Questions to ask yourself

By: Elaine Birchall, MSW RSW, Social Worker, Ottawa Public Health; Coordinator :Ottawa Community Response to Hoarding Coalition, March 2006

SELF HELP QUESTION TO ASK YOURSELF
(to get you started or keep you going)

Question About Acquiring

• Do I have an immediate use for it?
• Do I need it? How many do I already have?
• Can I get by without it?
• Do I feel compelled to have it?
• Can I afford it comfortably?
• Do I have time to deal with it appropriately i.e? maintain it?


Questions About Discarding

• Do I need it?
• Do I have a plan to use this?
• Have I used this in the last year?
• Can I get it elsewhere i.e.. the library?
• Do I have enough space for it already clear and available?
• Do I love it?

Questions About How to Organize & Let Go

• Start with one area; spend as many future work periods as needed to complete your goal for this area.

• If entrances, exits or areas near heat and ignition sources for example, (furnaces, stoves, portable heaters, baseboard heaters, water heaters or uncovered light bulbs, are a cluttered, start with
them first for safety reasons and continue working in that area until clear. The 1st fire safety priority is clear routes into and out of the residence. The 2nd priority is entrance and exits from each room.

caution: Extension cords should not be used for permanent wiring purposes i.e.. instead of adequate electrical outlets connected to the electrical panel. Make sure smoke detectors are functioning.

• Begin by creating categories for possessions

• Sort into discard, recycle/giveaway & keep piles

• Use questions provided in "Acquiring & Discarding" Sections to decide.

• Continue until chosen area is clear

• Imagine and plan and a more pleasing use for the cleared area

• Plan for preventing new clutter build up for that area by following the ideas in "Relapse Prevention."

Relapse Prevention

• Evaluate current reasons for cluttering

• Get yourself support:

1.trusted family & friends [/size]
2.knowledgeable counselor[/size]
3. Knowledgeable professional organizer[/size]
4. Online support as provided above[/size]
• Schedule regular times to organize & let go

• Invite visitors home

• Anticipate known stressors and your reactions

• Apply skills developed so far and search out others to build on

• Identify resources for the future

• Be gentle with yourself and keep working at it.

• It's what you do every day, no matter how much, that will get you where you want to be.

Remember: "The person who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones." (Dane County Elder Abuse Office - "This Full House"), Dane County, USA - 2000

What a great list!!!

I know some of these are probably up there, but this is what I ask myself:

-- do I love it?

-- do I need it?

-- am I going to need it in the near future?

-- how many of these do I need?

-- if clothing, does it make me look great?

-- do I wear it often or have I never worn it?

-- if it is information, can I get the information off the internet?

-- do I have multiple sources for the same information?

-- for kids' artwork -- really hard -- can I pick the best representatives of that, do I need to save every scrap?

-- have I used it in the last year?

-- will I ever use it? (not might I use it)

-- is it reasonable to expect that I will ever use it, ever?

-- do i have the time to deal with it -- ever?

-- is keeping this keeping me from my long term goal of a cleaned out house?

Now that I am trying to dig myself out, sometimes I go through an 'angry phase' -- angry at myself for buying so much -- so, sometimes I ask myself these questions:

-- does this object make me angry or carry any other emotional weight? I don't 'ask myself' this, but I think about how I feel when I look at the object or pick it up. Does it make me feel sad, angry, resentful, remorseful, or (insert negative emotion here)?

-- does this object remind me of when my hoarding / shopping was at its worst?

-- is it something that someone insisited that I take (and I couldn't say no) or foisted upon me somehow and I now resent them for it?

-- is the object a reminder of some past relationship that I no longer care about?

If the answer is 'yes' to any of these questions, I get rid of it. Sometimes I even throw it in the trash, even if it is good. That is kind of liberating.

If I am having trouble making a decision, I simply put the item aside for the present. I try not to waste time. Or, sometimes, I repack things and then go through them again. I have gone through my belongings a number of times, each time trying to reduce them down to what I really, really love and need.