I used to clean out houses and came across hording situations quite a bit. Depending on the type of clutter it can be done yourself. I did it with a partner but the way we would divide work and figure out how much volume we would be removing from the house would be like this.

-how many bags? -how many pieces of furniture that can’t be broken down? -how many trucks?

Bagging up trash takes the longest but will make the most difference so you can remove any furniture that comes after as well as being able to actually see the space you are in.

For furniture, you’d be surprised how easy it is to break furniture once you decide to get rid of it. This will help with motivation to continue the process with seeing the new space you have acquired as well as not injuring yourself since you mentioned you won’t have help.

Now overall volume is dependent on what you have available to transport waste. Depending on your local laws you may be able to take a rental box truck to a landfill and do a large removal all in one go. Otherwise look into recycling and dumps in your area, preferably a concrete tipping floor or large residential dumpster if you are using a non commercial vehicle.

Hope this helps and if you want specific advice feel free to dm, no judgement from me. I’ve helped a lot of people get a fresh start from hording. Best of luck

If possible, work with a therapist for this kind of support.

You can rent a roll off dumpster from your local waste management company, and remove a lot in a matter of days. But if you are living with a hoarder, then the mess will just accumulate to fill the space you clear out in a couple months.

This is not a logistical problem, but a behavioral one.

Inherited a 3 bedroom house from my mom and it was full (overfull) of her stuff. My house had 4 full bedrooms. Both had full garages. Like you, it’s just stuff- not trash , though some was old mail and magazines.

I have big trash pickup every Wednesday. I usually put things on the curb on Saturday and Sunday and much of it is gone before the trash people come. I like knowing that it’s going to someone instead of a landfill.

Other items were donated to a local organization that runs a thrift store.

About 40 bags of clothing and bedding went to my cleaning lady. She keeps what she can use and the rest goes to her church. They offer it to people here and the rest goes to the border. We tease that in a few months we will turn on the news to see everyone at the border dressed like my mom. ❤️

The ‘mementos’ or items that i feel nostalgic or sentimental about - I’ve learned that it takes me 3 times of interacting with items to decide what i definitely want to keep and what can go. I’ve also learned to be ok with that. I can narrow from 10 boxes to 7, then to 5, and if those sit in a closet for s year before i do more, so be it.

Sometimes the amount of stuff one has to handle is just too much for one person. Get a quote from one or two professionals to be able to judge the situation.

If you don’t want/can’t move start with a space that is your space. Define some boundaries to the hoard.

Then in that space organize your clutter into things you use and things you would use.

Then use your shelves, closet, and drawers to put away all the stuff that you use.

Then in the clutter pile organize that again into “things i can’t get again” and “stuff that is easily available”

Then the hard part: throw out the “stuff that is easily available”

Repeat the process until it is space and light that fills your room.

You can’t have organizational boundaries as such so you are not willing to let some stuff go. It is hard.

And often times clutter is because of lack of shelving. Buy some shelves. And limit your possessions to your space storage. And don’t get a storage space. Just throw it out. Give it to Goodwill. Sell it on EtsyBay.

But start with your space.

Fuck that. You didn’t make that mess, and they will set back any progress you make. Focus on cleaning out your own space that you control and that they can’t ruin. Sneak some trash bags into your bedroom. The day before trash day, bag as much stuff as you can, and try to sneak the bags out early in the morning before the trash comes. If you give them any opportunity to intervene, you’re going to get yelled at for throwing things out, or they’ll try to go through the stuff, or they’ll bring it back in the house. Any bit of their involvement is a no, because they’re not going to help you have a clean and healthy space.

Then do it the next week, and the next week.

Be ruthless with throwing things out. The fact that you don’t have a clear walking path means you have way too much stuff. That the stuff is sitting under piles of clothes and you haven’t touched them for months or years means they aren’t important to you.You can get a job. You can buy more things- things you actually choose for yourself and like. But you can also be intentional about it, fewer things but higher quality things that you actually can use and that make your life feel better.

No mercy. In the bins. Hired help would do it.

I think that you’re looking at it from the wrong angle. You’re looking at the forest and in this case it’s the trees that you should focus on. If there’s no rotting food or other health and safety issues then the only time pressure is your own comfort and anxiety. Deal with that kind of pressure by breaking the task down into manageable chunks and prioritize.

How much can you do in a week? Would one room a week would be manageable? More? Less? How much you can do at a time is the lesser of how much time and energy you can put into the work and how much you can take away or have taken away in the given time period. Maybe you just work until the garbage can is full and then start again after trash day. Maybe you don’t fill the garage can but between cleaning, organizing, and selling stuff on eBay/Nextdoor/etc you use up as much time and energy as you can devote to this task in this time period. As long as more is going out than is coming in during any given time period you’re making progress.

Start with the areas that will make the most difference to you. Probably your bedroom, the bathroom that you use most often, kitchen, living room. Looking at it as one task, cleaning and organizing a whole house is an overwhelming task so don’t look at it as one task. Tackle the forest by dealing with one tree at a time.

Is it possible to rent a dumpster? If you dedicate a few hours a day over a week rental, you could probably get a lot out. If you can recruit some friends to give you a hand, even better. Be sure to at least feed them afterwards, or they won’t be around next time you need a hand.

Dumpsters full up faster than you’d expect, if you can, go bigger than you think.

If it’s a quantity issue, rent more cans or a truck to go to the dump/thrift store donation place.

If it’s hard to get rid of stuff, be fearless. If you haven’t utilized an item for 6 months and it’s not sentimental. Get rid of it. (Special exceptions allowed of course).

If you find there is a lot of good stuff you don’t want to get rid of, organize it instead. Plastic bins with covers are great for this. You can label them and store things and find them easily again when needed.

Request additional trash bins from your municipality. Save one for regular refuse, use all the rest each week to fill with things you’re getting rid of.

Depends on your cash situation and what kind of vehicle you have. Is a dump, recycling center, Goodwill near by? Renting a dumpster can be a good way to get rid of a lot in one swoop. If you have a neighbor that could use some room in the dumpster you might be able to go halves on it to make it a bit more affordable.