Tuesday, March 2, 2010

5 Reasons to Clear Clutter From Your Life

There are 2 kinds of clutter: Physical clutter (things) and mental clutter (thoughts, usually about all of the things). Both take up room and both cause you to lose sight of what you really want. When you begin to clear out the physical clutter, you can start to see the mental clutter. You will find that the physical stuff is just a way for you to try and hide from the mental baggage you're carrying around.

Physical Clutter

1. It takes up too much space! There is only so much room in your life. After you fill up your closet, it moved into the bedroom, then takes over the rest of the house. Then the basement, and then you're renting out a storage facility. The majority of this stuff is meaningless, but it represents the need to fill a hole. If this is you, it doesn't appear to be working, does it?

2. You can never find anything. Because of all the stuff, you are spending more time searching and trying to remember where you put things. You probably have multiples, and continue to buy more, because you can't find the orginals. Clearing out the stuff will leave you with what you need, and keep you organized so you know exactly where everything is.

3. It stresses you out. See the first two points. How can you possibly relax with stuff invading your life? Your home should be a place where you can relax and feel good.

4. It drains your energy. Picture this: You wake up in the morning to a clean bedroom. You walk down the hall, not tripping on anything. You get ready for work in a bathroom that is clean, and you don't knock over bottles, brushes, or tubes. You make coffee in the kitchen, which is clean. No dirty dishes staring back at you from the sink. How do you think you feel this morning? Good, ready to start the day (on time)? Think of the opposite scenario...you wake up, clothes all over the floor, nothing clean to wear. You trip on the dogs' squeaky toys and step on a pointy, toy truck on the way to the bathroom. Trying to wash your hair you realized you've run out of shampoo and you can't remember if you bought a replacement bottle (or where you put it). You note that you have to pick up more shampoo (already mental clutter). When you're done, you stumble into the kitchen, running late and realize you're out of coffee and there are no clean mugs anyway. Note to self, buy more coffee....How relaxed are you after this start to the day?

5. It causes you to procrastinate. When I want to procrastinate, cleaning is a great excuse. Why start on what really matters to you, when you need to vaccuum the floors? No time to work out today, since you have to do laundry. Can't put an hour of writing on your book in, since the dishes need to be washed before dinner.

All of that physical clutter serves to keep you stuck. It's not the "stuff" that matters so much, it's what the stuff represents and creates that causes problems in your life. The stuff will eat you alive.

Imagine a life where you are organized and can easily keep track of things. You know how much shampoo and coffee you have, and where the extras are kept. You rarely lose things and you're not constantly distracted, trying to remember loose details (like to buy more shampoo and coffee and when the dog has to go to the vet, and where your daughter's soccer game is).

The freer your mind, the freer your life. When your physical space is organized, your mind is relaxed and free.

James Boehm
Daily Dose Of Good
Every Month A Million
8K A Week

No comments:

Post a Comment