Get Rid of Your Clutter! Make Room for Living Well

Part 1 Presented by:

Leanor Vlug

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

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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

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Why come to the workshop?

q  Share your ideas / reasons: § 

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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

Make Room for Living Well

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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)

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

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What Do You Think Clutter Means?

What is Clutter?

o  The word “clutter” comes from the old English word “clotter” which means “to get stuck together”

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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.)

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How does this make YOU feel?

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How do these make you feel?

Being Clutter-free is a Lifestyle Choice

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Some people find organizing easy. Others find it very hard: They need help from a trusted friend or a professional organizer.

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What do you see?

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See This!!!!!

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Or - change this…

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To this!!

The Impact of Clutter

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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

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

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LOOKING FOR THINGS THAT I HAD

JUST A MINUTE AGO

WORKING

SLEEPING EATING

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CHAOS

o Can’t

o Have

o Anyone

o Over

o Situation

CLUTTER OR HOARDING ?

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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)

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

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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.

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COMPARE CLUTTERING HOARDING

Person IS aware of the mess

Person not bothered by mess

Messy/disorganized Keep things obsessively Things not use/not love “Must keep” – no limits Too many things/small space

Can’t decide clearly what is useful / what is garbage

Not finished projects/things

Whole home is full of stuff

Maybe one area is messy Isolates self because can’t invite people inside

Can function every day Often stays away from home because not comfortable in mess

I’M NOT A HOARDER, BUT….

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

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Warning Signs of Too Much Clutter

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Role Play

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Lisa got rid of many boxes!

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.

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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

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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

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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.

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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.