Experts Teach You How to Tackle Clutter

It’s Saturday morning and mother-daughter team Sammi Scott and Dixie Schnieder of Organize, with life coach Christine Hunt of Hunt for Hope Wellness, had hoped to be leading a three-hour workshop. Coronavirus changed that plan. Instead, they are meeting with potential clients via Zoom and condensing the group teleconference to just one hour. 

Schneider opens with a confession. “I wasn’t always an organized person, but now as a working mother of four, I can’t afford to be unorganized. Being unorganized was costing me time and money.” 

This realization led her to form Organize, a personalized home and office organizing business, with her mom. Scott describes herself as “a Type-A personality.” She has always been “tough on clutter.” 

With no time to spare, they offer tips on ways to tame the clutter that surrounds many of us: 

  • Schedule a time to deal with the clutter. “If I don’t put it on my calendar, it won’t happen,” Schneider says.  
  • Use containers. Junk drawers, cabinets, and closets—almost any space—can benefit from sorting like with like and then storing those items together. 
  • Containers need not be expensive. Scott suggests using shoe boxes as drawer dividers for socks and underwear. 
  • Shop in your own closets before going to the store. Scott recommends only buying replacement items. “If I buy a pair of shoes, I have to get rid of a pair of shoes.”  
  • When deciding what to keep and what to toss, ask yourself, “Do I love this item and is it useful?” If the answer to both questions is yes, keep it. If the answer to both is no, toss it. If you answer yes to one question and no to the other, put the item aside and come back to it. 
  • Best way to fold towels? It all depends on the shape of the space where you are storing them. 

While Scott and Schneider can tell us how to eliminate clutter, Hunt is all about the why. “Why do we have clutter and how does it make us feel?” she asks. “Clutter is symptomatic of other issues in a person’s life.” 

She explains that objects have energy and clutter can make people feel angry, tired and frustrated. “Dixie and Sammi can help you get organized. It’s my job (through counseling) to help you stay organized.” 

Find more clutter-corralling help at OrganizeYourLiving.com and HuntforHopeWellness.com.