Did you realise your clutter has magnetic qualities?

Had you noticed?  Maybe not, but I can assure you it's true.  Clutter possesses a special kind of magnetism.  I'm not suggesting you can declutter your home or office by producing a giant magnet (unfortunately it's not quite that easy), but one item of clutter will inevitably attract more of the same.

For instance, you pick up junk mail from your doormat.  You leave it on your coffee table.  You go back a week later and there is a sizeable pile of paperwork on your coffee table.  Or, instead of hanging up your coat when you get in, you toss it on a chair.  The following day the coat is hidden by other items of clothing which have seemingly, just 'appeared'.

Unless you have resident Goblins, there are two points to be aware of here,

1.  Like it or not, leaving clutter lying around will attract more clutter and before you know it you'll have a huge problem on your hands.

2.  The psychology of the first point is that when other members of your household (or your staff, if the problem is in your office), realise you are being untidy, there's less incentive for them to be tidy.  In addition, let your clutter guard slip just once, then you're likely to do it again.

So, OK, it's not exactly magnetic, but you get what I mean.  Let's face it, if you left a five pound note on your coffee table you wouldn't come back to a big pile of five pound notes.  You see?  This is about a quality which is peculiar to clutter.

What can you do to prevent being overwhelmed?  Tackle it as soon as you've realised what's happening.  The sooner the better.  On the other hand, if you're reading this and realising that yours has got out of hand, then contact me for some support with decluttering on a larger scale.