As an organizer, I often help families with teens who are struggling to tidy and organize their rooms. It is a very common theme, and I have brought this issue to Heather Ferguson, my favourite developmental counsellor in the valley. Here are her answers to some the common questions I get asked.

Is Minimalism For You?

As a professional organizer, I am often asked if I am a minimalist. Traditional definitions portray a bare bones aesthetic, careful frugality or editing possessions down to a very few. I don’t resonate with those meanings, yet I would still consider myself a minimalist. Newer hybrid versions resonate more: Gradual Minimalist or my favourite, Cozy Minimalist, feel more inline and doable. Think Hygge aesthetic, while consuming less and reducing belongings over time.

I feel the biggest takeaway that Minimalism offers, is allowing us to focus on what really matters. Living more with less.

Intrigued? Here are my 10 favourite principles to explore further.

There are some recent studies showing that too much clutter in our spaces affects us negatively. Women in particular are susceptible to feeling stress due to disorganization. These studies uncovered that cortisol levels in our bodies increases when we are immersed in environments that are chaotic and disheveled. At work, mess and junk can make it difficult to concentrate, stay on task and enjoy our work life. Everyone has a different tolerance to clutter and untidiness, but I have yet to meet someone who didn’t feel it negatively in some way.

“A good spring cleaning” for most of us, means taking extra steps to deeply scrub out our homes after spending so much time indoors during the winter. As we prepare for spring, it just feels right to clean the house from top to bottom. For many of us though, clutter build up gets in the way of doing a good thorough cleanse, leaving us feeling overwhelmed and defeated before we’ve even started. Often, clutter needs to be addressed before we can clean properly.

I often say to my organizing clients with a chuckle, that I spent the first half of my life accumulating stuff, and the second half trying to get rid of it. And let me tell you, it’s much more effort getting rid of something as opposed to acquiring it. Why do many of us seem to have so much stuff?