Ever kept someone out of your home because you were embarrassed by the piles on the kitchen table?
Or maybe your face turned bright red because the cable guy raised his eyebrows at you when he saw the cluttered “catch-all” room that he had to work in.
I have a new way for you to think about all that stuff.
How to Deal with Being Embarrassed by Clutter
It’s not easy to deal with the reality of a cluttered home. There’s definitely a stigma that is attached to letting stuff get out of control.
People may see you as lazy. You might see yourself as lazy!
So letting others into your home can become emotionally and psychologically jarring.
(If you’re not inviting people over to your home because of all the stuff, it’s definitely a sign you need to think about decluttering.)
Watch the video below and see if it doesn’t give you a completely new perspective (and maybe a little motivation 
).
Note: this video mentions the challenge for $10 – we’ve since added content and raised the price. When you checkout, you’ll see the current price.
Key Takeaways from the Video:
Stuff is just stuff.
Too much stuff is not a problem until we make it mean something – something about us as a person. Perhaps it makes you feel like a terrible person.
But guess what: It’s just stuff, and you are not a terrible person.
Don’t hide it.
Hiding something creates the shame that is keeping you paralyzed. When you share that secret, you can realize it’s not a big deal (it’s just stuff!).
It also frees up the energy to actually deal with it once and for all.
Laugh about it.
Want the perfect way to diffuse a situation where someone comments on your clutter? Agree with the person and laugh it off!
Again, the clutter doesn’t have to mean anything bad unless you give it that power.
Take Action
If you’d like to get a handle on all that stuff, the Organize Like a Boss challenge is a simple way to get started especially if you’re short on time or you’re overwhelmed.
If you have questions related to your purchase(s), please do not leave a comment on the blog. Contact our customer success team for assistance.
25 thoughts on “Help! I’m embarrassed by my clutter”
How do I download new workbook?
Bette, you’ll find the workbook PDF files in the FB group. Please email in if you can’t find the Facebook group.
ok. This was the message I needed. Its all in the attitude.
YES! What if you said, “Yes, I have been doubly Blessed in my lifetime!” Then you are making it a good thing instead of just not a bad thing.
Yes, this is a really empowering thought! I have made it mean horrible things. Feels awful!
When does the challenge run and how do I sign up?
Please click through on the link at the bottom of the post for all the details and to register!
Feeling ashamed and worried about what others will think isn‘t motivating or helping me at all. I love your direct agreement with what others say. This is brilliant. And very disarming!
I’m confused again, Sarah! It seems I get screwed up every time! I am wanting to find all of the events you are doing, the new OLAB
Hi Linda- I see you in the challenge group – you’re already in! Once you buy this challenge, you get to do it over and over as many times as you like. I’ll tag you in the group.
I don’t see the video. Is there a direct link?
Thank you,
You can watch the video with the link below.
https://www.facebook.com/EarlybirdMom/videos/698886637357276
I have a different login on Facebook so I couldn’t sign. Please help me! I bought the course as well as the workshop/workbook.
My login at Facebook is XXX while the login for your course is:
xxxx.
Hi Lilian, please email the team at sarah@declutteringschool.com. You can also check your spam folder as our emails sometimes end up there.
Yes, I need this!
I love your comment about not making it a big deal. That’s what I do and then I am paralized with fear.
I signed up last week and thought the charge to my Visa was completed; watched for my e-mail on Sunday but it didn’t come and I was disappointed to get nothing in my email box this morning. Don’t know what happened. Please check to see if my registration was completed. Thx.
Hi Barbara, if you haven’t already, would you please email the team at sarah@declutteringschool.com so they can get you set up? Or you can search your email for an email from sarah@declutteringschool.com as our emails sometimes end up in spam.
This would be an absolute life changer if I could do that. I just turned my friend away recently who wanted to stop by spontaneously- because she had her kids with her & they make comments & I’m so embarrassed/
ashamed. ????
Hugs. Practice when no one is around. Take away the judgment you’re holding over yourself about the stuff.
I feel a sense of calm with this video. But I’m not sure about how the clean like a boss operates…special time if day that I have to be available? I still assist my husband in his office out of the home and I am available different times on different days. Can this work for me? Also, I have been trying out my decluttering skills in our garage as we are getting new doors and both cars are out in the elements. I have already gotten rid of tons of trash and sorted through plenty of photos that can be kept or tossed as they were disintegrating from being with mice, water, etc. I am proud of what I have accomplished there, but the house still suffers. So, can I do the Boss thing on my schedule do I have to be someday a specific time? Thanks for your help! MH
The videos are all recorded so you can certainly watch them at your convenience. However, the lessons are only available during the week of the challenge in order to encourage people to take action. The Q&A videos remain up for a few weeks longer.
I hope that helps – we’d love to have you! Also, if you do join, you get access to repeat the challenge in the future at no additional cost.
It’s not just stuff when it’s been there for so many years that it’s covered in a layer of dust. Nobody is embarrassed to make a mess wrapping Christmas gifts…until they have to dig under a huge pile of other stuff to find the wrapping paper you left in a roll on the floor two Christmases ago and never put it away and now you need it again. It’s not just stuff when you retired three years ago and all the stuff you brought home from your office is still sitting in a pile in your dining room because you have nowhere to put it and no idea what to do with it. I am living in the midst of utter chaos; it is keeping me from sleeping (I have severe dust allergies), and I haven’t let anyone into my house for three years. It’s not that I’m lazy: I have in the past year read 132 books, painted 176 portraits, and written 283 blog posts. But I have developed an AVERSION to dealing with both the stuff and the dirt—I can do it for 10 minutes and then a wave of revulsion comes over me and I stop. But I HATE LIVING LIKE THIS. I want it to be clean again. I want it to be the charming little house it was 12 years ago. I used to entertain. I used to bring home flowers and polish my piano. I don’t know how this happened, and short of waving a magic wand I don’t know how to fix it.
I agree with you, this video does not address real hoarding level clutter. If you have read and painted and blogged then in mo opinion you are avoiding and procrastinating. Make reading a book a reward for dealing with a box or 3.
I hear you.. I can relate..
Emma.
Now you’re talking my world.
The examples of having Christmas still out months after the season is but a tiny drop in my bucket.
My farmstead is blossoming piles and packed buildings.
Retirement has not reversed but fast forwarded all of it.
You have done great things, Emma. Your priorities of reading, painting and blogging are what really significant in life.
I, too, know my priorities of caring for animals and people and capturing the images of my life are what are most noble.
Both of us seem to sitting in a bit of a hole… doing wondrous things but discouraged by what is smothering us.
I hope you make more comments, Emma.