Our life is frittered away by detail... Simplify, simplify, simplify!
-Henry David Thoreau, Walden
Each year, the National Association of Professional Organizers receives 10,000 calls from cluster victims - people who feel shackled by their stuff. According to a new study released by the University of California - Los Angeles (UCLA), professional organizers may have a new tool for identifying cluster victims - a quick glance at their refrigerators. From 2001 to 2005, a team of researchers from UCLA's Center on the Everyday Lives of Families measured the stress levels of 32 families in the Los Angeles area. What surfaced from the study was the presence and influence of clutter. Stress hormone levels in women spiked when confronted with family clutter, indicating that surplus engenders strain. The impact of clutter reshaped the study's focus and other, very interesting conclusions emerged. For example, the study found a direct relationship between the number of things on a refrigerator and the amount of stuff in a household. Magnets revealed messes.
For the 32 families in the study, the average number of refrigerator objects was 55. How do you compare? Do your magnets misrepresent you? If so, simplify, simplify, simplify! Curate, curate, curate!