The First Step is . . . Overwhelming

So you have looked around your house and decided it is over cluttered. You are wasting too much energy on living with clutter. Great. So now what?

The obvious answer is deal with the clutter. Get rid of what you don't need and organize the rest. Easy right?  Oh how I wish it was that simple. 

If you are anything like me and my family, wanting to get rid of clutter is not a new idea. We have tried - and failed - to declutter many many times. We were destined to continue to fail until we finally saw the huge wall that was between us and actual progress. 

That wall is called Overwhelm. I was overwhelmed by the clutter I needed to deal with in order to have an organized space. That being said, we have too much clutter but we don't live in fear of the Hoarders team knocking on our door. The clutter is not that bad. It is just the thought of it that is overwhelming. 

Overwhelm is an emotional response to a situation or activity. It activates your fight or flight response and basically shuts down your logical mind. Because it is an instinctual reaction, it does not take into account the realities of the situation. It just wants you to run away from it. 

Even the thought of trying again (and failing) to declutter exhausted me before I even started. It was not going to work, so why even bother. The task was just too huge. Any of this sound familiar?

Luckily, I am blessed with an amazing sister who understands the limitations of people with chronic illness and anxiety. She also understands how easily clutter can take over if you get overwhelmed and give up because she has been there. 

My sister was able to talk us down off the proverbial ledge and give us a way to see that we can do this one little piece at a time. 

Below is a photo that I am very embarrased to share. I have decided to share it because I feel that the nature of chronic illness makes it likely we all have places in our homes we can't deal with or that embarrass us. And I am hoping my being willing to share our before and after will motivate others to stop being ashamed of these trouble spots and actually deal with them even if it means letting someone else see your mess. 

This is a wall in one room of our house. It is a catch all for craft supplies, bags, basically any crap we don't know what to do with gets tossed there. It started out when a piece of unused kitchen cabinet got tossed in a corner to be disposed of later. 

Only problem was, the trash will not take it and even if they would it was too heavy for any of us to lift. So it became an eyesore that just got worse over the 6 years we have lived in the house. It looks horrible and makes us feel even worse. It is also one of the first things you see when you come in the house. 

When my sister asked what bothered us most this was it. But we have tried so many times to "fix it" and failed over and over. That is because I was overwhelmed by the idea of bringing order to this area. Organizing with your freaked out emotional side leading is destined to fail. You have to push past the Overwhelm and let your brain take back over. 

Here is what happened when I was finally able to let my locigal brain deal with this same space. 

Is it perfect?  No. Are we still stuck with the cabinet we can't move?  Yes. Is it better than it has been since we moved in. You betcha. But the most important thing is that it is now a functional space that we can use rather than a dumping ground. 

In future posts, I will share the system my sister taught us to break this overwhelming task down into small enough parts that I could deal with it without sending myself back into a state of Overwhelm. 

The moral of this post is, you can do it - but you might need help. Find a patient, nonjudgemental person who understands what limitations you have and have them help you break through the overwhelm. It might be a friend, a family member or for some of you, it might even be a professional organizer. 

Push any embarassment aside. Living with chronic illness forces you to become incredibly strong. But part of that strength is being able to admit when you need help. 

Use what ever tool, get whatever help you need to beat back Overwhelm. Once you do, you can start decluttering with your logical mind. You will be amazed at the difference it makes. Trust me.