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Ever wonder why we clutter? If you live surrounded by a mess of odds and ends you do not actually use, discovering what the underlying reasons for clutter really are could help you to break the cycle. Let’s take a look at some of the top reasons for clutter, starting with practical issues.

1. You have more stuff than you know what to do with.

Sometimes the obvious explanation for clutter is the right one. Looking around, you may realize that you simply have more possessions than you have a place for in an organized home. Maybe you have held onto every single gift you have received over the years, or perhaps you cannot say no to a discount at the store. Either way, your home is now overflowing with items you do not need.

If that is the case, the only viable solution is to cull the herd, buy some plastic bins, and clean the mess. You will need to make some hard choices about what to keep and what to let go of. Regardless, until you remove some of that clutter, you will always feel like you are living in a pigsty.

2. You recently moved or are going through another life transition.

Sometimes we end up with a lot of clutter because our lives are in a state of transition. Perhaps we recently switched jobs, or we just moved across town. Maybe you just got out of a relationship, or you have spent weeks recovering from an illness or injury.

During times like these, clutter tends to pile up. We end up with a lot of items which are associated with the transitional period and which have no long-term use. So long as you get rid of these items fast at the end of the transition, your home should return to its orderly, tidy state quickly. If you leave them lying around for a long time though, they can become part of a long-term clutter problem.

3. You do not immediately organize or remove items from your home as they arrive.

Another reason you might have clutter is because you do not have a plastic bins and containers already in place. That means whenever a new item shows up, you have no plan for what to do with it. Chances are good you toss it in a pile somewhere, and there it remains. Over time, this can lead to massive buildup.

Once you do establish a system for decluttering and organizing items as they come into your life, you can prevent your clutter from continuing to compound. Make it a priority, and you should soon find yourself living in a tidier space.

You now know a few reasons why clutter tends to pile up in our homes and lives—but these explanations are not a fit for every packrat. In some cases, the reason has less to do with practical problems and more to do with psychological and emotional issues. Read on to Part 2 to discover some of the psychological reasons for clutter.