News Article

For: July Issue

To: Gulf Coast Womens News

By: Linda K. Bowman, Ext. Agt. IV - Family & Consumer Sciences

Santa Rosa County Extension Service

Telephone: 850/623-3868 or 939-1259, ext. 1360

Helping A Pack Rat Get Organized

The wonderful, sentimental Pack Rat. So nice. So lovable. So out of space! Pack Rats desperately need more room, but can’t bear to part with their stuff.

The Pack Rat keeps everything–and won’t get rid of anything. There’s an abundance of opportunities to acquire things in our lives.

Here are 10 ideas to help Pack Rats free themselves from clutter and stress:

1. Focus–Determining why you’re a Pack Rat will help you focus. Are you a sentimental person? Does the thought of decluttering seem like such a bear that you can’t find the motivation to do it?

2. Don’t be held hostage–Beware of being held hostage by your possessions. When your stuff begins taking over your life and you spend all your time climbing over things, looking for missing items, and fretting over where you’ll put your next treasure, you are wasting precious time that you can never buy back.

3. Help your kids–If you begin to get organized now, your children will see how important it is and hopefully, follow your lead.

4. Recognize clutter–As a rule, if you don’t use it or enjoy it, then it’s nothing more than clutter. If you don’t know what it is, it’s clutter. If it’s too nice to use, it’s clutter. Toss it or give it to someone who will use it and appreciate it.

5. Make it a tossing game–Get your family into the De-cluttering Game. Have a pending reward ready, such as a big family dinner at a favorite restaurant after you’ve significantly reduced your clutter!

6. Make a someday box–If you save things you feel you may use someday, create a May Come in Handy Someday box. Place those things inside and when the box is full, discard something before you put anything else in.

7. Use the rotation box system–Instead of displaying everything you like at once, display a little bit at a time. Keep the rest boxed up in storage. Every few months, put a few of these things in your box and take a few other things out for display.

8. Fix it or ditch it–Immediately schedule a date on your calendar and repair them when the date rolls around or toss the items right now while you have it on your mind.

9. Take a photo–Take photographs of possessions you don’t want to forget, but don’t have the space for. Save the photos in a scrapbook or photo album.

10. Avoid going half-way–Avoid the Halfway-house Syndrome. You know. That’s when you put things aside that you’re not sure what to do with. Force yourself to make a decision whether to keep or toss.

For further information contact: Linda Bowman, Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Agent, The University of Florida--Santa Rosa County Cooperative Extension Service--IFAS, at (850)623-3868 or (850)939-1259, Ext. 1360 for south county residents, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. weekdays. Hearing-impaired individuals may call Santa Rosa County Emergency Management Service at 983-5373 (TDD).

Extension Service programs are open to all people without regard to race, color, sex, age, handicap or national origin. The use of trade names in this article is solely for the purpose of providing specific information. It is not a guarantee, warranty, or endorsement of the product name(s) and does not signify that they are approved to the exclusion of others.