Do you find it hard to throw things away? Do you question every item that you are considering binning? Do you keep things to one side ‘just in case’?
If so, you are probably one of the millions of others who have hoarding tendencies.
Don’t worry, you’re actually in the majority!
Most of us struggle to throw things away, because we have been brought up with the mind-set that we shouldn’t be wasteful, and that we might need something one day. The thing is, by hoarding everything in one place, you’re actually creating a bogged down space, disrupting your daily work effectiveness, and contributing to the clutter in your mind.
America has that many external storage facilities these days that it really backs up the idea of hoarding. Take some heart from the fact that you’re not the only one!
Hoarding can be severe, e.g. compulsive, or it can be mild and run of the mill. The problem is, especially for a business, that hording items that aren’t needed can affect the way a business runs and the profit it makes. From a legal point of view, paperwork and records containing sensitive data should only be kept for a certain amount of time, and anything more than that could deem you to be breaking data protection laws. Hoarding is never just about having a few extra boxes around, it is about cluttering up your space and creating a work environment headache.
Of course, you could be a home hoarder too, but either way, hoarding is not an effective use of space or time. It’s no wonder that more and more people are considering the use of external storage, such as renting storage space away from their property, because this is a halfway mark between hoarding items and keeping them out of your way entirely. You won’t struggle to find a storage facility where you life. Online searches for storage are prevalent, with storage Austin, TX, being a popular one. A huge state like Texas has a huge amount of storage facilities to go along with its size!
So, it is better to hoard items and keep them in these storage facilities, or is it better to declutter completely? Much of this is down to what you are holding onto, and whether there is a real reason to do so, or whether this is out of habit or sentimentality. Some items shouldn’t’ be thrown away, for instance, items which were from old family members, and in that case, putting these into storage is a totally acceptable solution to a problem. If however you are storing items which realistically you will never make use of again, perhaps its time to be ruthless and take a visit to the local tip instead?
Decluttering is not just about physical space, it is also about decluttering your mind, cutting stress levels, and making yourself much more effective in your day to day life, or at work, depending upon the location and situation.