HOW TO DECLUTTER YOUR MIND AND HOME

Hoarding isn't just physical - it's mental. You can't just start packing things up - you have to unpack the emotions behind your hoarding behavior first. Hoarding can be influenced by factors such as: difficult emotions, traumatic experiences, believing you are going to use the items one day, family history, and childhood.

Do you struggle with impulse control? The same feelings behind impulse buying an item - relief, a sense of control - can be behind the act of hoarding. People who struggle with difficult feelings may use hoarding as a way to deal with anxiety and stress. Though this may bring you comfort, this nest of clutter will eventually bring you more anxiety long-term when you decide on getting rid of it.

Objects bring comfort, that's a true fact. You may find comfort in hoarding the same way a child finds comfort in a teddy bear. Hoarding may have its roots in trauma - experiencing something like grief, enduring significant physical or emotional abuse, bullying, or experiencing long periods of stress can affect you without knowing it. If this is the root of your hoarding, you may find it difficult to let go but know that you will feel so much more free after releasing it.

When you collect items that you believe you may use one day, you justify hoarding them. While this may be true for some items, it cannot apply to all of them. It is important to evaluate what you are realistically going to use and what you can discard. This line of belief can also be tied to anxiety; you are preparing for a situation before it happens.

If someone in your family was a hoarder, it is likely you would pick up these behaviors as well. We are a product of the environment we grow up in. If you grew up around clutter, you may have developed this habit without even realizing it. In order to break a normalized habit, you have to be aware of the thought pattern first. You can break the cycle and invent new ways of thinking.

Though hoarding may appear in teens and adults, childhood can be the catalyst for this behaviour. Childhood is the formative developmental stage that makes or breaks us. Did you grow up lonely? Did you feel like your wants and needs were insufficiently met? You may have projected an emotional attachment onto these items, making it that much more difficult to part with them.

So what's the best way to mentally tackle clutter? Here are twelve ways to finally clean house physically and emotionally:

-Address the root of your attachment

-Understand the difference between functional items and items with sentimental value

-Donate some of the items in your clutter pile

-Start journaling to process your feelings

-Get rid of personal and environmental distractions 

-Use meditation to clear up mental dissonance

-Check in with your goals

-Let go of anything that doesn't improve your life

-Create to-do lists

-Release the need for control

-Download organizing apps

-Focus on the present - not the past or future

Sources: 

Mind Body Green, "How to let go of need for control"

Mind.org, "Causes of hoarding" via Carla Marie Manly Ph.D.

Harvard Health Publishing, "Hoarding: What to know about this mental health disorder" via Jenette Restivo

Psychology Today, "10 Ways to Declutter Your Mind" via Shonda Moralis