Well maybe only 3 steps to get started.
I admit it already. I think I am hiding it, but we all know I’m not covering it up well. I am a pack rat, a hoarder, a sentimental junk collector.
There I said it out loud. Isn’t that supposed to be the first step?
Yeah, about recovering from this…not gonna happen. Instead, I spin it my own way into being organized. Can anyone define OCD for me?
I love to collect snippets of life along this journey to remind me of thoughts or feelings or events. Not that I re-visit them all that much, but I still save stuff. Perhaps you have seen my card album post?
1.) Enter the SMASH BOOK
It’s messy and colorful and my life mushed into a non-scrapbook scrapbook. I get to continue hoarding meaningless baubly silly stuff and I can do it without encroaching on every inch of living space that I share with 2 other human beings who seem to like clean and orderly living. Win.
2.) Pinterest
I know I link to it often, it’s just that I am still in love with it. It’s digital hoarding of stuffage that I want to read, research, try, explore. Even though I’ve been on it since the beginning I still have an obsession with it. For me it’s not the thrill of digital collecting just to be collecting, although that’s valid if you are so inclined cuz it takes up a lot less space than say collecting real taxidermied wild animals, which is also valid if you are so inclined. Just not my cup of tea.
The disclaimer on the fabulousness of Pinterest is this:: when your boards reach critical mass…stop. Just stop collecting and start organizing. I made the mistake of thinking I will have only 10 boards, that’s it! Then my problem became scrolling till my hand cramped to find exactly what I KNEW I had pinned 2 1/2 yrs ago. Now that I have broken out some of the critical mass boards into usable storage boards, I am getting more inspired all over again.
I am obsessed with the organization of information I can actually FIND again when I have the time to read, research, try or explore. It also tames the out-of-control paper tiger that was wreaking havoc on my home. No more printing information to stack up only to get lost in the abyss of my office. Another win.
3.) Contain it
I am a big believer in glass jars & baskets. They can contain anything.
And if you are still finding yourself at critical mass, try 40 bags in 40 days.
Holy cow it works!
yarnchick 
Hi Lisa! I loved looking at your organized hoarding. I wished I had some organizational skills in me. The only thing we share in common is the love of pretty and useful things; that I know will come in handy some day. 🙂 LOL
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Smash book! I NEED to do this! I don’t have time (or the inclination) to cut up little fancy pieces of colored paper and make cute captions and find coordinating stickers, blah blah blah. I do, however, have multiple boxes full of European mementos that would be much better appreciated in a book I could flip through! Hm….
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You really do 🙂 I used my 50% coupon for JoAnn and found it in the clearance aisle so it was super cheap. The only accessory to go with it is washi tape. Also super cheap. All that scrapbook blah, blah, blah is not for me either…but I will spend 200 hours on an afghan…priorities I say.
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You got that right.
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