Avoid the stress and shame of a messy home with a few simple tips
A recent client and customer survey conducted by the Curb-It junk removal app marketing team revealed some insights that ring true to anyone who has found themselves in a cluttered, unorganized home. Let’s be honest, who has not found themselves embarrassed when a house guest wanders into the messy garage?
We will quickly get to a few tips that will help you overcome the obstacles to a cleaner, more organized life, but first, let’s get a look at the problems people are facing. Let’s look at how a cluttered, messy home makes you feel.
Anxious and Overwhelmed
Many people in the survey reported feelings of anxiety about the mess they need to clean up. Maybe you are a busy person with a full work calendar, and though having a messy guest room is anathema to your modus operandi, you don’t have the time to organize the space. Feelings of anxiety can quickly become too much, and we become overwhelmed to the point of being apathetic about the mess. Then, it only gets worse.
Embarrassed or Ashamed
As if we needed one more thing to feel ashamed about when we compare ourselves to others, right? Instagram and Facebook are littered with profiles from super-organized heroes who are so proud of their offices and homes that they cannot help but photograph and share them. Can you imagine sharing a shot of your cluttered playroom? Me neither. The truth is, however, that there are far more of us with messy, confusing lives than organized, optimized lives.
Distracted and Lost
The minimal movement has picked up steam as our lives have grown more cluttered with stuff. We don’t all have to strive for an immaculate tiny home where everything has its space, but we do have to consider the importance of a clean environment. When you have that messy guest room to clean, it comes with the constant distraction of knowing that you should be fixing the problem. And when we cannot find what we need, we waste time and energy searching through the mess.
Some of those feelings probably apply to you. If you are like me, they might all apply at different times. Sometimes we have a handle on things and we can keep everything organized enough to live with minimal distraction and no shame. But then stuff happens, and next thing you know, you have a growing pile of junk on your hands. What can you do?
Give Yourself a Break
The mess is not going to be easy to clean up, but that is no reason to beat yourself up. Being too hard on yourself doesn’t do anyone any good. In fact, it will complicate all the feelings mentioned above. Instead, accept that you are human and fallible. Sometimes we have messes to clean up. It is no big deal, really.
Hire Some Help
Whether you are physically hampered or just wildly short on time, you can find help for hire. Here in Portland, and in a growing number of other cities, we have Curb-It. They have made it fast and easy to have your junk hauled away. You take a pic, then you get your upfront price and a vetted hauler, and your stuff is gone in a few hours. It’s on-demand junk hauling.
Create a System
As you begin the clean up process, think about how you got to this point in the first place. Did things pile up slowly, or was there a major event that kept you too busy to clean? Do you have too much stuff? Is your space too limited? Gather that data from your memory and create a system going forward that allows you to maintain a cleaner home, so that the mess doesn’t pile up again. Consider scheduling a regular, monthly cleaning day.
Share Your Story
This one sounds crazy. I don’t expect you to photograph your messy garage, sharing it with pride across all your social platforms. But have you thought of doing a before and after photo? Try to snap pics of some of the cool things you unearth as you declutter. Part of removing the shame and stigma around having a mess is letting your friends and family know that they are not alone. We all have junk removal work to do, and we are all a little embarrassed when the mess piles up. Let’s create a community that is proud of cleaning up and ready to help when life leads to mounting messes.
Curb-It is on-demand junk removal
You snap a pic of the stuff you want gone
You get upfront prices from background-checked Providers
You select your Hauler and your stuff is gone within hours
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