Getting Rid of Your
Midlife Clutter
Nancy Recker, Extension
Educator, FCS, Associate
Professor
Lois Clark, Extension
Educator, FCS, Associate
Professor
Are You Living In Clutter?
Do You Want to Feel More
Organized?
Are You Suffering From
Mid-Life Clutter?
• Do you waste time trying to find things
you know you have?
• Do you feel you don’t have enough
storage space?
• Is your lack of organization causing you
stress?
Why Do People Clutter?
•Urged to buy things everyday
•Can’t bear to part with a
piece of the past
•Don’t know where to put it
and so it’s set aside
Did You Know… Clutter Facts
• More than 3000 documents can be found in an
average home
• Cost of paying late fees and premium prices
can amount to 15-20% of a family’s budget
• An average household may accumulate 300
pages of paper a day
• Average households have 25% more furniture
and 75% more toys than they need
Source: Dean, S. (2002, May), Clutter and Chaos. Reader’s
Digest, 90-97.
More Clutter Facts
• Lack of space is not the cause of clutter in
the home. Disorganization results in 80%
of the clutter in most homes.
• In the average home, getting rid of clutter
eliminates 40% of housework
• Americans waste more than 9 million
hours looking for lost items
Source: www. Orgcoach.net/clutter.html
Midlife Clutter
The Challenge . . . Midlife
• Realizing that life has a time limit
• Taking stock of what we have
• Organizing, simplifying, downsizing to
give ourselves peace of mind
• Determining what you want to do with
the rest of your life
• Completing estate plans
Why So Much Midlife Clutter?
•
•
•
•
Feel guilty
You might need it
It’s hard to let go
Everything we own, every piece of paper has
its own story
• There just hasn’t been time
• Don’t know where to start
The Definition of Clutter
• According to Webster the definition of
clutter is “Clutter \Clut"ter\, v. t. [imp. &
p. p. Cluttered; p. pr. & vb. n.
Cluttering.] To crowd together in
disorder; to fill or cover with things in
disorder; to throw into disorder; to
disarrange; as, to clutter a room. [1913
Webster]
Or Clutter Can Be . . .
• Clutter:
Anything you own, possess, or do that
does not enhance your life on a regular
basis. Orgcoach.net/clutter.html accessed 2/10
• Clutter is a cute word we use to make us
not feel so bad about our bad habit of
being disorganized and sloppy
Organizational Styles
Time Personality Styles
And
Space Personality Styles
Time Personality Styles…
Drop and Hop
• Have a number of irons in the fire
• Thrill of doing something new is
motivator
• Easily distracted
• Want immediate gratification
Clutter Ends Up
Where You Drop It
Time Personality Styles…
Perfectionist
• Want to have everything just perfect
• Get over-involved with details
• Seldom satisfied with results
Time Personality Styles…
Detail Dodger
• Can’t be bothered with details
• Others are forced to pick up the
pieces
• Appointments missed, details ignored,
and thing forgotten
Time Personality Styles…
Procrastinator
• Put things off as long as possible
• Work better under pressure
• Hate to start a new job
• Do what you like to do and postpone
what you don’t like to do
Putting Off Cleaning Your
Basement?
Time Personality Styles…
See-Saw
• Go back and forth between “should I” or
“shouldn’t I”
• Worry about not having enough
information to make a decision
• Let others make important decisions for
you
• Don’t like to take risks
Space Personality Styles…
Sentimentalist
• Never met a memento they didn’t like-or
keep
• Memories are tied up in things
• Throwing away is like giving up the past
Space Personality Styles…
Hoarder or Pack Rat
• You keep everything because you might
need it someday
• Accumulations are security blankets
• Feel guilty getting rid of things
Of Course it Still Fits!
Space Personality Styles…
Minimalist
• Nothing out in the open
• Clear space means clear mind
• Hide things from sight and forget where
you put them
Out of Sight..
Space Personality Styles…
All Out
• Everything needed is out in front of them
• Waste of time to put things away when
they’re going to use them again
Space Personality Styles…
The Piler
• Confuse neatness with organization
• Arrange things in neat piles without
actually putting anything away
Space Personality Styles…
The Total Slob
• Totally disorganized
• More important things to do with life
than be neat
• "Out of clutter, find simplicity."
--Albert Einstein
Clutter Happens…Why
Organizing Systems Don’t Work
Most people fall into one of three groups:
They’ve tried and tried to get organized but
never quite succeed.
They used to be organized but something
happened somewhere along the way.
They are basically organized but are always
looking for different ways to improve the
system.
Source: Waddill, K. (2201). The organizing source book. Chicago, IL:
Contemporary Books, 8
Classify Your Clutter
• Travel Clutter- Souvenirs you got on a
special vacation and can’t bear to throw
away
• It Used to Be Important Clutter-Keys
that don’t work, clothes that don’t fit,
toys no one plays with
• Phony Clutter-posing as a bargaingarage sales, 2 fers-2 for one
Classify Your Clutter
• Inheritance Clutter-Anything someone
gave you because they didn’t know what
to do with it-Video collections, Mom’s old
dishes
• Bequeathed clutter-stuff you get as a
present
• Rabbit Clutter-clutter that multiplies
fast-Beanie Babies, fabric, needle work
kits
What Am I Supposed to Do With
Aunt Tillie’s Stuff?
The More You Buy, The More You
Need
Classify Your Clutter
• Imposter Clutter-Clutter disguised as
good stuff—musical instruments,
outdated cameras and video equipment,
electronics
• Ambiance clutter-Household accessories
that you put away after you changed your
decorating schemes
• Get-to-it-someday clutter-anything you
need to fix, finish, or get to someday
And You’re Saving These Toys
Because…?
Classify Your Clutter
• Eclectic Clutter- miscellaneous clutterstuff in your drawers you don’t know
what to do with, clothes that still fit but
don’t match anything else, a lone sock, a
lone glove
• Car clutter-fast food bags, empty water
bottles, bits and pieces of handouts from
programs, kleenex, broken car scrapers,
matchbox cars, old maps
Kids’ Closets…An Eclectic Mess
Classify Your Clutter
• Bob Hope Clutter-Thanks for the
memories-love letters, honeymoon
matchbooks, babies first birthday card
• Snob Clutter-Crystal vases, silver
platters, silver tea service
• Mysterious Clutter- objects you find and
don’t know what they are but they must
go to something important
• Adapted from:Paauwerfully Organized-What is
Clutter?www.orgcoach.net/clutter.html
De-Cluttering
•
•
•
•
•
•
How did I get to this point?
How much time do I have?
How much do I have to get rid of?
What is my plan?
Where do things belong?
Put things away.
Organizing System
•
•
•
•
•
Space
Things
Information
Time
Relationships
Waddill, K. (2001)The organizing sourcebook. Chicago: Contemporary Books.
“Strategies of Reasonably
Organized People”
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Make your system fit your own life
Sort and classify
Clean out constantly
Label
Use storage devices to fit your system
K.I.S.S.
Make a decision
Ask for help if you need it
Is your system still working?
Make Storage Work for You
Store Hobby Items Together
Organizing Year 'Round
• January – Mail in warranties for products
you received as holiday gifts. Purge your
filing system.
• February – Prepare files to file income tax
information. Straighten your desk drawers
and toss out the junk.
• Etc.
Get Started Before You Get Too
Old Step 1
• Take a good look at what you have
• If something is working, stick with it
• Make a list of everything that needs to be
fixed
• What’s important for you to keep
• Why do you need to get organized
Plan Your Strategy
Step 2
• Plan around activities in your home
• Make a time table for action
A Good Way to Say “No” to a
Request…“I’m Cleaning My Sock
Drawer.”
GET STARTED!!!!!
Step 3
•
•
•
•
Go through everything including all piles
Attack what’s visible first to show results
Do one space at a time
Don’t get sidetracked
What Better Way to Start…Go
Shopping!!!
What Does This Have to Do With
Midlife?
•
•
•
•
•
•
It’s a time for re-evaluating your life.
Have you accomplished you life long goals?
Is your estate in order?
Where do you go from here?
Who’s going to get your stuff?
How are they going to find the stuff you
want them to have?
The Laws of Stuff
• The more you have, the more
you need.
The Laws of Stuff
• The more you have, the more you need.
• Useless stuff crowds out the good
stuff.
The Laws of Stuff
• The more you have, the more you need.
• Useless stuff crowds out the good stuff.
• Dirt and bugs love stuff.
The Laws of Stuff
• The more you have, the more you need.
• Useless stuff crowds out the good stuff.
• Dirt and bugs love stuff.
• Stuff stays where you put it.
The Laws of Stuff
• Useless stuff crowds out the good stuff.
• Dirt and bugs love stuff.
• Stuff stays where you put it.
• Stuff multiplies to fill the spaces
you have.
The Laws of Stuff
• Dirt and bugs love stuff.
• Stuff stays where you put it.
• Stuff multiplies to fill the spaces you
have.
• Over time, you don’t see your
stuff.
The Laws of Stuff
• Stuff stays where you put it.
• Stuff multiplies to fill the spaces you
have.
• Over time, you don’t see your stuff.
• When you have a lot of stuff, you
pay over and over for it.
The Laws of Stuff
• Stuff multiplies to fill the spaces you
have.
• Over time, you don’t see your stuff.
• When you have a lot of stuff, you pay
over and over for it.
• Stuff affects your mental health.
The Laws of Stuff
• Over time, you don’t see your stuff
• When you have a lot of stuff, you pay
over and over for it
• Stuff affects your mental health
• Stuff is valuable only if you use it
The Laws of Stuff
• When you have a lot of stuff, you pay
over and over for it
• Stuff affects your mental health
• Stuff is valuable only if you use it.
• Stuff can’t buy happiness.
• Adapted from: Georgene Lockwood, 10 Laws of
Stuff, The Oaks, Menomonie, Wisconsin