The Clutterer Rating Scale

From The Hoarder in You: How to Live a Happier, Healthier, Uncluttered Life

by Dr. Robin Zasio

1. Clean & Clear  – your home is orderly, no dishes in the sink, all surfaces are clear, beds made, no dishes in the sink, closets, drawers and kitchen pantry are neat & organized.

 Your Habits: You ask yourself why you should keep something rather than why you should throw it away. It might irritate you to see that things don’t have a proper home.

2. Neat but Dynamic – You have a place for most things and usually things are put away but on any given day you might find you might find things sitting up. Your house is clean but you have more things than you actually use.

 Your habits: Tidiness is not mandatory at all times. You leave projects or chores for a few hours or a day or two but you will get them. You are pretty organized and can get rid of things without much difficulty if you don’t need them.

 

3. Controlled Chaos – Your house has areas for things rather than a place for every item. There is is a lot of visible stuff, over crowded bookcases, closets and perhaps piles of paper that need to be gone through as well as clothes that aren’t put away.

Your habits: You would rather spend time doing things other than cleaning and organizing. Things don’t always get put away before the next project is started. You procrastinate on going through items & making decisions. You aren’t overly attached to your stuff you simply think you might need it. Every so often you get frustrated and go on a cleaning and organizing binge.

 

4. Clutter Crisis – Your home has stuff all over the place but you can still walk through the hallways and sit on the furniture without having to remove stuff. Your kitchen is a bit out of control – you sometimes resort to paper plates because you’ve run out of clean dishes and there is a lot of food that probably should be thrown away. The bathroom needs a good cleaning and there are piles of clothes on your bed & floor because there’s not enough room to store what you own.

 Your habits: You are just too busy and too tired to deal with your house. You’d like to have a cleaner more organized home but the thought of dealing with it is overwhelming. You often can’t find what you need and that causes you stress. Every so often you will force yourself to organize one area burn out, then lose interest in the rest of the house.

 

5. Borderline Hoarding – Things are getting out of hand. You have rooms you don’t use because they have become storage areas for “stuff”. You have piles of papers and shopping bags full of stuff that needs to be taken care of. You often need to move things to get to something. Your hallways are passable. If you have a pet the litter box needs to be changed or their is pet hair covering the furniture.

Your habits: You have no good systems for organization. You have a lot of stuff. Valuable items are mixed in with less valuable items. You don’t go through things but move them to the attic or basement. If you have pets, you don’t always clean up after them.

 

— Post Written by Jane Hall

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