I'm blessed to have a local support group that meets monthly, and this little tidbit by our group leader has stuck with me. Here it is:

"They'll make more."

Meaning that for those of us who tend to stash supplies, clothes, you name it, and when we go to declutter have trouble deciding to let go of certain items for fear we "might need them someday," this is a bit of truth we can focus on that helps tip the balance toward letting go. At least it has for me.

It may work best on "everyday" common items - sentimental items may require a different approach, that of learning not to be emotionally attached to everything so much. But bottom line, I have been able to let go of some stuff by telling myself "They'll make more!"

Because hoarding is only one aspect of my situation, I have almost no time to devote to it directly. Both because of health issues and because of the hoarding, I live in very cramped spaces. Now my health is improving a bit, and the spaces I am living in will be expanding.

Besides clearing only very small areas at a time, it helps me enormously to wait until the right frame of mind strikes me to clean up an area. Not only does that make my actions more effective, but I have a much more positive experience while working. I find that I "erase" myself from the total picture when I am in a hoarding frame of mind. So when I do organize an area, I now go for the areas closest to my living spaces. For example, I put away some things I use often in the kitchen yesterday. Today I organized supplements I take often at the edge of a counter, so I can get to them easily.

The changes I make are so small that no-one but myself would notice them. But because I DO notice them, and because they make my life easier, I am more likely to engage other stagnant areas as my health improves. Unless there is an urgent need to clear spaces, I focus on my own experience of arranging my living spaces. Thus, I do not judge success by how much I have "accomplished", because that has always been a formula for failure with me. I judge success by my own comfort level with the activity.

.....its really frustrating not being able edit or make corrections on this site...i guess.maybe im.a bit OCD about that!

Yes! And it seems as the decide things get done, the undecided things become more clear on! :D

That's a great way to go! :D
When getting stuck with a hard decision just move on to an easier one for the time being.
Keeps the progress moving in the right direction.

I havr found 2 things that have consistantly been helpful: 1- is that i ony deal.with thing thatbim.clear on, such as throeing sonething out. If it is a complex decision, i simply leaving it and move.to a clear decision made action. 2- i always leave workingbon a project with my next step being something clear and decided and easy to start with. That gets me going much easier!

Ravw, how nice to meet you. Congratulations on your accomplishments! And I love your coping mechanism. Very good idea. Lately I have been shopping on line and after putting the things in my cart(including my favorites--multiples! Of anything!) I then go back and pare down my cart to a more reasonable number of items, and then after I'm happy with that, I delete everything. It is very helpful for me and similar to what you are doing. Sometimes too I need to tell myself that it's enough to know that this thing or that thing exists in the world, that I don't need to own it. Like a museum is there for me to enjoy, I try to look at the objects in the stores the same way

Thank you for your thoughtful post. Very helpful and insightful.

Grammar not the greatest right now. I'm exhausted.

Thank you, Tillie. I'm really happy I found this group online as well. Reading other posts and knowing what others are doing to cope or get help, not only gives me ideas but gives me fresh hope.

As an update, last night I threw away all of the envelopes that contain my clippings. That was a difficult decision, but I feel it's time. The digital "hoard" takes up about two inches of space on my desk and is, so far, satisfying my urges to collect when the cravings come over me. So I have decided to trash the clippings for good.

I would suggest that others may find comfort and new interests by connecting with a group of friends or family. Isolation has been my enemy in the past, and I didn't realize until a few years ago that my self-inflicted isolation, subtle depression, and hoarding were interconnected. I reconnected with several old high school friends with whom I socialize every weekend, and in less than 2 weeks time, I will be the neighbor of my best friend. My urges to hoard and collect have been becoming less and less as I interact with friends and family.

That's GREAT Rave that you are finding the different ways and methods that that are working for you. :)

Keep up the wonderful progress. :)

My awakening and change has developed over the last couple of years, as I found myself lifting my head up from a depression I didn't even realize I was in. I am moving into a new house (clean slate!) and taking as little with me as possible, and in the process I am cleaning out and cleaning up my old home. I'm having to do it alone, as my community has no professional resources, and it's hard, but the hardest part was changing my own habits that spiraled by hoarding out of control.

I was a compulsive shopper, and I racked up credit card debt, plunged by credit rating into rock bottom, and stuffed my house. What I couldn't manage to afford new, I found at garage sales. Garage sales were a family outing with my mother and grandmother, which added to the emotional high. I woke up the day I realized I didn't even have enough money to buy a cup of coffee, literally. I stopped going to garage sales - they are too tempting - and instead I looked through catalogs and cut out pictures of things I liked. It sounds silly, I know, but by doing this, I not only was no longer able to order from the ruined catalog, but I still felt a little "shopping high" by simply imagining having it. It has taken a few years, but my credit rating is now stellar, and I stopped bringing in more and more things.

The other thing that really helped me is that for the last year or so, I've been channeling my hoarding compulsion into *digital* hoarding. I bought some inexpensive flash drives and downloaded images of cool items and clothing I would find online. It gives me satisfaction to view these items and organize them in computer folders. But in the meantime, my house is no longer accumulating stuff, and my computer isn't becoming overloaded because all the images are on small thumb drives.

I know that to some, collecting clippings and digital images may seem like a silly way of doing things, but I know for a fact that it has helped me a great deal. I'm collecting and viewing, but I'm not continuing to fill real-life rooms. Meanwhile, I have been tossing things left and right as I go through my physical clutter; what I find that is still good or usable but don't particularly need, I'm storing for the garage sale my friends and I are having this spring. What I don't sell will be thrown away. I'm getting emotionally stronger as I continue to work, and I'm seeing real progress.

My awakening and change has developed over the last couple of years, as I found myself lifting my head up from a depression I didn't even realize I was in. I am moving into a new house (clean slate!) and taking as little with me as possible, and in the process I am cleaning out and cleaning up my old home. I'm having to do it alone, as my community has no professional resources, and it's hard, but the hardest part was changing my own habits that spiraled by hoarding out of control.

I was a compulsive shopper, and I racked up credit card debt, plunged by credit rating into rock bottom, and stuffed my house. What I couldn't manage to afford new, I found at garage sales. Garage sales were a family outing with my mother and grandmother, which added to the emotional high. I woke up the day I realized I didn't even have enough money to buy a cup of coffee, literally. I stopped going to garage sales - they are too tempting - and instead I looked through catalogs and cut out pictures of things I liked. It sounds silly, I know, but by doing this, I not only was no longer able to order from the ruined catalog, but I still felt a little "shopping high" by simply imagining having it. It has taken a few years, but my credit rating is now stellar, and I stopped bringing in more and more things.

The other thing that really helped me is that for the last year or so, I've been channeling my hoarding compulsion into *digital* hoarding. I bought some inexpensive flash drives and downloaded images of cool items and clothing I would find online. It gives me satisfaction to view these items and organize them in computer folders. But in the meantime, my house is no longer accumulating stuff, and my computer isn't becoming overloaded because all the images are on small thumb drives.

I know that to some, collecting clippings and digital images may seem like a silly way of doing things, but I know for a fact that it has helped me a great deal. I'm collecting and viewing, but I'm not continuing to fill real-life rooms. Meanwhile, I have been tossing things left and right as I go through my physical clutter; what I find that is still good or usable but don't particularly need, I'm storing for the garage sale my friends and I are having this spring. What I don't sell will be thrown away. I'm getting emotionally stronger as I continue to work, and I'm seeing real progress.

I have a scanner, which I use to scan all my important documents into my computer. I scan less important documents too - then throw them away or shred them.

Sherry, it's great to hear that update! I'm so happy for you! I hope to hear more updates for you later!

Congratulations Sherry!
That sounds like a lot of physical and emotional work and a great deal of relief and joy in cleaned spaces.

Chatted lil bit wLR2014 fri nite told him I would be cleaning with my grandson this weekend so this is an update. We were able tto clean the great room! That's the den, living room, and the dining room (I knew there was a table under that mess!) Now wworkin on the kitchen n laundry room. Next weekend 2 bathrooms n 2 bedrooms (Tim keeps his pretty clean) yay, I am soooo happy!

One of the areas I have issues with is papers - being afraid to throw things out with my name and address on them (and sometimes things that really legitimately should be shredded like stuff that has my social security number on it). I set up a box near my couch and anytime i'm sorting through stuff or come across something that needs to be shredded, i put it in the box. Then when i'm sitting on the couch watching tv, I pull stuff out of the box and shred it.

Another area I'm (sometimes) successful at is that a lot of my stuff has ended up in boxes - so I try at least once a week to take one full box and do something with everything in it - throw away, recycle, set aside for donation, or put somewhere where it makes more sense for it to be. My goal with each one is to be able to break down the box and put it in the recycling bin. I also do my very best to have a completely full garbage can every week.

Anyone have suggestions for tackling closets that are full (and not just full of clothes)? I often open the door and just get overwhelmed and give up.

re computer clutter... I suppose I am not the only one who can use advice about how to de-clutter and organize all the email, documents,pictures,lists, and import stuff on our computers. I found the following article which I hope to utilize and thought maybe one of you might get something out of also... http://phys.org/news/2013-03-digital-de-clutter.html

LR2014
re trash can "tricks" from 4/7/2014
un-usual, creative, "not normal" definitely not what they show in the decorating magazines

I have tried similar tactics with some success..
containers for trash any where they might be needed

recycle bins

shelves... (how many shelves are allowed? how many are "normal"

I need to dig out the shredder... it got buried
(had my son burn some papers in the grill)

I know that trying to do things the "normal" way often does not work for me...
words like "normal" or "the RIGHT way" tend to paralyze me. like "if you want to quit smoking you have to not have cigs, lighter around... and not be around people that smoke, etc. well I did it all wrong but it worked for me, I quit and i have not started again. I wish I could have found and had the confidence to do more things the way that would work for me.
has anyone read ORGANIZING FROM THE INSIDE OUT? I have to find my copy. IT spoke to me,
sorry again. I am rambling

I've probably mentioned it before, but I have certain items I usually want/need to have with me when I go do outside work (whether it's inside the city limits or out in a rural area where I do work frequently). In the past, I would get ready to leave to go do that work, then remember that I'd forgotten something. I'd come back, get it, start to leave, then remember something else I forgot. I wasted a lot of time that way. Sometimes, I'd end up forty-five minutes away from home before I remembered a needed item (such as sunscreen), and then I'd either go buy more or do without.

One very simple thing that has helped me greatly has been to make a list of standard items that I need when I do that work (gloves of various types, the right keys, something to pull my hair back with, dust masks, specific tools, eye-protection goggles, snacks, water to drink, etc.). I have started putting these items into a "packet" (like a gallon-sized zip-lock plastic bag) well in advance of planned trips so that the items are ready to grab when I'm ready to go. Some things need to be packed at the last minute (for example, refrigerated items), so I double-check my list before I leave to do my outdoor work just to make sure I've put those types of items in my vehicle. It's so simple to do, and now that I've gotten into the habit of doing it, it's saved me from a lot of potential frustration and has helped me get out the door quickly in the mornings so I can get more work done before it gets hot outside.

I like your plan, LoLo. I'd love to know how things are going for you!

Hi LoLo :)
Sounds like you are well prepared to start!

Here is a little tip...
when faced with extra stinky jobs, put a little dab of vaporub under your nose.
This way you only smell the campher and eucalyptus, not the nasty smelly stuff.

Good luck and please let us know how it's going. :)

Just joined online support group Sunday past.
My idea to help myself start my hoarding cleaning is to (((PREP))))for the venture.

I got some nice boxes from the post office.

Tried to fill each box with like things for cleaning:

a box with: plastic gloves, paper towel, trash bags, cloths for cleaning and dusting, masks, and dollar store shower curtains(to lay out newly cleaned items on the floor) plus zip and sandwich bags.

a box with: cleaning supplies of all kinds from the dollar store. includes wipes of all kind, especially disinfectant wipes, furniture, window and all surfaces wipes. Fabuloso cleaner, lemon spray cleaner, brillo, comet cleanser and dish and wash detergents and hand sanitizer

a box with orthro insect spray, pest stickies and othro mice traps from home depot.

Standing in readiness: my mop, my dust mop,my broom, my dust pan, my vacuum cleaner, pails of water to rinse my mop out

My recycle can with trash bags in the bottom,and trash bags hanging in several areas of the room for convenience.

My air spray and inscence to keep the smell of dead mice down.

It took a week to prep. better than not at all... hope this helps someone that everything for cleaning is in one area, reachable hopefully accesible

Found this resource to help keep the clutter down once you have gotten a handle on it. It does cost $10 to download the checklists for Pulling Yourself Together: Implementing a Cleaning Routine That Sticks. But if you, like me, come from a family where cleaning chores were rather random, this can help you stay on top of things.
http://www.organizeandinspire.com/2014/01/homekeeping-binder-and-organizing-for-2014/

Homekeeping Binder and Organizing for 2014! | Organize and Inspire
www.organizeandinspire.com

Watching Hoarders and participating in the discussions, I am aware of one important dynamic in families of hoarders. Sometimes hoarding is a family problem where everyone adds to the problem, but the family has chosen to pick one scapegoat to blame. Usually this is the female head of the household.
Keeping a house clean is the responsibility of everyone who lives there.
Kids can learn to get a rag from under the sink and mop up their own spills as soon as they can walk. When they are little, this is fun and before you know it, they have developed a habit without really thinking about it.
You may need to have a family meeting and post new rules.

House Rules:
If you open it, close it
If you drop it, pick it up
If you spill it, mop it up
If you break it, fix it or find someone who can
If you got it out, put it away
If you empty it, fill it
If you use it up, replace it
If you eat or drink out of it, wash it up
If you are finished using it, put it up
If your wore it, hang it up or put it in the hamper
If you sleep on it, make it up
There is no maid service here. You are responsible for what you use.

If everyone shares the responsibility of keeping the house neat, there is more time to enjoy spending time together.
Change is hard. People won't like it at first. Persevere like a broken record. Hang in there!

One hard thing for me is sorting laundry before I do it. My mom was very picky about this. With several kids, there is always laundry to do and doing all the jeans together or all the towels together just makes sense. Now that I live alone, laundry is piling up. Waiting until I have a load of towels makes no sense.

One thing that is working for me is to quickly fill the laundry basket from the hamper the night before and set it next to the washer. I can pop it in the washer before I eat breakfast. It is ready to put in the dryer after I am dressed and have had breakfast. Then I have one chore to cross off the list right away. That makes me feel good.

Another thing that works for me is cleaning out the refrigerator as I make the grocery list for the week. I am clear about what I already have and what I need. I also keep a fluorescent note card under a magnet on the refrigerator. As I run out of something, it goes on the list.

Reestablishing good habits is hard.

I like the post about wastebaskets. I just need to relocate two of mine. One in the entry way to catch junk mail. One in the living room so I don't have to make a trip to the kitchen to discard things.

Thanks for posting, Roxie and Karl. (And after reading your post, Roxie, I remembered I needed to put dental floss on my grocery list!)

One concept that was very interesting to me the first time I read it (was in a Sandra Felton book) was that while those of us with clutter issues have too much of some items, we often actually have too few of others. She mentioned, for example, that some of us have too few trashcans, or maybe we have lots of books but no bookcase. I realized she was right in my case. I got a new bookcase as well as more trash cans. In the past, if I had to go too far to get to a trash can, I found I was tempted to do the "I'll throw it away later" type of thinking.

Speaking of trash cans, here's a practical thing that has been helpful to me the past year or so. I will say ahead of time that this probably wouldn't be helpful to those of you who have graduated to clean and nicely-decorated homes. I myself have found that using one of those tall, paper lawn/leaf bags as a "trash can" in some rooms has helped me. I keep a couple of those tall leaf bags lined with very large trash bags. The leaf bags stand up well; I don't worry about them tipping over. (This might not work well if you had pets.) Because they are so tall, it is easier on my ever-aging back and legs. I don't have to stoop over to put the trash in it. And since it hold so much, I can put quite a bit in it before having to take it out to the trash bin. As long as I keep it lined, I can use the same lawn/leaf bag many times without having to replace it. I can also label it. (I have one that is labeled "shredding.") They are not exactly lovely. I'm not going to win some Good Housekeeping decorator award while using them. But they do help me get rid of some of my indoor trash faster and better than do some of my smaller trash cans.

I have found that clear ziplock bags of various sizes help me organize a lot of things and keep them dust free. I keep an eye out for sales on them. Here's one thing I do with them.

Don't you hate it when you need your charger for a phone, a battery-operated power tool, etc. and can't find it? Or the cords get all tangled up with other cords and it's a lot of trouble to get them untangled? I have started taking my chargers as I find them and putting each one in its own plastic ziplock bag. The bags in turn go into a clear plastic box that I keep in a certain room near an electrical outlet. The baggies keep the cords from getting all tangled together. Since each cord is in a clear bag, I can easily fish through the box and find the charger I need for a given task. I can take out the cord, use it right there at the nearby electrical outlet, then put it back in its bag and into the box when finished. Works for me!

Sometimes it's hard for me to get started dealing with certain paperwork. The following idea worked for me and friend who likewise has clutter issues. We called it "movie and box supper night" (or something like that).

One night a week, one of us would rent a movie and "host" the event. We would each provide our own food (so no one had to cook). If she hosted, that meant I brought my food and a box of papers I wanted to go through over to where she lived. We'd visit, watch the movie there at her place, and go through some of our paperwork at the same time. The next week, she brought her food and her paperwork over to my place. It was fun, motivating, and also friendship-building. This might not work for everyone, but it helped us.

I am going to post some ideas (especially some creative ones) that have helped me in the past to make progress on my "stuff." What ideas have helped you? Although it's certainly OK to post the kinds of ideas you find in most organizing books, think in terms of creative ideas people might not read elsewhere...ideas that have actually worked for you in the past. Can't wait to see your ideas.