Clutter can be anywhere and anything. Wherever and whatever it is in your life, it will be causing problems. Freeing yourself of stuff / junk / clutter will free your mind. It will also make your everyday life so much easier. The sooner you start to get rid of excess stuff, the better.

There are different sorts of clutter, usually classified by where in your home – office – or life – it is kept. Each type demands a slightly different approach when it comes to sorting it out. This is where hiring a professional organizer really helps.

Let’s look at a few types of clutter so that we can see what we might be dealing with:

* Wardrobe clutter – this is often the worst clutter magnet for many people. If you can’t easily select an outfit from your wardrobe, or when you do get something out of the crush, it is wrinkled and past its best, then this is one of your problem areas.

* Surface clutter – this is where you put things down on a work surface or piece of furniture and absentmindedly leave it there.

* Hidden-away clutter – the opposite of surface clutter. This is ‘out of sight, out of mind’ as it hides behind closed doors and under beds.

* Gift clutter – when someone gives you a gift, they are surely not intending to give you a burden, but if we keep a gift out of guilt that is just what it has become.

* Books and magazine clutter – many of us are reluctant to throw away books or magazines (even trashy novels we know we’ll never read again), but once read, the vast majority of them are of no further use to us.

* Paper clutter – if we can sort out our paperwork at home or at work, we’ll instantly become more efficient and less stressed.

* Sports clutter – often we take up a sport or join a gym but give it up within weeks. By then we’ve acquired all the paraphernalia that goes with our initial enthusiasm, which remains long after we have forgotten the rules of the game. Our children contribute to sports clutter just as much or more than we do.

* Technology/Entertainment clutter – all our computer, phone and media equipment takes up an enormous amount of room in our homes these days and we must make sure that we keep only what we use, and that what we do keep is organized and protected.

* “I’ll fix it – one day” clutter – there are any number of reason why we will never fix all the broken items in our home, but we find it difficult to throw out those things that don’t work.

* Pet clutter – pets can give us pleasure but the accessories that come with them can mess up our lives.

* Sentimental clutter – most of us have hundreds of photos stashed away, plus homemade items, keepsakes, clippings, letters, old diaries, journals, trophies, ribbons, but we need to pare them down and then put them on display.

* “Just-in-case” clutter – we all keep things in case they come in handy later. They act a little like a security blanket for us because keeping them enables us to avoid making the decision to let them go.

* Outside clutter – if you can’t get your car in your garage or if everything galls on your head when you try to get a space out of the shed, you have outside clutter.

* Children’s clutter – when we have children, we inevitably collect a lot of junk, but we don’t have to keep it all forever!

* Other people’s clutter – if you are storing goods for someone else, whether for your grown-up offspring or friends and family, give the items back and free up your space.

* Inherited clutter – just because a great aunt left it to you in her will doesn’t mean you have to keep it (especially if
it doesn’t fit your lifestyle). It has been my experience this is one of the hardest clutter categories to tackle.

* Antique clutter – too much of anything can become clutter, so if you have many antique pieces it may be that you need to weed them out and show off the best bits.

* Absent clutter – don’t forget the stuff that is stored for you by other people or off site. It is still yours and it is unfair and unnecessary to let your stuff become a hassle for someone else.