If you’ve lost sight of your carpet, can’t find your clean clothes in the pile on the floor, and don’t remember if that basket holds trash or important paperwork, it’s time to de-clutter. If you need a hammer and nails but have to wade through old toys, paint cans, and things that have gathered dust in your garage to find them, it’s time to de-clutter.

Have you given up having family dinners because you’ve lost the dining room table under the accumulated mess?

Do you shudder when you open your refrigerator because it’s a constant reminder that you’ve neglected it? Are you afraid when you need something the kids borrowed and you are forced to search through the endless clutter in their rooms to find your belongings? Do you have to clean out your seat into an already overloaded trunk just to give a co-worker a ride home?

People continually add to their daily stress because of the clutter in many, if not all, areas of their lives. Then they finally get a day off work only to once more ignore de-cluttering in favor of going shopping, running errands, or taking the kids somewhere to have fun. So, the clutter continues to build. They may feel they sacrifice enough of their time already and work too hard to spend their precious off-time decluttering. Yet this may be the one area that could simplify their busy lives. Gaining control over clutter can relieve stress. Sometimes a person will attempt to de-clutter their homes by cleaning and clearing only what can be readily seen by any visitors. This is similar to the child who shoves everything under the bed or into the closet in an attempt to fool mom and dad, or at least to get them off their backs temporarily.

People become frustrated every day because they have lost something because of lack of organization. They have shoved so much junk into lockers, closets, and into their drawers that they feel the situation is hopeless.

Busy families will literally stuff a dresser so full it finally breaks the runners on the drawers, handles are pulled off from tugging open an overstuffed drawer, and the bottom will give way.

Kids lose athletic clothing, tennis shoes, and socks for lack of organization. Parents lose their ties or are late to work because their suit was wadded into a pile and wrinkled. They forget to clean their uniforms. They misplace important papers.

Clutter can affect grades at school, relationships, self-esteem, and careers. Have people stopped visiting because your home has become so cluttered that it’s unsafe, a germ haven, and smelly---all because you need to de-clutter?

You can learn to de-clutter. You must reprogram your thinking process and reassess your priorities. It will help you regain your sense of overall well-being. It’s never too late to learn better habits.