Get Your Life Out: How to Fix Four Common Clutter Mistakes

“For a lot of people, paperwork[is]a negative… it’s bills, it’s receipts, it’s things you have to do,” she said.

“So when it’s spread around the house — it’s on the kitchen table, on the coffee table, in your bedroom, in your handbag — it (sounds) like 15 different things you have to deal with.”

Having them all in one place makes it feel like a touch on your life.

“I feel like, OK, well, I’ve only got this one box of papers to deal with now—so I’m just going to sit down and go through it. It makes it so much easier.”

For Carter, the positive mental benefits of an organized and tidy home are clear.

But what if you leave it unsolved? “Well, all that mess is looking back at us—isn’t it?”