Enough Already!: Peter Walsh on Oprah's OWN Network

Do you miss the the TV show, Clean Sweep as much as I do? Well, if your cable company offers Oprah's OWN Network, you're in luck.

Peter Walsh, Professional Organizer Extraordinaire, is continuing his quest to help people get out from under their mountains of clutter in a new show called "Enough Already!." I had the chance to watch the 'sneak peek' episode on Sunday night--it was an eye opening look at a family is crisis and the decluttering of their home.

I enjoy watching him but mostly, I listen to him with the ears of someone in the same profession, trying to pick up a tidbit or two that I could use to assist my own clients. He talks often about having a 'vision' for a room. A vision defines a space--once you know what you want for a room, you'll know exactly what items should be in it and what items do not meet the vision of the room and should not be allowed to take up space there.

The mom on the show was having a tough time letting go of items that had memories attached to them. Here's what Peter said to her. I thought this was brilliant...

"There are two main types of clutter. There is 'Memory' Clutter. That's the stuff that reminds you of an important person, an achievement or an event in the past. Then there's 'I Might Need it Someday' Clutter. That's the stuff you hold on to in anticipation of a whole lot of imagined futures."


"And the moment they take over, what happens is that the 'Memory' Clutter holds you in the past and the 'I Might Need it Someday' Clutter holds you in the future. So what it does, is it robs you of being in the present.It robs you of enjoying the only thing you have which is NOW."

If you have 'Memory Clutter,' keep the items with the most sentimental value and photograph the rest. Have 'I Might Need it Someday' Clutter? Think about what your 'vision' for the future is and only keep items in line with that vision--just like the room.

Want to watch? Enough Already! is on Mondays at 8pm on OWN. I'll be in front of my television listening and learning.