retail clutter is causing an epidemic of ‘organizational inertia.’

Organizational inertia occurs when our capacity to process stimuli is overwhelmed and we become paralyzed, unable to solve the clutter problem. When you think you need to find the “perfect” container before you can get to organizing, or buy a shredder before getting rid of junk mail (ahem, you have hands that can rrrriiippp paper), you’ve got a full-blown case of inertia. And it affects many more people than you might think. In a recent survey conducted by Buttoned Up, 80% of women agreed that the most difficult part of getting organized was knowing where and how to start.

4. The way to beat clutter: spend less time organizing.

I call this approach “imperfect organization,” and I know it may sound counter-intuitive at first. But it works. It means doing one little thing every day, rather than waiting until some glorious day where you have four or five hours to tackle clutter. As moms, let’s face it, that day won’t come until the kids are in college (and by then you’ll be busy doing something else). It also means working to good enough organizational goals, not trying to replicate some “org porn” standard that is totally unrealistic.

So above all, if decluttering is your goal – go easy on yourself! And if you need to get a jump-start on your organizing, come join in the Buttoned Up Kickstart Boot Campbeginning February 1st.

Clutter is easy to accumulate, but for many (maybe even the majority), it’s harder to pare down.

The reason I hear most often for hanging on to things that no longer serve you: I feel guilty getting rid of it. As if letting go of things you don’t want but that are potentially useful is wasteful. That’s excuse #1 from my DH.

But, in reality, hanging on to your clutter is more wasteful than disposing of it. I admit, that does sound counter-intuitive. But bear with me. When actually take a few minutes (set your egg timer for 10) and start to add up just how much money you’ve spent on things that you already had or that you haven’t worn or used, it can be very eye-opening.

In fact, Peter Walsh has an exercise included in his latest book, Lighten Up: Love What You Have, Have What You Need, Be Happier With Less designed to get you to quickly estimate just how much money you are wasting.

Try going through one room and make a quick estimate of the cost of what you’re not using. For example, look in your bedroom and consider the cost of unworn clothes and shoes, unread books, unworn jewelry, or unused makeup. Consider the unused toys in your den or child’s bedroom. If any particular item you come across tugs at your heart or makes you emotional, then consider that an added cost. Add up the cost of the items-I’m guessing that some of those clothes still have the tags on them so it won’t be that hard- and write down the amount. Is it big? How much of that are you still paying off? This simple exercise should give you a rough estimate of the cost of the clutter in your home.

Even though getting rid of things can seem, “wasteful,” when you look at it through the cold, hard lens of cash, it turns out it’s literally draining your pocketbook in a death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts kind of way.

I did this exercise yesterday and, even though I tend to be more of a minimalist, I was shocked at my waste in both toys and books. I promptly got out our donation box and put it out in the toy room. Our goal: by the end of this weekend, to have cut our toys down to just the ones our boys actually play with and enjoy. Ditto for the books.

Do you struggle with the notion that de-cluttering is wasteful? Have you ever gone through the exercise of calculating what it’s costing you?

Are you guilty of falling short of a true spring clean? The tendency this time of year is to focus on physical clutter, but the kind you can’t see – emotional clutter – is just as important to tackle. By emotional clutter we simply mean all those repressed, suppressed and unexpressed emotions and old beliefs that are keeping you stuck, rooted in a spot that probably no longer represents who you are or what you are capable of.

Emotional clutter acts like an invisible set of horse blinders that keep you from seeing beyond what is right in front of you. They blind you to potential paths forward and from the resources and options you have at your disposal for taking those paths. But because those emotional blinders aren’t really physical, they are easy enough to suppress or ignore.

Here are seven signs you have emotional clutter to deal with, and ideas for clearing it out.

1. Your Expectations of How Others Should Behave Is Distancing You From Them.

Do you have rules for how the people in your life need to show you they love you? For example, do you “need” your husband to start taking out recycling without being nagged to feel more appreciated? The problem with this is twofold: (a) it is extremely rare that these expectations are ever verbalized – so the other person has no idea that they are fouling up, and (b) your focus on what they aren’t doing right often causes you to miss other, real expressions of love. If you are caught in this trap, there’s a tell-tale warning sign: a feeling that you have to do everything and nobody appreciates it/you. Instead of lashing out at others, use the warning sign to take a beat and ask yourself – how could I communicate my needs more effectively..

2. What You Should Do Is Making You Miserable or Rebellious.

Just as should isn’t a good motivators for others (see point #1), it’s not a good motivator for you, either. No adult really wants to feel like they have to follow someone else’s rules. Being in that position tends to elicit one of two emotional responses: misery or rebelliousness. Neither is terribly productive. Rather than bowing to should do’s, the next time you start to do something because you have to, stop. Take five minutes to consider what you really want to do and why. Then decide to make and follow your own rules in that area going forward.

3. You Cringe Every Time You Scroll Through Your Contacts & See That Name.

Old relationships that ended on an unfortunate note, whether personal or professional, are part of life. If you had one, do yourself a favor and get some closure. Distance is the only thing that will lessen the emotional sting. Delete their contact information from your phone. UnFriend. UnLink. UnFollow. You don’t need to know what they are up to if all it does is make you re-experience a past hurt.

4. You Feel Guilty Because You Let Someone Down.

Human beings are born to please. From the time we can walk, we are socialized to share, pitch in, and contribute – and for good reason. The principle of reciprocity serves as a crucial glue for our community-based societies. But it can also lead you to over-commit. If you’re chronically over-extending yourself, and letting people down in the process, you need to swap your “sure, no problem” for “that sounds really interesting; let me think about it and get back to you with an answer.” Then use the time to determine whether or not you want to accept the request. Get more tips for overcoming this tendency to say yes when you mean no.

5. You Get a Nagging Feeling When You Think About (Or See Contact Information For) Someone.

Sometimes so much time has passed since you last connected with someone that you feel guilty just thinking about them or seeing their information in your phone. Rather than suppressing the negative emotion, call them. Ideally, right when you realize you’re feeling guilty. If you can’t do it right then, make an appointment to connect with them before the week is out. More often than not, the other person feels just as guilty. Plus it always feels great to zap a pointless emotion and reconnect with someone you truly care about.

6. You Have Uncompleted Projects.

When you fail to complete a project, you not only have physical reminders of it, but nagging emotional ones as well. The nagging may not be urgent, but it’s there, somewhere in the back of your mind, constantly reminding you that you have something left to do – and acting like a drag on your overall energy level. If you’ve got one (or more) of these, take some time before the day is out to make a list of the projects you want to complete. Then break them down into smaller work steps and schedule them in. If you have a half-started project that you no longer really want to finish – it’s okay. Better to let it go and be at peace with your decision that to continue to carry it around.

What are some of the beliefs or emotions you need to clean out? Are you willing to release your hoarder’s grip on those beliefs to create room for something new and different?

I think we all have a little pack rat in us somewhere, don’t you?

What are you squirreling away?

For me, it’s baby stuff, like little bathtubs, a giant Ziploc bag of onsies that fit no one, and bottles. Now I don’t think we’ll have another peanut, but I’m not ready to dump these things at the local consignment shop just yet. Problem is, I’m not sure I will be ready five or ten years from now either (and at that point, well, I’ll be well past the child-bearing age).

For my husband, it’s a few old computers. He has a fantasy that he’s going to turn his old Mac SE from college into a fish tank. He’s been talking a big game about that since he saw a how-to article in ReadyMade Magazine about four years ago. Let’s be honest, he’s been holding on to the darn thing since 1992. So I’ve got a hunch it’s sticking around a bit longer.

{photo credit}

It looks like the next generation of Welches also has a strain of the pack-rat gene too. My oldest son refuses to part with any of his Hot Wheels, including the snaggle-toothed ones missing a wheel (or three) and my youngest son would throw one heck of a temper tantrum if one of his 20 or so bouncey rubber balls was tossed.

I guess today is a day for us to celebrate!

Hmmmm. How does one celebrate National Pack Rat Day?

How do you think we should celebrate? Should we toss those offending items out once and for all? Decide that we’re going to stop worrying about or feeling guilty for holding on to them from now on?

I’m thinking that, in honor of the occasion, we should just avoid throwing anything out all day. Then maybe tomorrow, when it’s all over, we should let go of at least one or two things from those piles.

What about you? Are you a pack rat? What is it that you are holding on to?

I have a confession to make: I am flirting dangerously with pack rat status. Seriously. My closets and shelves are bursting with things I no longer need, want, or use.

But the force of inertia is strong. Things that are there (in my closets/drawers/on shelves) tend to stay there. I wish the Newtonian law didn’t apply to me. But alas, it does.

So I thought it only fitting that I come clean, literally, as we wrap up this month of spring cleaning.

Here are three things I have been holding on to that I really do need to let go.

Generic Glass Vases

My husband and I got a lot of absolutely beautiful vases as wedding gifts. It is one of my favorite things in life to fill them with flowers from our garden during the summer months and scatter them around the house like little treasures. But along the way, we’ve also collected our fair share of generic glass vases (20 to be exact). You know the ones I’m talking about, right? They come as part of a gifted flower arrangement that is delivered to your door. I always felt too guilty to get rid of them – as if it would nullify the gift of the bouquet sent. Time to call the church to see if they need a few extras. If not, Goodwill, here I come.

Castoffs

The plastic garbage bag you see here contains some of my mom’s clothes. I gathered these items from the rustic cabin she and my step father spent summers in weeks after she passed away last July. You must know that every item in this bag was carefully considered as part of a larger pile and “edited out” because it didn’t fit, wasn’t really my style, or didn’t have adequate sentimental value. Technically I should have taken it to the Goodwill months ago. Instead it has sat at the bottom of my closet, where I trip over it every day. It is time to let them go.

Old License Plate

My mom had this on her car in the early 1980s. I’ve had it in my possession for at least 10 years. Enough said.

I am guessing I’m not the only one out there holding on to things that, really, have no basis for remaining in my home. What are you holding on to that you should get rid of?

Dear Nancy

My husband and I are on the verge of divorce due to my inability to become organized. I have so much clutter and excess around me that it\’s become a great source of depression for me and is interfering with the normal functions of my family. I want to get my house to the state of doing\”daily maintenance\” type chores everyday but cannot seem to reach that goal. Any advice?

Dear MJB:
I am sorry to hear that your disorganization is beginning to have such an adverse affect on your family life and your mental health. I have some tips to get you started. Did you know the key to being successful at doing “daily maintenance” chores is routine?

You have to create a daily game plan and stick to that plan. That means putting yourself on a schedule. If you work out of the home you know that you have a routine to get ready to go to that job and to complete it; so you should also have a routine for the jobs at home.

If you do not work outside the home this means getting up as if you did work outside the home! Get up, eat, bathe, dress (including shoes!) and get to work by 9AM.

I would suggest the following to help you get the initial clutter resolved:

1. Create a list of what needs to be done – by room.

Number the items with what should be done first, second, etc. Then be honest and estimate the time you think it will take to get each number done. Now you can honestly see how long it will take you to clear out the clutter. If it takes two days, that’s fine. You know it and can schedule it!

2. Create a two week calendar.

Then to totally clear out the clutter, schedule each room to be cleaned so you should have each room cleared out in two weeks. This gives you time if it will take more than a day to clear out a room. Try not to take more than two weeks and usually it will take less time.

3. Create a daily schedule.

Schedule in each task you wrote down in step one and schedule in only a total of 4 hours per day based on the time you think it will take. Why? Because there are always interruptions and if you totally schedule your day, these interruptions, which are normal, will feel like failure at the end of the day.

4. Give yourself a break when you need it and stop for lunch.

Give yourself a quitting time and use that time to reflect what got done in that room and cross it off the list – it will feel great!

5. Don’t go it alone!

Let your family know you are doing this and ASK FOR HELP. There is no reason they cannot help you with rooms they use. Give them specific assignments (dust, vacuum, dishes, mopping, clean windows, take out the trash, etc.); assignments you feel okay with delegating. Ask your husband for help since you are truly trying to clear the clutter.

6. Be Ruthless!

Your family and your health depend on it. If you have surrounded yourself with things that are truly in excess of what you need, then give them away, sell them or toss them. But get them out of your home!

7. It’s less overwhelming to start a room if you know what needs to be done first.

Look at your list and follow it. Start in a corner and work your way out if that will help you overcome your organizational inertia.

8. Save your energy.

Rather than running from that room to put things away in another room, set up a laundry basket for items that belong elsewhere within the house, a basket for items that you want to give away/sell, and a large garbage bag for trash.

9. Storage.

Decide if additional storage is needed for the room; purchased the storage but measure to make sure items that need to be stored will fit what you buy.

10. Do it NOW!

Once you are finished with the room, bag up the donations RIGHT THEN and put them in the car or ask a family member to run them up to a donation center. Take out the trash immediately – don’t take to the next room. Put items that belong in another room, in the room they belong in.

11. Do only one room at a time.

After the first room is complete, reevaluate the system. What worked for you, what didn’t, what can be improved with the next room? And implement those changes.

12. Reward yourself.

At the end of room one, with the trash out, the donations out, the thing that belong in another room in the proper room, give yourself a treat!

13. One step at a time!

This process takes time, so don’t get overwhelmed at all you need to do. Once all the rooms are cleared of the clutter, use this system to set up a daily, weekly, monthly maintenance chore list to keep up with the clutter. Remember routine can be the key.

If this process is not successful for you, don’t beat yourself up – get help! There is nothing wrong with asking for help – it is one of Buttoned Up’s main philosophies – you don’t have to do it alone. Get help by asking a friend to help you and you can then help them! Get help from the family to help you keep on your routine/schedule.

If after following my suggestions you are still struggling, then by all means please contact the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) to locate an organizer in your area. And get a physical. You may also have a physical ailment (ADD, ADHD, Clinical Depression) that you need professional help to resolve.

Good Luck! – Nancy

Buy a shredder and place it near where you sort mail, as soon as you deem the mail as garbage you can get it out of your sight and you would have only touched it once!

Thank you to Barbara Tako of www.clutterclearingchoices.com for the two book excerpts and Guest Guru Contribution to Buttoned Up! Now that we’ve peaked your interest, you can try to win her book!

Here’s how to enter to win a copy of Clutter Clearing Choices: Clear Clutter, Organize Your Home, & Reclaim Your Life :
• The giveaway is open to U.S. and Canadian residents over 18.
• Leave a comment on this blog (be sure to include your email when you submit the comment, so we know how to reach you).
• Extra Entry – mention this giveaway in a post or tweet with a link back and leave a comment letting us know you’ve done so.
• Extra Entry – sign up for Buttoned Up’s e-newsletter.
• Please post a separate comment for each extra entry so we know it’s been done!
• Entry period closes at midnight PST, Sunday, April 4th and the winner will be announced Monday, April 5th.
**Note winner will be picked at random using Random.org and announced in the newsletter on Monday April 5th.