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Identify Your Self-Talk Exercise

11/12/2010

On a sheet of paper, make columns as below and go through every room in your house and write down your reactions in the first 3 columns when you walk into that room.   Don’t worry about filling in the last 2 columns yet. Once you have filled in the first three columns, I want you to go sit down somewhere and take a break and visualize each room in a new light. Think about what activities you want to enjoy in the room. The think about how you want to feel when you enter that room. Take all the time you need, and let your imagination run free: don’t worry about how you could accomplish it.

What You Think      How You Feel Now       What You Do Now       /
                                                                  New Room Purpose       How You Want to Feel

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ANTs: Automatic Negative Thoughts

11/7/2010

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An important behavioral concept for hoarders is to change their thought patterns. In other words, hoarders need to learn to act rather than react <automatic response>. I love the ANT idea: automatic negative thoughts. We all have them to some extent, and this is an exercise to help us identify these thought patterns:

Take out a piece of paper and divide the page into 3 vertical columns … Situation, Emotion, and Automatic Thought. Over the next week, write down everything that comes up and what your responses are. In the “Emotion” column, rate each on a scale of 1 to 100 <with 100 being the most intensity possible>. In the next post, I will give some examples of how to turn these around with a list of possible alternative responses.

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Exercise: The Pieces of Your Identity

11/6/2010

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This is an interesting exercise that might help you to see what percentage your possessions are in your total identity. Assign a value <not to exceed 100% for all> to each category below. Feel free to add other categories as appropriate as to what is important to you in your life.

                My possessions
                My family <spouse, kids, parents>
                My friends
                Empathy
                Respectfulness
                My values/morals/ethics
                Intelligence
                My sense of humor
                Trustworthiness
                My job / work

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Identify Your Feelings About Your Possessions

11/5/2010

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I feel _______________ when my possessions are discarded without my consent.

When I am away from my possessions, I feel ___________________.

When I am near my possessions, I feel _________________________.

I feel ______________ when my family and friends talk about my hoarding.

I wish I could __________________________________________ in the future.

When people comment about the clutter, I feel ________________________.

I feel ___________________________when I make a mistake.

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Self Assessment: Are You A Hoarder? Some questions to consider:

11/4/2010

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Do you have difficulty throwing things away or get anxious when thinking about discarding your possessions? Do you have so many possessions that your rooms are cluttered?

Do you often feel an urge to buy things or acquire free things, but know that you really don’t need them?

Do you often decide to purchase or acquire items even if you know you have no space for them?

Do you have possessions taking up so much floor space that it is difficult to move around the room?

Have you even not been able to use a piece of furniture fo its intended purpose because it was used as storage space for your possessions?

Have you ever been so embarrassed by the number of your possessions that you did not want people to see certain rooms in your house?

Has your saving or acquisition of possessions resulted in financial strain for you or your family?

Has the number of your possessions ever been the reason for arguments or disagreements within your family?

To what extent do your saving behaviors interfere with your functioning?

                Not at all        mildly       moderately       severely

How much time do you spend on tasks related to your saving behaviors each day, including thinking about your possessions?

                Less than 30 min         30 min to 2 hours       more than 2 hours

Do you often feel like you need additional storage space?

Have your possessions ever been damaged because of inadequate storage space?

How much time each day do you spend looking for objects?

                  Less than 30 min         30 min to 2 hours       more than 2 hours

Have you ever shoplifted as a way of acquiring possessions?

Have you ever been arrested for shoplifting?

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Does Clutter Control You?

8/4/2010

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I am not sure where I got this quiz from so if anyone knows, please let me know so I can credit the person.

Choose a number between 1 and 4 that best describes your response to each of the following statements:

1:   Never or almost never.

2:   Sometimes.

3:   Usually.

4:   All the time.

Then add them up and see how you score below.

1. When I have free time I like to shop.

2. I keep bills, bank statements and other mail in piles, until I have time to file.

3. I have more than 10 plastic bags in my house.

4. I save magazines with interesting articles/recipes.

5. When I look around, I get tired just thinking about what it will take to unclutter my home.

6. I have two or more craft projects going on at any one time.

7. My house may look messy to some people, but I know where to find everything.

8. If someone stops by unexpectedly, I try to avoid letting them in.

9. I leave things out so I know where they are or as a reminder to myself.

10. Time keeps me from getting or being organized.

11. When it comes to clutter, I think, “Why bother? It will just get cluttered again.”

12. I can’t bear to part with things and I consider myself a pack rat.

13. The stress level in our house is directly related to the clutter level.

Rating Your Answers

44 to 52: is indicative of a clutter problem that’s been building for some time. You are in need of some serious clutter-busting!

35 to 43: Your clutter problem is likely growing worse with each passing year and will continue to do so unless you do something about it.

26 to 34: You have the potential to develop a clutter problem, but you also have the power to change a few old habits.

17 to 25: You may be simply, temporarily disorganized.

Less than 17: Congratulations on controlling your clutter. rather than letting it control you.

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Some General Questions for You to Consider:

7/28/2010

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   What is my de-cluttering goal?
   How do I want to feel after I accomplish this?
   What is my worst de-cluttering problem area?

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Identify Your Self-Talk Exercise

ANTs: Automatic Negative Thoughts

Exercise: The Pieces of Your Identity

Identify Your Feelings About Your Possessions

Self Assessment: Are You A Hoarder? Some questions to consider:

Does Clutter Control You?

Some General Questions for You to Consider:

Website Creator: Marie Russell

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