Cluttergone Case Stories

Single professional

Sometimes when you are working hard, you just don't have have the time and energy to get your home in order. Read on for Catherine's story...

Catherine's story

Catherine works very hard.  A light week for her is 70 hours. When a deal is coming to fruition, that can be extended to 120 hours.  In the past three years, she has moved twice and never really unpacked.

When I first went to her flat, there were things everywhere. It wasn't possible to walk around her bed and there were lots of boxes with their contents spilling out. Catherine said;

'I am so embarrassed! I can't have anyone over here. I should be able to keep a home. This is terrible!'

'You are being awfully hard on yourself, I said, 'You don't have any time. I would have thought that when you do have a tiny moment, you'd want to sit down and put your feet up; not organize your belongings'

The interesting thing to me was that most of her cupboards were empty. There was space to put things away. That was part of what we did together. We also tried to figure out how to make her life easier. Catherine travels a great deal to dramatically different countries: freezing cold to boiling hot. We agreed that there was no reason to completely unpack her suitcases and they didn't even need to go into her bedroom. All she needed to do was to take out the dirty laundry; washing what could be washed and dry cleaning the rest. The clean clothes could then be re-packed in the suitcases.

'So I don't need to carry everything upstairs? That makes things MUCH easier'.

Catherine and I had several sessions. She was gradually able to incorporate taking things to charity and organizing things the way she wanted them into her everyday life.

'I feel like I'm back in control. It is my life, after all.'

So who are you?