I woke up this morning with the intention of doing a bit of de-cluttering. Bit of a general clear out. So far, I’ve been unsuccessful. I sorted through all the stuff on my desk, put it into piles and then put most of it back on my desk. “So what?” I hear you say, through a big yawn.
Well, it’s a big what. First of all, to give you an example of what I’m talking about, here’s a small bit of cluttered space that is to the left of where I’m typing right now;
Hoarding is going to be a new addition to the next edition of the official diagnostic manual (DSMV) coming out in 2013. That means that people will be diagnosed as hoarders. Clutter is becoming officially problematic. And it is a very serious and sad issue for some people. Other people are probably happy hoarders and their piles of books, newspapers, obituaries, electrical goods, bric-a-brac, cat figurines or whatever it is, have a lot of meaning for them.
My younger sis, Sammy Seal, has always maintained I’ve got a ‘keep stuff’ disorder. She would have diagnosed me with hoarding years ago, if the ‘problem’ had been constructed earlier. She clears out her stuff on a regular basis and has a tidy old gaff. I’ve kept every card/letter/school report/school books, etc that I’ve received, and done the same for the kidlets. That is a lot of stuff, without all the other stuff that is lying around.
So what should I do? When I was on the phone, I couldn’t sit down as the settee/chairs were full of stuff. Our home could be lovely with a good clear out.
“CHUCK IT ALL OUT”, you scream, “You are a LOSER HOARDER”.
I would.
But we might need it.
mydaftlife 
Seems like this is not only a problem for me. YOU ARE NOT ALONE. I am tidy and deployed right now, but let me tell you, my apartment back home is a clutter bug’s dream! I’ve gone to therapy for it, but I got distracted and stopped wanting to talk about that.
Honestly, I just get very overwhelmed and that seems to cause more clutter.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do with this habit.
-Glo 🙂
Thank you! I’m feeling better about it already 🙂
Couldn’t agree more, it may come in useful!. I too am a boarder, add to your list of letter/school lists I also have all my 18th & 21st bday cards & present labels, wedding acceptances, cards, labels receipts etc. When boys born I also kept all that memorabilia and all things to do with special care. When we moved last year I had to sort the loft one weekend t’husband was away & condense everything into much fewer boxes so he wouldn’t know just how much stuff there was! On top of that are all the potentially useful things x
I’m with you! Currently I’m trying to declutter at a rate that won’t give me a heart attack by selling one item at a time. I figure if someone is willing to pay good money for an item then it has found a better home, especially since I don’t use half the stuff I currently store. As for the papers and cards and journals, well, they’re staying!
That is a brilliant idea about selling! One of my piles is an ebay pile (I started the pile about four years ago). Maybe I’ll start with that one 🙂
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ROTFL – a woman after my own heart! Not just one, but many!! I have an identical collection to The Rambling Pages, not to mention almost everything I accumulated in 34 years of teaching! But people rely on we hoarders – everyone knew I would have just what they needed- if it wasn’t in the classroom it was in the car boot and if it wasn’t there then there was every chance I would have one on the cellar at home! Many a quick trip home in the lunch break! We had some important person coming to ‘open’ the new lift we had installed … They had the scissors but …… Home in the lunch hour for several yards of wide ribbon for the occasion!