Why is my house cluttered?

Some people are naturally neat people. They have a place for everything, and everything automatically goes back to its rightful place. Some people seem to have been born organized. Most of us, however, need a little help in the organizational department.

Sometimes we can keep things looking nice. But other times our houses, offices, and lives in general get disorganized. We take on one too many projects, and soon we are unable to keep our lives and homes in order. We wake up one morning, and the house is piled with clutter.

Okay, so the clutter didn’t really happen overnight. And maybe we just got busy, and didn’t keep up with our cleaning. On the other hand, clutter can be a sign of other problems in a person’s life. You really can judge how your life is going by how your home looks.  If you have piles of junk everywhere in your home, something is wrong.

Here are some of the basic issues that can cause clutter, and some quick suggestions on how to deal with the issue.

Too Much Stuff

Other people may have been sick or incapacitated for a period of time. They really couldn’t clean and control clutter as well as they would have liked to. As soon as they are feeling better, they will regain control of their clutter problem. And their clutter problem will probably stay under control as long as they are healthy enough to deal with it.

Some people are extremely busy, and have a hard time finding the time during the day to clean and declutter. Not only is their home disorganized, but there is a good chance their schedule is overly full and disorganized as well. These people need to get organized and stay organized. They may need to give up an activity or two, at least until they get organized at home. They also need to monitor what they bring into their homes once they are organized, so the whole cycle of clutter doesn’t start over again. These folks will need to be extremely vigilant by putting their things away immediately, and finding a routine where decluttering is a regular part of their day

Most people have a cluttered home or office because they just plain have too much stuff for their home. If your home is small, you’ll need to be careful what you bring into it, because it will fill up fast. But some people seem to have clutter no matter the size of their house. These people need to be more careful about what they bring into their home. They also need to get organized in the first place. They may be able to do this on their own, but might need help cleaning and sorting. They may also need some extra discipline and a routine of decluttering to keep their lives from becoming cluttered once they declutter.

For a few people, clutter is a sign of mental illness. Depression manifests itself by the inability to function in many areas of life. Clutter and a general lack of cleanliness are often one of the signs that these people aren’t doing well mentally. This is nothing to be embarrassed about. For lots of people, medication and therapy help them gain control of their physical space and helps them feel better mentally, as well.

For another very few people, clutter can be a form of obsessive compulsive disorder. These folks are commonly called “hoarders.” Perhaps your neighborhood had a hoarder. They have newspapers and magazines piled up to the ceiling. They never throw anything away. They have “collections” of junk that make it nearly impossible to walk through their houses. Usually there is a path from room to room, but not much else for floor space or living area. This is a big problem that needs to be addressed by medication and therapy. Hoarders have created a dangerous living space, because usually their homes are unsanitary and have lots of fuel for a house fire. These folks need some serious help, because the problem they have goes way beyond mere clutter.

For most of us, however, clutter problems are more about disorganization and lack of discipline. Hard work and some good advice on decluttering are all that is needed to get us organized, and get our clutter problem under control.

Lots of people with cluttered houses are perfectionist. They would love to clean and organize, but can’t do it until they can make their home perfectly organized. Since there seems never to be enough time or energy to make their home perfectly organized, they don’t organize at all. These folks need to realize that organization is a process that happens over a period of time. They need to pick an area of their home to organize, and just get started. Soon, their house will look tidy and be organized. They will know where their possessions are, and feel good about the way their house looks.