Get Rid of Your Clutter! Make Room for Living Well Part 1 Presented by: Leanor Vlug

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Clare McKinney
6 years ago
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1 Get Rid of Your Clutter! Make Room for Living Well Part 1 Presented by: Leanor Vlug

2 Leanor Vlug o Deaf perspective o Many years in education & community work o Needed professional help to get organized o Why presenting? o Goal: to help support and encourage others by sharing own personal experience 2

3 What the workshop will cover: o Why Come to Workshop o Identifying Clutter o Impact of Clutter o What Not to Do o Getting Rid of Clutter o Maintaining Your Clutter-free home 3

4 Why come to the workshop? q Share your ideas / reasons: 4

5 Make Room for Living Well o The goal make room = live well Loving your space and things Feeling good about self Having energy for work and enjoyment o Throwing out stuff not easy. Reframing our thinking helps Learn from others 5

6 Reframing = changing o Thoughts hold us down Stuff = memories: good / bad o Separate self from the things Look and think Decide useful or not Is it for me now or future? What do I want for myself? o Ideas for new future Keep only what fits our goal(s) 6

7 Declutter your mind o Clearing out stuff can make us free Challenging, scary sometimes Exciting new experiences o Our thoughts and ideas Match who we want to be? o Celebrate success Small success = small reward Big success = bigger reward 7 7

8 What Do You Think Clutter Means? 8

9 What is Clutter? o The word clutter comes from the old English word clotter which means to get stuck together 9

10 Identifying Clutter o Things you do not use or love o Things that are messy or disorganized o Too many things in too small a space o Anything not finished (From Karen Kingston s book Clear your Clutter with Feng Shui, first printed in 1998.) 10

11 How does this make YOU feel? 11

12 How do these make you feel? 12

13 Being Clutter-free is a Lifestyle Choice Some people find organizing easy. Others find it very hard: They need help from a trusted friend or a professional organizer. 13

14 What do you see? 14

15 See This!!!!! 15

16 Or - change this 16

17 To this!! 17

18 The Impact of Clutter 18

19 Canadian Clutter Facts: o 66% feel bothered by their clutter o 60% admit clutter causes arguments in the family o 25% more furniture than they use is found in many homes o 40% would get rid of items they don t want if there were a free and easy way to do it o 33% store clutter anywhere there is space 19

20 The Negative Side of Clutter o Conflict in relationships o Wasting time o Wasting money o Low self-esteem o Unhealthy lifestyle o Stress o CHAOS SLEEPING WORKING LOOKING FOR THINGS THAT I HAD JUST A MINUTE AGO EATING 20

21 CHAOS o Can t o Have o Anyone o Over o Situation 21

22 CLUTTER OR HOARDING? 22

23 Hoarders o Not bothered by their own mess o Keep their things in an obsessive way o Tend to feel the need to collect stuff with no limits o Cannot make clear decisions about what is useful and what is not (hoarders often save garbage or dirty items) 23

24 Hoarders o Often become more and more isolated because they can t invite friends and family into their home o Spend more time away from the home (the home is not comfortable) o Having a junk room does not make you a hoarder 24

Signs of Hoarding: o There is an odd smell that fills up the home o Not able to keep the house in shape o Oven, microwave or fridge is not working o Plumbing does not work

25 Signs of Hoarding: o There is an odd smell that fills up the home o Not able to keep the house in shape o Oven, microwave or fridge is not working o Plumbing does not work o Pathways throughout the home o Bathroom used as a kitchen o Many items stored outside or on balcony/porch/sundeck o People even pay for storage to keep all their stuff. 25

26 COMPARE CLUTTERING Person IS aware of the mess Messy/disorganized Things not use/not love Too many things/small space Not finished projects/ things Maybe one area is messy Can function every day HOARDING Person not bothered by mess Keep things obsessively Must keep no limits Can t decide clearly what is useful / what is garbage Whole home is full of stuff Isolates self because can t invite people inside Often stays away from home because not comfortable in mess 26

27 I M NOT A HOARDER, BUT. 27

28 Are you in control of your stuff or is it controlling you? 28

29 Warning Signs of Too Much Clutter 29

30 Role Play 30

31 Lisa got rid of many boxes! 31

32 Reasons why we keep stuff 1. It might come in handy. 2. It was given to me. 3. It might be worth something. 4. I just need to go through it. 5. It is too good to throw away. 6. Nothing s wrong with it, it just needs fixing. 7. I'll keep it as an extra. 8. My children might want it. 32

33 Fears About De-cluttering o Forced to deal with things o Feeling guilty and sad to let go of things from the past o Feeling upset because de-cluttering is messy o No idea of what do with stuff you don t want o Clutter will come back 33

34 Homework Assignment You were asked to: o Bring a photo of one of your rooms that has too much clutter, or o Bring something that you find hard to let go of or o Bring a story about your clutter 34

35 Let s talk about your clutter o Break up into 2 groups o Each group discusses for 15 minutes o Share their homework item o List reasons for bringing their things o Each group s leader shares the common theme or highlight to the whole group. 35

36 See you tomorrow We will be learning how to manage clutter and organize spaces! Note: Be here early so that we will start promptly at 9:30 a.m. because we have to leave for the ferry terminal at 11:45 a.m. 36

1) What kind of home do you live in? Who else lives there with you?

Hoarding Interview Client initials: Date: 1) What kind of home do you live in? Who else lives there with you? 2) Let s talk about the rooms in your home. [Use the Clutter Image Rating pictures to determine