Are you suffering from Stuffocation? Take the Quiz to find out Now!
Recently I have seen a lot of my clients' bedrooms and bathrooms overflowing with excessive amounts of foundation, jalabiyas, abayas, shoes and bags (and of course other items). To me it is stuffocation, but to the clients there is a justification and reason for each item. They need 50 types of foundation for contouring, the jalabiyas are needed to event day and night events and the bags are needed to hold the credit card and phone when going to said events! It seems excessive to me, and it must be affecting them, as I am in their house helping them to declutter and organize their stuff.I'm sure there is an element of stuffocation, but they are in denial.I have written about Stuffocation previously. It is, according to James Wallman who created the term, “that feeling you get when you have to fight through piles of stuff you don’t use to find the thing you need, or when someone gives you something and your gut reaction isn’t “thank you,” but “what on earth makes you think I could possibly want or need that?”. Overwhelmed and suffocating with the stuff, people are feeling stuffocation.If you feel that you have too much stuff and possibly have stuffocation, try this quiz written by James Wallman and published originally in Business Insider, to see if you have stuffocation:
TAKE THE QUIZ: HAVE YOU HAD ENOUGH OF STUFF?
1. Do you feel like your possessions bring you (a) more joy or (b) more stress?2. Is (a) everything well organized throughout your home, or (b) are there "clutter ghettos" — no-go zones you can't use and don't dare enter because of all the stuff that needs clearing out?3. When someone you live with brings something home is your typical response (a) "why didn't we think of that before" or (b) "but where are we going to keep it"?4. Do you (a) only have possessions you use regularly, or (b) do you keep things because they represent the person you would like to be — like the classic novels you really should read, the guitar you're definitely going to learn to play, or the clothes that will fit once you've reached your ideal size?5. Do you (a) find it fairly easy to manage your belongings, or (b) do you wish that a "clutter fairy" would show up and organize everything for you, figuring out what you really need, and getting rid of the rest?6. Do you (a) wear everything in your closet, or (b) do you have clothes you haven't worn for more than a year or more?7. If you want to hang a new dress or shirt in your wardrobe, is it (a) easy to pop it in there, or (b) do you have to heave the stuff that's already there left and right to make a gap, then jump in with the new thing before the gap closes up again?8. Does (a) everything fit inside your drawers, or (b) when you open a drawer, do clothes pop out like they're trying to get some air?9. When the kitchen looks clean and tidy, like a picture in an interiors magazine, is it (a) like that behind the doors too, or (b) are all those cupboard doors camouflage for the bedlam behind?10. If you have a garage, do you (a) park your car in there, or (b) is it packed so full with stuff, there's no room for cars?11. Do all your belongings (a) fit in your home, or (b) do you have so many you rent storage space?12. Does "retail therapy" (a) pick you up or (b) leave you feeling deflated?13. Are you (a) happy with our current materialistic culture, or (b) do you worry that it is, from an environmental point of view, like the proverbial frog in the saucepan as the water slowly comes to the boil?14. Are you (a) happy with, or (b) do you feel like there's something wrong with, a society that places so much importance on the ownership of physical objects?15. Think back to the last time someone gave you something in the last year. Perhaps it was at Christmas, when Auntie Doreen and Uncle Peter held out a gift-wrapped box. Maybe it was your birthday, when your mother really shouldn't have, but did, and handed over something, she said, was just the perfect thing for you. Was your gut reaction to think (a) "can't wait to see what it is" or (b) "not more stuff"?If your answer was (b) to any of these questions, you too are suffering in some way from Stuffocation.If you think it is time to stop this feeling of Stuffocation, contact me now using the contact form here, and we can book your first session to clear the stuff. 
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