A lot of us tend to accumulate clutter or find it difficult to part with old items, particularly sentimental keepsakes, trinkets, or items we believe we might need in the future. However, if you suffer from the hoarding problem, your house could be so overloaded with stuff that some rooms might be useless. Typically, OCD (obsessive-compulsive personality disorder) is said to be characterized by compulsive hoarding.
Don’t give up if you feel like you have an overwhelming clutter problem. Why? The good news is that clearing clutter can enhance your health, and it’s not as hard as you think. As a general rule, you can usually live without an object if you haven’t used it in more than a year. For example, if you didn’t even realize that it was there until you found it at the bottom of a pile.
Tips To Stop Your Hoarding Clutter
Clutter can have a variety of negative effects on your health, some of which may surprise you, regardless of whether it stems from hoarding or merely procrastination. Therefore, if you suspect that you may be developing a hoarding disorder, consider how and why you accumulated so many worthless possessions. You can also see your life in the future by visualizing how it will appear if you keep up your hoarding habits and how it will look if you decide to change. This way, you can begin your transformation journey and enhance your living conditions by taking small steps and seeking professional hoarding help for optimal results.
Read More: The Hoarding Cleanup Guide: Cleaning A Hoarder’s House: Step-By-Step Guide
Start Small
- Set Realistic Objectives
According to reputable clutter cleanup service providers, setting attainable goals is the first step in combating clutter caused by hoarding. Prioritize smaller spaces or certain objects while decluttering your house rather than attempting to do it all in one day.
For example, you may start by cleaning out your closet or organizing your kitchen pantry. You’ll feel less stressed and have a better chance of success if you divide the task into smaller, more manageable chunks.
- Use the One In, One Out Policy
Using the principle of “one in, one out” is another method for managing clutter. This implies that you have to get rid of an old item of equal or greater worth for every new thing you add to your home. For instance, you should donate your old shoes before bringing your new ones home. This easy guideline helps keep your area neat and orderly by preventing the acquisition of unnecessary items.
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Stay Motivated
- Create a Support Network
Trying to stop building clutter calls for developing a strong support network. Ask friends, relatives, or even professional organizers for aid since many companies are offering top-notch clutter and hoarding help to hoarders. Remember, the process can be less daunting and more uplifting if you have someone to talk to and share your success with. Also, it might greatly increase your motivation to know that you are not alone.
Read More: How to Help a Hoarder Parent? 5 Steps to Take Right Now
- Establish a Routine
Making decluttering a daily habit will assist you in staying on track and avoiding failures. You must set aside specified hours of the day or week to focus on tidying and cleaning. Being consistent is essential. Why? Because when you include decluttering into your daily routine, it becomes a habit rather than a frightening effort. Hence, you will be less likely to procrastinate if you follow an organized schedule that helps you stay on task.
- Visualise the Advantages
Maintaining focus on the final result can be a strong incentive. Imagine the perks of having a clutter-free environment: the satisfaction of having a neat place, the ease with which items can be located, and an improvement in tension and worry. Making a vision board with phrases and pictures that symbolize your objectives might act as a daily reminder of why you are undertaking this task and seeking professional hoarding help.
- Celebrate Your Wins
Rewarding yourself with a little treat or break, discussing your accomplishments with a friend, or just pausing to enjoy the space you’ve created are all simple ways to celebrate your achievements. When you accomplish any goal, no matter how small, try to give yourself some credit by going out with friends or watching your favorite TV show.
Read More: The 5 Stages of Hoarding & How They Can Affect People
Develop Coping Mechanisms for Stress
You should expect to feel nervous or uneasy as you sort through your belongings. Throwing away an item could bring up painful recollections or feelings. The enormity of the work at hand may appear intimidating at times, making you want to give up. Alternatively, the stress may cause you to desire to go shopping or otherwise revert to your previous habits.
Whenever you feel uncomfortable, don’t try to push it away; instead, embrace it until it passes. This method, called urge surfing, entails riding the wave of an uneasy feeling like a surfer. If you allow yourself to feel uncomfortable, as opposed to fighting, passing judgment, or making an effort to avoid it, you’ll notice that even terrible feelings will pass quickly. Nevertheless, if you begin to feel too distressed, you may hire an expert with experience in hoarding cleanup in Houston who can offer cleaning assistance along with emotional support.
Remain Organised
Clutter cleanup services providers suggest purchasing shelves, baskets, storage containers, and other organizational items to keep your objects in their designated places. To make things easier to find and stop clutter from building up, label containers and arrange things by category. Furthermore, periodically reevaluate your possessions and ask yourself if certain things are really valuable or if they are just contributing to clutter. This not only keeps your area orderly but also facilitates decluttering and helps you evaluate your belongings to determine what you need.
Bottom Line
So, are you ready to transform your living conditions by making your home clean and free of clutter? Well, you’re not alone in this journey, as we are here to assist you. Our specialists at LifeCycle Transitions offer hoarding cleanup in Houston along with optimum emotional support to help you overcome hoarding disorder.