CATEGORIES OF COLLECTORS AND CLUTTERERS
Lord help me, I fit all of these six types.
"The paper mystic finds giving up printed material impossible, because every word and every page holds potential meaning in their life. If they should lose or throw out a certain article or reference, they might never get it back again. The very thought of throwing out those stacks of unread material, which might contain the answer to the whereabouts of the holy grail or the definitive answer to losing those extra twenty pounds, is tantamount to sacrilege and unbearable for them to think about.
The archivist feels a religious attachment to anything old. They enjoy remembering the past while holding a letter written years ago, a faded photo or some small useless trinket. They forget that libraries and museums are much better equipped to store these things then they are. Archivists have a fondness for the good old days which stops them from looking very far into the future. And it doesn't seem to matter if the present gets a little obscured, as well.
The touchy-feely person can't bear to part with an item which has an experience or a memory associated with it. However, for them, almost everything has a story or a feeling associated with it. They like to be surrounded by a certain amount of stuff, which they can touch and see. It makes them comfortable. Like the others, however, they feel unhappy with too much to touch, feel, and see, but they can't understand how it all got there.
The artisan keeps things, because they can't help but see the unlimited possibilities for turning their own, as well as, another person's trash into mobiles, sculptures, furnishings, clothing, holiday decorations and various and sundry objects d'art. If only they would collect less and give more of their collection to charity.
One might never suspect this next category-the perfectionist. The perfectionist hides out under stacks of paper and old stuff. To see them surrounded by their clutter, one might never entertain the thought of them as per Àfectionists, but perfectionists know themselves very well. They won't even get started on clearing out the clutter, because they can not do it perfectly.
The last of these categories is the procrastinator. This is someone who avoids the task of decluttering or who appears to avoid it. They share characteristics with any of the previous categories. Procrastinators are not always lazy. They may never have learned from a role model how to be organized in the first place and have no idea where to begin And they might certainly be someone with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or a Learning Disability (LD). Figuring out where to begin, let alone understanding the steps needed to get a job done and complete it without getting distracted, or bored, can be truly challenging. Add to this their fear of "out of sight - out of mind" and there is a real potential for getting stuck with too much stuff."
"The paper mystic finds giving up printed material impossible, because every word and every page holds potential meaning in their life. If they should lose or throw out a certain article or reference, they might never get it back again. The very thought of throwing out those stacks of unread material, which might contain the answer to the whereabouts of the holy grail or the definitive answer to losing those extra twenty pounds, is tantamount to sacrilege and unbearable for them to think about.
The archivist feels a religious attachment to anything old. They enjoy remembering the past while holding a letter written years ago, a faded photo or some small useless trinket. They forget that libraries and museums are much better equipped to store these things then they are. Archivists have a fondness for the good old days which stops them from looking very far into the future. And it doesn't seem to matter if the present gets a little obscured, as well.
The touchy-feely person can't bear to part with an item which has an experience or a memory associated with it. However, for them, almost everything has a story or a feeling associated with it. They like to be surrounded by a certain amount of stuff, which they can touch and see. It makes them comfortable. Like the others, however, they feel unhappy with too much to touch, feel, and see, but they can't understand how it all got there.
The artisan keeps things, because they can't help but see the unlimited possibilities for turning their own, as well as, another person's trash into mobiles, sculptures, furnishings, clothing, holiday decorations and various and sundry objects d'art. If only they would collect less and give more of their collection to charity.
One might never suspect this next category-the perfectionist. The perfectionist hides out under stacks of paper and old stuff. To see them surrounded by their clutter, one might never entertain the thought of them as per Àfectionists, but perfectionists know themselves very well. They won't even get started on clearing out the clutter, because they can not do it perfectly.
The last of these categories is the procrastinator. This is someone who avoids the task of decluttering or who appears to avoid it. They share characteristics with any of the previous categories. Procrastinators are not always lazy. They may never have learned from a role model how to be organized in the first place and have no idea where to begin And they might certainly be someone with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or a Learning Disability (LD). Figuring out where to begin, let alone understanding the steps needed to get a job done and complete it without getting distracted, or bored, can be truly challenging. Add to this their fear of "out of sight - out of mind" and there is a real potential for getting stuck with too much stuff."