DECLUTTER YOUR HOME..AND YOUR MIND
LISA SALMON TALKS TO PSYCHOTHERAPIST HELEN SANDERSON, ABOUT THE MENTAL HEALTH BENEFITS OF A TIDY HOME
...if you don’t identify and address those underlying issues, the clutter will inevitably come back Psychologist and interior designer Helen Sanderson
IS your home full of stuff you might not need, but you haven’t got round to clearing out?
Possibly it’s because it brings back memories, or you can’t decide what to do with it - so you’ve ended up with a house full of clutter.
“Ultimately, clutter is decisions that haven’t been made,” says psychotherapist and interior designer Helen Sanderson (helensanderson.com), author of The Secret Life Of Clutter. “Things end up in a pile, container or drawer because that seems easier than deciding where to put them or what to do with them.
“You say, ‘I’ll deal with that later’, and probably mean it. But weeks, months or even years later, it’s still there, buried beneath countless subsequent things you’ve not processed.”
Helen says there are many reasons people avoid decisions in this way. “It’s often because of the meaning and emotions we attach to our possessions,” she says.
“Memories of a trauma, or an unrealised creative project get stirred when we open those drawers. Sometimes it’s simply a busy life, or never having learned how to create order in the home. Usually, it’s some combination of these.”
So, while on the surface, clutter is about how we deal with physical stuff, it’s often rooted in something deeply psychological, explains Helen, who says although we often want to create beautiful, clutter-free homes, something in our psychology sabotages that.
“Regardless of how much decluttering you do, if you don’t identify and address those underlying issues, the clutter will inevitably come back,” she says. “Once you truly understand what’s underneath your clutter, and listen to the story it has to tell, it empowers you to make a deeper shift and make room for your clutter-free home.
“I believe there’s a balance to be struck in our homes between chaos and order, allowing us clear, harmonious spaces that give us room to think while still having a healthy amount of stuff that we love, find useful, or simply don’t want to lose.”
Here are Helen’s 10 steps to decluttering your home:
1.A cluttered home is like an overgrown garden
Helen says it can be useful to think of cluttered homes as overgrown gardens that need weeding, planting and maintaining. “The weeding process is about making all those unmade decisions, such as keep, let go, or action. Planting means creating a plan, placing things in a beautiful, harmonious way and optimally organising what you choose to keep: a place for everything and everything in its place. And maintaining is about building new habits with compassionate self-discipline, so your home supports you to live with greater ease.”
It’s crucial to declutter in this order, she says.
2.Create a clear vision Imagine exactly how you’d like your home
to be. Write it down or create a vision board of inspiring images from magazines or Pinterest. Then write down why you want to create space and order – is it for a creative project? Do you want to feel more comfortable inviting people round?
3.Understand the reality
Look inside all the cupboards, drawers and boxes and establish a clear picture of exactly what you’re dealing with. “This isn’t to discourage you, but so you can effectively plan your declutter project. It will also help motivate you by creating a tension between where you are now and your vision of where you want to be.”
it in manageable stages
4.Do This can be room by room, cupboard by cupboard, or drawer by drawer, says Helen. “I recommend you master one room, then move to another. It’s important to experience successes, even small ones.”
5.Identify obstacles
Are you a big procrastinator, easily distracted or likely to get emotional? Are you going to find it hard to make time to do the work? Do you get brain-freeze when you see the chaos and then struggle to make decisions?
“Once you’ve understood the barriers you might face, put some clear strategies in place to help you overcome them,” advises Helen, who suggests you might get a friend to help, or even consider employing a professional organiser or coach.
6.Remove possible distractions
“Accept that once you start, other things are likely to be much more appealing than sorting out those piles of stuff,” suggests Helen.
“So turn off your phone, cancel other plans and send the family and even the pets out – unless they’re helping.”
7.Put some clutter in front of you
Start a timer, collect your stuff and stack it in front of you – so take out a stack of books, paperwork or empty a drawer into a box. “What works best is if you can have someone to help,” says Helen. “Their job is simply to bring things to you, and your job is simply to make decisions. No putting things away, ask: ‘Is this staying or going?’”
8.Keep, Recycle, Bin, Donate, Action
One by one, decide are you going to recycle, sell, keep, bin, action, or donate each item – these are the core decisions that have to be made, says Helen, who advises people to work quickly, trust their intuition and keep going.
She also suggests creating a ‘Don’t Know’ pile to help maintain momentum. “That way, if you aren’t sure, you can put the item there and come back to it later, instead of breaking your
flow of decisions.”
9.Complete the task
Make sure you allocate time at the end of the session to complete the job properly – this means immediately taking out the recycling and rubbish, and putting all donations in the car, so you’re not tempted to review your decisions and undermine your hard work. “Completion here is key,” stresses Helen.
10.Plant and maintain
The next stage is the planting stage, when you efficiently categorise and put everything away, followed by maintaining what you’ve achieved.
“Accumulated clutter can represent a life lived in the past,” says Helen. “By creating space in your home, you’re making room for new experiences and opportunities.”