De-Clutter Support Group - Week 2
During week 2 our topic was The Psychology Behind Clutter and Changing Behavior. We discussed the fact that it's not just about the "stuff." During the course of our lives, we have experiences - bad and good. Those experiences shape us. For some, it could be that their room was messy as a child and their parents "cleaned up" for them. In doing so, they lost their most precious stuff and felt like they had no control over the situation. When they became an adult and began living in their own homes, they acquired and never let anything go.
Or someone has suffered a loss - that loss could have been of a parent, spouse, child or of a job or even a dream. To fill the emptiness that loss has left behind, some turn to acquiring to fill the void.
I had all of the attendees take quizzes. One was Are You Situationally Disorganized. The other was Are You Chronically Disorganized. What I told the attendees was once you know which you are, you can acknowledge that and work on solutions to change your behavior.
As homework, since most of the attendees talked about shopping and acquiring, I had them go to their favorite store, spend at least 20 minutes in the store and then walk out without buying anything. I asked them to tell me, on a scale of 1-10 how much anxiety they felt. For most, it was at least a 5 or 7. I pointed out that now that they have done this, the next time they are in a store and wanting to acquire something that is not needed, they know that they have been there before and can work their way through the anxiety.
Or someone has suffered a loss - that loss could have been of a parent, spouse, child or of a job or even a dream. To fill the emptiness that loss has left behind, some turn to acquiring to fill the void.
I had all of the attendees take quizzes. One was Are You Situationally Disorganized. The other was Are You Chronically Disorganized. What I told the attendees was once you know which you are, you can acknowledge that and work on solutions to change your behavior.
As homework, since most of the attendees talked about shopping and acquiring, I had them go to their favorite store, spend at least 20 minutes in the store and then walk out without buying anything. I asked them to tell me, on a scale of 1-10 how much anxiety they felt. For most, it was at least a 5 or 7. I pointed out that now that they have done this, the next time they are in a store and wanting to acquire something that is not needed, they know that they have been there before and can work their way through the anxiety.
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