Why Decluttering Guides Don't Work.
Decluttering guides don’t work for most people, would be a more accurate statement.
Take a look at the one featured, and imagine applying it to your clutter. It makes my head spin just looking at it.
The Evidence
But how do I know decluttering guides don’t work? Because I’ve seen the evidence online and in people’s homes.
Decluttering guides are cluttering-up the internet, and our clutter problem is continuing to grow. If they worked, people wouldn’t be continuing to battle the chaos caused by clutter; they’d download or print-off the guide and get cracking.
Every day I speak to people overwhelmed by clutter who have tried and failed decluttering with the use of a guide or self-help book.
They still have the clutter, and the decluttering guides, with feelings of frustration and failure added to the mix.
Clutter causes stress and anxiety and is hard to break up with on your own.
Decluttering: What You Need To Know
Decluttering guides don’t work for most people, in my experience, because they’re underestimating, or failing to mention, how triggering dealing with your clutter is! For most of us it triggers the ‘fight or flight response.’
- The main reaction is anxiety, causing a ‘brain freeze’ and the inability to think clearly or know where to start.
- Then comes the feeling that this task is completely overwhelming.
- Last but not least is the feeling of failure.
At this point, people decide walking away from the problem (flight) is the best option: the clutter remains and continues to accumulate, along with all those negative feelings.
It’s the negative feelings that affect our health, wellbeing, mood and relationships.
“I Marie Kondo’d my clothes three-months ago, putting them all on the spare bed. I haven’t been able to face the mountain of clothing that’s sitting there, it’s a nightmare, can you help me?”
Fiona – Claremont
O.K. I Understand, What’s The Answer?
If you’ve tried and failed to declutter on your own, with or without a guide, and haven’t yet succeeded professional help is what you need.
Why?
Because continuing to live with your clutter is affecting your physical and mental health and your relationships.
- Living in a cluttered environment increases the production of cortisol, the stress hormone.
- Increased stress levels affect our immune systems, sleep, productivity and feelings of wellbeing.
Working with an experienced, understanding and compassionate professional will help you overcome the ‘fight or flight response’ that results in ‘flight.’
- The value of having the right person beside you when decluttering is that it will guarantee your success.
- People tell me that being able to talk through some of their triggers and behaviours is the key not only to decluttering but keeping the clutter out in the future.
It’s Time To Declutter Your Home & Mind
I hope that reading this short blog post has given you some insight into why decluttering guides don’t work for most people.
In a nutshell, they over-simply the problem and the task, don’t provide an adequate resource; underestimating the need for some hands-on, in-person, expert help.
If you’d like to find out more about the value and cost of my decluttering services, with the power to liberate you from your clutter, click here.
