Over the next few months, we will be interviewing professionals who work with the hoarding population. We are asking them to share their insight on people who hoard and people who think they have the hoarding disorder. We recently interviewed Amy Bowles. Amy is the president of Tucson Professional Organizers, in Tucson, Arizona. She is also a member of the American Psychological Association, the Institute for Challenging Disorganization (ICD), and the National Association of

Over the next few months, we will be interviewing professionals who work with the hoarding population. We are asking them to share their insights on people who hoard and people who think they have the hoarding disorder. We recently interviewed Geralin Thomas. Geralin is a subject-matter expert featured on A&E TV’s Emmy-nominated show, Hoarders. She has also appeared on numerous radio and talk-shows. She is the author of From Hoarding to Hope. Geralin is a past president of t

Take a walk through your home. Pretend that you are getting ready for out of town visitors or that you are putting your house on the market. Notice if you have stacks of papers and other items on the floor or out on exposed surfaces. NAPO (National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals) states that the average American receives almost 15,000 pieces of junk mail in their lifetime. How much of that is hanging around in various parts of your home right now? Cl

Often, we don’t even see the clutter around us. We get used to it being part of our daily environment. Take a walk through your house. Pretend you are showing it to sell. Notice surfaces that have piles of paper or other items. Are there objects stacked on the floor? Another technique is to take pictures of your rooms. It is amazing what you see in a picture that you didn’t notice otherwise. The picture may show you that end table stacked with things to read and other bits a

However, sometimes I forget. I try to complete that one more thing. I try to wiggle in one more client. I try to polish that presentation just a little bit more. And on the weekends, I try to complete that one more project at home. When I allow this to happen, I get tired and grumpy. I also get careless and make mistakes. I’m more likely to get sick. Awareness that this is happening is key. Scheduling at least 2 days a month with my husband where we sleep late and do fun thin