Am I a Clutterer?

Many people ask themselves this question and there is no a right answer.

“Clutter can mean something different for everybody.”

A great place to visit is the clutterers anonymous website. They offer support for those who desire to stop cluttering.

They have great resources and today I would like to share one of them. It’s a list of 25 questions that will help you find out if you are a clutterer or not.

Am I a Clutterer?  Let’s find out!

1) Do you have more possessions than you can comfortably handle?

2) Are you embarrassed to invite family, friends, health care providers, or maintenance workers into your home because it is not presentable?

3) Do you find it easier to drop something instead of putting it away or to wedge it into an overcrowded drawer or closet rather than finding space for it?

4) Is your home, or any part of it, unusable for its intended purpose, with a bed you can’t sleep in, a garage you can’t park in, a kitchen you can’t cook in, or a table you can’t use for dining?

5) Is clutter causing problems at home, at work, or in your relationships?

6) Do you hesitate sharing about this problem because you feel embarrassment, guilt, or shame about it?

7) Do you have a weakness for discarded objects, bargain items, freebies, reading materials, or yard sales?

8) Do you use avoidance, distraction, or procrastination to escape dealing with your clutter?

9) Does your clutter create a risk of falling, fire, infestation, or eviction?

10) Do you avoid starting assignments, miss deadlines, or abandon projects because you can’t find the paperwork or material you need?

11) Do you have difficulty making decisions about what to do with your possessions, daily living, or life in general?

12) Do you rent storage space to house possessions that you rarely use?

13) Do cleaning, organizing, follow through, upkeep, and maintenance all become daunting tasks, making the simplest of chores insurmountable?

14) Do you bring an item into your home without designating a place for it and releasing an equivalent one?

15) Do you believe that there is all the time in the world to clean your house, finish those projects, and read all those piles of old magazines or newspapers?

16) Are you easily sidetracked, moving from one project to another, without finishing any of them?

17) Are you constantly doing things for others while your own home is out of order?

18) Do you often replace possessions rather than find or clean those you already have?

19) Does perfectionism keep you from doing anything at all?

20) Does clutter cause you to have late charges added to your monthly financial obligations?

21) Do you feel a strong sense of emotional attachment toward your possessions, which makes it difficult to release them?

22) Do you consider all your possessions to be of equal worth, whether or not the objects have financial, functional, or sentimental value?

23) Do you waste your valuable time and talents by constantly rescuing yourself from clutter?

24) Does clutter keep you from enjoying quality leisure time?

25) Is the clutter problem growing?

The actual number of positive responses is not as important as how you feel inside about your clutter.

Moreover, these questions may have shown you that your life is unmanageable or out of control. Rest assured that you are not alone! Millions of people around the world have trouble with cluttering.

Clutter may manifest in both blatant and subtle ways. The symptoms and patterns are as numerous as there are clutterers. The amount of clutter in our lives is not as important as the desire to stop cluttering.  (Clutterer Anonymous)

Don’t use these results to blame yourself, use them to bring clarity and understanding. You taking the time to answer these questions in the first place shows that you are seeking for change. Being honest with yourself and accepting the current situation are the first steps for success.

Now is time to take ACTION! Not tomorrow, not next month.. but NOW.  Get the momentum going!