How many of you are packrats? I heard its an ADD thing as well. I call it my keeping it incase I need a memory thing. :)

...but...who knows when I might need to reference these 3 year old articles on electronic signatures...and...and....

I hate throwing stuff away, especially unread newspaper articles etc which I might still read "some time". Having realized that this is a problem, though, I do get a sense of relief when I throw things away.

I've really been trying to stick to a "cr@p reduction plan" these last several months. I'm proud of what I've accomplished, but I can't stay focused enough to go through EVERYWHERE I've stashed stuff. Instead, I move from house improvement/maintenance project to another project to another....

However, I will say that I've been burned (okay, just a little singed :) ) by throwing out/giving away teaching stuff I thought I wouldn't need ever again...organizational binders and trays and containers and stuff like that....

But I manage.... I know it's part of my ADHD, and I don't beat myself up about it. I just wait for the next wild hair to attack me and then I attack one of the projects.

"Ok, I only have one box... my memory box" would be my vote...If I could get the vote thing to work for me.... :(

I like to keep things that are repairable

gives me something to do when Im bored

problem is I never get bored as I have too many things to do so I dont have time to get bored

I think I just talked in circles to justify keeping thing that I will probally never get around to fixing as its easier to buy a new one

Grin

Moving from a large house to a smaller apartment has made me cut down on the amount of "stuff" I have kept over the years.

*sigh* Its really true...NY apartments have no closet space.

I am a major packrat. But there has been times I was glad I did keep something or another. Especialy dealing with my ex and the court system. Now if I could only find the things I put up to keep safe. Currently I'm still looking for a note book that I kept all of our passwords for the computer in, I put it up when I had this wedding here so it wouldn't be mistaken for any old notebook and be lost. But to date I still can't remember where I hid it. And the other thing I'm haveing problems with is, that when we moved out here to take care of mom, I had a huge house with plenty of storage space, then my step-father passed away and mom insisted that we move in with her instead of visa-versa. Her house was already filled to the ceilings with my step-dads prackratting, so my stuff is still in boxes out in the shed and in one of the cabins. And with the mouse population that we have, I'm almost sure a good percentage of it is ruined. I'm just hoping that my carousel horse collection is still intact.

But anyways, Here's to my favorite slogan:

"When I finally got it all put together I forgot where I put it!"

For better or worse, I have a hobby that encourages pack-rat behavior. Off to the hamfest this weekend to sell off old junk and buy new junk :)

It says I already VOTED!
I just saw this!
I haven't alerady vorted!

minnor stresses destroy the ablility to put two letters together in the right order...

Where would i put them anyway! i'm stumbling over stuff as it is!

I have verified the poll, and you had previously selected an answer.

Note: Only Admins have the ability to verify a poll

I selected "But hey, what if I need to use it in 5 years?!".

That pretty much sums up my reasoning behind it. Seems like everytime I throw something out I end up needing it.

I selected "needs a second house...."

I have so many things in boxes already that I could move house without having to pack first...

On the other hand, one thing I kept beyond all reason that turned out to be very valuable were teacher reports from grades K-4 (ages 5-9). When I decided that I might be/have AD/HD, I looked them over for early childhood signs.

To my surprise, I saw some classic comments like "he must learn to *listen* to *oral* instructions" and "at times needs to be reminded to work quietly". My favorite is "has difficulty painting without dripping"(!!!!!). How about Jackson Pollock turned tagger?

When I was recently assessed and formally diagnosed with AD/HD, the diagnostician said I was lucky to have those records, since they don't exist for most adults just being diagnosed.


Ken

Originally posted by BIG
I have verified the poll, and you had previously selected an answer.

Note: Only Admins have the ability to verify a poll
ooops!

If I didn't pick "needs a second house" then i erred.

Thanks for checking!

Voted:-Packrat? What on earth would I keep?!

More a result of conditioning through a transient lifestyle, inability to organise and a total lack of patience than anything. If in doupt throw it out

there was a study that identified "knowing what to throw away" as being a better skill than "knowing what to keep."

Being a computer programmer where things are often looked at from opposite sides like that to exploit edge behavior, that really caught my attention!

Originally posted by Wheel1975
If I didn't pick "needs a second house" then i erred.

That was your answer :)

I am a very big packrat that has caused my house to be clutter.I have stuff in boxes that I always say I am not going to throw away because I will need or use it one day.That day has not come up so I need to get rid of lots of clutter.Begin an Adult with ADD my doctor said lots of people not all are packrats & have lots of clutter.
I am new & very glad to meet you all.

Well welcome aboard! :)
I'm a fellow packrat, my theropy is to try and get rid of a trash bag of junk every weekend. So far the clutter hasn't gotten bigger ;)

The biggest problem for me is our parents. Both my husband and I have parents who like to give us all of our old stuff back (if we wanted it, we would have taken it with us!). One time my dad actually gave me my old "My Little Pony" lunchbox!

They also like to give us their old stuff that they don't use anymore. They think they are being helpful, but now we have a house full of stuff we don't even want.

I make a point of throwing stuff out because my mind is so cluttered- Then at least the world around me doesn't seem so messy.

Now if I can just get rid of all of my husband's old stuff . . . :rolleyes:

Originally posted by ferrette1976
The biggest problem for me is our parents. Both my husband and I have parents who like to give us all of our old stuff back (if we wanted it, we would have taken it with us!). One time my dad actually gave me my old "My Little Pony" lunchbox!

Now if I can just get rid of all of my husband's old stuff . . . :rolleyes:

Take the lunch box to eBay...

i sold some OS/2 magazines for a price that surprized me.

I am a packrat, too. I cleaned out my walk-in closet this week. There was a trash bag nearly full of things I wanted to keep from two summers ago. I looked in it briefly, very briefly, and threw it away. I wonder if there is something wrong with me. The trash man picked it up, so I can't change my mind.

My wife and I collect books, mostly used from the thrift stores. I agreed to let her throw out the completely useless books, give away or bring back books to the thrift store. I felt that if I didn't know what the books were, I couldn't complain. She knows which books to keep.

Is there still hope for me?

Excuse me but it sounds like you demonstrated hope justification!

I am a hopeless packrat, but I am definitely working on it. I just blindly chucked 10 years worth of magazine pages, sketches, etc. having to do with my decorating hobby(one of about a kajillion). Scary, but so far so good.

I guess the pack rat in me struggles with two types of guilt. First, what if I need it. It seems most of you who have posted here know about that one. The other one more concerned with frugality. I just don't like to waste. I guess it is a tradeoff. One kind of peace of mind for another.

Use Ebay. People will buy some of your "junk" you win twice! you get rid of stuff, and you get paid for doing it.

Good idea -- unless, of course, you get your "stuff" from E-bay in the first place......


Ken

I have trouble fguring what I need and don't. And then there is the attachment to what ever memory I associate with it. My son is worse. When he is off at his dads I throw out some huge electronics that he draggs from peoples trash each week. He has ussually taken the motor out of them, the part he wants. Yet he will try to keep everything. I am good at giving away things when somebody else wants it.

Why is it soooo easy do distinguish other people's trash from their treasures and not our own!?! I need this question answered.

Probably for the same reason it is easier to keep someone else on schedule than to keep yourself on schedule.

When I had my wife's daughters living with us, it was a major undertaking to go anywhere together or do anything together and keep a reasonable schedule. But I did, and maybe the intensity of the situation (which couldn't be ignored) compensated for any tendencies on my part to forget the impending future. This of course, wouldn't apply to my own schedule......

Case in point. I completely forgot about a Doctor appt tuesday because something else came up. And I had written the appointment down in my calendar! BTW -- this just goes to show that an organizational aid is only as useful as your ability to remember to use it (and not lose it).

These two are me:
"I'm proud of what I've accomplished, but I can't stay focused enough to go through EVERYWHERE I've stashed stuff. Instead, I move from house improvement/maintenance project to another project to another...."
AND
"I like to keep things that are repairable"

A good friend who was moving to DC told me I ought to get rid of some of my stuff. As their moving van pulled away, she said, you have the key. Help yourself to whatever is left in the house. Of course, I did. How WASTEFUL they are! (Thanks a <i>lot,</i> friend.)
I don't keep photo albums any more. I don't have collectables (thank goodness). Oh wait: does my collection of orphan battery compartment covers count?

LOL, Ace, Orphan battery compartment covers....We could reunite them with all the dead remote controls my DH is keeping which are all lacking covers!

ok so its not jsut me...the more I keep looking at online stuff the more I learn about myself...
well, here's to wanting to move so that I can clean out what I have and make space for more!!!

Dear Adventurous --

Just a word of warning from Those Who Have Tried Moving To Solve Problems:

Not to be discouraging, and not to say a Move can't work if done right, but a word to the wise about the risks......

It seems that twice as much stuff that you toss before moving ends up permanently stored in boxes in the Garage (or "Sewing Room", etc.), and you will buy new stuff to take the place of stuff you can't find in the Garage, etc., no matter how many times you look..... You might need to be upwardly mobile just to afford the ever-increasing amount of storage space for your "Lost Arks".

;)

Ken

I'm a mild packrat, but my family on the other hand...YIKES...I seem to go in bouts...I'm 'bout ready to do some major cleaning and disposal. If it's not being used on a regular basis, it's gooooooooooone...I'm hoping to move soon and if I wind up with unopened boxes, I think I'll come back here to employ Ken to help me ensure I start off right.

I'm lucky in a sense. The military moves me every so often, and i move on my own. I am constantly throwning out stuff. Who knows how bad it'd be if I had stayed in the same place for 6 years. My husband has, and he is horrid. I was dreading moving in with him and all of his stuff. I make him cram it in HIS room so it doesn't take over mine. We've been here 2 months and he still hasn't finished unpacking. And I'm the one with adhd? ?????

I have 2 phases between which I seem to alternate: acquiring and de-acquiring. I am now coming off a rampant acquiring phase; holidays, you know. I forsee an equally rampant deacquing phase on the horizon....new year, fresh start and all of that.

I have secret plans to de-acquire everbody elses c**p as soon as they go back to work/school. Don't tell!;)

I have most of my packrattery stomped on pretty hard but I still hoard pens. I have pens that hail from preschool.. how embarrassing this all is! Pens are out of control. I have boxes of them. New and used it matters not.

With the moves and the need for space I've pared down a lot of my junk but "squirrelling" is still strongly embedded.

It must be part of my knowing but not doing thang. I'll collect and pack around materials and information all in mostly retrievable form for years just in case I ever get around to doing something.

My kids are not lost on this resource. Before writing something off as impossible they ask me if I have either the materials or the resources to do the job. Invariably I have something to offer and we go on from there.

The latest made my eldest (17) guffaw when there was some brief image on TV of a spectacular specimen of a Scot tossing an enormous cabre in the sweet warm evening light. Meite was a bit taken aback that this odd sport had crossed my curiosity as well.
http://images.google.com/images?q=cabre%20toss&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&safe=off&sa=N&tab=wi

And now back to the shop.. ;D

I won't tell a soul FG
ian

I'm a packrat...lately i've been trying to throw out 2 things a week, eventually it will cut down on the clutter, for now it's not an overwhelming task to accomplish. General rule if i haven't used it in 5 years it's gone...clothes get donated.

I think I still have my hyper color shirt from the 80's .....But can't find my Cabbage Patch Kid:(. But I shall never get rid of the Stone Mountain purses that you wear around your waist...I climbed that mountain by myself for the first time 10yrs ago....OMG the memories!!!!!!!!!

Why is it soooo easy do distinguish other people's trash from their treasures and not our own!?! I need this question answered.LMAO!!!
how about we apply for a grant to study this *extremely* interesting and important question?!
:D
(i think it's something philosophical...;-)

Hmmmmm I think that would depend on situation....

Either what they may have may not be important to you or you dont see the value of it....Or If they really made you mad or hurt...revenge.<~~~ but I'm not vendictive to think something like that *halo*

Is that a bit like "hold the applause, just throw money?"

irish - That's a big commitment but if I applied that to just the pen problem I might be able to drag that scenario out for quite some time.. Things that make you go, hmmmm

ian

I can deal with the problem of knowing I have a problem but not doing anything about it.

I know I have a problem AND I know I’m not going to do anything about it.

So what I do is tear tech magazines right apart, and make a pile of everything I think I might need or be interested in, and file those pages away,

with the full and painful knowledge that I’ll probably never look in the files, ever.

I don’t end up with piles of tech mags, and I don’t give up the impulse to packrat information that might be useful. The files are so sadly thin, too.

And it only hurts as badly as a mild electric shock…

I am moving on Friday. I am afraid I will have to leave my many things...I am concerned that I might need some of them, especially the things on my computer, heh...

I guess it's no surprise, I haven't thrown anything that wasn't trash out in a couple years...

My husband says that I just move my piles from one room to the next. They are all out in the garage right now. And it is full. We should post some pictures of our collections. :D

You answered it for me in the poll. I might need it, so why throw out something useful. You never know. :D

But it's all going to end. We are going to join that Fly thing It'schaotic has joined, and no more collecting of junk for us :(

Oh, and when Andrei and I married, we had to get a 4 bedroom house to fit it all in.:rolleyes: ...and we still found it not quite enough room.

okay! I packed it all in my suitcase kicked it to the curb and now the [i]rats are having a good meal...

and my house....what house? :eek:
but the rats are happy.

I've so far dumped.. I mean blessed someone else with well over fifty pounds of clutter. My room is a haven of peace and simplicity!
Cheers! Ian.

I've so far dumped.. I mean blessed someone else with well over fifty pounds of clutter. My room is a haven of peace and simplicity!
Cheers! Ian.
LOL** Ian, it's all your bragging that got Andrei and I into this mess of FlyLady :D:D Now we HAVE to follow through:eek: .

Did it hurt? :confused:

Viktoria

i've been trying really hard to toss things - i handle the mail "only once" (well, mostly) and throw out flyers and junk mail without even opening it....magazines once i've read them (unless they are less than 3 months old) and other stuff....but, i still suffer from pack-rat-itis - as in - what if i need that some day?
and, i've been trying really really hard to follow the "if you buy something, throw out 2 pieces similar to it in it's place, i.e. clothes - but what if i want to wear that someday?
it's a battle......

Judit it took me so long to learn that "paper once" deal! Oh my that is a good one. You've reminded me of a hole in my hoarding though. Magazines! I am not sure I'd want to measure how many kilos of magazines I hang onto.

Most are machine oriented and have construction series that span several issues.. I can keep those right? hehe I'm going to get rid of so much stuff over the next few months.. indeedy I am.. :D

Viktoria you don't have to follow through. Just contact me on the side and I'll write you a note.. promise I will.. :D
Ian

I am somewhere between my closet is bulging and I may need it in five years. I keep stuff but not that long and that much stuff. I find that when i go on vacation I dont need or has nearly as much stuff, but when I come home its like why do I have all this suff that i dont need??

U know what I mean?

The question for me would be "How can I possibly get rid of all this STUFF".................that would mean that I would have to, oh my I am going to say it...........the big C word..............here is comes

I would have to CLEAN :eek:

I have found WITHOUT FAIL that within two weeks of discarding something I had around the house for the past EON that I finally needed it and had to go out and buy one. Usually it is some silly part to something that you can't just buy. So, you have to buy the WHOLE assembly for $12 just to get the 59 cent piece that you just threw out.

In fact, this may be one reason I keep my wife. I'd hate to find out 2 weeks from now that I had to go out and get a WHOLE other wife when all I needed was the 59 cent piece of her. :D

P.S. It is illegal, and wrong, to discard your wife and keep "pieces" of her around the house in case you need them later. It is only OK if you discard or keep the whole wife and oh by the way she has to have a pulse and respiratory functions.... it's still up for debate whether there has to be any brain wave signature...but that is only being debated because most wives contend their husbands are brainless...so why should they be any different.

The one thing I will never discard is my twisted sense of humor!

A packrat...not where I live. I am in a small apartment and can only acumalate so much. I cant handle having this disorganised in a small space...but it does happen. I downsize alot of my things like clothes and things I dont really need.

I go thru my dishes when i get news one as a present of pans and give them to the resale stores so someone else can use them. I then have less to keep track of too. I do that with all area of my apt. It makes life easier...and me happier less to clean:D auntchris

O H I O: Only Handle It Once. Catchy phrase; easy to remember; a challenge for me to put into practice.
L.

I've really been trying to stick to a "cr@p reduction plan" these last several months. I'm proud of what I've accomplished, but I can't stay focused enough to go through EVERYWHERE I've stashed stuff. Instead, I move from house improvement/maintenance project to another project to another....

However, I will say that I've been burned (okay, just a little singed :) ) by throwing out/giving away teaching stuff I thought I wouldn't need ever again...organizational binders and trays and containers and stuff like that....

But I manage.... I know it's part of my ADHD, and I don't beat myself up about it. I just wait for the next wild hair to attack me and then I attack one of the projects. HA! I've been 'renovating' my kitchen for the past 8 years! Things come up! I have stuff(collectibles...right!) in boxes...and boxes........Clear trash bags are as far as I've gotten to getting organized. This makes me feel really great,knowing I'm not the only p.r.!Thanks for the lift!

We put our house on the market in April, and the realtors' whole enticement was that they usually sell the house in 6-9 weeks...so we thought for sure we'd be outta there soon.

Unfortunately, we haven't sold it...it's nice--and new, for that matter--but somehow, (according to the realtor it's priced too high, but we lowered it by $1000 from their original appraisal a few weeks ago, so she can bite me) we haven't really gotten any offers since we put it on the market!:cool:

Anyway, we cleared everything out of the house that wasn't absolutely necessary and put it in storage--winter clothes, etc.--you know, stuff that we wouldn't need in the next couple of months!:rolleyes:

Yeah...we've kind of cleared half of that stuff out of the storage thing and brought it back, so the clutter has returned, I'm afraid...only problem is, we had these huuuge bookcases, which is good, 'cause we're bibliophiles, and now, we have nowhere to put the books! So they're in here, strewn all over the office--mostly books required for courses from the last 3 terms (there are about 30-40 besides the ones for this term), other assorted books I got from Amazon.com that weren't mandatory for the classes but I thought they'd help with the subject matter (and they looked interesting) like "Overcoming Anxiety and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder" and "Rape Statistics and Counseling Techniques" (the counseling I'm planning to do is going to specialize in therapy for women who have been sexually abused and assaulted), oh, and books in the living room about--hold in your shock--KNITTING...

Back in the office, there are Neuroscience books I had before I even started school at all, Journals (JAMA, American Family Physician, etc.) that I've ganked from my dad for courses and stuff, more journals I batted my eyelashes and asked pretty please to get my neuroshrink to give me...it's crazy! All of my husband's sci-fi/horror stuff, which is mostly paperbacks, but the dang things don't stack or anything very well...plus, poetry books, our kid's books, parenting books I bought because I'm obsessive and paranoid that I'm gonna mess the kid up all the time...classics (Shakespeare, etc.), psychology books (I'm going to be a therapist when I finally get out of school), tips for getting into grad school from months ago, when I was still applying, before I got accepted....and so on.

We have a ton of them. And we don't even need to get into all of the stuff I have to print out for school--we're talking 30-60 page journal articles (not all of them are that size, but some), surveys on domestic abuse, just enormous amounts of papers, hole-punched and organized in binders...but there's a lot of loose paper too. Basically if I want to find something--a document I haven't looked at in a few days or so--I have to sift through the area around the computer...it's pretty bad. They say they'll give you 24 hours notice when they get a call saying someone wants to see the house, but this office...oh, man, I'm glad y'all can't see it--it's like a tornado went through a paper factory in here! Oh, I just looked over--forgot the DVD collection and my husband's old tv & vcr he's brought in here from storage so that he can watch his horror movies out-of-range of our 3 year old!

Need to clean...must clean the office...caught up on homework, finally...must clean...nooooo! I'm terrified...:eek:
Chrys

Oh, Knittingjunkie! What are those things in your avatar? Pincushions? Balls of radioactive yarn? Mutant tribbles?

Aiee--there are so many of them....

Ken ;)

The only way i get organized is when i get into one of my hyperfocusing moods. Everything piles up into little piles. Current list :
- misc computer junk
- computer junk that is usefull
- stuff i need to address w/in the week
- stuff i need to address sometime soon
- memories
- stuff i wanna forget
- etc.. etc..

But then, it all gets put into a box.. and stored away... You know, there might be a use for that old cellphone bill! Cant throw away that old 286 processor, I might wanna give it to a friend. One day i will do something w/ my old (original) palm pilot.

Sheesh....

Cassette tapes will have their comeback...

You'll see.:p