How to Prevent Hoarding From Becoming a Serious Problem
Unfortunately, hoarding can turn your life upside down and many lives have been ruined because of this epidemic. One of the main reasons attributed to hoarding is accumulation or holding onto many items that you no longer need. Nobody wants to be a hoarder but you can easily become one if you don’t follow the below tips. You don’t need to wait until your hoarding becomes so serious and disrupts your life. With the following handy tips.
Understanding what hoarding is
Keeping items that you love and treasure is not considered hoarding. However, hoarding manifests when you are unable to control and properly organize your items leading to an untidy home. Hoarding has physical, emotional, financial, legal and social effects for both the hoarder as well as their family. For this reason, it is vital to understand the effects of hoarding in order to stay away from this habit. Unfortunately, many people become hoarders because they in the first instance do not understand what hoarding is. Some people don’t get stressed or affected by hoarding which is unfair as their behavior ends up affecting their family members, neighbors and property owners. Knowing the effects of hoarding on yourself and others will go a long way in preventing the habit.
De-clutter Gradually
If you realize you’ve accumulate items you no longer need, don’t attempt to clear all of them in a single session. This is usually tiring and many who do this find de-cluttering inconveniencing and never do it again leading to hoarding. Go through your items in small spaces and remove what you don’t need. If you throw away everything at once, you could feel anxious or regret your actions. Gradual de-cluttering lowers the emotions associated with the process.
Stop “Let Me Keep it for Now” Tendencies
On many occasions, we love saying “let me keep it for now” for many kinds of items in our homes. The risk of doing this is you end up storing items you’re most likely not going to use again. Learn to handle objects and dispose them especially those that won’t be beneficial to keep for future use.
Keep Less Stuff
This is as simple as ABC. In as much we’d love to keep all our childhood items, there’s a likelihood of having too many items to deal with. A great tip is to only hold onto a few items and toss the rest. When you store less, you’re safe and won’t have to worry about ever falling into the trap of hoarding.
Use Boxes For Items You’re Undecided About
If you’re not able to decide whether to throw or keep an item for future use, the best way is to store it in a box as opposed to leaving unused items lying around the house. This is a brilliant idea for keeping items such as old newspapers, magazines and travel toiletries among others.
Sell or Donate
It is easier to get rid of an item from your home if you know it’s going to be taken care of by someone else or you can exchange it for money. As opposed to keeping so many items that would otherwise earn you extra money, it’s a safe bet to either sell or donate to a charity.