packrat

As experts often note, there are several health problems associated with clutter and mess. Severe hoarders may even struggle to deal with rats, roaches and other vermin. But even apart from these miseries, there are more reasons for decluttering your life than just finding the floor.

When I was in the process of clearing out my house, I learned a lot about the psychology of junk. I am the first to admit that I'm not a trained psychologist, but I am a very good observer and, over the years, I've observed a lot of responses to clutter. It seems to me that resistance to getting...