Regina Leader-Post

Your clutter is trying to tell you something

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Where you store your clutter says a lot about you.

As Mail Online points out, a new book — What Your Clutter Is Trying To Tell You by Kerri Richardson — offers some insight on the link between where people stow away their hoards and their personalit­y traits.

Even if your clutter situation is not as extreme as those featured on TV shows such as A&E’s Hoarders or the old TLC series Hoarding: Buried Alive, clutter can still reflect strong emotional issues that act as mental obstacles.

Here’s what storing your clutter in your closet, desk, garage or attic says about your personalit­y, according to the author.

1. Your closet — nostalgia.

Richardson believes closet clutters can be linked to nostalgic fantasy, a reminder of a happier, youthful time — and not wanting to part with those feelings.

2. Your desk — procrastin­ation.

According to Richardson, desk clutter might affirm a fear of moving forward, perhaps a stubbornne­ss toward dealing with difficult life issues.

3. Your garage — avoidance.

Boxes stacked up in the garage? Worrying about not knowing where to start the declutteri­ng process and avoiding the task can leave you feeling demotivate­d. The author notes it’s best to tackle it head on.

4. Your attic — guilt.

Many old heirlooms, keepsakes or mementoes stacked away in boxes in this room may not be of much use to you anymore. Still, people with emotional baggage carry a sense of guilt which prevents them from clearing out such items. Richardson says individual­s need to ask themselves whether they really need these boxed items.

 ?? GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOT­O ?? A cluttered closet can be linked to nostalgic fantasy, a reminder of a happier, youthful time, a book suggests.
GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOT­O A cluttered closet can be linked to nostalgic fantasy, a reminder of a happier, youthful time, a book suggests.

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