再见，我的“储物癖”

by Jane E. Brody

It often takes a crisis， major or minor， to prompt people to change bad habits， especially when the change is time-consuming and anxietyprovoking.

The other day， the drawer in which I store my swimming stuff jammed. When I finally got it open and dumped out its contents， I counted more than a dozen bathing suits （several with their store tags 1）intact）， 12 bathing caps， 10 pairs of 2）goggles and countless nose clips and earplugs.

Then I recalled the same thing had happened a week earlier with my drawer of pens and pencils， literally hundreds of them， half of which were dried out or otherwise useless.

往往要有一场或轻或重的危机，才能逼迫人们改掉恶习，当改变这些习惯需时耗日、令人焦虑不安时，情况尤其如此。

前几天，我用来放游泳装备的抽屉挤满东西，给卡住了。最终把它打开时，我把里面东西都倒了出来，数了一下：一共有十几套泳衣（有几件连标签牌都还完好无损）、12个泳帽、10副泳镜以及无数的鼻夹和耳塞。

这时，我想起一周前也发生过类似的事情。当时，我打开用来放钢笔和铅笔的抽屉，里面有几百支笔，其中有一半不是墨水已经干尽就是已经坏掉了。

And I shouldnt even mention my full-size freezer or 3）humongous medicine cabinet， where things fall out every time I open them. Or my floor-to-ceiling plastic bins of yarn， mountainhigh pile of Bubble Wrap， bags of plastic bags and shopping bags， and shelves of items I thought might be gifts for someone someday.

Having just read 4）Homer & Langley， E. L. Doctorows novel about the Collyer brothers， who were found dead in a Harlem brownstone under more than 100 tons of stuff they had accumulated， I finally vowed to tackle my lifelong tendency to accumulate too much of nearly everything and my seeming inability to throw out anything that I considered potentially useful to me or someone else sometime in the future.

Living in a three-story house with full basement made it far too easy to pursue this habit. I had plenty of storage space （and had filled every 5）nook and 6）cranny of it）， but often couldnt find things when I needed them， including clothes， books， articles， even frozen food I knew I had stored somewhere. Last year I found eight unopened jars of cocktail sauce in the back of my fridge； I had forgotten I had any and kept buying more.

我家那大冰箱和硕大无比的药箱就更别提了，每次打开，总会有一堆东西掉出来。我也不该说起那些装满了纱线的塑料储物箱，已经从地板一直堆到天花板了，泡泡包装纸堆积如山，还有数不胜数的塑料袋和购物袋，以及摆满几个货架的各式物件，上面的东西我总觉得有朝一日或许能作为礼物送给别人。

最近我刚刚读了E·L·多克托罗的小说《纽约兄弟》，书中讲的是科利尔兄弟的故事，这哥俩住在哈林区一幢赤褐色砂石小楼里，两人去世时，家里囤积了超过100吨的杂物。读完小说，我终于发誓要改变长期以来的习惯，改掉几乎任何物品都攒下来、什么都不舍得扔的老毛病——在潜意识里，我总觉得这些东西今后总能对我或别人派上用场。

住在一幢楼高三层、外加一个大地下室的房子里，养成囤积的恶习实在太容易了。我有充足的储藏空间（而且现在已经把所有角落都填满了），但在有需要的时候，我却总是找不到要找的东西，无论是衣服、书、日用品，还是那些我明明知道放在了某个地方的冷冻食品。去年，我在冰箱的最里头翻出了八罐没打开过的鸡尾酒酱；我已经忘了自己买过了，所以不停地补货。

When a product I liked at the moment was on sale （7）graham crackers， lipstick， shampoo， 8）detergent， cereal， supplements）， I often bought as many as I could and added them to already overflowing stashes. Im often afraid I wont be able to get more when I need it， a concern occasionally validated when a manufacturer discontinues something I like. But more often， I tire of these items and move on to others long before Ive used up the old purchases.

Recently， as if by fate， an advance copy of a book arrived in the mail that is without doubt the most helpful tome for anyone with a cluttering tendency. It was written by Robin Zasio， a clinical psychologist， a star of the show Hoarders and director of the Anxiety Treatment Center in Sacramento.

Though it is not possible here to include all of Dr. Zasios lessons， here are a few I think are especially helpful.

P e r h a p s m o s t important is to tackle just one project at a time and stick with it until it is done. “Start with the easiest， and be proud of what youve done，” Dr. Zasio said in an interview. Then gradually move on to more challenging projects.

Schedule time for decluttering—say， an hour each day on most days， until youre done.

假如某样我喜欢的商品正在打折（全麦饼干、唇膏、洗发水、洗涤剂、麦片、营养品），我往往是能买多少就买多少，然后把它们丢进已经塞满了东西的角落。我常常担心在需要什么东西时却再也买不到了，这种忧虑偶尔显得合理，因为有时候商家会停产某种我喜欢的商品。不过更常出现的情况则是，我一下子就用厌了这些东西，远在储备品用完之前，就有了新欢。

最近，似乎是天意，一本新书样本飞抵我的邮箱，毫无疑问，这本书对于有储物倾向的人来说有极大帮助。对于所有家居杂乱的人来说，这是最能帮得上忙的好书。这书的作者是临床心理学家罗宾·扎西奥，她是真人秀节目《储物狂》中的明星嘉宾，也是萨克拉门托市焦虑治疗中心的主任。

虽然在此我不可能尽述扎西奥博士的所有经验，不过我可以列举一些本人觉得特别有用的内容。

或许，最重要的一点就是每次集中对付一个项目，然后坚定不移，直到完全攻克。“先从最容易的着手，并且为自己的成就而骄傲，”扎西奥在一个采访中这样说。然后，再一步步地移向难度更大的项目。

要为清理杂物安排出时间——比方说，平时每天定出一小时，坚持数天，直到完成为止。

Theres no question that parting with stuff youve collected and thought valuable can trigger anxiety. But， as Dr. Zasio says and I have found， the anticipated anxiety is usually worse than what actually 9）ensues. Even if it is acute， the anxiety 10）dissipates if you sit down or do something fun or relaxing until it passes.

毫无疑问，扔掉自己认为大有价值的东西，会让你产生焦虑感。不过，扎西奥博士指出，而我也实践过，通常你实际感觉到的焦虑并没想象中那么严重。而且就算感觉强烈，只要你坐下来，或者做点有趣的且轻松的事，这种情绪就会烟消云散。

I have particular difficulty resisting “buy one， get one free” offers， half-price sales and 11）bulkpurchase “bargains” in 12）big-box stores. Think first about where the products will go and how many of them you already have. These sales and bargains will repeat themselves， and youll get other opportunities.

Keep in mind that， like food and medications， beauty products have expiration dates， so buying more than youll need in the near future can be wasteful. “Its OK to have one backup， but do you really need 10？” Dr. Zasio asked.

In clearing my own clutter， I realized my late husband—who often asked me， “How many rolls of paper towels and toilet paper do you really need？”—had collecting problems of his own. I uncovered old cans of paint， picture frames and books he found on the street， all manner of wood， boxes of chipped crystal， every version of every song and show he ever wrote （he was a lyricist and playwright）， and bags of our twin sons13）memorabilia since preschool （theyre now 42）.

By cleaning out his stuff and my own， I will spare my children a horrible task when Im gone. And when I stop wasting time accumulating， storing， searching for and moving around stuff I really dont need， I might have time for a new companion： a dog.

我特别难以抗拒“买一送一”、半价促销和大型超市的量贩“折扣价”。碰到这种情况时，你得先想想这些东西要归置到哪儿去，而且家里已积存多少件了。这类打折促销会不断出现，你还有机会再买。

你要记住，跟食品和药品一样，美容护肤品也是有保质期的，所以如果买的产品无法及时用完，就是一种浪费。“有一件备用品还说得过去，但你真的需要十件备用吗？”扎西奥如是问道。

在清理我的杂物时，我才发现我已故的丈夫原来他也有收集癖。他当年常问我：“你到底需要多少卷纸毛巾和厕纸啊？”我翻出了许多老旧的颜料罐、相框和他在大街上淘的旧书、各种木料、一盒盒的水晶残片、他写过的每首歌和每场表演的所有版本（他是一位词曲作者和剧作家），还有许多我们的双胞胎儿子自上幼儿园以来的纪念品（如今他们已经42岁了）。

将他和我的杂物清理干净，那等到有一天我离去时，孩子们就可以豁免一项可怕的任务。而当我不再浪费时间来囤积、储存、翻找和搬动那些自己根本不需要的东西时，恐怕我就有时间来和一个新伴侣——一只狗狗相处了。