Clear clutter, free your mind in Alameda

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Mar 18, 2004

SPRING IS ALMOST here, and thoughts turn to cleaning, clearing, starting fresh. But if your thoughts are stuck in a guest room or garage doubling as an online auction warehouse, Claire Tompkins has good news: You are not a bad person. "People feel if they had more time or they were superior beings, they wouldn't have clutter," says Tompkins, a clutter coach. "It's a truism in my industry that a lot of clutter is the result of delayed decision-making." The closets crammed with clothes, shelves overrun with knick knacks, boxes unpacked from the last move -- all can be handled by creating new habits and practicing better decision-making, she says. While some feel stigmatized by the state of all their stuff, the overloaded home or office is now the norm. Tompkins has walked into rooms that could be straight out of home improvement shows on cable TV. Other professional organizers report fire departments finding one in four houses filled to the brim. The cost of clutter is simple to calculate, says Tompkins. She relates the square footage of unusable space as a percentage of the mortgage, with shocking results in the Bay Area. There is a subtler cost to clutter as well. "Everything you have takes up a piece of space in your brain -- remembering where it is, keeping it working, putting it away. There is a direct connection between physical clutter and mental clutter. It affects the mind and mood," says Tompkins. An easy way to attack the problem, and avoid feeling overwhelmed, is to set a timer for 30 minutes or an hour and start tossing. Or, get rid of five things a day. Discarded objects must leave the house, says Tompkins, via trash can or donation. She suggests giving reusable items to a charity that is convenient or that supports a favorite cause to make offloading easy, meaningful or both. Managing mail and paperwork is a big step toward eliminating clutter. "We get more mail than our parents and much, much more than our grandparents," says Tompkins. She suggests sorting mail as follows: read, act, glance and file. Don't feel you have to handle the household's mail. Hand off other family members' mail. And toss junk mail immediately. Tompkins says junk mail opt-out programs really work. Stacks of papers are easily flattened by turning the stack upside down. Items on the bottom are probably outdated or irrelevant, so tossing out a lot of pages right away builds momentum. If you're reluctant to throw away newspaper or magazine articles, consider that most information is available online or at the library. Some pieces, like investment articles, become outdated anyway. For money-saving offers, ask yourself if the potential savings are worth an hour of research. If not, recycle.

Tompkins suggests keeping photos of sentimental objects, such as T- shirts, instead of holding on to the real thing. A collection can also be pruned down to favorite or most valuable pieces.

"Then, the collection is more special because you've chosen the best," she says.

To stop clutter before it starts, she recommends consumable gifts such as flowers, gift certificates and museum memberships.

The coach, who teaches classes and meets clients one on one, describes her service as "non-judgmental help for the overwhelmed." She says she is not a born organizer, just someone who got fed up with her own clutter and taught herself tricks of the trade.

"That gives me an edge. Because I did it, I know others can get organized, too," she says.

She learns clients' needs and values, then creates a tailored approach. She finds that much of her job is listening and validating feelings because so much emotion is invested in personal spaces. Once new habits are developed, the sorting and decision-making become more routine.

Tompkins belongs to the National Association of Professional Organizers. NAPO's Web site, www.napo.net, offers nationwide referrals.

Tompkins and Pam Condie have taught Clutter Busters 101 at Alameda Adult School. Their next class, at Piedmont Adult School, 594-2655, starts April 6. Claire Tompkins can be reached at 535-0856 or claire@cluttercoach.net .

Call Suzanne T. Storar at 523-6641 or e-mail STStorar@aol.com with information about Alameda's interesting people, places or events.