Learning to Control Clutter – and to Profit from a Slimmed Down Life

Have you ever wondered about the popularity of the TV shows on hoarding? Clean House has been some sort of genre leader in this, having run for close to 10 years with strong audiences. There are other copycat shows like Hoarding: Buried Alive that have been doing well for years as well. How exactly does one explain the popularity among casual TV audiences of people who cannot throw anything away and drown in their own clutter? Psychiatrists say that less than 1% of Americans suffer from any serious form of compulsive hoarding. People don't watch these shows for the way they portray their own character; it could be possible that they watch them for the way they show an exaggerated version of what they struggle with. As you’ve undoubtedly seen on Oprah, from time to time, there are plenty of people who have a hard time learning how to control clutter in their lives. It is often people like these who find compulsive hoarder shows irresistible - as shows about people who understand their problem.

People who’ve managed to get out of the clutches of even a mild hoarding problem find that to learn to control clutter can often be a great way to get the upper hand on a variety of problems that this unfortunate habit brings with it.

As most people rightly feel, the less time we spend on cleaning our homes, the better. And there can be no better way of cutting down on the time needed than to control clutter that gets in the way. Carpets, throws, furniture, books, toys - it can to be impossible to go around the house with a vacuum when there is all this stuff that gets in the way. It happens to be a basic rule about getting things done in life: you have to make sure that the thing you want done is accessible. Placing as many obstacles in your way as possible is hardly the way to a clean house.

The benefits you come by learning to control clutter can be a lot more tangible than this too. Learning to not buy stuff that adds to the cluttered situation in your home saves you real money (and getting rid of all that stuff at a yard sale earns your real money too). And did you ever think of how all that stuff that you keep, requires space? It's space that you're paying for - often, in added rental bills. A larger home sucks up more power in heating, cooling and lighting bills as well. Any way you look at it, learning to control clutter saves you money.