Is clutter debilitating?

[vaguely dissatisfied]

I'm a clutter-free freak and I find being around clutter makes me a little crazy. Anyone know what might be causing this?

[thod]

Become an INTP and the problem is solved. I have piles all around me. But I dont see it. I will simply step around it without realising it. Things simply do not exist until I turn my attention to them or others point them out. Then they disappear again. There is no need to do anything about them. If I ignore it for a few minutes its gone. Things can stay like this for years without me noticing. If a pile is in the way its simple. Move it a few feet to the side, problem solved. Being able to edit out the signal is much easier than solving the problem.

[Jgib5328]

I'm a clutter-free freak and I find being around clutter makes me a little crazy. Anyone know what might be causing this?

I'm neatfreakish, I can't stand being around filth or something unorganized, it makes me feel uneasy.

[vaguely dissatisfied]

Well.......since I can't change my 'type', what can I do with people who live with me and are clutter bugs? Or, what can I do to feel less stressed about it?

Suggestions?

[Jgib5328]

Well.......since I can't change my 'type', what can I do with people who live with me and are clutter bugs? Or, what can I do to feel less stressed about it?

Suggestions?

Tell them to clean up. Tell them things don't have to be super clean, but need to be at least acceptable.

[rwyatt365]

I am plesantly disorganized. To me, neatness doesn't count. So, I fear, I am of no assistance in your quest.

[Nausved]

Clutter's no big deal. I'm generally too hyper-focused on other things to care. But when I finally bring my focus around to organizing, it's all I can concentrate on until everything's perfect, down to the centimeter.

[Kotetsu]

I don't mind clutter much. So long as what I'm working on/using at that moment is free of disturbance everything else can be where it wants.

[mabts]

I'm completely obsessed with having everything in my room perfectly clean and every object in straight horizontal and vertical lines. I don't really have any advice on how to get over this -- I just constantly keep everything in a state of perfection.

Why do you want to get over it? If the problem is you can't deal with other people's areas and rooms not being clean and organized, then I can't relate. For some reason I don't care if my three roommates rooms and our living room are completely trashed; I only care about my room.

[dandylion]

I like neatness, but I'm not obsessive. My closet has more clothes on the floor or in the laundry basket than on the hangers, my bed isn't made 99% of the time, my desk doesn't have enough surface area to hold all my stuff, and there's always something on the floor that shouldn't be there (especially since I have this bad habit of crumpling up papers and throwing them in any direction but the recycling bin). It usually doesn't bother me, but I'm always thinking at the back of my head, "I should clean this up one day." I tend to leave it to the point where I'll just be sitting, and I realize I can't function properly until everything is in its place, so I go on a "cleansing" rampage.

I do have this system where I place things on the floor in strategic locations so I'll remember to do something, however. Anyone else do that?

[Haphazard]

OP, DON'T go into my room. You would have a heart attack.

My room is a mess, BUT I always know where everything is unless it's moved. So, how cluttered is it, really?

[pavman]

I'm a clutter-free freak and I find being around clutter makes me a little crazy. Anyone know what might be causing this?

Nope, but I have lots of clutter. Come over to my place and help me clean it up! :thumbsup:

I used to get really annoyed at clutter, but now I'm like meh.

Who cares unless people are coming over, right? I mean, if I can find stuff/if its not broke, don't fix it ;)

[vaguely dissatisfied]

I'm completely obsessed with having everything in my room perfectly clean and every object in straight horizontal and vertical lines. I don't really have any advice on how to get over this -- I just constantly keep everything in a state of perfection.

Why do you want to get over it? If the problem is you can't deal with other people's areas and rooms not being clean and organized, then I can't relate. For some reason I don't care if my three roommates rooms and our living room are completely trashed; I only care about my room.
I guess I'm used to having complete control over an entire house. Now I'm sharing with my partner and he's a clutter-bug and he's not going to change (51 years old).

It's really about control I think. I don't feel like I have enough control so I want to unclutter things. Sound right?

[INTJoe]

I've always been a cluttered mess. My car, my cubicle, my apartment...clutter isn't a problem for me. I've got stacks of shit everywhere, and if I put them in file cabinets...I can no longer see them, so I'll forget about them. And if I "organize" the stacks of shit, then everything will have moved, and I'll lose track of stuff. This is one of the huge arguments that gets started between myself and my ISTJ live-in girlfriend. She is a stackaholic. Everything gets stacked. Immediately. After. I'm. Done. With. It. Study materials spread amuck....stacked. Bills...stacked. GAG!!!

I really don't see the whole "INTJ's hate clutter" and "INTPs love clutter" thing. Although I've got an INTJ buddy who does hate clutter, and an INTP buddy who is a bit more like myself, but still way more organized than myself.

My spaces always look like those of a "mad scientist"

[Solaris]

I don't like clutter, but often find myself too busy or distracted to do much about it. I have noticed, though, that I don't sleep as well if my room is cluttery. It's like I just can't fully relax. (note: I should be cleaning my room this very minute) I keep the rest of the house in a fairly neat condition. A little clutter (b/c I'm not the only one here), but certainly clean...I can't tolerate filth.

There's really no way to get over your clutter aversion, I think. If you live with others, the best I can say is to set a certain area which will always be kept in your preferred condition. Then talk with the others about what level of clutter is acceptable in common areas.

All this thinking about clutter and dirt has made me need to go clean now. Can of Dow Scrubbing Bubbles, here I come!!

[vaguely dissatisfied]

Here's the thing. I'm not really talking about mess.....I'm talking about clutter. I don't like having things for the sake of having things. If something isn't being used on a semi-regular basis, then I don't want it around, and in my way, and taking up precious space....like room in the garage where the car should go.

Now.......my partner tells me that there are quite a few 'things' (I mean alot) that have sentimental value for him. Also, he's a flea market junkie.......sells and buys.....so he gets things and keeps things to sell. He also has an extensive collection of dinky toys. It's all very annoying to me.

[Solaris]

Here's the thing. I'm not really talking about mess.....I'm talking about clutter. I don't like having things for the sake of having things. If something isn't being used on a semi-regular basis, then I don't want it around, and in my way, and taking up precious space....like room in the garage where the car should go.

Now.......my partner tells me that there are quite a few 'things' (I mean alot) that have sentimental value for him. Also, he's a flea market junkie.......sells and buys.....so he gets things and keeps things to sell. He also has an extensive collection of dinky toys. It's all very annoying to me.

Aha, I misunderstood you and clutter. To me, that's being a packrat, not being cluttered. Clutter, to me, is the random stuff that gets strewn about in the course of life and doesn't get picked up and put away as often as it should.

Tell him to get a storage unit for his "collection" of random crap.

[INTJoe]

Here's the thing. I'm not really talking about mess.....I'm talking about clutter. I don't like having things for the sake of having things.

Ahh, I misunderstood you. Yeah, clutter sucks. I prefer quality over quantity. My gf's mom is always trying to dump off all her "garbage" onto us...like giving us a big ugly cabinet for our apartment. Yay. It's like it's too good to throw away, but not good enough for her...so she gives it to us and we've got 1,000 sq.ft, not 4,300 like them.

I hate having leftovers. Just today I had to buy brake fluid and top off my reservoir....leaving me with a half bottle of brake fluid that was like $2.80. What the f*** am I gonna do with this? I don't want it. I'll probably throw it away. haha.

But I'm all for having a sloppy mess, as long as the mess is composed of things that are important and accessed on a fairly regular basis.

[vaguely dissatisfied]

Aha, I misunderstood you and clutter. To me, that's being a packrat, not being cluttered. Clutter, to me, is the random stuff that gets strewn about in the course of life and doesn't get picked up and put away as often as it should.

Tell him to get a storage unit for his "collection" of random crap.
I wish. That would be too costly.





vaguely dissatisfied added to this post, 1 minutes and 57 seconds later...

Ahh, I misunderstood you. Yeah, clutter sucks. I prefer quality over quantity. My gf's mom is always trying to dump off all her "garbage" onto us...like giving us a big ugly cabinet for our apartment. Yay. It's like it's too good to throw away, but not good enough for her...so she gives it to us and we've got 1,000 sq.ft, not 4,300 like them.

I hate having leftovers. Just today I had to buy brake fluid and top off my reservoir....leaving me with a half bottle of brake fluid that was like $2.80. What the f*** am I gonna do with this? I don't want it. I'll probably throw it away. haha.

But I'm all for having a sloppy mess, as long as the mess is composed of things that are important and accessed on a fairly regular basis.
Well.....I hate mess too, but I can do something about a mess and I don't mind picking up after others (raised two kids so I'm used to it) if I'm not really busy otherwise. But the clutter.....I have no control over and I don't like it.

[Uytuun]

I'm both extremely messy (kind of a mix of what Thod and haphazard explained) and a "packrat"..."might need it someday".

[futureperfect5]

Clutter's no big deal. I'm generally too hyper-focused on other things to care. But when I finally bring my focus around to organizing, it's all I can concentrate on until everything's perfect, down to the centimeter.

Me, too!;)

[Vortex]

I'm semi-cluttered. Eventually clutter levels hit a threshold where it interferes with normal operations, at which point hyper-cleaning is begun until clutter levels hit points of diminishing returns in cleaning.

Rinse/repeat.

[PRBori]

Hmm.. I'm not perfect at home, specially because I get tired of picking up after my 3 year old daughter. I do try to keep everything organized, but after 5 min everything seems to go back to what it used to be.

I got to the point that I don't mind it much simply because I have more important things to worry about, besides, working full-time far away from home, and coming home to cook, spend time with my daughter and do some cleaning here and there is already a lot for me to do.

So overall, although I would love to have my home perfectly organized, I'm not utterly obsessed about it due to the current situation. However, when I do have the time and I can send away my sweetie pie, I will try to take advantage and organized as much as I can.

Work wise, I'm a little different, everything has to be binded and identified accordingly, otherwise I'll go crazy. My job requires that I analized multiple documents at once and develop multiple documents at once, so I'm very picky and extremely organized.

[deicruxified]

i believe in chaos theory :)

[vaguely dissatisfied]

But remember...........we're talking about having a sh*tload of stuff that you never use.....not mess.

[Darkmist]

My husband is also a clutter 'never throw anything away' freak. My solution has been to toss anything he leaves lying around or that gets in my way into the garage. Early on, we established that the garage is his and the house is mine. Not saying he doesn't get annoyed by it, but I hate clutter worse than he likes it so I'm not changing. Some things he insists be in the house. These I generally pack up in boxes and place them on shelves in storage. Accessible makes him happy, even though he'll likely never use the stuff. As to ornaments, I compromise to a degree.

[vaguely dissatisfied]

My husband is also a clutter 'never throw anything away' freak. My solution has been to toss anything he leaves lying around or that gets in my way into the garage. Early on, we established that the garage is his and the house is mine. Not saying he doesn't get annoyed by it, but I hate clutter worse than he likes it so I'm not changing. Some things he insists be in the house. These I generally pack up in boxes and place them on shelves in storage. Accessible makes him happy, even though he'll likely never use the stuff. As to ornaments, I compromise to a degree.
My problem is that I feel extremely frustrated by all of the stuff, but I don't know how to solve the problem in a way that would make us both happy (I want to use the garage too). It almost seems like a reason to quit the relationship, but I know of course that this is an excessive thought. It still lingers in my head though.

[Zilal]

I'm a clutter-free freak and I find being around clutter makes me a little crazy. Anyone know what might be causing this?

It's probably what you're telling yourself about the clutter, what it means, etc., without really noticing. The clutter itself has no meaning. But through your experiences, you've come to attach meaning to it. You'll have to listen to the half-conscious things your mind is saying when you're around it.

[simoncpu]

My room looks something like this:

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[vaguely dissatisfied]

It's probably what you're telling yourself about the clutter, what it means, etc., without really noticing. The clutter itself has no meaning. But through your experiences, you've come to attach meaning to it. You'll have to listen to the half-conscious things your mind is saying when you're around it.
This sounds right.

I can tell you what my conscious mind is saying. We never use most of this stuff. It is in the way all the time. It serves no useful purpose. It is probably unhealthy for a person to get attached to an inanimate object and it doesn't make sense. We need the room to store things we actually use. We can't find anything in the clutter.