I have a problem. 

 

Okay, I actually have a number of problems, but there is one in particular that has been bothering me lately.

 

Spring, my favorite season, is near. Soon birds will be singing, asparagus will be poking out of the ground, flowers will be blooming and I’ll be able to dig in the dirt again. 

 

I love everything about spring with one exception. Spring cleaning.

 

I hate cleaning at the best of times,  let alone the floor to ceiling and everything in between cleaning that comes with spring. It takes me weeks.

 

The biggest problem I have with spring cleaning is that it forces me to confront the problem I mentioned earlier. I have a severe problem with clutter.

 

Don’t get me wrong, you won’t see me starring in one of those hoarding shows on TV, but I’m a packrat and I can’t seem to get a handle on the piles of paper that live on nearly every available surface in my house.

 

I always have great intentions of staying clutter-free, but I swear it sneaks up on me when I’m not looking, and it reproduces like rabbits. 

 

I’ll get everything cleared away and the house will look neat and tidy for approximately 2.3 seconds. Then I’ll write an important note to myself and leave it on the kitchen counter so I won’t forget it. The mail will arrive and the bills end up next to my important note. My daughter will come home from school with schedules for activities and papers that need to be signed. All will end up next to the important note and the mail. Coupons are cut out to be used, and soon a pile has begun that will be added to in the days ahead until it’s become a small mountain and I have totally forgotten about my important note that started it all.

 

When the counter gets too full I move on to the kitchen table. When that gets too full occasionally the buffet gets used. Sometimes I’ll move a pile from one place to another to try to clear up an area. 

 

Unfortunately this spreading paper affliction isn’t confined to the kitchen.

 

The end table next to my chair is heaped with notes, paperwork, phone numbers and tablets that I use for my job and schoolwork. Next to the stairs there’s piles of things that have to be filed or put somewhere else. My desk is crammed with more bills, envelopes and information I’m sure I’ll need someday.

 

The office/storage room is crammed with stuff I’m not sure what to do with but can’t seem to part with. My art room is so full that I don’t have room to actually create anything in there at the moment.

 

At my last job co-workers would bring people by my office just so they could gap at the clutter that was my life. The entire surface of my desk was buried under stacks of papers and books, my shelves and filing cabinets were stuffed full, and there were bags and more books heaped in the corners. Even so, I actually knew where everything was, although no one would believe me.

 

A few weeks ago our internet service quit working and the provider told us they would need to come into our home to find the problem. The modem they needed to get at is in the office/storage room. The same room that I had to step over boxes to get into and that was piled high with paperwork I hadn’t gotten around to filing. Oh, and one of the cats had knocked over a plant, scattering dirt and plant debris everywhere which hadn’t been cleaned up. I may be a clutterer but I do have some pride. I quickly put the boxes away, neatened up the piles of paperwork and cleaned up the plant. Problem (not) solved.

 

All this clutter drives me crazy. I’m a clutterer who hates clutter. 

 

I’ve finally made a plan for how I’m going to tackle my clutter problem and take care of it once and for all. I plan on starting as soon as I can find it. I know it’s under one of those piles somewhere.