Guest Post by Tilo Flache on his new book about 
how to stop the clutter at its source.
Ever since Marie Kondo has turned her ideas into a major success with several books and even a Netflix show, decluttering is on everybody’s mind … or so it seems. I come across a good number of people who refer to her book or the show, but a large portion of the population still haven’t even heard the term decluttering.
This is surprising with all the magazine articles and books that are out there. However, most of them focus on the self-help aspect of decluttering, suggesting that the reader herself (yes: they appear to be mostly women, indeed) make work of their own decluttering efforts and get it done on their own. Beyond that, there is precious little scientific writing on the subject of clutter, and most of it is squarely lodged in the areas of psychology and therapy, or looking at the health and safety aspects of a cluttered space.
On top of that it has to be said that the issue of clutter is usually seen as problem to be dealt with by removing the superfluous from our surroundings. It occurred to me that this approach may be trying to tackle the problem too late in the game. Most people only become aware of clutter when it has already reached a point where it severely effects their wellbeing and taking care of it is already a major undertaking.
Whatever reasons you may come up with to keep yourself from shedding some of the load, none of them are easy to overcome. So why not look at what makes you accumulate ever more, and limit your intake to begin with? Why don’t you simply stop the flood at the source rather than dealing with the consequences? This sounds like a good idea before clutter accumulates as well as when you have already started dealing with the surplus.
But first of all you’ll need to understand the constant pressure you are under from advertising, your own expectations, real or imaginary obligations to conform to your peers and the tricks of the retail business, to name but a few. The best way to become resilient to the influences at work on your conscious and subconscious mind is to become aware of the tricks and mechanisms used by the sales machinery.
That is exactly the approach I have taken with “Promise Broken. Moving On.” I have decided to look at the connection between advertising, consumerism and the accumulation of things we possess and fill our homes with. The book holds up a mirror and shows you how exactly this affects you and everyone else. Ask yourself – and be brutally honest – are you like a moth to the light, or are you able to resist the attraction and fly the other way?
If you are interested in the book, please use this link (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07Q1XJJ88/) and check it out on Amazon.
Tilo Flache – ClutterMeister, Brighton
www.cluttermeister.co.uk – look for “cluttermeister” on facebook, twitter and YouTube
I hate seeing waste and it upsets me how fast fashion is making the clothes we wear almost disposable. When I do buy clothes I opt for second-hand and support ethical and sustainable brands where possible. While I don’t own many items of clothing anymore (around 20 garments) I try to buy versatile pieces and have created a capsule wardrobe around them.
We’re getting married in a few months. It’ll be a small casual do – nothing fancy and definitely no white dress. All we care about is having the people we love there to celebrate and good food. Over the next year, I’d like to get more involved in the zero-waste movement too.
