Feeling proud

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So, I hate admitting this, but I am 100% a hoarder. Like an actual hoarder, not just somebody that likes to collect certain things (although that is true of me as well). It could easily be said that my life is literally a mess.

I moved back into my parents' house a year and a half ago and since then my floor has not been visible. It has been covered with boxes and papers and clothes and anything else you can think of, including trash.

My therapist has been trying to work with me on cleaning my room for a while now and since I often complain about how everything seems overwhelming his main suggestion has been to work in five minute increments every day. Work on small pieces instead of trying to do it all at once. We've tried this a couple of times, and in the past it has worked fine for the first few days, but once I got to a certain point I would become overwhelmed with not knowing where to go from there that I would give up.

It really sucked because I would be so excited that I could keep it up for a week, but as soon as I stopped I felt really bad about myself and the mess would be back within days. My therapist kept encouraging me to try again.

In the beginning of October I started again. I made it through the first week and after a week and a half I was cleaning without even setting my five minute alarm...so I was cleaning more than 5 minutes at a time. And it felt good and I could see progress and I set a goal of being able to vacuum my room before the month was over.

Last night I cleaned up the last of my floor (I can walk on it without having to step over OR around anything and it's such a weird thing to get used to!) which means that today I can vacuum when I get home from work! I am feeling really proud of myself and I hope I can finish cleaning up shelf and table spaces and the rest of the basement now and then maintain all of the work that I have done.

I'd like to use this as an opportunity to encourage anybody that might be working on something that seems impossible for you. You can do it and when you do it will feel awesome! And if you have a similar story about anything I would love to hear it!

That is a terrific accomplishment. Good work!

You are right to feel proud of this achievement.

I knew a woman who would gauge her level of depression by the pile of dishes in her sink.
I am not good at remembering where I put things - I never know if they got filed by function, shape, or association. So, I do better with a corner of everything I've used recently still showing. A super-tidy space looks sterile and uninviting to me. In school, we always had to tidy up just when it was getting interesting. Now, I'm learning to clean up after each phase of work, rather than pile on a new layer. If there is at least one clear table space, it is far easier to start a new job.
I maintain a workshop and hoard scraps of material for it, but I'm not an acquisitive collector. I can often make what I want from stock on hand, but if there is no new material coming in, I feel too limited. About nine years ago, my main workroom only had a narrow path through it so I could get from the bedroom/study to the kitchen/bath area. I decided to resume silversmithing just for my own enjoyment, since it had been my favourite way to not make a living. One thing led to another, and now the shop is fairly tidy despite the room taken by sheet-metal works and custom lumber milling as I put the finishing touches on a whole new roof for the house. It is not a very creative-looking job, but there was a steep learning curve on this funky old house, and also considerable danger to avoid. I worked almost flat out for two months, and then had to clean house for Halloween. The vacuum cleaner clogged several times, but I got done with more minutes to spare than in years past.

Good for you!

I have the same problem with closets and such since I can just close the door and it becomes out of sight out of mind -type of thing, but in actual living spaces I can't keep a mess. Everything has to be in it's own place or I get anxious... which is why it is a problem that my bookshelf is starting to not be enough for my books and I just have to stash the books wherever.

When I moved here, the place was a sea of boxes for two weeks. I barely had room for a lumber delivery, but found some tools and put up bookshelves. That cleared the book box space on the floor, and I was able to group things as I was used to finding them in the former abode. Years later, some have been rearranged to better fit the new spaces. The power tools are distributed to hooks near where they get used, instead of one central power tool place, now that I can remember all the places. The vitamins recently moved from the overcrowded kitchen space to the study, where I sip water. There have been more storage places built-in, and I buy enough cheap plastic drawers that there are still some empty ones. However, at garage sales, I tell people that I have to be careful- if I buy two things, I'll have to hold a sale myself. I had been contemplating burning my boats when some 20 year old publicity paid off and they sold, which paid for my roof.

Congratulations!

Excellent story, Marie!

I feel like, in our society, that we sometimes just have too much stuff!

One tip I really like concerns how to start a tidy-up. If you look at the mess and think about how many little decisions have to be made, it can be too discouraging. Instead, look at the space, and resist touching anything until you have visualized how you want it to look. Once that is firmly in mind, things move much faster.
Organizing a space that others share is much more rigorous than a private area with only one memory involved.

The FIRST thing I would do is get rid of what is blatantly GARBAGE.

Thank you, everybody!

Congratulations.

Right on! You should give yourself a pat on the back.

Who needs reality shows when we've got a real success story right here?