The cure for ‘too -much syndrome’

WHEN CLUTTER MAKES US STRESSED, IT’S TIME TO TACKLE THE SEVEN EMOTION-BASED REASONS WE CLING ON TO OUR STUFF. THE RESULT? A CALMER MIND AND HAPPIER HOME

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Do you have cupboards filled with junk, wardrobes bursting with clothes and drawers crammed with all sorts of things you never use? You keep meaning to have a clear-out, but something always holds you back.

You've watched Sort Your Life Out and read Marie Kondo, so you know all about only hanging on to things that 'spark joy'.

If only you could ditch all the gadgets and glassware cluttering your kitchen, the unworn clothes, unloved gifts and teenage love letters taking up space in your home.

'There's owning your stuff and there's when your stuff owns you,' explains Tracy McCubbin, author of Making Space, Clutter Free: The Last Book on Decluttering You'll Ever Need. 'When you have too much clutter, constantly thinking about how you're going to manage it takes up emotional energy. If you're surrounded by “stuff” and you just can't let it go, there may be deeper, emotional issues going on.'

'Whenever people find it really hard to get rid of things, there is inevitably an emotional root,' says Tracy. 'I call these emotional clutter blocks - the unconscious reasons people hold onto stuff that no longer serves them - and have identified seven that come up over and again.'

THE SEVEN EMOTIONAL CLUTTER BLOCKS: WHICH DO YOU HAVE?

1 'THE STUFF I'M AVOIDING'

This is the 'clutter' you just can't face - unopened mail, bills, bank and credit card statements, and other paperwork stuffed into boxes. They might be out of sight, but thinking about the admin that you need to do makes you feel slightly queasy. So, you do bits sporadically or put off dealing with it altogether.

WHAT YOU CAN DO