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Organization Tips for a Pack Rat

You have probably heard the term before, but just in case you have not, here is what a pack rat is, someone who holds onto everything, even trash! If you have boxes of old records, books since grade school, outdated paperwork, decades worth of clothing, piles of magazines, calendars and planners more than 10 years old, old board games gathering dust, toys from children that have moved out years ago, you are probably a pack rate.

The Pack Rat keeps everything; there is nothing that is too insignificant for them. They are literally controlled by their possessions and fear what will happen if they someday "need" what they threw out.

Tips to Help Pack Rats Clean House

* Determining why you're a Pack Rat will help you focus on how to solve the problem. For example, are you a sentimental person? Is your items proof of places you've been or work you've accomplished?

* Beware of being held hostage by your possessions. When your stuff begins taking over your life and you spend all your time climbing over things, looking for missing items, and fretting over where you'll put your next treasure, you are wasting precious time that you can never buy back.

* If your children pick up on your Pack Rat style, they will have the same problem when they're out on their own. If you begin to get organized now, your children will see how important it is and hopefully, follow your lead.

* As a rule, if you don't use it or enjoy it, it's nothing more than clutter. If you don't know what it is, it's clutter. If it's too nice to use, it's clutter. Toss it or give it to someone who will use it and appreciate it.

* Get your family into the De-cluttering Game. Make a party out of it. Play music, have refreshments, Toss-Toss-Toss. Have a pending reward ready, such as a big family dinner at a favorite restaurant after you've significantly reduced your clutter!

* If you save things you feel you may use someday, create a May Come in Handy Someday box. Place those things inside and when the box is full, discard something before you put anything else in.

* Instead of displaying everything you like at once, display a little bit at a time. Keep the rest boxed up in storage. Every few months, put a few of these things in your box and take a few other things out for display.

* Have you ever put aside broken items with the expectation that you'll get them fixed one day? Chances are, these items are still where you left them and they're still broken. Immediately schedule a date on your calendar and repair them when the date rolls around or toss the items right now while you have it on your mind.

* Take photographs of possessions you don't want to forget, but don't have the space for. Save the photos in a scrapbook. Keep the memory, rather than allowing the memory to take up space.

* Avoid putting off your decisions. That's when you put things aside that you're not sure what to do with. These temporary storage areas almost always turn into permanent storage. Force yourself to make a decision whether to keep it or toss it.