The audience laughs in recognition when Pat Englehart describes clutter as the exercise equipment that starts out in the family room, moves on to the bedroom and ends up relegated to the basement, living out its days as a clothes rack.
“Physically, clutter controls us,” says Englehart, a registered nurse who gives workshops on clutter and stress management through Little Company of Mary Hospital’s Women’s Wellness Department. “It takes time to care for clutter and to keep it in some organizational state. . . . Psychologically, it causes unhappiness and feelings of disorganization. The feeling of being smothered with clutter leads to depression. Any stress can lead to depression.”
Anne Bartolotta, director of Women’s Wellness, asked Englehart in 1997 to develop a talk for the Women’s Wellness Weekends the hospital sponsors in February. Englehart, always interested in the interaction of stress and mess, chose to educate herself on clutter and its effects. She has given the presentation about half a dozen times since then.
“The hospital presents many talks like this that make a difference in the community,” Bartolotta says. “Pat does a beautiful job (teaching clutter reduction) with easy-to-do steps. . . . This is not just a women’s issue.”
In a recent workshop for volunteers at the Evergreen Park hospital, given as a thank you for their work, Englehart quizzed her audience to determine if they have “possession obsession.” The “clutterholic” test covered areas from the kitchen to the desktop. (For instance, she indicts desk organizers as contributing to the very problem they’re meant to address — just put the stuff in a drawer, she advises.)
Englehart’s advice to newlyweds is “less is best”; those who rarely entertain on a large scale are unlikely to need 12 place settings of china, she says. And for those who want to keep mementos of deceased relatives and friends, she recommends saving one favorite thing, keeping in mind that loved ones live in the heart, not in their possessions.
She’s a firm believer in the “one in, one out” theory.
“Every time you buy something, like a new pair of shoes, get rid of an old pair,” Englehart says. When asked about shopping at garage sales, her answer is simple: “Don’t.”
“Four boxes and a list” is an anti-clutter method she has gleaned from the experts. The boxes are for sorting your flotsam and jetsam; the list is for jotting down other tasks that occur to you as you pack up your stuff.
“You may come across a card or picture of someone and want to stop and call them,” she said. “Instead (of leaving the task at hand), put them on the list.” And if something needs repair, put that on the list too.
The first box (which can be a laundry basket or any other container) holds things to be routed out of the room because they belong somewhere else, for instance a kid’s gym shoe in the middle of the floor.
Another box is the “give-it-away” box, for unused items still in good repair.
The third box is the “store-it” box, containing things you still expect to use. (Englehart’s instructions for this box come with a warning: Be sure to date it, and if the items within are not used or looked at in a year, put it in the “give-it-away” category. Examples of what might end up in here include extra boots or pots and pans.)
The fourth box is a “toss-it” box, the hardest one for clutterholics to use, Englehart says. She suggests a test: If family and pets were out of your house when it caught on fire, what would you grab on the way out? The answer will tell you what is worth hanging on to, she said.
To offer support for those struggling to part with their little-used belongings, Englehart provides the phone numbers and addresses of local places that accept secondhand and white elephant items. Giving them the first step is often enough to get people moving in the right direction, she says.
According to Joseph Walsh, dean of Loyola School of Social Work in Chicago, clutter can be an issue for people who have trouble making quick decisions. Familial and cultural decisions may enter into the clutter issue, he says.
“A legacy from the Depression has left some with a need to plan for the future and to cover themselves,” he says. “Sometimes it’s helpful to let someone else throw things away, especially for the elderly or those who find it hard to make decisions, or don’t want to look back.”
Walsh favors not feeling guilty about clutter. “It does not have that tremendous an effect,” he says. “What you really focus on is what is important.”
In a lighthearted tone, he advises those who want to minimize clutter to “marry the right person,” as in someone who will throw stuff away for you.
Englehart encourages people to declutter closet by closet or room by room, with a limit of one or two hours at a time, and not after having worked all day.
That method works, according to Mary Jo Quick of Crestwood, manager of volunteer resources at Little Company of Mary Hospital. Before listening to a recent talk for volunteers on decluttering, she was always waiting for a “free” Saturday, but Englehart’s suggestion of one or two hours at a time worked for her. She recently repainted a room with two closets and said, “The four-boxes process worked perfectly.”
Englehart is one of seven children who grew up with a mother who kept them busy organizing and cleaning. “She was not attached to material things,” she says of her mother. “She valued people and had no trouble throwing things out.”
Englehart and her husband, Wally, moved five years ago to smaller quarters in Palos Heights, which helped her “declutter,” she says. Nevertheless, she does admit to enjoying antiques and frequenting the Kane County Flea Market. She leaves her audiences with one thought: “Remember your most valuable possessions are your family, friends and yourself.”
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To contact Englehart, call 708-857-6622.
