Clutter is trending – there are whole TV shows devoted to people with regrettable hoarding tendencies. Newspapers and magazines regularly run “how to’s” on how to get yourself organised, in which a dominant theme is what to do about clutter.

Now, in my view, the pre-eminent place to go for help with clutter is the Flylady website – she has tips, she has emotional support, she has systems, she has tools.  She is the queen, and all other organisational websites are merely ladies in waiting. So, if your life or house is full of discontent and mess, please check her out.

I do know that people find her a bit overwhelming – there are a lot of emails and there’s a lot to take in and the tone is often very American and so a bit unfamiliar to us here in the wild and woolly South.

So, here is my own thought about a place to start. To untangle a ball of string, you have to find the end, and then just start gently tugging. So, as you go about your business, look at your house and car and desk and see what’s in and on them. Really, really look at all your stuff. And as you do that, hold this quote in your head: 

Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful. – William Morris

You might find, as you gaze at the hideous elephant figurine that Aunt Amira brought back from India, that it is not useful, and certainly not beautiful. And you might want to put it out with the rubbish. And that is a start.