We did get rid of a lot of stuff before the move, but clearly we have a lot more to do. My friend Tracey Mackenzie, who is a wonderful feng shui specialist, interior designer, and professional organizer offered me some help, which has been useful. I thought I'd share some of her clutter reducing tips, in case anyone else out there is suffering from the pack-rat syndrome.
1- Don't attempt clutter control alone. Seriously, we all need an outside person (not spouse) to point out how ridiculous your arguments are for keeping five old cellphones "just in case".
2- Create sections or bins for "Keep", "Giveaway", "Recycle", or in the rare case, "Toss", if the other sections really don't apply.
3- Here's the kicker: You get five seconds to decide which bin each of your items go in. (Any hesitation is a sign of weakness and will likely result in a forced giveaway.)
4- If there are items that serve no real purpose other than to evoke memories, Tracey's advice is to take a picture of object of sentiment value and send it on its merry way to the next clutter-bug or hoarder. I had to do this with a several home made crafts given to me by my younger students over the years. Taking a photo of each gift made the parting less bitter.
5- Get rid of whatever you are not keeping for sure right away or you may change your mind and keep that old Easter bunny basket, which is currently staring me down across the room.
6- Tracey's last words of wisdom: "If you get rid of the old, you make room for the new."
Good luck, my friends. Please post any other clutter management or organizational suggestions you might have. Goodness knows, I need it!
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