After seeing more than one gift from us in the outgoing bins at our son’s house, and knowing that if he wants something, he can very well afford to buy it, I arrived at a “eureka moment” this past holiday season.

The son likes to grill, and is a great cook. We have a world-class meat market in our community. See where I’m headed? We casually made sure their freezer was still in the garage, and then we personally selected a specific dollar amount of top cuts of meats, stored them in our freezer in a box, and wrapped it up just before heading to their home for the gift exchange. We kept it frozen in the car until the exact moment, and then surprised the heck out of him!

I think he has been happier with that gift than any other we have given him after he reached adulthood. A fringe benefit is that when we visit, he grills for us, and we get to enjoy it, too! So, not only was the gift something he liked, but it was something he actually uses. What better type of gift than food, a paid utility bill, gas card, etc. for someone who has a clutter problem? So much nicer than one more knick-knack to dust…

For Bobbi and Dee, who referred to Oprah’s shows on hoarding, I reviewed all the information on her website last evening, and I have the show set to record today. Although (thank goodness) I don’t have the level of problem presented on the show, I do possess some of those “seeds in my own garden.”

On Dr. David Tolin’s Compulsive Hoarding checklist, I definitely recognized myself in some of the causes and criteria of compulsive hoarding. I guess it’s a great wonder I’m not worse off than I am, and that’s a relief!

Daniel, thanks to you for answering my question about “Getting Things Done.”

As relates to the genetic or environmental element of the topic:

My two sons have said that when they inherit from us, there will be a tall bonfire. What better motivation to get rid of things, huh? Our older son once remarked that, by growing up in our home, he had gotten “clutter shots,” closely related to “allergy shots.”

His name was in the global news recently, but if you take a long nap in his home, you may find yourself reclining in a garbage truck. He and his wife are absolutely ruthless in getting rid of things. They keep the outgoing donation and discard bins out of sight when I visit! I have seen more than one gift from us residing there, and my fingers itch to rescue “perfectly good stuff.”

In one way, I think that the tendency to keep things and the ability to think creatively are somewhat connected. When some people see a balloon holder stick, for example, they simply see a balloon holder stick to put in the trash. Others see a plant stake, kindling for the fire, a dowel, several chopsticks, etc.

One of the most bizarre things in my reading on compulsive hoarding was reading how one pitiful soul had saved and lined up used toliet tissue rolls on her counter. Wow! At that very minute, I had a small bag filled with used paper towel rolls, because I discovered this winter, that when filled with the twigs I pick up from the yard, they make excellent fireplace starters. See what I mean about creativity? Of course, that is not an excuse for hoarding, as both my son and I have invented things. But it is a different approach to the issue…

My main issue is that “there is no organization gene” DOES NOT equate to “organization is not genetic”, but that is what your article implies, and it is misleading. In fact you seem to vaguely insult people who might offer this as one reason for their disorganization, and then you back it up with a meaningless assertion about there not being a single organization gene.

I just wish you would admit that this is misleading.

And AGAIN, I never said you can’t learn to be organized (in fact no one has said that here). Unclutterer would be kind of pointless otherwise.

GTD is primarily–though by no means exclusively–about knowledge work, or keeping track of what all you have to do or would like to do in such a way that you become less stressed and get more done. It won’t teach you how to organize your garage, but it can certainly help you unclutter your mind of all those nagging things that you constantly feel you’ve got to get done.

Being organized does seem to come more easily to some people, but that does not mean that they have an organization gene. In this case, being organized would be a symptom of some other genetic trait (for example, the genetic marker that indicates how chemicals will be released in the brain and bring pleasure when something is perceived by the optical nerve).

Here’s an example: Someone’s genetic makeup may prescribe them to be tall (information describing the HGH to be released by glands for bone and body extension is in DNA). This person who is 6′8″ may have a “natural gift” for being taller than other basketball players. However, he does not have a basketball gene. In fact, the person who is 6′8″ may dislike team sports. He can learn to play basketball, and since he has a height advantage may end up being pretty good at it, but at the end of the day he still does not have a basketball gene.

Yes, some people may have an easier time being organized than others. But there is not an organization gene.

But lemme tell you… she does not experience the joy, do the little happy dance, each time she gets one thing uncluttered, the way that I do. My bills are paid on time? I get ant traps down before the ants overtake? It’s a cause for celebration.

See I recognized a long time ago that it’s a genetic difference. And that it takes a different kind of effort for me to get one thing accomplished than for my mom.

It’s why I enjoy the tips here, but take them with a grain of salt. Small bites with that salt. It’s like a naturally thin person telling a fat person how to get thin. A naturally thin person has no idea how to get a fat person thin.

You can go on Oprah’s website and ask Peter Walsh a question. . .who knows, maybe even be on the show - the same page also has a link to share your story if your interested. If your problem is truly overwhelming and you are desperate for help this might just be a door to some guidance .. lifes strange, one never knows which path will present itself next. Keep the faith!

Peter Walsh made a good point during today’s show which was: “if everythings important than nothing is important” - in other words, you are not honoring your possessions by keeping them all. I know thats its overwhelming to even know where to begin but I think self-assessment and self-knowlege are the keys to beginning a journey to freeing yourself from your possessions. I think when our things begin to own us and define who we are, assessment of the cause is paramount. One book that was mentioned was Dr. David Tollen’s “Buried In Treasures: Help for Compulsive Aquiring, Saving, and Hoarding.”
and an excerpt is provided on the Oprah website. Perhaps that would be a good resource for you. Best of luck and well wishes.

First, I put an embargo on items coming into my home. Ok, well, not really, but I REALLY have to justify it to buy it now. And have a place for it!

Next, I picked one room and spent a day cleaning it, top to bottom, I put EVERY SINGLE THING away. And then I promised myself I would clean it every single night before I went to bed. Once I’d done that for a month, I did the same thing with a new room.

This is coming from someone who used to have rooms literally covered in clutter, rooms that you couldn’t see the floor for all the debris and clothing piles. Walking into the sparkling clean kitchen every morning, with my lunch already in little containers in the fridge, is the BEST feeling in the world.

Also, I think it’s worth nothing clutter mentally affects some people a lot more than it does others. My husband, for instance, isn’t affected by clutter at all.

Changing a behavior is tough, whether it’s trying to be more organized or anything else. Of course, when a person hits rock bottom, they often are more motivated to change. I also believe in systems and routines. Both can be powerful.

As for family history, my mother has always been extremely disorganized. Growing up, I was the organized and neat one and my sister was always the messy and disorganized one.

Today, I am a Professional Organizer. My sister has radically changed her behavior over the years and is a minimalist. She is extremely organized as well and you’d be hard pressed to get her to let you save a thing! I am hoping one of these days she will come and work with me. As for my mother, she hasn’t changed her ways. Of course, she’s 82 so I don’t see that happening. LOL!

When “Anna” refers to “GTD,” is she referring to “Getting Things Done” by David Allen?

I checked out the above book online, but I am not sure that it’s what she was referring to.

I do not think I could declutter my house, garage, and 10′X20′ storage unit in 12 months, let alone one.

I have always liked being organized. Years ago, I made my own drawer dividers by cutting tissue boxes in half and sliding them to the right size, then taping them. My house had Dymo-labeled shelves and bins in the ’70s, but these days, things have “got to pot” in a big way.

After many years of marriage and only one major move, I had too much debris of my own, then both my parents, confirmed packrats, died in the ’90s.

I have a big problem with either the financial value or the sentimental value of my “stuff.” Financially, I feel I need to make money when I get rid of it, yet the sheer volume is overwhelming. I know that the cost of the storage unit cancels out any profits to be made.

My husband HATES all that stuff, but he won’t help me do the heavy lifting, moving, selling, etc. to get rid of it - UNLESS we just throw it straight into a dumpster. I won’t agree to that. Therein lies the rub… After literally years of this impasse, when the subject comes up, there is enough palpable tension between us that we don’t “go there.”

A few years ago, I parted with many pickup loads of “stuff,” after hubby convinced me that donating it would save us lots of money on our taxes. Then, next time the issue arose, he “shot himself in the foot” by telling me that donating more wouldn’t save more. BIG MISTAKE. I then reverted to the idea that we had to make money when we got rid of the stuff.

I was told that the online selling sites had become difficult to use without becoming a victim of fraud.

We made $1,400 from our first garage sale in the ’80s, but we live in a small community now, where I have heard garage sales are not very profitable. Due to health issues, any extra income would be well-used.

I have been subscribing to two various organizing sites and reading quite a few blogs such as Unclutter, in order to try to motivate myself to crawl out of the quaqmire in which I have been living.

Most of the time, I feel like I have a dark “cloud of clutter” hanging over me, impacting every single thing about my life in a negative way. I want so badly to free myself from this bondage, but I am STUCK. I can not afford to hire a professional organizer, by the way.

A therapist friend once told me, “Getting rid of stuff is the single most difficult thing a person with anxiety can do. Each thing involves a conscious decision, and those decisions are excruciatingly difficult.” That is me in a nutshell.

Is there any hope for me?

I’d enjoy reading your thoughts on the flip side of this–just as genetics do not predetermine a person to organization, it’s clearly my experience that neither does “nurture” of any sort. Does that mean we can’t be “taught” to become and stay organized–that it can only happen when an individual makes a clear and personal choice?

Here’s an example: I have a genetic disorder. One of the symptoms of my disorder is that I get hurt easily. Getting hurt easily (the symptom) is not in my genetic code. However, the data to produce a specific protein in my collagen is missing in my genetic code (this is the genetic disorder). Am I at a disadvantage when it comes to playing physical sports? Very much so. But, I can still play them. I just have to approach sports in a different way than other people — wear safety pads, special shoes, not as aggressively as others. People with ADHD have a genetic cause to their disorder, but disorganization is only a symptom. They may have to approach organization in a different way or more vigilantly than other people, but they can still become organized. Disorganization is not a genetic disorder.

Sorry to argue semantics on this, but I think it’s an important distinction to make. Symptoms of disorders and genetic disorders are two very different things. People with ADHD should not believe that they are genetically sentenced to a life of disorder.