Too Much Junk in My Trunk!

I am a pack rat.

I save cards - especially the musical ones -, empty DVD cases in the hopes of one day finding its contents, single earrings (and shoes), you get the idea.

A lot of people share my same instinct to "save everything" but this process of hoarding can become a very serious problem for some people and may be related to psychological reasons.

An article in the NY Times referenced a study by Dr. David F. Tolin, of the Institute of Living in Hartford, which stated that, "When a hoarder was making decisions about throwing away items, the researchers saw increased activity in the orbitofrontal cortex, a part of the brain involved in decision-making and planning."

The study says that the average person doesn't implore as much decision-making as a hoarder might when it comes to getting rid of things.

Without as much clutter, a person would be able to use the judgment part of their brain in healthy and beneficial ways.

In a similar article on Bio-Medicine.org, researchers used a method called single detection theory (SDT) to see how well someone could detect a target in a cluttered environment. Participants, as expected, weren't able to detect targets successfully.

THIS IS BECAUSE WE, AS OBSERVERS IN EVERYDAY LIFE, TAKE EVERYTHING AROUND US INTO CONSIDERATION IN ORDER TO "DETECT" OUR DESIRED TARGET.

Hence, this is why we can't ever find our keys, cell phones or wallets.

Now it's time to start de-cluttering your life! ZenHabits has great tips to get started.

Think it's something more than clutter? See for yourself